some thoughts before bedtime
I went to a retreat this weekend with about 40 of the men from Summit. The first night there, I had a discussion with a guy about Jesus and “social justice”. I really don’t know how we got on to this subject, but he went into what I would describe as a rant about how Jesus never called us to social action. I don’t know him and had never met him before that evening, but something about his tone and the heart behind what he was saying really bothered me. The rest of the evening I couldn’t get this conversation off my mind. It just seemed like a ludicrous point to make. Was he trying to make excuses for not getting out of his bubble to server others? Am I just as bad as this guy?
Earlier that day I had read an article about the International Justice Mission in Relevant. The guy who started it, Gary Haugen, got his Law degree from Harvard and then decided to start IJM. He did so after he had heard all these storied from Christian missionaries who would come back and tell of all the atrocities they would see, such as human trafficking. He uses the laws in these countries to prosecute those responsible. There are lawyers from all over the country that have quite their “successful” practices to server that ministry. It’s really a powerful story. They have made a huge impact all over the world. What if Gary had just taken his harvard law degree and started his own firm?
The first thing that came to my mind when I was talking with this guy was the verse from Matthew when the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus into telling them the most important of the commandments. He told them that the most important commandment was for us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Secondly, like the first, love our neighbors as ourselves. I think for us to truly love God like that, the Gospel must come alive inside of our hearts. If it comes alive in us, won’t we want to share it with others? Wont we want to server others? Won’t we want to stand up for the oppressed, for those who have no voice?
I think this verse from Luke 4:18 says a lot:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim year of the Lord’s favor.”
And this one from Matthew 9:12
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…..For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Do we get outside of our Christian bubble long enough to think about this? Should the Gospel not be accessible to everyone? Did Jesus not call us to preach a message of repentance to all people? Are we not to come along side those who are hurting with a loving, humble, kind, merciful, and serving heart? What about all the kids in Uganda who have to walk miles from all over into the city to sleep in huddles so that they don’t get kidnapped? And what about all those in Africa who are dieing of Aids and malaria every day when it is completely preventable? What about our next-door neighbor who is a single mom and can barely support her 3 kids?
As you can see, I got a little fired up. I know I am not perfect and most of the time I fail miserably and serving those around me. I by no means have it all figured out and I don’t want to be a hypocrite here on my soapbox. We aren’t all called to drop everything and move to Africa, but we do have a responsibility here in our daily lives to glorify God. Part of that is being the hands of feet of Christ in our daily lives, not just sitting here content the norm living the American “dream”.
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." Matthew 11:28-30
Earlier that day I had read an article about the International Justice Mission in Relevant. The guy who started it, Gary Haugen, got his Law degree from Harvard and then decided to start IJM. He did so after he had heard all these storied from Christian missionaries who would come back and tell of all the atrocities they would see, such as human trafficking. He uses the laws in these countries to prosecute those responsible. There are lawyers from all over the country that have quite their “successful” practices to server that ministry. It’s really a powerful story. They have made a huge impact all over the world. What if Gary had just taken his harvard law degree and started his own firm?
The first thing that came to my mind when I was talking with this guy was the verse from Matthew when the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus into telling them the most important of the commandments. He told them that the most important commandment was for us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Secondly, like the first, love our neighbors as ourselves. I think for us to truly love God like that, the Gospel must come alive inside of our hearts. If it comes alive in us, won’t we want to share it with others? Wont we want to server others? Won’t we want to stand up for the oppressed, for those who have no voice?
I think this verse from Luke 4:18 says a lot:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim year of the Lord’s favor.”
And this one from Matthew 9:12
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick…..For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Do we get outside of our Christian bubble long enough to think about this? Should the Gospel not be accessible to everyone? Did Jesus not call us to preach a message of repentance to all people? Are we not to come along side those who are hurting with a loving, humble, kind, merciful, and serving heart? What about all the kids in Uganda who have to walk miles from all over into the city to sleep in huddles so that they don’t get kidnapped? And what about all those in Africa who are dieing of Aids and malaria every day when it is completely preventable? What about our next-door neighbor who is a single mom and can barely support her 3 kids?
As you can see, I got a little fired up. I know I am not perfect and most of the time I fail miserably and serving those around me. I by no means have it all figured out and I don’t want to be a hypocrite here on my soapbox. We aren’t all called to drop everything and move to Africa, but we do have a responsibility here in our daily lives to glorify God. Part of that is being the hands of feet of Christ in our daily lives, not just sitting here content the norm living the American “dream”.
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. "For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." Matthew 11:28-30
Comments
Awesome post. I think you are right on. For another example, look at Luke 6:35. Here, Jesus calls us to loan money to people even when we know they cannot pay us back.
AS
I've just tapped into the Summit webring. I feel like there should be a secret handshake.
I'll take a stab at what I think the guy might have been talking about. C.S. Lewis talked about the temptation to create "Christianity and ___." (Screwtape Letters, ch. 25). Rather that focusing on Christ, Christianity is co-opted with a social cause. This happens a lot in liberal churches where the church doesn't really care if you believe only in Christ and go to hell, but they do preach that Christ would back this social cause to help people. Christ is no longer King of the Universe, but a "misaligned Galilean peasant" who was a good guy and tried to help everybody.
I know this is brief, but that's all the time I have. Later!