What We Are For

'They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."'

                                                                                                  ~ Acts 1:11 


Every time I read the above passage, it reminds me that so many times those of us who are Christians just stand around watching.
It is as if we are expecting God to do something for us.

Well, He already did.

In sending His Son to die on a Cross for the sin of the world, God made a rather large and loving commitment.
The Christian is the one through whom God has now chosen to move through and touch the world with our hands.

And it is true...God does touch humanity through the hands of His people.

Nobody, not one person or group aside from those called 'Christians' have ever produced the monumental works of art, literature, music or statesmen.
Christianity has indeed contributed more to the world than any other faith, religion or people.

Yet, this is not what is thought of today in America when the term, Evangelical Christian is mentioned.

The reason is because the Spirit by which Michelangelo painted, 'The Creation of Adam' is often not seen locally through our lives.

Instead, often Christians act smugly and arrogantly toward those who are not like themselves.

Unfortunately, in this country, the word 'Evangelical' takes on a negative connotation, and the individual is defined by what they are against, rather than anything positive.

Yet, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which is the largest evangelical denomination in the world, spends more money and sends more people in North American and International missions than any other group.

Many things have been established in the United States because of evangelical Christians; perhaps society has forgotten since Christians have been shoved aside for the time being.
Let me remind you by taking a look to our foreign neighbors and what Evangelicals are doing elsewhere because we are the only people breathing hope into hopeless situations.

Around the globe today, Evangelicals are supplying water to parched lands, feeding the hungry and poor. There are millions of formerly illiterate who can now read because a Christian went to their village, learned their language and cared enough about them to teach them, feed them and clothe them out of God's Love in their heart.

Evangelicals have built hospitals, schools and roads in an effort to help heal the sick, nurse the dying and educate the ignorant; all the while creating access to once remote and distant regions.

And the result of this has been, unlike in America, the 'Evangelical' name is welcomed abroad.
If you go to any one of a number of foreign countries, there will a totally different set of feelings associated with the term 'Evangelical Christian' than what you would find in many of America's towns and cities.

The nature of the Gospel means that we must think of the whole person; not just the soul.
Yes, Scripture is sacred and blessed; but a homeless man can't understand and won't listen if he's hungry and cold.
As the Apostle James said:

15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead , being by itself.

                                                                                      ~ James 2:15-17 

On a side note, my Catholic friends are going to love the fact that I used the above verse; but any Christian with half a brain, of any stripe or flavor, will agree that it does no good to ask a person to believe and not have the good works of Christ to show him and help him believe.
Another way of saying it:

"How can I worship a homeless person on Sunday and ignore one on Monday?"

                                                                               ~ Shane Clairborne

You see, true faith is about loving our neighbors, regardless as to what our neighbors believe or how they act.
The truth is that every Christian believed in something before they believed in Christ and no Christian acted like a Christian before faith.

Often we hear of Christians wanting to 'take back' America; well, that's fine and dandy.
But my friend, I will tell you that the world doesn't listen anymore to words like they did 100 years ago; today, the world watches our deeds and then they will listen to our words.
Therefore, we must act like our Savior so that others will listen to the words of the Savior.

As the Apostle Paul once said, 'Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.'
But the Christian must be believed before he can be heard.
And they believe us through watching what we do.

You know what I've never seen in my life?
I have never seen a secular humanist organizing a group of people to give out hot meals to the hungry and hurting.

Which tells you who the people are that have the greatest shot at changing the world.
It's the Christian and His Lord.

Imagine a world where there is no poverty or homelessness.
A place where there are no divorces or unwanted children; there would be no discrimination or racism or violence.
All abuse would be gone, cheating would not exist and there would be no addictions of any kind in any way.
It would be a land where justice ruled the day and everybody worked for one common good.

That, my friend, is what we are for and is what we mean when we pray for God's Kingdom to come, '...On Earth as it is in Heaven.'

Christians, all of us, we must stop seeing ourselves as men and women journeying through life trying to get past the earth so that we can enjoy the reward in the next life.

No. No. No.

You live in the here and now.
We must see ourselves as settlers among and within a foreign culture.
A people dedicated to living life and dispensing God's grace to those who do not know what it means to be cared for or loved.

For they too are in need of Christ's redemption, and ultimately, that is what we are for - His redemption to as many people as we can reach.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.