Broken

Has your heart ever been truly broken? My head has so much swirling around inside of it. But my heart is broken.

I weep for the millions of orphans who have no one to hold them and comfort their tears. For the children who cry but have no comfort. For the children who are cold and have no shelter. For the bellies that are hungry and have no nourishment.

I weep for the thousands of foster care teenagers who have never known a true family who will suddenly turn 18 and "age out" of the system. As if that magic number now makes them capable and prepared to face the world.

I weep for the children who live in homes where they are neglected. Homes where mom or dad are too stoned or drunk to notice them. Homes where they never know if they will wake up to a parent who cares or one who has passed out and cannot respond to their needs.

I weep for the children and I wish my tears could fill their need.

My tears cannot. But we can.

I pray for the children. I pray that the Church can do God's will.

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (NIV)

Is Jesus enough?

I was driving the other day and flipped on the Christian music station. A woman was doing an interview with a local band and as I listened to the interview something that the singer said really irked me. The dj told him that his music did not sound Christian. She said it was much more edgy and dance like than other Christian artists. His reply was what did me in. He said that their group really wants to draw in a younger crowd. They are attracted to the music and then they get to share the gospel with them. This made me upset.

Before I tell you why, I want to say that this is something Todd and I have been thinking and talking about for a while. This is not something I am targeting at any one church in particular. I think this is a pretty prevalent thing in Christian culture in general. And when Todd and I have approached this subject with people they tend to get angry and think that we are attacking them or judging them. That is not my intent. I just want us to think about the way we approach sharing the gospel and see if it lines up with scripture.

Here is what I think: We as Christians think that we need something to catch an unbelievers attention. We need to draw them in and then we can share the gospel with them. We need good music, a flashy video, a humorous drama, a charismatic preacher. We need something to catch their eye. We need to be fun, funny, hip and cool. We will not say this, but in essence I think sometimes, some of us think Jesus, alone, is not enough. We cannot simply point to Jesus. Is Jesus enough? Strip away every flashy show we can put on. Take away any of our efforts and ask, do we believe that Jesus has what this unbelieving world needs? Or do we think he needs our help?

Now before you get angry and defensive let me say I think that artist on the radio had good intentions. And I think if you asked him the above questions he would probably say Jesus is enough. I would say that, and you would probably agree with me. But think about the way we talk. I have found myself saying things like draw them in and then share the gospel.

Now I have nothing against a church or a person being relevant to the culture. Obviously scripture gives us clear places where people became like the people they were ministering to in order to share Jesus with them. Obviously if you are a missionary to China you need to speak Chinese. But how often do we package or box up the gospel in order to present it in just the perfect way? Do we miss the holy spirit prodding us to simply point to Jesus because we don't have a perfect package with us at the moment?

What would our Churches look like if on Sunday morning we walked in and the pastor simply read directly from God's word?

Romans 3:10
"As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one.'"

Romans 3:21-24
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the law and prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

What if, instead of trying to prove to our friends that Christians are hip and cool, we simply share with them that there is a reason for hope? There was a man who lived and died and rose again. He did all of this because all of us have sin. Sin eats away at life and separates us from God. Sin destroys and wounds and hurts, but Jesus came to wash away our sins and makes us as white as snow. He came to heal and restore and redeem our very lives. He is what an unbelieving world needs. They do not need better music, better videos, better sermons. They need a savior. And they need someone to show him that savior.

The church (meaning the whole body of Christ) is beautiful. I love the church. I think that the church throughout history and now has done so many wonderful things. The church helps the poor, helps the sick, helps the wounded and broken hearted. The church helps orphans and widows and the lonely. But they do all of this because of the love Christ has for us. The moment one of us does these things or anything else because of any other motivation we have moved away from the calling. (1st Corinthians 13:3)The moment we think that we have anything else this world needs other than Jesus we have missed the calling. There will always be better music, better speakers, better videos, and even nicer people (yes I said that). The world can offer so much more than we can in terms of those things. But what the world does not have is an answer to the longings of the heart. A hope for our sin and brokenness. The church and the body of Christ alone has that answer. The answer is Jesus Christ. He is what we need and he is more than enough.