Wednesday, May 31, 2006

What Will We Tell Jesus?

Ez.33:6 - But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
Go ahead and argue about its origins. A widespread polio vaccine grown in monkeys in the 1950's was involved. We know it came from monkeys and was spread disproportionately by gay men in North America, but it originated and was spread in Africa by heterosexual sex. That conversation is now moot and self righteous on some level. Now listen to the situation today.
7000 Africans die every day of AIDS. Now compare that with the 1500 total people that died in New Orleans because of Katrina. Compare that with the 150,000 people that died in the tsunami. The number of people that die of AIDS in Africa in one month eclipses that number. The 200,000 monthly AIDS deaths in Africa leave some 100,000 orphans behind. Some are infected and some are not. Many Africans believe that having sex with a virgin will cure you and so there are hundreds of thousands of rapes of girls all the way down to 8 years old take place every year. Not only does that traumatize the girl, it usually infects her.
The physical death of an AIDS infected person is one of the most excruciating anyone can imagine. In Africa most AIDS infected persons are rejected by their families due to superstitions, as a matter of fact most Africans refer to them as "sick people" rather than admitting what they have. They die alone and in unbelievable pain.
Now aside from the indescribable horror of their physical deaths, the Spiritual implications are mind boggling. 7000 people die and go to a Christless eternity every day. Since their families abandon them, they are wide open to someone coming to help them. The government is so overwhelmed with the disease that they don't care if you preach Popeye to them as long as you give them water, sheets, and general help. It is the largest and most wide open mission field in history. Most are not Muslim and they have Bibles in their language. The only segment of the body of Christ that is equipped to reach them is the American evangelical church. We have the people, we have the money, we have the transportation, and basically God has made us the stewards of His resources to use for His kingdom. The wealth we have is for His use not ours.
If the American church stopped spending the billions on new buildings, individually lived well below their means, and made reaching these helpless people the major focus of their calling we might be able to "rescue the perishing". We are content with conferences, books, tapes, buildings, houses, clothes, restaurants, entertainment, Christian cruises, and many other cultural entrapments. Even while we speak out against the doctrinal falling away in its many forms we must open our eyes to the Spiritual holocaust. Nehemiah's workers carried both a hammer and a sword.
Now I wonder, what will we tell Jesus when He asks us "Why did you lay up for yourselves the treasure I specifically told you not to?". "How often did you weep for the perishing?" Why did you peruse the internet on a 50 to 1 to prayer ratio?" "Why did you let the unsaved rock stars show more compassion?" "Where were the all night prayer meetings to bring down my power?" "Why did you cry at seeing portrayals of my Son's death but it did not move you to sacrificial acts of ministry?" "Why did you read this article and still do nothing?"

What will we tell Him...

5 comments:

Rick Frueh said...

Robbo - obviously my article was not for you. My stats are based on the UN AIDS statistics that over 2 million Aficans die of AIDS yearly. Those stats are conservative. Who cares about the churches being built in Africa, they are mirrors of American Christianity. Years ago we started a missionary organization to Africa, but so what, that doesn't absolve us from seeing the greater need!. I agree with your final paragraph that means we all need a massive revival. PTL-Rick

Rick Frueh said...

The two other comments are perfect examples of what I was saying. We can find all sorts of excuses for our lack of urgency. We can argue HIV vs AIDS, we can argue theology, we can soothe our concious with all sorts of reasons but the bottom line is there is no urgency otherwise known as we don't care. You want to see an American Christian get upset and really care? Let someone break into his house and steal $1000.00 and the whole family will care for months. Forget about the AIDS if you want, we are lethargic about people dying without Christ - period. But in these last days we are presented with incredible challenges that require incredible sacrifice. Come to think about it the early apostles and their wild abandonment about reaching the world for Christ was way out of line. Aren't we glad we've settled in to a much more reasonable and painless Christianity?

Anonymous said...

You said the following in an earlier post, and I have a question about it: "But in order for that to happen we would have to die to ourselves. This weekend is Passover. This weekend changed the universe. This weekend changed me. May the Lamb that was slain receive the full reward of His suffering. WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN!!"
I was at a meeting held in the chapel here on campus and a man told a story about two young martyrs. I will never forget this. He told how everyone thought they were crazy and how, when they were sailing away on a ship bound for some foreign country, they shouted to their families and friends, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the reward of His suffering!" I wanted to attribute this quote to them, but your journal was the only site that turned up when I searched for the quote. I was wondering if perhaps you had heard it somewhere, or if maybe you know the story I'm referring to, or at the very least could help me find out who the men in the story are. I'm very interested in finding out. Thanks for your time.

~Lisa

Anonymous said...

visit this website
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http://www.xanga.com/notabouttogiveup
~Lisa

Anonymous said...

Interesting website with a lot of resources and detailed explanations.
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