This was the cry of a young hispanic male in the movie “blood in blood out” making a grim portrait about gang life in LA. It is interesting to note that these young gangbangers are willing to do anything to defend the honor of their colors (wich is a gang tatoo, and a bandana of various colors depending on the gang). While we as Christians sometimes seem ashamed of even telling others that we belong to a church.
The gang culture offers a familly for kids coming from broken homes, protection for kids who are bullied, identity for kids who are lost, and confidence for kids who lack. And the symbol of all this that they cling to is their colors, the small piece of clothing or the tatoo that proves that they are indeed part of a bigger picture, that they matter to someone!
When we in our middle class corpse discuss the SA uniform it seems we are forgetting whom we are called to reach. The fatherless and the lost the ones lost without identity and self respect. These teenagers need the outward sign of the inward conviction, they need to be recognized by others as members of something larger, something better, something worth dying for and perhaps in most cases something worth living for!’
The Guardian Angel uniform (Se previous post) spoke to young people who would have joined a gang, instead they joined ours. A gang that would give them positive skills, like defusing anger, mediating conflict, self respect and self control. Are we not called as the SA to reach these young people are we not required to use every trick of the book and every tool we have to appeal to them?
The uniform will give them the mark of approval, the outward sign of their inner conviction, the identity of belonging to an army that will change the world. It will be a constant reminder that every day they are part of a bigger picture, they belong to a familly, someone cares what happens to them. It will be something to die for, Something to live for!