Haiti, the Gospel, and the American Dream

As I write this, I, like most of the world have been witnessing the devestation in Haiti. We have been watching the rescue efforts, hearing reports of mass graves, of untold thousands who have died and vanished, and praying.

Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have been pouring out their prayers, their sympathy and sending in money to help the people of Haiti.

In the United States, there has been mixed reaction to this devestation. While most people have been asking themselves "what can we do?", there have been others who have used this event as an opportunity to spread hatred and attempt to politicize this disaster.

First we had Pat Robertson who suggested that this event had occurred because the Haitian people had made a 'pact with the devil' and now God was bringing to bear his wrath. Rev. Robertson is truly entitled to his opinion, and as a pastor, I can see what he was trying to say, but his unfortunate choice of words have led few to believe that the Haitians, 'had it coming.'

Then some prominent American conservatives thinkers, among them Rush Limbaugh, suggested that we had spent too much money on Haiti and that instead of sending any more money to Haiti, we needed to spend it here. From a political point of view, I can see thier point. And I would agree that the answer to this catastrophe does not lie with the American government. It lies with the church.

These tragic events in Haiti remind us of the potential of disaster at any moment. This tragedy could have happened in California or Hawaii, or Europe, or Africa...but it didn't. It happened in Haiti, a tiny nation that has reeled from one disaster to another. We could spend time asking, 'why there...' or 'why not here,' but such questions would be pointless. It happened.

The only question worth asking is: "what will we do now?"

As Christians, this answer is very easy, "Whatever we can!" While each individual Christian may not go to Haiti or even contribute to the relief effort, we as the Church have a responsibility to make sure we are present in the effort to save lives and to rebuild Haiti.

Here is an opportunity for us to see the Gospel in action and an opportunity to share God's Love and God's Word with people who may not know it. If the Church ignores Haiti at this point, it will be a tragedy beyond the power of any 'pact with the devil.'

The Gospel is about God rebuilding His world. He restores fellowship with people through the atoning death of his Son Jesus Christ. Those who turn in faith to Jesus are saved from the penalty of their sin and have the privilige of not only sharing the Good News with others, but also of helping to demonstrate God's kingdom here on earth.

Jesus was not really interested in protecting one country's wealth at the expense of anothers. Jesus is not interested to see one person become wealthy while others starve. Jesus was about taking care of others in need (Luke 10:25-37).

We can look at what is happening in Haiti and either give into despair or look to God in hope. I believe that this is a time when the Church must put the gospel into action. We must ignore the rantings of Pat Robertson and the narrow interest of the American wealth, and, as the Church, reach out to Haiti and offer them the true love of the God as well as the true Word of God.

What the World Needs Most

A couple of years ago, at a Bible Study, I was asked by a member, "How can we make the world a better place?"

That's a big question and needs a big answer. I thought for a moment and said to myself, "what does the world need most?"

The answer, as I see it, is that the world needs Christians to be...well...Christians. When we analyze it, we don't need big social programs, we don't need a new cause to rally behind, we don't need a new army.

We need the church to be the church.

It may be hard to believe, but we don't need a new megachurch or a new parachurch. We don't need a new Bible study, a new program, or even a new book (the one we've got is pretty good).

We need Christians to be full followers, totally committed, completely entranced followers of Jesus Christ.

Jesus calls us to a new way of life. John Piper excellently describes the choice in his book Don't Waste Your Life (www.desiringgod.org). We can live a me-centered life, which is sadly what many people, including believers choose, or we can live a Christ-centered life. Jesus calls us out of the world, to send us back into the world, to love sinners and walk with those who are dying, to visit those who are in prison, to care for the widows and the orphans and to give our lives completely to enjoying God through giving our life completely over to Him.

Imagine for a second a world in which Christians live like Christians. Again, I am not talking about a large movement. I am talking about individual Christians living like individual Christians.

When Jesus walked on the earth, He did not call countries to follow after Him. He did not talk about structures of society. He did not tell us to get involved in political action groups. He called people...individuals to come and follow him (Mark 1:16-20). He was issuing a call to Israel, to be sure, but Israel as it was composed of individuals. The same is true for the Hebrew prophets. When the prophets confronted sin like Amos confronted the impoverished conditions of Israel (Amos 4:1-3), he did not suggest that they form a committee. Rather his call was to "seek me and live" (Am 5:5). His call was for individuals to live by God's commands, and in this way the world would be changed.

Let's take an example, racism. Racism is a pervasive problem in ours and most cultures. Racism has led to genocide, war, slavery, rape, and murder. The issue is spiritual, as all issues are (Romans 3:9ff). I hate people who are different than me because I've set up myself as my own God. But when I begin to understand and love and follow God more, who created all types of people and for whom there is neither "Jew nor Greek..." (Gal 3:28). The more Christians live up to this idea, the less the problem becomes for society as a whole. Imagine if individual Hutus and Tutsis could live under this ideal. When the cries of hate came, they could be silenced by love. Or imagine if the church in the United States had given itself over to this idea of love, Sunday might not be the most segregated day of the week.

The same is true for a whole host of issues: poverty, AIDS, cancer, abortion. If Christians would stand and be Christians, then these issues would not be as great as they are.

The problem with this is that's hard. The type of life Jesus calls his disciples to a life of disicpleship, to growing in the faith and to putting Him above all. This is hard. It was Charles Spurgeon who warned us that "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and left untried." It's meant to be hard. Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned a generation about 'Costly Grace.' Can you imagine how different Germany's history would have been if the majority of individuals in the church had lived up to God's ways.

When I settled my answer, the person who asked the question was completely aghast. How could I suggest a thing when all they wanted was a simple program or thing they could be involved with.

I wonder if I have the courage to give the world what it needs the most?