Focus on the FAMILY

I am wondering if we can have a discussion. It is a sensitive topic to many, so I am not sure we can handle it :) You need to promise to be nice, and listen to everyone. But I was made aware of a story yesterday that has really got me thinking. I will share it with you.
You all know of the company/ministry Focus on the Family. Led by Dr. James Dobson, they are out of Colorado Springs, CO. They are a huge faith based organization on the American evangelical scene. Yesterday they announced that they are about to lay off 20% of their company, or an estimated 202 jobs! WOW! How sad for these folks, and what a rough time of year for it.
Given our economic condition in America this in itself is not so big news, but the next part is what has folks up in arms. And it does make you think. These layoffs come after they just spent over half a million dollars in recent weeks to help defeat Prop 8 in California to ban gay marriage.
This is difficult to swallow. I see why it is important for folks to stand up to things they believe in. But, at the same time, what kind of message are they sending when they put 200 families out of work and income in order to throw money into such a campaign? Are they "focusing on families"? It certainly is not a message of love is it? I struggle with this, as I see both sides’ arguments. But if they had to throw that cash some way, couldn’t they have fed many a hungry person in California instead?
I just feel that we aren’t doing any good for the kingdom sometimes, when we think we are. I think of the old story about a stumbling, drooling drunk who gets on a city bus and sits next to a gospel preacher. The preacher immediately begins reading Bible verses out loud in a menacing voice towards the drunk, and then shouts, “brother, do you not know you are going to hell?!?” The drunk stands up, slaps his forehead and says “oh no, I got on the wrong bus again”. (insert cheesy laughter here) The point is that the drunk was not deterred by the man’s “evangelism”. My thought is maybe there is another way? MAYBE is the key word----what ya' think? But if this world needs to know it’s going to hell, then I say the way to tell them is by showing them heaven!..........rather than “yelling on a bus”.
I pray for the company and the many families losing jobs around our country. Let us be a brotherhood of love. I propose that we should not tell people that God loves them if we aren’t ready to love them ourselves. So…..God loves you! So what do you guys think? Let's talk.....nicely :)