the great fall.

Upon searching the online dictionary for a definition for "nation", the first result was as follows: "A large body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or to possess a government peculiarly its own." Would you allow me the liberty of changing that definition? Because if it was up to me, I would say that a nation is a large body of people, associated with a particular territory, that is sufficiently conscious of its unity to seek or possess a security peculiarly its own. Every country wants to be safe physically, financially, materialistically. When any of those things are jepoardized in the least, the citizens begin to panic. The world needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, I'm no politician; I don't have a strategic plan that will solve all of the international issues that are going on. But I know that the world needs Jesus.

In the movie Hotel Rwanda, which portrays some of the horror of the genocide in Rwanda, the following dialogue occurs:
"I am glad that you have shot this footage and that the world will see it. It is the only way we have a chance that people might intervene."
"Yeah and if no one intervenes, is it still a good thing to show?"
"How can they not intervene when they witness such atrocities?"
"I think if people see this footage they'll say, 'Oh my God that's horrible,' and then go on eating their dinners."

Sadly, that UN cameraman hit the nail on the head. I can't even count how many times that exact thing has happened in my own house, and I'm ashamed to say that. We've grown so numb to what is taking place right now, this very minute, in the other countries of our world. We've almost brainwashed ourselves to believe that our personal, familial, national security is the only priority. And heaven forbid that it be tampered with! Listen, I'm not here to say that every country should just cease its proctection. I'm trying to make the point that when we are so consumed with ourselves and our own fears, we watch people die, starve, kill, get killed, suffer, and the list goes on. What would happen in a world in which people's security lay in something that was not of this world? What if people placed their lives in the hands of Jesus Christ? What if people did not fear those who can harm the body, but the One who can harm the soul? I believe that, if people allowed the gospel to shape their lives, they would realize that we were not created for this world. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, we are souls and we have bodies. We are eternal creatures that live in a temporal world. What if we began to risk our own security to ensure the security of others? And what does that look like? I'm not exactly sure, but I'm fairly certain it requires more that money. As Christians, people know what we're against. But do they know what we stand for? And if they do know, is it because they've heard us talk about it, or becaues they've seen us do something about it? I think that, oftentimes, we spend so much time talking and even sending money, that we forget that we have been called into action to help those in need. I understand that not everyone is physically capable of going to a scene of injustice, but I definitely think that there should be more Christians on the front lines of what's going on in our world.

Our world needs Jesus. The nations need to place their security in the promises of the gospel. More Christians need to be risking their own security for that of others who are suffering. I know that "Jesus" is the sterotypical Sunday school answer, but I can't see this world being fixed without that solution.