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November 03, 2009

Pick A Fight

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute." (Prov 31)

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."(Is 1)

"Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness..." (Matt 6)

Christ calls us to leave the sin and emptiness of destructive self-gratification that shapes so much of our life, and to start living for something greater. His call is not just to believe in him so that you can go to heaven - his call is to leave self-centredness and to live a costly life of discipleship to bring freedom, healing, and salvation to others. He calls us to stand with the poor, weak, and vulnerable, to stand for justice and truth, to live passionately, purely, and sacrificially to bring God's kingdom of peace and justice to a needy world.

We have only to look at the news to see the suffering and injustice that break the heart of God, whether it is a billion people living in poverty, girls trapped in sex slavery, children taken as soldiers, racism, aids, corruption in high places, homelessness... and you can name many other issues. The God of love and justice cares about the poor and suffering, and calls us to join him in standing up for them.

These are all battles that are worth fighting, but at times it is overwhelming - you cannot fight every battle... But you can do something.

Don't reduce the life-changing gospel to just one aspect of its outworking in social action. But if your life is truly changed by the gospel, if your life is ruled and shaped by the suffering servant, you will find somewhere you can make a difference in the world. Pick a fight - find an injustice that wounds the heart of God, a people suffering, or beaten down by the sin of others, and get involved. Fight for something that is worth giving your life for, and not just for your own comforts and concerns. There are so many fights to be fought. Somehow, somewhere, give yourself to bring God's justice, peace, healing, and freedom to others.

Go on... pick a fight!

"Evil prospers when good men do nothing."

More Than Conquerors
The impetus for this post came from my friend Simon Guillebaud, who has been working in Burundi since 1998, and set up Great Lakes Outreach in 2003 to work for the spiritual and physical development of the country. He has been living for Christ in a war zone alongside radically committed Christians bringing the life-changing grace of Christ to a needy nation.

Simon has now written a book and has just produced a dvd with 13 short films, called "More Than Conquerors". The book and dvd are to "stir up, envision, and challenge followers of Jesus to embrace a costly authentic discipleship." You can buy the book or dvd at the More Than Conquerors website. I will be buying copies, and will review it here in due course. In the meantime, you can see a preview of one of the films here: http://www.more-than-conquerors.com/preview.html

Posted by Keith at November 3, 2009 01:41 PM