In a world that is overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness and thus, helplessness, what is Christ's ambassador to do? In a world that is trying to solve its problems with a total disregard for a man's soul . . . "But what will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"--what is His child to do? In a world experiencing its greatest famine--a famine for the hearing of the Word of God--starving for meaning and purpose but with no thirst for God, no desire to taste and see, what must the believer do? Men and women have such an unquenchable appetite for what can never fill them. Many give lip-service to the call for justice, but tell them justice will come only when they are willing to risk and sacrifice some of their own security and financial gains and see what the response will be then. Narcissism pervades our culture. What can we do? In a world where science tells us--and so we teach our children--that we live in a world without God, a world that spontaneously appeared without a known cause, and we are but products of time and chance--free will is an illusion, we are the puppets of natural selection--no "thoughts" of our own, no choices that are not predetermined and inescapable, no right or wrong. What can we do as His witnesses? Hopeless? Helpless? A bat can turn the world into total chaos. Hatred and haughtiness can be weapons of murder, and oppression can be ignored for centuries as a means to maintain my political power or because to address it, would interfere with my cash flow.
What must God's people do?
Cry out with Amos, "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." And by emphasizing--as Amos does--that righteousness is the foundation of justice, and that every truly righteous man cries out for it. The church and the believer must refuse to become--or to remain a captive--to the lie that it can become entangled in the world of politics without sacrificing its spiritual power and being blinded to the unrighteousness that is the bedrock of the pursuit of political power. The believer must live a righteous life--live by faith--do what is right in God's eyes with no regard for the consequences. The believer must live a life that radiates his hope. Hope in God. Life under the sun is hopeless unless He is at the center of it. And those who know that this life is not all there is, that faith in Christ assures a blessed hope, must hunger and thirst after righteousness, must live a life committed to holiness, overflowing with compassion for the poor and oppressed, motivated by a sorrowful joy that is others' centered, esteeming them better than themselves. And the believer must live a life of holy love dedicated to meeting physical needs with physical stuff and spiritual needs with spiritual "stuff" simultaneously.
Complete justice will not come until the King returns. Proximate justice must be the heart of every child of God--founded on righteous living, resting in a faith that does what is right confident in the loving and wise control of God over the outcome of each choice, enlivened by a living hope, empowered by the only Love that says "you matter to me more than I matter to me, and you matter to Him so deeply that He died for you that you might live by a confident faith that pleases Him, rests in the sure hope of eternal life, reflect a life that lifts up His love and draws others to Him. Hopeless? Never--I am in His hands, secure in His unconditional love. Helpless? Never--His Spirit lives within me--"I can do all things through Christ who is my strength."
"And now--right this very moment--we have faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love." Faith and hope for today to give our lives meaning and purpose and focus. Love for now, for today, to make Him known--and for all eternity. So live.
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