The Right Choice Revealed

There's been a lot of buzz about the iPad.  Some people love it, some people hate it, some people are disappointed.  I'm in the "love it" camp.  It turned out to be everything I hoped it would be (maybe with the exception of the missing camera for iChat or Skype) and the price came in way below what I had expected.

I watched a live blog of the introduction and I got more and more excited about the iPad as the presentation went on.  When I saw the $499 base price I was ready to order.  I justified it as an expensive birthday present.  Had the Apple web store been ready to go at that moment, I would have had one on order.  But they are not available for purchase yet (I think they still need to get their FCC regulatory approvals), so all I could do was sign up for the e-mail that would tell me when I could order.

Slightly disappointed, I moved on to other things that day, one of which was watching Pastor Mark Driscoll discuss his recent trip to Haiti with Pastor James MacDonald to assess the damage in Haiti, specifically to churches there.




I was moved as I had been in previous days as I watched news coverage of the disaster, but I was moved in a new way as Driscoll described in vivid detail the growing problems and the troubles that were coming, both for the country as a whole and specifically for churches.

Images of a man pulling his brother from the rubble of a collapsed church.  A girl in a tent with open wounds on her face.  A man who was caring for his boys after losing his house and his wife in the earthquake.

I began to see how the church (as Driscoll communicated) was going to be key in the recovery of this nation and how it would also be an opportunity for these churches to share the gospel with thousands as they ministered to them.  But the churches are rubble, the pastors are dead, and the congregations are scattered.  Who is going to help these churches?  The aid organizations are (rightly) focused on food, water, and medical attention.  Who would help the church?  Only the church.

Then it struck me.  I'm part of the church.  As these people lie suffering with their city and their lives in ruins, I was ready to drop $500 without a bit of hesitation on glass and metal that would let me surf the web on my couch.  If I had $500 to drop on a toy, could I not give more to help these people?  Instead of a toy, my money could be used for things that would make a lasting difference in someone's life.  And possibly, that money would lead to a conversation that could make an eternal difference in someone's life.

A few days later I joined with others in my church and we collected over $3,000 for Churches Helping Churches, the organization MacDonald and Driscoll put together to help Haitian churches.  Others were moved to give money that would just go to buy coffee, or pizza, or a CD (things with fleeing benefit, like my iPad) and together we were able to make a difference in the lives of people who desperately need help.

I don't want this to turn into a post about how all material things are bad.  Down the road, I may end up with an iPad (maybe a refurbished one, or a 2nd generation one...with the camera), and I've certainly bought my share of coffee, pizzas, and CDs.  But at that moment in time, I had an opportunity, a choice to make.  I pray that God will continue to give me that kind of clarity in similar moments down the road, so that I might use the resources given to me by Him in such a way that I am always pleasing Him first.