Maybe it shouldn’t bother me. It has grieved me for days now, but since there is nothing I can do about it, I should just let it go. However, it is just there, in my mind. What does it mean?

          You see, three were left behind.

          I am not talking three Americans were left behind in Afghanistan. There were more than three. But you can look at that and see the reason and you can see that it is a national embarrassment.

          However, the three I am grieving over are not people and it seems, on the surface, so trivial, yet it points to the direction of our society’s ails.

          Three were left behind.

          The parents and coaches of the Northfield Junior High football team feel that the team should be together in social situations to establish ‘community.’ To us older folks, that means ‘togetherness.’ It’s a good idea. You have seventh and eighth graders on this team. Neither age group has enough kids to field a team within their own class, so the two classes are together. Up until now, they have been separated. First and second graders, fifth and sixth graders. One group younger than the other. The year difference means a lot early on. But now they have to combine. Not ready to be teammates, yet suddenly they are.

          One of the ways to promote that feeling of ‘community’ is to bring these kids together for a meal once a week. Also a good idea. Boys that age can really put the groceries away. The decision was made to bring the kids and their families together, once a week, for a meal. Done as a carry in, different adults bring various foods. The only thing they really needed was a place to have this feed. The first place was at the school, but that just felt like school. So the next one was at Bachelor Creek Church of Christ. The next week was at the Yoke. We set up enough tables and chairs for sixty four. Remember, it was the players and their families. I would guess fifty five or fifty six came. All kinds of food, all kinds of good smells. After we had set up the tables and chairs, Ed thought it would be nice to give something to the kids as a gift. He dug out some small wooden crosses that had gone to Whites in the past. We needed fifteen, which we had. That would be a nice gift.    

          When they all got to the church, I welcomed them, talked just a bit (yes, I know, you can’t believe I talked for just a couple of minutes…..but that is the truth) and had prayer with them for the meal. I retreated to my office and it sounded like they were having a great time. I did notice that none of the boys sat with their families. They all sat together. Maybe the ‘community’ thing works.

          After it was over, everyone cleaned the place up. By 7:30 I was on my way home. But I was sad. I just hadn’t expected it.

          Three were left behind.

          On the island countertop in Fellowship Hall were three of the crosses we had given out. In a sense, they had been ‘returned.’ I was actually startled. I know some of you are thinking, so what? No big deal. Those kids didn’t want them. And maybe you are right. But…..

          I don’t know why they were left, but clearly, they were not wanted. However, there was a time when a child was taught that when an adult gave them something, they kept it. Maybe you had no use for it, but it was at least polite to keep the gift. You get it home and you let it fall behind your dresser. Maybe you don’t see it again until you move out. But you at least take it with you. That is an old-fashioned thought, I know. Now we tend not to teach our children common manners. Just isn’t done. But even as a child and growing up in a very rough home, I was respectful of a cross.

          But there is also another possibility as to why the crosses were returned, other than bad manners. The parents were there. Did the parents of those children tell them they couldn’t have the crosses? Were the parents offended by the crosses? It is certainly possible. If the cross is a small piece of jewelry, it is OK. A little necklace or maybe on a pendant or an earring. Then it is, well, lovely. But more and more people are offended when the cross is presented in a way that recalls the sacrifice of Jesus. We don’t want to see it any longer than needed. A cross on or in a church is fully acceptable so long as it is made of shiny brass or polished wood, but a cross that is rough is offensive. I wondered if the parents were the ones who told their children to return the crosses. And if so, did they cringe when they walked past a rough and rugged cross to enter the church?          

    For whatever reason the crosses were returned, it is symptomatic of the problems in society. If the message of the cross is not taught or, worse, ridiculed, what chance does society have to prosper? We are turning to philosophies that take God out of the equation. We don’t need Him in government, schools, entertainment, sports…we don’t need Him in our churches. Churches all over the country are fussing over things that are plain and clear in the Scripture. And it is insidious. Judy Eltzroth asked an interesting question at Bible Study one night. She asked when was it that, in the Bible, they quit capitalizing the pronouns that referred to God. As in His kingdom come. Now it is his kingdom come. Even in the later versions and editions of the Word, the effort is made to diminish the Father. So now, we sing The Old Rugged Cross, but we do not want it around us.

          The Apostle Paul wrote the Book of First Corinthians to correct wrong thinking. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach^] to save those who believe. ²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

          Three were left behind.

          When I think of the cross and what happened there, it causes my heart to swell with love and amazement. God so loved us that He sent His Son to die that horrible death. The ruggedness, the ugliness of the cross will never offend me. A delicate little gold cross on a gold chain or set in an earring does offend me. It was never meant to be a decoration. It was meant to be a reminder.

          Could it be that there were three left behind because we Christians have failed to reach the Youth or the parents of Youth? Imagine a life in which the cross is distained.

          Three were left behind and my heart broke.