nothing is yet in its true form

Last night (April 29) I took part in a worldwide event called the Global Night Commute. The even was a unified movement to help raise awareness for the Invisible Children, the child refugees of Northern Uganda who live in fear of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a cultic militia who abducts and brainwashes children between the ages of five and twelve for use as sex slaves and child soldiers. In over 130 cities, internationally people walked to designated sites and slept outside to stand in support of the Invisible Children of Uganda who are forced to walk every night into city centers in an attempt to avoid capture. Last night I got very little sleep, but I had a lot of time to think about not only the commute and the plight of the refugees in Uganda, but also the world as a whole.

I stand in full support of the Invisible Children organization and their mission, but I also am fully aware that they are not the only people working to fight against injustice, poverty, hunger, disease, and all the other problems that face the world today. In fact, anytime I see or hear about what is going on in the world, I find myself overwhelmed by the problems, the pains, and most of all the urgent need for action. It would be easy to just say, “The world has too many problems for me to deal with,” and just do nothing, but I believe this is unacceptable. When I read Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40 I feel called to action by His words when He says, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me. (NASB)” I feel that as a follower of Christ, I have no choice, but to make the plight of others my struggle as well.

To me the Bible is amazingly clear that we as Christians are not to stand idly by while the world deteriorates around us. The Apostle James tells us, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 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? (James 2:15-16)” I know that in my own selfish and lazy attitudes I would love to just say, “Yes I will commit to pray for those who need help around the world.” It is not that prayer is not needed (in fact I think it is needed more than we even know), but urgency and action are required to bring the change we wish to see. Jesus tells us that the second greatest commandment is to “Love your neighbor” (Matthew 22:39) and how can we do truly do that without sacrificing something? I believe love has a volitional component that is to say, true love requires a sacrifice. If a man vows to marry his wife, he shows his love to his wife by promising not to have any other wives. There is clearly a sacrifice made. Jesus tells us what the greatest sacrifice of love is in John 15:13 when He tells us, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

I could go on and on with Bible verses about how we are called to love, serve, and sacrifice, but the point is pretty clear. The question we now are forced to ask is, “What do we do now?” It is a very good question indeed. Volunteer to help serve food at a homeless shelter, commit to sponsor a child through WorldVision or some other child sponsorship agency, go visit elderly folks at nursing homes, help spread the word about the Invisible Children, the International Justice Mission, or donate blood. We have so much potential, so much money, and so much time, but we do so little with it all. We need to stop doing nothing and start doing something. Lately I have been thinking about what it truly means for Christians to be referred to as the Body of Christ. If our goal is to be as much like Jesus as possible then we need to try to serve like He served and love like He loved. Mother Teresa once said, “It is a kingly act to assist the fallen.” Luckily, for us, we have the most kingly example of all to follow, Jesus, the King of Kings himself.

Having said all this I will admit that I find myself often discouraged by how much work there is to be done, and how much trouble the world is in. But I take hope in one thing. It is not up to us to save the world, we are not the ones who have to do the work, but it is Christ in us. We are not the savior of the world, but we serve the One who is. It is not us to win the battle, but we sure as hell can try. We only follow behind the one who has already told us, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”