COMMUNAL RESPONSIBILITY TO TACKLE DRUG ISSUES

Let's picture the problem of drugs like a huge ocean liner, perhaps like
the ship that was out of control in the movie Speed 2.

To steer the ship, you adjust the trim tab, which in turn adjusts the large
rudder, and as a result the entire ship changes course.

The point is that addressing the problem of drugs is complex and demands
the attention of every facet of a community.

How decisions that we take for granted feed the problem might not be
obvious, just as the trim tab is not an obvious part of the ship.

One facet of the drug trade is spiritual.

Money is a useful, powerful and potentially dangerous tool. The love of
money is at the root of all kinds of evil.

If we ignore God or relegate Him to life's bottom shelf, money becomes a
spiritually powerful force, guiding decisions and undermining moral authority.

Since selling drugs to kids is profitable, there will always be someone to
market them.

Therefore, renewed focus on God in prayer and daily faith will adjust the
trim tab of the drug problem, but there is more.

We need to take steps to move away from being a drop-off society. Churches,
schools and government social agencies can all contribute to this change.

The church feels successful when we convince parents to let us teach their
children spiritual and moral values.

We have delegated too much responsibility to schools to educate our
children when we drop them off. Of course these institutions should
continue to do this, while working to empower parents to be more proactive
and involved in the spiritual development and education of the children.

Financial demands, work stress and fatigue lead parents to disengage in the
development of their kids and drop them off for others to care for.

Parents need encouragement and support while they take on the issues of
building character in their families.

Someone will say, "Yes, it's all in how the kid was parented," but that is
true, only if children are puppets rather than human beings with wills.

An African proverb says, "It takes a whole village to raise a child." A
third adjustment to the trim tab concerns taxation. A family with two
parents who work will pay less tax than a family where one parent works,
earning the same amount of money as the family in which both parents earn.

Moreover, while government moves toward a national child care plan,
families in which one parent prefers to stay home and be available to the
children will not benefit.

While law enforcers continue to face the problem on the front line, they
need to know that the rest of us are stepping up to turn this ship around.
"You do not have, because you do not ask," the Bible says.

God cares about our families and the future of our community.

Beyond stepping up, we need to kneel down. Backed by prayer, the community
can turn the ship around.