I was nearly–but not quite–offended when a friend from another state, a place that has received a lot of our residents, said, “Of course, our people do not have the tolerance for corruption Louisiana residents have.” I started to argue that we don’t tolerate it; in fact we put the crooks in jail–a half dozen judges from the New Orleans area in the past couple of years. And we must have some honest leaders, otherwise they would never have been exposed. But I kept quiet. And with good reason, it turns out.

We truly have some weird, weird politicians down here. Take this instance….

Friday’s Times-Picayune, front page, the chief of the New Orleans Harbor Police, Robert Hecker, is in trouble because he did his job. As the storm was raging, waters rising, Chief Hecker and his people were saving stranded citizens from rooftops, bringing them to shelter, doing the kind of heroic work every law enforcement officer trains for and lives for. Suddenly, Hecker gets an order from his boss, Director of Port Safety and Security Cynthia Swain, telling his to close up shop and get his people out of town for their own safety. Hecker was horrified. His spokesman said, “It’s mind-boggling. You don’t send away police officers in a time of crisis.” So, Hecker did a truly courageous thing.

He defied orders. He told his men what the boss had ordered and gave each permission to make their own decisions. But he stayed on the job, as did most of the others. And for that little bit of insubordination, Chief Hecker is in trouble. Swain has brought in the state attorney general’s office which is investigating him for malfeasance.

Makes you want to pull your hair out. Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard ordered the pump operators out of the parish at the critical hour, for their safety, he says, resulting in wide-spread flooding in some areas which cost zillions of dollars, and the citizens continue to be up in arms about his decision. The harbor police stay on the job and save lives and get in trouble.

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like this home.

On Thursday, I met with the Directors of Mission who work with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. They gathered in a hotel room near Love Field in Dallas, and we told them about New Orleans. Several had already been over here to see first-hand what Katrina hath wrought and others will be coming, then bringing in teams of volunteers. The BGCT has sent us $300,000 to use locally in assisting churches to help their members. Someone asked why I went to Dallas. I said, “A friend gives you $300,000; you want to go say thank-you in person!”

On Friday, some of us gathered in Nashville at the Lifeway headquarters to brainstorm on how to help our ministers and their families deal with what they have been through and are going through, as well as what is before them. Sometime after the first of the year, we expect to invite these servants of the Lord to some sessions to share together and learn from others who have been there/done that in similar tragedies.

Wednesday night, while waiting for my plane, I noticed that although it was only 8 o’clock, the airport seemed deserted. I asked a Southwest employee, “Is this because so many people have left the New Orleans area, and there are fewer people flying?” She was ready for me. “No, it’s because the idiots who run this airline think the city is dead and no one lives here any more! They don’t have a clue that this airline and this airport serve Jefferson Parish and St. Tammany Parish and hundreds of thousands of people around here–who are alive and well and need transportation!” The numbers tell the story. “Before the storm, Southwest had 57 flights a day out of New Orleans. Now, we have 5. And they’re all packed. Next Monday, we’re getting 8 more planes, and they’re already full. You find yourself wishing someone in the front office would get outside and come see what’s going on here.”

Get outside and see. That’s the invitation we’ve been extending to Baptist leaders all over the country. You need to see first-hand, so you can go back home and decide what to do.

I’ve been calling on several of our churches every Sunday morning, and nothing thrills me any more than finding the pastors standing outside, greeting people, welcoming strangers, serving as their own host committees. No one can do it better than the pastor. In many cases, he will find himself accomplishing more great counseling and witnessing in 15 minutes on the doorsteps than in a week in his office.

They asked the Lord Jesus where He was staying. “Come and see,” He said. Good, good advice.