One of my favorite worship songs is by Amanda Cook. It's titled "Pieces," and these are the lyrics:

"Unreserved, unrestrained, your love is wild Your love is wild for me
It isn't shy, it's unashamed your love is proud to be seen with me

You don't give your heart in pieces,
you don't hide yourself to tease us

Uncontrolled, uncontained, you love is a fire
Burning bright for me

It's not just a spark, it's not just a flame your love is a light
That all the world will see
That all the world will see

You don't give your heart in pieces,
you don't hide yourself to tease us
You don't give your heart in pieces, you don't hide yourself to tease us

Your love not fractured, its not a troubled mind
It isn't anxious
It's not the restless kind
Your love's not passive
It's never disengaged
It's always present
It hangs on every word we say
Love keeps it promises
It keeps its word
It honors what's sacred
Cause its vows are good
Your love not broken
It's not insecure
Your love not selfish
You love is pure

You don't give your heart in pieces, you don't hide yourself to tease us
You don't give your heart in pieces, you don't hide yourself to tease us
You don't give your heart in pieces, you don't hide yourself to tease us"

The first time I ever heard this song, I was driving in my car. The lyrics hit me SO HARD I had to pull over and let myself ugly cry in my car.

I was a MESS.

And for a good reason.

The first time I ever heard this song was during the summer three years ago. During that time, I was living in my hometown, where I did NOT want to be, working two high intensity, physically and emotionally demanding jobs at the same time, and I was lonely.

Very lonely.

I had just come back from being in Europe during a study abroad program, and close to the end of my stay in Europe, I learned that my college ministry would be sending teams to areas near me to engage with the refugee crisis going on as a result of the Syrian Civil War, political unrest, and other dangers in other parts in the Middle East. I wanted so desperately to be a part of this, to minister to people fleeing violence and hatred, to bring the love and hope of Jesus to those who needed to know about it the most in the middle of such chaos and pain.

But I couldn't be there.

God shut that door for me. And I was so frustrated. I was so frustrated and confused as to why God didn't and wouldn't make a way or me to remain in Europe and connect with the missionary teams my church's college ministry would be sending to Europe. I grieved over this closed door. I was upset, and I didn't hold back on telling God how I felt. I didn't understand why God would deny me the opportunity to help other people when He KNEW that I love doing this with my time.

And I told Him just how mad and disappointed I was.
And how helpless I felt.
And how guilty I felt because I wasn't over there to help.
And how...insignificant, useless, and powerless I felt...
And how confused I was at the intensity behind these emotions I was feeling
And how I didn't understand WHY I was feeling all of these really strong emotions regarding my inability to help people half-way across the world.

And then, I heard this song. After being angry at God, thinking that He was withholding something good from me, thinking that He didn't see me as useful in that situation when I clearly disagreed,

GOD BROKE THROUGH THE WALLS I HAD BUILT AROUND MY HEART.

I realized He wasn't holding out on me.
He had something to teach me about Himself that I could ONLY LEARN while living in my hometown.

I realized He wanted me to know how to rely on Him, to come to the understanding that I CANNOT PHYSICALLY HELP EVERYONE IN THE WORLD, even though my heart desperately wants to.
I realized that God was showing me that I am STILL USEFUL and that I STILL have an impact on the world when I am FAITHFUL in following and obeying Him NO MATTER WHERE I'M LOCATED and NO MATTER WHAT I'M DOING WORK-WISE.

I realized that God, in His wisdom, told me "NO" to helping in Europe so I would have the opportunity of saying "YES" to believing that God is FOR me, that God LOVES ME SO STINKIN MUCH that He would allow for me to feel uncomfortable for the sake of my personal spiritual growth with Him.

Hallelujah, amen and amen.

This song is and has been an anthem for me. And I believe this song has so much to teach the Christian Church all over the world about how we ought to respond and actually ACT when it comes to issues LIKE the Syrian Refugee Crisis.

And like it comes to the crisis that has been happening with the separation of immigrant families down at the Mexico border in the US.

I have a question for the Christian Church in the US.

WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU???

Why are we, the American Christian Church, willing to go overseas, travel thousands of miles by plane, spend thousands of dollars on plane tickets and travel-related purchases, and send people to remote places of the world, when there are people IN OUR OWN BACKYARDS who are being abused, neglected, oppressed, mistreated, and are enduring such egregious injustice that it makes me shake just thinking about it.

Now I want to be VERY CLEAR - I am SUPPORTIVE OF and FOR international missions. I love that churches send people to the Nations and I myself have gone on two international mission trips. I love that the church has a heart for serving people all over the world, INCLUDING those in our own backyards.

Therefore, I have a statement to make.

I, a 22-year-old Non-denominational/Evangelical Christian woman, am sick and tired of seeing the church "pump the breaks," and get all wishy-washy and LUKEWARM when it comes to addressing social and human rights injustices in America.

So,

DEAR CONSERVATIVE AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIAN AMERICA, WE MUST SET ASIDE POLITICAL OPINIONS, LEANINGS, AND PARTISANSHIP AND ASK OURSELVES SOME VERY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS;

WHEN DID WE, THE AMERICAN CHURCH, START MAKING THE CALLS ABOUT WHO WAS AND WHO WASN'T IN NEED WHEN GOD SAYS TO SERVE EVERYONE IN NEED?

WHEN DID WE, THE AMERICAN CHURCH, BECOME MORE EAGER TO HELP PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF OUR OWN BORDERS AND APATHETIC WHEN OUR NEIGHBORS ARE NEEDING US TO FIGHT FOR THEM?

WHEN DID WE, THE AMERICAN CHURCH, BECOME PASSIVE IN THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS?

WHEN DID THE WHITE EVANGELICAL AMERICAN CHURCH, START BELIEVING THAT WE COULDN'T TAKE A STAND AGAINST POLITICAL POLICIES THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT EVIL AND ABHORRENTLY MALICIOUS?

WHEN DID WE, THE AMERICAN CHURCH, START THINKING THAT WE COULD GIVE PART OF OUR HEARTS TO THE PEOPLE GOD HAS GIVEN, AND CONTINUES TO GIVE, HIS ENTIRE HEART TO?

This is not a political issue. This is a morality issue. That has been said MANY MANY times, but we need to say it again for the people who still don't get it. People are NOT PROBLEMS, they're PEOPLE. People encounter and deal with problems all the time, but there is not ONE SINGLE PERSON that God has created that should EVER be labeled or viewed as "a problem." Once we let ourselves view people as problems, and then continue to think and believe that's what people are, we lose God's perspective of people and stop seeing people through the eyes of LOVE.

We MUST be willing to look at ourselves in the mirror and collectively come to a conscious understanding of the messages that our actions send to the people needing the help that only the Church and ONLY those who know the love of God can give them.

Otherwise, the world wins. The enemy wins when we allow hate, evil, and oppression in all of its forms to persist.

God has called those who follow after Him, those who call themselves Christians, those who KNOW JESUS, to live to a higher standard and to be an example to the rest of the world about how to love and treat other people.

So, my fellow Christians, let's step it up. Let's be better, let's DO better, and let's actually LISTEN to the Word of God and apply it.