Perspective

I went to a women’s conference this weekend and got my soul rocked a bit.  The guest speaker was Carolyn Custis James and she was fabulous.  I’ve not read any of her books yet, but after hearing her speak I am very anxious to do so.  Her passion is to mobilize Christian women for the body of Christ by communicating that women bear the image of God and were created to fight alongside our Christian brothers to see the kingdom of God come to this earth (…on earth as it is in heaven).  We talked a lot about the plight of women across the globe and how we need to open our eyes to the injustices taking place right under our nose; sex trafficking, extreme poverty, patriarchal societies, etc.  These injustices go against everything the kingdom of God stands for and they AFFECT US.  Because we were created in the image of God, we are called to reflect this image to the world and injustice is not the heart of God. 

After listening to the information this weekend, it’s hard not to feel guilty.  I was raised in a loving home, have a great education, have a wonderful husband who treats me as his equal, have great children, the list could go on and on.  Some days my biggest dilemma is figuring out what to serve for dinner!  I needed this weekend to reset my perspective.

So now I have a choice.  Do I sit here and fester in this guilt?  As easy as that might be, guilt is not the answer.  One, guilt is not the voice of God and two, it accomplishes nothing.  Guilt implies that I am not worthy of not having to suffer such injustices.  God does not think less of me because I’ve had an easier life compared to others.  He wants me to use my resources to restore His vision.  He wants me to understand that His gospel is not just a middle class gospel.  He wants to deepen my hatred of evil and injustice (the bible says that to fear the Lord is to hate evil).  He wants to spur my heart into action to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.  This is a high calling and one that cannot be accomplished without total reliance on the Holy Spirit. 

If I had lived during the time of slavery, Hitler’s reign, the civil rights movement, etc., it’s easy to say that I would have done something!  I would have been a voice that spoke out against such injustice.  But that was then so luckily there were people before me that did that.  But what about now?!?  There are 5 year old girls who are in Brothels right here in the United States.  There are teenagers in the US who are convinced to join “the game” and are sold into the world of sex trafficking.  Pornography is a rampant problem in our country (in the church as well) that is largely funding the sex trafficking industry.  There are women in other countries who are not allowed to show their face in public because their value is so demeaned in their culture.  There are single mothers who have to put their young children to work just to survive. 

So what do I do with all of this?  My heart has been sobered and burdened.  I don’t want my life to be based on seeking the next pleasure or comfort.  I don’t want to do the daily grind and spend the rest of my waking hours in front of the TV.  I want my life to matter.  When I stand before the Lord on judgment day, I don’t want to have to explain why my “uniform is clean” and why I didn’t get in the game and fight the good fight against the enemy.  Fighting the good fight does not mean that we all have to be missionaries, in charge of nonprofit organizations, or spear head the next great movement of God.  It simply means fighting for those around you until justice is restored.  It is fighting for the fatherless child across the street, the child in school who is being bullied, the single mother at work who is barely staying above the poverty line, the teen in your youth group who is on the verge of being kicked out of his house, the missionary who came and spoke at your church who is taking the gospel to a dangerous part of the world, sharing the whole gospel (salvation and restoration) with the co-worker who just left her abusive husband, the list could go on forever.  I want to be in the game and FIGHTING!