Thinking about what motivates us...me...

I hear that a child does not have access to clean water, nutritious food, and a basic education. 

I have resources (hands & feet to serve, a relationship with the God of the Universe who can do anything and who has invited me to ASK him on behalf of others for his blessing and care, cash and a knowledge of reliable, well-run organizations who know how to provide those things) that could meet those needs.

Do I act or not? And why?

I hear that 1/3 of the language communities on earth do not have a single verse of the very Word of God in the language they understand.

I have resources (see above) that could meet those needs.

Do I act or not? 

I hear that thousands of women and children are bought and sold into the sex slave business each year.

I have resources. What do I do? Or not do?

I'm not feeling guilty this morning as I write this and don't intend to may you feel guilty as you read it. (What God intends for you is His work.) I am investing myself and my resources. I have made justice for the oppressed, freedom for the enslaved, and inclusion for the marginalized a priority. 

What I'm thinking about this morning is how different people I know who are investing themselves and their resources in Kindgom building, lifve-saving work around the world -- people who would also say that they have made these things (justice, freedom, inclusion) a priority in their own lives -- are doing so in such different ways. 

No individual can do it all. No individual is expected to do it all. That is, in fact, totally contrary to how God designed things. 

Together, however, the Church has the resources to do this work. As the body of Christ we are surely called to the mission of Christ, empowered by the Spirit of Christ and taught by the Word of Christ. Not individually, but as a whole, we march into hell and set the captives free. 

So I rejoice that, for example, in Uganda or India you can see expressions of the Church in local churches as well as through the work of of World Vision and Wycliffe and International Justice Mission. Whether the partnerships are focused or not, there is ONE God who binds us together in perfect unity in Christ. It really is a beautiful thing.