On Critical Habitats, Music in Concentration Camps, and People Who Love You

Some things are worth fighting for, and (spoiler alert) I think the "church" is one of them.

As I walked through my local marsh today, I saw a sign that made me pause:

Some of the animals in the marsh have been negatively impacted by people walking through the trails.

I immediately felt a mixture of emotions — gladness that others are working behind the scenes to protect our vulnerable animals and sadness that there is a need for this type of work in the first place.

Some things, I pondered as I walked, really are worth protecting. Some things are worth fighting for.

Francesco Lotoro, an Italian composer and pianist, has spent the past 30 years recovering, performing, and finishing pieces of work composed by the Jewish people in Nazi concentration camps. According to a CBS “60 Minutes” interview, Lotoro has cataloged and collected more than 8,000 pieces of music, including symphonies, operas, folk songs, and gypsy tunes, some written on toilet paper with dysentery medication. To date, he has brought to life more than 400 works that were created in the concentration camps.

Lotoro is helping to continue the legacy of many of the Jews who perished, resurfacing their humanity and dignity.

That music, which captures the hearts and souls of so many Jewish people — is worth protecting. It is worth fighting for.

Jesus likewise saw something here on earth worth protecting and worth fighting for. You. His church.

When we fight for something, however, it is rarely easy or simple. Helping to “ensure wildlife success” requires me to stay within certain boundaries. Lotoro piecing together the works of the Jewish people in concentration camps requires endurance: “For the time being,” Lotoro says, “I only see this as expensive, difficult, at times discouraging.” Still, he concludes, “it has to be done until the end.”

When Jesus saw that we were worth fighting for, he knew it was enormously costly — it was a sacrifice of his life and his fellowship with his beloved Father.

Some things, however, are worth fighting for. Let me pivot this to the church.

There are many reasons people have left the church and some of these come down to priorities of time, resources, and how we think about church.

My life is so busy; I don’t have time.
I have YouTube; I get my teaching online.
The church feels irrelevant in today’s world.

In a later post I can expand on each of these reasons, but today I want to make a case that “church” really is worth fighting for.

Deviating for a Sec: What Is Church?

Allow me to broaden your definition of “church” as you read on. Without this caveat, we cannot come to the right conclusion. A “church” isn’t a building with a steeple and a bunch of holy people. A “church” isn’t a collection of songs and readings. A “church” isn’t watching a service online, alone.

A “church” is a people who follow Jesus. A church is as big as the entire global population who have trusted in Jesus and as few as two who join together in earnest, gentle prayer.

In Mark 11, as Jesus looked around the temple (a symbol for “church” in that day), anticipating his arrest, beating, death, and resurrection less than a week later, he was likely thinking about his “church.” Perhaps he was considering the ways it had fallen so far from grace and yet still contained remnants of followers who wanted desperately to know he was the Savior who would change the world.

These people, he deduced, were worth fighting for. But, of course, this would have to be done at great cost.

Is Church Worth Fighting For? Spoiler Alert: Yes.

Let me be honest for a minute. At the start of 2024, I had a plan and my daughter was very excited about it. I was going to start a YouTube channel called “Old Lady Wisdom” and post daily shorts with a quick thought for the day. Think Regina Brett, Bob Ross, or Kate Bowler. But way cheesier and not nearly as deep.

I was ready to hit “Record” on those first shorts, but God prompted me towards this blog instead. I will get to the Old Lady Wisdom, but this… this whole finding faith again thing… is worth fighting for. This needed to come first because it’s too important not to.

I cannot confidently tell you that heading back to your local church is worth fighting for if you have been hurt or rejected there. I will not tell you that you must fight for a structured local church setting. Maybe.

Here’s what I can tell you with 100% certainty: you must fight for “church,” for people.

I have a confession to make. I have a number of friends who are much holier than I am. They pray more, they read their Bibles and study more, and they definitely exemplify more fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) than I do! I feel simultaneously deficient and grateful. They make me feel convicted and they push me to be a better version of myself.

Some may not call these people “church,” but I do. We don’t sing together. We don’t celebrate communion together. But we do life together. They are readily available to me at any point, and I to them, and at no point (at least to my knowledge!) do any of us feel burdened or overwhelmed when we need each other. We feel honored. We point each other to Jesus in a multitude of mysterious and beautiful ways.

This is worth fighting for — a community, however large or small it may be — that you can walk through life with.

A community — however large or small it may be — that you can walk through life with is worth fighting for.

But perhaps you don’t have this! 😢

You are the widow, the orphan, the child, the outcast, the leper, the injured, or the blind man who walks the road alone. The man attacked by robbers thousands of years ago can relate to you! (See the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.) The priest passed. The Levite passed. All hope was lost. But someone finally stopped. Someone finally saw that this broken man was worth protecting, worth fighting for.

Praise Jesus for that Samaritan man!

An Attempt to Sum This Up

I can’t tell you that you will find this kind of community in a local church context. But you might. You might find it in a support group, or with neighbors, or in a book club, or as you volunteer. You might already have it without knowing it.

This kind of “church” is what all of us need. It’s the kind that is available when you need prayer. It’s the kind that will go through a book of the Bible with you. And the kind that will remind you that YOU are worth fighting for, YOU are worthy of being loved.

Who is this for you? Who can it be for you? If you are looking for this kind of community, email me. I would love to be that for you. And who knows? Maybe if there are enough of us, we will build a community together.

Much love to you,

💚 Laurie