Beyond Justice, parts 1 and 2 were written by R. York Moore and are the full, non-filmed manuscripts for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA and World Vision ACT:S campaign project, “Beyond Justice,” or “Get ACT:IVE” campaign.

The Scene

The world is alive around her-charged air, pulsing ground, high hanging blue sky.  The city with all its magic whirls around the couple walking hand in hand along the water’s edge.  Strappy heals dangle from her hand as she walks barefoot, feeling the grass beneath her feet.  A sweet smell fills the air as a summer breeze carries the hum of some unknown band.  Cicada beetles and cardinals echo throughout the city streets as she brushes her fingers through the dense air of a hot July day.  She tucks her head beneath his chin, imagining what could be.  A life together of joy, of endless summer nights-peace, safety, security-most of all togetherness-she breaths out a wishful sigh.  It is a place of magic, a dream that every once and a while we get to smell and taste and touch.  Every now and then we lose ourselves, forgetting about the worries of this world, we let go and feel the grass beneath our feet and just dream.  Joy, peace, contentment, safety, companionship-these are some of the things that we long for.  True happiness, love, and freedom, this is the texture of a world just beyond our reach.  It is the fabric of another place that we know exists in our hearts.  There is a place our soul calls out for, another place that our soul remembers.

Beyond Justice

We are aware of another world peaking and poking into ours, tearing at the fabric of our souls and bringing both hope as well as dissatisfaction.  We are aware of this other place not only during times of intense pleasure and joy but also during times of suffering and injustice.  Exploitation, abuse and neglect, death and disease, destruction and displacement-there are many conditions we see and possibly experience ourselves in this world that cause us to dream of another one.  For some, the suffering and injustice of this world causes them to lose faith, to doubt the existence of this other place, but for others it causes them to put their lives on the line, it inspires great acts of bravery and heroism, it drives some to give their all to reach for the dream. History is filled with the stories of millions upon millions who hoped against hope for another world and who risked their lives to establish justice in their pursuit of joy.  There are lots of obstacles to this other world.  Our world is broken in so many ways.  Children die in countless numbers from diseases that are entirely treatable or preventable for lack of medicine that the wealthy can obtain at nearly every corner drugstore.  Poverty and greed form a vicious cycle and often it is the children of the world’s poor that end up paying the ultimate price.  More than 2,000 children under 5 die from malaria each day-that’s one child every 40 seconds.  Malaria kills nearly one million people each year but 85% are children under 5.  Each year an estimated 250 million people get infected with malaria. That’s equal to 83% of the U.S. population.  But it’s the poorest of the poor that suffer most.  Malaria is the fourth leading cause of child deaths worldwide and second leading cause of child deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Slavery, death from disease, displacement, hunger-we know that this is not the way things are supposed to be so we long inwardly for another place, a place of hope.

Detroit-A Place of Hope

For several decades in the city of Detroit where I live hope was all but lost but now there are many who dream again.  There are corporations and government officials, teachers and civil servants, business leaders and scholars who know the secret of Detroit and the rich heritage that this city of hope has.  Something always drives us back to hope.  For countless slaves in the south, the dream of freedom once had a name and that name was Detroit.  It’s hard to think of Detroit as a city of hope but for many slaves who had escaped from the Deep South, this city and the Detroit River was a dream that inspired them to risk their very lives to see.  For scores of abolitionists and slaves alike, Detroit was the destination of hope.  The trek along the Underground Railroad, a system of safe houses and safe people, led escaped slaves to Detroit-a year-long journey of over 1,000 miles.  A trek fueled by the hope of freedom, opportunity, safety, but most of all, joy.   The dream of joy is really at the center of the heart of every woman, of every man.  Often it is the goal behind the goal, the greater dream of a thousand aspirations and for countless slaves, it fueled prayerful miles and expectant singing.  Their dream may have started with the longing for freedom from the injustice and suffering of slavery, but there was something behind that dream.  What do we do when justice and freedom have been obtained?  We live the life we were meant to live-this is the dream that is beyond justice, the dream of joy.  They would sing about the Jordan River, speaking figuratively of crossing the Detroit River into Windsor, Canada, finally being free of fear and the repercussions of their decision to pursue their dream.  For many of my ancestors, slavery was all they knew.  They were born into the slave system, often separated from their parents and shipped off to fields throughout the south.  They never knew the dream of freedom.

The Source of Hope

What is it in the heart of a woman that dares to dream of a world she’s known nothing of, a world without rape or exploitation where she is free to choose her loved ones and run her hands through the hot July air?  Where does the dream of a boy come from, a dream of a fantastical world of play, when all he’s known is the work slavery?  I believe the quote of an unknown slave says it all: “All my life I been called a slave.   They tell me I belongs to my master.  That may be true about my body, but my soul remembers a time when I was free, so when I get a chance I will run.”  Our soul remembers.  I believe because we’ve been made in the image of God that our soul remembers.  The world that pokes and peaks into our world of injustice and suffering connects powerfully with our soul because it was the world we were made for, a world of joy.  A world where cicadas echo through streets of giggles and strappy heels dangle as bare feet walk through lush green grass.  You see, there is something beyond justice that we all long for, a dream that we share with the rest of humanity.  Millions have risked their lives and are risking their lives today so the dream can come to pass.  A dream can change the world, literally.  There are ways in which we use the concept of dream to refer to a wish, a desire, or a hope.  Real change, however, comes through conviction, passion, power, and action.  During the civil rights era that brought real and lasting change to millions of African-American’s, it was the dream of one man coupled with the real actions of Whites, Blacks, Asians, Latinos and others that brought that dream to pass.  Dreaming is not incompatible with action; in fact a dream of substance, of real conviction and vision requires action.  God’s dream is the same way.  To say that God has a dream is an understatement.  The culmination of all history is heading somewhere; it is heading to a place that is beyond justice, a place of joy.

The Dream of God

God’s vision and passion for another world are coupled with His power and will to accomplish His dream.  God’s dreams come to pass and the exciting part is this; they include us, they include our action, our faith, our longings.  Some wonder why God doesn’t just snap his fingers and bring about his dream right away.  God invites us to join him in setting things right, of helping the world around us in both small and big ways begin to look the way it is supposed to be.  In Revelation 21 (3b-5a NASB), God gives us a glimpse of the day he will bring his dream to pass.  It says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”  And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” The dream of God is a dream to make all things new!  God could, in fact, make the dream come alive instantly but as we will see, this wouldn’t be good for everyone.  The dream of God is not only of another world of beauty, order and joy.  It is also a world of severe consequences, particularly for those who have put their faith and trust in a world that is incompatible with God’s dream.  God will make all things new and this is not good news for all.  The first thing we need to realize, however, is that there is a dream behind our dream, a longing behind all our aspirations that we seldom can put our fingers on.

Our Nightmare

Our dream is a dream that is beyond justice-one that is rooted in another place.  Our soul remembers this place because we’ve been made in the image of God.  The dream of our heart is anchored in the eternal dream of God.  This is what is beyond justice.  When adjusted for population, there are more slaves living at this moment in history than at any other time, more than were trafficked cumulatively over the four centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.  Millions of people live a life of horror, of degradation, of hopelessness and despair.  Such things should not be.  The reality of suffering and injustice causes most people to experience what the Bible calls “holy indignation,” or anger.  Indignation is that “strong displeasure at something considered unjust, it is righteous anger.”  There is something holy about righteous indignation-it brings out the best in humanity.  Emerson wrote, “A good indignation brings out all one’s powers.”  If you are like most people, as you see the suffering and injustices of the world around you, you long to do something, to be an agent of transformation.  Kevin Jenkins, President of World Vision International expresses this holy indignation this way, “We don’t accept that any child should have to go to bed hungry.  We don’t believe that mothers should watch their children get sick and have no way to help them.  We don’t believe that fathers should work 16 hours a day and still not be able to provide for their children.  We don’t believe teachers should give lessons to children who have no textbooks, paper or pens.  We don’t believe governments and rebels should recruit youths to kill, or that girls should be bought and sold, or that parents must sell their children to pay their debts… There is a righteous anger at the heart of World Vision.  But at the same time, we overflow with love for all those with whom we are called to serve.”  Indignation causes us to reach for the dream, to band together across racial lines, across economic lines, across religious lines to do something greater, something that none of us could possibly do alone-to reach for the dream.  The realities of injustice and suffering cause a deep sense of dissonance and rage within us and this rage at the injustices and suffering of others is a demonstration that we are made in the image of God.  The commodification of people is as old a practice as civilization itself but in the dream of God, God Himself will reverse this in what the Bible calls the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is a reality where the deepest longings of our hearts for justice and abundance are fulfilled because God will be in control instead of corrupt governments, greedy corporations, or broken systems of law.

God’s Judgment

The Kingdom of God is the Dream of God and it is this Dream where we find our hearts wandering. It is in this dream where we can feel the density of the air flow between our fingers and the green grass beneath our feet.  Throughout the Bible, God gives us glimpses, small snapshots of a world that that can barely be imagined given the world we live in today.  In Revelation 18, God gives us a horrific glimpse of the judgment that will come to those who exploit the poor, the world’s resources, and those who traffic in human beings.  In Rev. 18, we read about the future destruction of a city of sin, where people make millions from the exploitation of the poor.  The city is referred to as Babylon, but it represents for us every city where evil is allowed to flourish.  Listen to the words of Rev. 18:11 (Message), “”The kings of the earth will see the smoke of her burning, and they’ll cry and carry on, the kings who went night after night to her brothel. They’ll keep their distance for fear they’ll get burned, and they’ll cry their lament: Doom, doom, the great city doomed!  City of Babylon, strong city!  In one hour it’s over, your judgment come!  “The traders will cry and carry on because the bottom dropped out of business, no more market for their goods: gold, silver, precious gems, pearls; fabrics of fine linen, purple, silk, scarlet; perfumed wood and vessels of ivory, precious woods, bronze, iron, and marble; cinnamon and spice, incense, myrrh, and frankincense; wine and oil, flour and wheat; cattle, sheep, horses, and chariots. And slaves—their terrible traffic in human lives.  Everything you’ve lived for, gone!  All delicate and delectable luxury, lost!  Not a scrap, not a thread to be found!” In the dream of God, we see the great anger and wrath of God, we see divine holy indignation in action.  Many people have a hard time with a God portrayed as vengeful, who would bring destruction to people and places, who would judge the world, after all, isn’t God supposed to be loving?  When we consider that men will fly across seas to commodify young boys and girls, that daily there are those who will pay to rape a child, when we see the expression of absolute evil in our world, the question shouldn’t be, “How can God punish the world,” but rather, “How can God not punish the world.”  God is loving and His dream is rooted in joy and freedom but God is also holy, He is pure and it would be a nightmare, not a dream, for the world to continue as it is today without a course correction.  According to the U.S. Department of State, an estimated 50 percent of all trafficking victims are children under the age of 18.  Every year 1.2 million children are trafficked for child labor; another 1 million are trafficked for sexual exploitation.  Every day, millions of children live the nightmare, not the dream.  God hates injustices and He cares deeply for the hurting and the poor-this is what authentic religion is all about.  Our world needs a course correction, we need God to bring an end to suffering and injustice, to bring the Kingdom of God, His great dream, to pass-this is why our dream is a dream beyond mere justice.

The Course of History

The things that cause us anger do so because we are made in the image of God and in the dream of God, God will make all things right.  All of history is heading toward this cosmic collision, a day where God will judge evil and bring an end to injustices and suffering.  In Rev. 11:15b-18 (NASB), we read of this day of judgment, “and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.  And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”” All history is heading toward a cosmic collision, a time of great punishment and wrath against the actors of evil-those who enjoy victimizing the poor, who enslave the weak, exploiting the world’s resources, while indulging in every luxury known to mankind.

Our Dream is Realized Through Jesus Christ

Before we begin to think that the dream of God is some far off, ethereal idea, I want to say that God’s dream is coming to pass right now, all over the world-particularly in some of the most dire situations.  The Kingdom of God is not merely a place and a time in the future.  The Kingdom of God is showing up and transforming our world.  The Kingdom of God begins with the good news of Jesus Christ.  All history is heading toward the day when Jesus Christ will reign, where he will set all things right but the good news of Jesus is that it has already begun.  Jesus declared the Kingdom of God a present reality in his first public address in Luke 4 (NASB) where he said, “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.  HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”  From this point forward in history, the Kingdom of God has been advancing toward God’s dream with the power of the present Christ.  Notice Jesus’ emphasis on the poor, on those in bondage, the sick, and the oppressed.  Justice is God’s heartbeat and the Kingdom of God revolves around making all things right, particularly for those who suffer.  When Jesus told his followers to go and preach to the cities of his day, he told them to heal the sick and to announce, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.”  (Luke 10:9, NASB).  God’s Kingdom dream has always revolved around good news to those who need it most-this is the mission of the followers of Jesus, to announce the good news of the Kingdom of God and to invite the nations to join in the dream!  The Kingdom of God is a reality that is now, not just a future reality.  Because of what Jesus Christ has done, the dream of God is breaking into our world, reversing injustices, freeing slaves, healing the sick and restoring hope.  Isn’t that exciting!?!?  What’s more is that Jesus invites us to be actors in bringing the Kingdom of God to bear upon the broken and unjust places of our world.  This is the best way to think about what it means to be an activist.  We live in an age where we long for change; we are more knowledgeable than ever about the plight of those who suffer.  We want to change the world.

Change We Can Believe In

In our faith communities, the concept of a ‘justice activist’ is taking hold as Christians begin to realize the centrality of justice in the teachings of Jesus.  Being inspired by the dream of God of a better world is fueling new expressions of Christian faith and a generation of ‘justice activists’ are rising up to take the gospel to the poor, the message of freedom to those enslaved, healing to the sick, and the message of forgiveness in Jesus Christ.  Being an activist whose vision is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ and whose hope is the coming Kingdom of God is sustainable activism that bares consistent, long-term good.  We all want change we can believe in and in Jesus Christ we find it.  The dream of God is ultimately realized only through the person of Jesus Christ.  When we think of an 8 year old who has been sold by her mother in Myanmar to an international sex tourist for $200 or a father who would sell his son as a bonded laborer in India to bake bricks, we see what kind of evil we are up against.  Ultimately, injustices always trace back to a spiritual brokenness, a soul sickness.  In the state of Ohio alone in 2010, there was an estimated 1,000 U.S. born children, most under the age of 15, sold as forced prostitutes.  We can legislate against such realities, prosecute those who traffic in the flesh of children, and build after-care facilities for victims but without addressing the hunger that would give rise to such a rape of humanity, we are failing to be holistic in our approach to evil.  Real evil exists in our hearts and in the world around us and that is something that requires real spiritual power to address.  This is why we need the power that only comes through the person of Jesus Christ.  In the life and death of Jesus we hear the echoes of another world, a world where couples stroll, laughter flourishes, and the streets hum with music.

The Dream Making Work of Christ

When Jesus died on the cross, he dealt once and for all with the evil in the world out there and the world in here.  As Jesus hung on the cross, his death paid the full price for all the things that we’ve done, all the things that we’ve left undone that are incompatible with the dream of God.  We are not just victims in this world or neutral observers of the world’s suffering-we have all contributed to the wreckage of the world in many ways.  Jesus’ death on the cross enables us to begin again and to experience God’s forgiveness.  The Bible also tells us that Jesus, three days after his death, returned to life-he was raised from the dead.  And it’s this power that raised Jesus from the dead that is available to us today.  The spiritual life we find in the person of Jesus is given to us who would follow Jesus as Kingdom activists, proclaiming and demonstrating the Kingdom of God to the world around us.  This is how the dream of God advances, as God’s activists, Jesus’ followers, take the power of God and apply it to those places that are broken, to people who are suffering, and to our own lives as well.  Divine history is going somewhere.  All that God is doing is pointing to another time and place, it is culminating in the grand dream of God.  In contrast, human history can be summarized in its totality as the dialectic rise and fall between our pursuit of the dream we remember and its vicious counterpart, the nightmare of injustice and suffering.

The Dream Becomes Reality

What does God’s dream look like in its fullness?  What picture does Jesus give us of this coming Kingdom?  In the book of Revelation, we get a vivid snapshot of the dream of God fulfilled.  We are introduced to a city unlike any city we’ve ever seen or read about.  American cinema and literature have done us a disservice by giving us images of Heaven as a place where we’ll lounge partially nude on clouds, feeding from clusters of grapes while eternally honing our harp playing skills.  But the dream of God revolves around a city, a unique city where infrastructure and agriculture are intertwined; a city where beauty and order coincide with population density and activity; a city of purpose and pleasure.  This city that we read about stands in diametrical opposition to the city of Babylon we read of earlier.  It is the city that is the antithesis of every broken and exploitative system in our cities today.  Listen to the picture that has long fueled those who follow Jesus to reach for the dream.  In Rev. 21 and 22 we read this description: (Rev. 21:21-27, The Message), “The main street of the City was pure gold, translucent as glass. But there was no sign of a Temple, for the Lord God—the Sovereign-Strong—and the Lamb are the Temple. The City doesn’t need sun or moon for light. God’s Glory is its light, the Lamb its lamp! The nations will walk in its light and earth’s kings bring in their splendor. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there won’t be any night. They’ll bring the glory and honor of the nations into the City. Nothing dirty or defiled will get into the City, and no one who defiles or deceives. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will get in.”  (Rev. 22:1-3a, Message) “Then the Angel showed me Water-of-Life River, crystal bright. It flowed from the Throne of God and the Lamb, right down the middle of the street. The Tree of Life was planted on each side of the River, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a ripe fruit each month. The leaves of the Tree are for healing the nations. Never again will anything be cursed.”  In this city of hope we see a river of life, a tree of healing-abundance and restoration.  God’s dream is a dream beyond justice though it includes the judgment necessary to establish it.  Notice in this description that nothing dirty or defiled will get into the city-it is a holy place.  God’s dream goes beyond holiness, beyond justice, God’s dream is a dream of flourishing.  Like many cities, the city of Detroit even at the height of its grandeur held only a shadowy resemblance of the city of God.  Detroit was never the final destination of slaves-they dreamt of something better, it was the dream behind their dream that fueled their journey.  At best, this city or any of the other cities of this world are mere symbols of a dream that lives in our hearts because our souls remember.  Malan, New York, Vancouver, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dubai-all these and many other great cities hold aspects that are alluring to us.  Beauty, transcendence, natural treasures, the arts, fashion, abundant resources, power-all these things in some way are attractive to us because our soul remembers.  In the dream of God realized through the person of Jesus Christ, we see the culmination of divine history in this city of God.

Our Dream is an Invitation to the Dream of God

“All my life I been called a slave.   They tell me I belongs to my master.  That may be true about my body, but my soul remembers a time when I was free, so when I get a chance I will run.”  What does it mean to respond to the dream, the world we remember?  I believe this unknown slave has the right answer-we run!  The dream God has put in our hearts is really an invitation, an invitation to pursue something greater than ourselves, greater than the façade around us-it is an invitation to run toward the dream.  Feeling the dense air flow between our fingers, to see the sights and sounds of life the way it ought to be, and to hear the sounds of a world made right-this is what we can experience when we choose to run.  How do we make the dream a reality?  How do we respond to the dream God has for the world and each of our lives? How do we sustain our commitment to actualize God’s dream for justice.  These are the questions we will explore together.  When we choose to run, we reorient our lives.  When someone chooses to run a marathon, they set goals, they practice and train, they endure strict regiments.  When we choose to run after the dream of God, we choose to follow Jesus who sets the pace and the direction for the dream.  We learn from him and submit to his way of thinking and doing.  As a result, we begin by living a more active faith – by seeing our lives differently and joining a purpose bigger than ourselves.  The reality is that whether or not you’ve noticed it, Jesus is already setting the pace and giving your life direction.  The passion and drive we have, the joy we find in life are usually indicators of where the Kingdom of God is touching your soul.  What dream has God placed on your heart? It might be tutoring children living in poverty in your own backyard, helping to right the wrong of modern-day slavery, helping end a preventable disease like malaria in your life-time, or something else that God has uniquely placed on your heart.  Where do you see this other world tearing at the fiber of your soul?

The invitation that God is making to you now is an invitation to be more like Jesus and to pursue a world that is more like God’s Kingdom than the world of pain, suffering and injustice.  Pursuing this world requires condition.  Just like a runner will condition their body in pursuit of a goal, God invites us to condition our heart.  God wants us to begin to see the way he sees and care about the things he cares about.  The founder of World Vision, Bob Pierce, used to pray a prayer that is now famous the world over, “Let me heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.”  Conditioning our heart to reflect the heart of God requires us to connect deeply with Jesus Christ.  Through prayer, reading the Bible, and seeing what is going on in our world we can begin to develop a heart like God.  Our souls remember so we will run.  The great news is that the run Jesus invites us to is not a solitary one-he invites us to do it together.  Moving beyond justice requires a movement.  We can only do so much on our own to change our soul or to change our society and so God’s dream is to be pursued in community. God’s dream is about both individual transformation and global restoration – and it requires each of us to do our part and all of us to do our part together. It’s not enough to simply live a more active faith individually; we must share God’s heart for the world with others and invite them to run with us.

Conclusion

There is something beyond justice and its joy.  There is a place our soul calls out for, another place that our soul remembers.  Our response to God’s invitation begins when we imagine what could be-a life together of joy, of endless summer nights-peace, safety, security- and most of all togetherness.  God longs to restore the world and that will come to pass in a final way one day but today, he invites us to run with him in bringing the Kingdom of God to our world today.  Our response to God’s invitation is to run, to run toward this place of magic, to breathe in and dream with God and to join him in making all things new.

Apart from our sense of angst and anger for Milan’s plight, her story reminds us of something important, something necessary-suffering is real and evil churns in the human heart still.  Remembering is a part of remaining human, of retaining our sense of grandeur and frailty and our incredible capacity for real evil.  For many, real evil vanished long ago in the killing fields, the concentration camps, and the bursting hulls of slave ships.  Only every now and then do we revisit evil in small doses-a campus shooting, an act of bigotry, a child’s molestation but then the actors of such evil are different aren’t they?  They are alien, a throwback to a more ignorant and primal time.  If we are honest however, what is really most disturbing is how familiar their actions are, how very near they are to the aftertaste life we know lives in our hearts as well.  In our day evil has been romanticized, relegated to the status of myth and portrayed for us as hard-bodied, happy teenaged vampires.  The myth, however, is all too real as modern-day vampires pay to slice away the flesh of young girls, to drink their youth and absorb their souls in the brothels where millions are lost.  Their grotesqueries, hidden for now, are no less the face of hell on earth than the acts of all epic despots which seem to rise and fall throughout every time and amongst every people.  Our cyclical suspension of belief in evil gives rise to the cancerous growth of such wickedness and this growth in our day has spread to every continent and is victimizing the daughters of every people.

If we would hear the defeated whimpers of girls like Milan, our all too academic musings on God’s commitment to cosmic justice may be altered.  Her aching legs and pounding head turn the question of our day upside down.  “How can a loving God send people to hell” is replaced with the question, “How can a loving God fail to provide justice against those who are primary or complicit in such a rape of humanity.”  Amongst many neo and pseudo-evangelicals, the great dreadful eschatological realities of hell and judgment are being challenged or abandoned.  A Christ without the severity of God’s wrath as seen on the cross, however, is nothing more than another modern-day domesticated god.  Such gods provide nothing more for us than merely another happily ever after story that plays so well to our American myth making where young ladies become princesses instead of $5.00 whores.  Milan’s red lights and stained sheets point us back to our universal plight-evil lives in our hearts and there is a cosmic reckoning on the human horizon.

The centrality of judgment and justice in the Christian story is unavoidable and both concepts are inextricably bound together, we cannot have justice without judgment.  This relationship between justice and judgment is seen in the cross as God pours out his great wrath upon his Son but this one historical act of God is not an isolated expression of his commitment to cosmic justice.  The dream of God, the sum of all His aspirations and actions throughout time, culminate with the great in-gathering of the nations and the wedding feast of the lamb where all things will be restored and death and mourning done away with (Is. 25:6-8, Rev. 21).  Prior to this great event, evil will be judged and justice established.  We get an awe-inspiring view of this act of justice and judgment in Revelation 19:11-16, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.  He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.  The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.  On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” (NIV, emphasis added).  This portrayal of the reigning Christ is no less Christ as the weeping Son of God in the Garden or over the grave of Lazarus.  It is no less Jesus as the One who healed the woman with the flow or the begging leper.  ‘With justice he judges’ gives us just as much a picture of Christ as his acts of mercy and forgiveness throughout the gospels-they are not incompatible.

We need a war-waging Christ.  A war-waging Christ helps us understand the ultimate intentions of God throughout time.  God is at war.  His eyes are ablaze with fire over the red lights that accentuate her prepubescent silhouette.   His sharp sword will strike down all empires where injustices were allowed to flourish and in this, the entire world lays under the certain wrath of God.  He alone is King of Kings and he will reign in actuality only after judging the world and establishing justice for all.  God’s war is not a symbolic war, it is not a metaphor for his hatred of sin.  “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” it is often said, but in the great judgment of the nations, sin and sinner are one object just as Christ on the cross was the actualized object of all of God’s great wrath and fury.  Christ either stands as our substitute, taking on the full wrath and fury of a holy God who is at war or we stand before him, ready to be the objects of his justice and judgment.  In Revelation 19 it says, “He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty.”  This phrase, ‘the winepress’ points to the well-known act of wine making where grapes are sequestered in a small area, corralled and smashed to a pulp, to be then pressed out.  It is a sign not of total obliteration or annihilation but rather of a destruction so severe and complete that it transforms the object being crushed into an indistinguishable mass, forever incapable of being restored to its prior form.  The phrase, ‘the fury of the wrath of God Almighty,’ points to the manner with which the act of crushing will be done.  Fury refers to ‘unrestrained rage.’  God is not one to be ‘out of control,’ but a full, un-restrained expression of the Almighty’s rage against all that is unjust and evil lays over the human horizon and such an historic moment should strike real fear in the hearts of every person.

Milan’s plight is not out of sight from the all-seeing God and her defeated whimpers fuel the great wrath of God against the nations.  The promise of Scripture is not merely that our sins can be forgiven or that Milan’s tears will one day be wiped away but also that her captors will one day be crushed like grapes, they will be pressed out under the full, unrestrained wrath of God.  God is at war not only against injustice but also for those who suffer.  As the great eschatological realities of the Christian faith are either ignored or allegorized, we are losing the ability to provide a cohesive, comprehensive worldview and thus the Christian message itself is being compromised.  We cannot have the great love of God without also the great wrath of God.  The prophetic realities of the return of Christ and his judgment have been relegated to the worst expressions of the Church, those who sensationalize God’s return, those who commercialize the promises of God and exploit those who fall prey to their teaching.  Prophecy and the great eschatological teachings of Scripture are seen as the fantastical expressions of late-night television cult-leaders, an embarrassing expression of a day gone-by in the Christian faith.  We need to recapture the full centrality and motivating nature of the eschaton, to recommit ourselves to the study of prophecy and redeem the hope we have in the personal return of the war-waging Christ.  The cross alone cannot itself give us God’s ultimate answer for suffering and injustice.  The judgment poured out upon Christ on the cross is only a part of God’s plan.  God is at war, a war that was won in the devastating blow against sin and death on the cross but one that will only be won in actuality when Heaven stands open and the rider on the white horse comes forth with his armies to once and for all banish evil from his world.  Milan’s suffering and her inadequate aftertaste world of happiness gone by will one day be replaced by the great wedding feast of God.  No longer a $5.00 whore, she will be free to experience this time of great joy and renewal and in this alone do we see her tears wiped away and the music and red lights of her hell vanquished forever.

I stood with my back to the cold foggy world behind me and my face toward the strange world of pews and pulpit.  The scene inside this little building was as mystical as the foggy snow outside.   People stood side by side singing except it was like no kind of singing I’d ever heard!  These strange people sang with a twang but their song had a mystical pull on me.  Though I would not return to church again for nearly 10 years, I would remember this first encounter- I would replay the song, recall the people’s faces for years to come.   Only years later, after I met Jesus Christ for myself as a an Atheist philosophy student at the University of Michigan would I fully realize what a ‘church’ was, or why White Southern Baptists would help Black kids with no socks and wild hair from Detroit.  Only years later would I rediscover the song these kind people sang with a twang: “Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood; Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow; There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.”

I stand here today because I was introduced to a mystical world called the church, a magical power called the gospel, and a Majestic person named Jesus Christ!  The Church’s message is of a new world and the power to live into that world through the name of Jesus Christ!  Too often, our evangelism focuses merely on the individual and her need for the forgiveness of sins and salvation from hell.  As an evangelist, I want to make it clear that this core element of the gospel is indispensible but it is not all there is to our proclamation.   As I stood small in the middle of two worlds that day I needed a Jesus who could both save me from the hell I was in as well as the hell to come.  With an open door to my back that day, the cold damp world of fatherlessness, of poverty, and of drugs stood in diametrical opposition to the mystical world those people sang about and preached.  May I say to you that the Jesus we serve through the same nexus moment of the cross and resurrection is able to save to the uttermost!?!?  May I say to you that we serve a Jesus who doesn’t need to choose whether or not to save a boy from the despair of this world or the damnation of the world to come?  There is power in the blood!

The American Church is in need of a larger eschatology because a larger, more holistic eschatology inspires us, it free us to practice a more Biblical, holistic, integrated evangelization.  The word eschaton means ‘last things,’ but our evangelical heritage has placed the emphasis on the wrong set of last things.  We believe in the future personal return of Jesus Christ, the judgment of the living and the dead, the Lake of Fire, but also the re-creation of the world and the eternal blessing of the nations.  Our heritage has placed its fare too much emphasis on the former set of realities to the expense of the latter.   Neo-evangelicals in their pursuit for Kingdom integration and cultural relevance have begun to deny the great eschatological realities of hell and judgment and to preach a gospel with no need of the cross.  This will ultimately rob the gospel of its purpose and lead to nothing more than another iteration of cultural Christianity.  While this is true, the long history of our evangelical heritage placed too much emphasis on the wrath of God and far too little on the wonder working power of God to re-create the nations-to transform not only soul, but society as well.  Our story doesn’t end with crucifixion, but resurrection.  Our hope is not in the destruction of the world but in its re-creation.  The work of evangelization is the work of bringing echoes of a mystical world to come, because there is wonder working power!

Throughout John’s vision of the eschaton in Revelation, there are still nations, there are still cities-not separated by oceans but filled with life.  Trees and rivers, lakes and mountains-the new world is not some sci-fi visage of an altogether different universe (Gr: heteros).  An eschatology that emphasizes life and renewal leads us to practice a more holistic evangelization of restoration and shalom.

A larger eschatology also inspires innovative and effectual evangelization.  It inspires us and frees us to integrate, not dichotomize, the proclamation of the Gospel and the practice of the Kingdom.  For the last 10 years, I’ve worked as a justice evangelist, an evangelist and abolitionist to bring political, business, medical, and legal leaders together with the Church and academic institutions to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children and to help people meet Jesus through the lens of justice.   My calling to this integrative work of justice evangelism came in the midst InterVarsity’s global missions conference, Urbana 2000, after hearing Gary Haugen of the International Justice Mission speak.  I’ve had the privilege of giving the evangelistic message and call to faith for the past two Urbana conferences where hundreds have come to faith as they heard the gospel through the lens of justice, particularly the fight to end modern day slavery.

I’ve also worked to develop justiceinvitationals which are week-long campus campaigns around justice issues where the gospel can be preached in a new light.  Through these campaigns, not only has the Church been mobilized for justice but the nominally churched, the non-church, and the anti-churched have heavily participated in Kingdom work while encountering the person of Christ!  In the last campaign at the Ohio State University, we had both a substantive engagement of the issue of the commercial sexual exploitation of children as well as a true and effectual proclamation of the gospel.

Throughout the campaign, we empowered front-line non-profits like World Vision, the Not for Sale Campaign, Hagar International and the International Justice Mission!   We raised money, a house, mobilized thousands to advocate politically for the Child Compact Act, educated over 20,000 citizens about modern-day slavery, and helped state lawmakers pass State Senate Bill 235 which will bring Ohio from the child prostitution capital of the United States to one of the states with the toughest anti-trafficking legislation.  Because the Gospel of Jesus Christ was clearly proclaimed during this campaign, over 300 students repented of their sin and came to faith in Christ.  This is what the gospel can do because there is power in the blood!

For the lost, when we give this generation a vision of God’s future Kingdom, of His wonder working re-creative power, it both inspires Kingdom engagement as well as repentance from sin.  For the Church, a larger eschatology re-shapes our limited understanding of global evangelization, it inspires innovation as we partner with God to re-create the world around us!   We don’t serve an either or Jesus-he wants it all-not just souls but society, not just the future, but the present, not just Heaven but Earth-He will not stop until “…The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ…”  In God’s great eschatological vision the work of evangelization is to live into both of these realities simultaneously-not to do evangelism at the expense of the Kingdom and not to pursue the Kingdom with no care for the eternal state of the soul!  Biblical, effectual, innovative, and integrated evangelization is a both/and, it is to to ping echoes of a mystic world, a magic that can transform the soul and transform society, and introduce those who are damned in this world and the world to come to the Majestic One-Jesus Christ!

In the gospel, however, we also see the power that can change the world, the entire system that has crashed and merely wobbles about simulating the world intended for us by God. There is little debate that the world we live in is not the world God intended for us. There are wars in this world, enduring poverty too. There is debasing addictions along with the oppression of women and children. In this world, people die of preventable diseases by the hundreds of thousands all the time. This world seems to offer so little purpose, so little hope that even when we have plenty we still throw away our families for cheap thrills, our abilities and gifts for mere consumption and our dignity to feel connected to another person, if even for a moment. Our world is damaged and no quick fix, no political party or reform, no amount of money or determination will fix it. What we need is a supernatural, superspiritual, supra-human, extra-dimensional solution of power and the great news is that we have such power in the person of Jesus Christ! Yes, Jesus is able to save our world, but He is also able to save the world!

If it is true, that we have the power to change the world, than what do we do with it? What would you do if you could carry around with you, in your jacket or purse, a device so powerful that if it were unleashed it would literally impact everything and anything around you? Would you release it? Probably not if it were a nuclear device, an incurable virus, or a poisonous gas but what if it were an unstoppable force of hope, a contagion of love, or an enveloping power for restoration? Where would you first introduce such a power? As Christians, we do have such a power, the power to change the world! Unfortunately, most of the time, we leave it in our purse, our desk drawer, glove box, or cached on our disk drives, making sure that it changes nothing and nobody around us. Often, this power has been cemented like a memorial to a time gone by, a faith tradition that used to impact communities, countries, and continents. We have the power to change the world and we need to use it, but where and how?

Recently, I was asked by two students in two separate conversations about how to discern God’s call and how to invest themselves in God’s broad world and Kingdom. I shared with them that there are some things God calls all of us to. “It is God’s will for everyone to be evangelized,” I said, “so you are always safe including personal witness as God’s will for your life.” I said, “God wants us all to always pursue knowing Him so I’m pretty sure you should do that too.” In both conversations, however, they specifically wanted to know about the vast universe of things Christians are doing, “What about AIDS orphans, and clean drinking water for the poor, and sex slaves, and Scripture translation, and Muslims and Hindus, and unreached people groups, and…and…and….” The students felt overwhelmed by both the responsibility of the power entrusted to them as well as the vast needs and ways to use that power in the world. I think we can all sympathize with being in this place at one point or another.

I continued, “One way to look at it is as if the world were a high-rise apartment complex and we live on one of the floors. Let’s say there was a fire on one of the floors. Now, if the fire were in apartment 14B and everyone got out, it might be the Christian thing perhaps to send money or a nice card to express care for the material loss of the tenants in that unit.” I continued, “However, let’s say there was a raging fire on the top floor and the lives of many were at stake. In this case, rescuing them might require special abilities and gifts, not the least of which would include bravery and physical strength-in reality only some people would be helpful in rescuing people on the top floor of the burning building.” I ended by saying, “Now, if there were a raging fire on the first floor, threatening to spread upward to consume each and every floor, every apartment, every life-certainly you would say that we would all be called to do something for ourselves and our neighbors in the building, right?” Both students agreed. I brought the illustration to a close by pointing out, “…some fires in our world are apartment 14B fires. 14B fires matter to God and they should matter to us but our response shouldn’t be to rush in and risk our lives to rescue the material possessions being consumed-it is good enough that the people got out and will live to rebuild their lives. We can and should share our love and concern with people during their time of loss.” Continuing, “Some fires threaten a great many people and require a concerted and passionate response requiring special gifts and bravery. God equips many to respond to these needs even though in doing so they themselves may perish. Such people are heroes to us, people of whom the world is not worthy but we are not all such people-God chooses those heroes.” Finally, “There are many issues we as Christians face, however, that are like the fire raging on the first floor of the building, fires that if left unchecked would simply consume all of humanity. These fires are complex and often reflect not one gigantic blaze but rather a series of smaller interrelated fires. These fires,” I said, “require all of us, no matter what our calling or gifting is, to respond with everything we’ve got.”

It is true that our world is in shambles and there is no end to the need before us, both temporally as well as eschatologically. Each and every person is lost and everywhere we look the impact of that reality is felt. The fact that those without Christ are dying and on their way to hell is a first floor fire. No matter what we do for people temporally, unless we also share the message that can change their world, they will perish and the eternal suffering they will endure will make all suffering in this world pale by comparison. I believe the interrelatedness of modern-day slavery, aggressive secularization, the simultaneous rise of global poverty and the super-rich, the dehumanization of women and children, and mass deaths as a result of preventable/curable diseases are examples of more first floor fires. We are not given a choice by God whether to address first floor fires of the soul or first floor fires of the material world, the Church is called to them all. We must care about all suffering, whether temporal or eschatological. It is not my place to determine what are 14B or top floor fires, and people that have particular calls to such ministries that focus on these fires would not find my opinions on the matter helpful or empowering. It is clear, however, that we all must contribute what bravery, what super powers, what faith we have to doing all we can to put out the blaze that threatens to consume the soul and consume society. Again, the great news is that we have such power, the power to change a world and the power to change the world. The question is will we use it?

To Google the word alone is a dangerous endeavor but researching the topic seriously is quite difficult as Western culture has lost the category altogether.  Debauchery, however, is making a comeback in a big way.  Increasingly, strip clubs, dance clubs with excessive public expressions of group sexuality, porn stars, and sex toy manufacturers are making their way into our mainstream understanding of entertainment and social connection.  Both the porn industry and sex toy manufacturers have found ways into the dorms and public spaces of our college campuses under the auspices of sexual education.  What is most distressing about this trend is that it seems to be accelerated by the burgeoning entertainment industry in its pursuit to identify new revenue streams in an age of digital piracy and the ever-expanding application of free speech laws.  All this coupled with a Western Church in atrophy and a Judeo-Christian ethic on the decline, I believe we are in the beginning stages of societal decay.  The late philosopher and historian, Dr. Francis Schaeffer, detailed this decline in the great world empires of Persia, Greece, Rome and others, always beginning with an expansion and acceptance of the practice of debauchery in the mainstream.

A simple (perhaps too simple) definition of debauchery is, “excessive indulgence of the appetites; especially, excessive indulgence of lust; intemperance; sensuality; habitual lewdness.”  Debauchery is more than sexual sin, more than public indecency; it is a phenomenon, one that occurs in a people group when the rot of spiritual decay under the surface of familial and cultural institutions bleeds out into the public sphere.  This is happening all around us.  The ‘lubrication’ for an acceptance of debauchery at a societal level begins when those structures of culture erode-the family, academia, law, commerce, entertainment….Hypocrisy and collusion in the area of sexual brokenness in the Church is also a powerful component in legitimizing debauchery.  Systemic pedophilia in the catholic church amongst ‘spiritual fathers’ has brought public outrage and distrust but also an open door in the home for ‘biological fathers’ to reconsider the boundaries of their own sexuality in the vacuum of moral authority.  In the Black Church in the U.S., a once-strong tradition of theological conservatism around sexuality has been eroded by the allegations swirling around mega-church pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, accused of molesting young boys in the church.  AME Bishop John Bryant recently reached a settlement for his involvement in allowing (the late) Rev. Sylvester Laudermill Jr. to molest multiple minors in both St. Louis and Los Angeles AME churches.  For young men in the Black community, these expressions of perversion reinforce the centrality of sexual gratification in identity, again fueling ever-increasing expressions of brokenness.

There is no lack of illustrations of debauchery in the Scriptures.  As soon as mankind began to “…increase in number on the earth…” (Gen. 6:1), we read, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Gen. 6:5).  How this wickedness and evil inclination expresses itself from this point on in the story of humanity is clear.  Cyclically, debauchery resurfaces in every people group over time as societies rise and decline.  The suffering generating by debauchery, particularly in the poor and amongst children, is also well documented in Scripture, evoking the anger and wrath of God, “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness.  I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.” (Ez. 16:36-38).”  Though this passage speaks figuratively of the Nation Israel and her corporate actions, God uses the common imagery of debauched practices to illustrate his point.

Debauchery in the Scriptures is a unique concept, not merely the preponderance of sinful practices, but rather a corporate expression of a constellation of sinful behavior revolving around sensuality.  I Peter 4:3 calls the Christian to abandon debauchery and what I believe to be the subcomponents of debauchery, “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.”  Debauchery is the corporate expression of these practices.

Finally, debauchery presents a unique threat to Christian evangelization.  Because mainstream debauchery “hollows out” the soul of a people group, it anesthetizes them to concerns outside of their own sensuality.  Deadening the conscience of a people group paves the way for atrocity and exploitation.  As the Christian message always incorporates a call to care for the poor, to provide for the hungry and sick, and to stand against injustices, the Christian message in a milieu of debauchery becomes the enemy of ‘a good time’ to some and our ‘personal freedom and identity’ to others.  When this clash of worldview begins to happen, the Christian message begins to be seen as the enemy.  The resources of intellectual and economic sophistication of those profiting politically, economically, and socially from debauched practices begins to be used against the Christian Church.  This is much more than another expression of culture war but a life and death battle for the remnants of society.  We see this clash when the gospel is brought to the Ephesians and the subsequent riot over the profits associated with temple worship of the God Artemis (Acts 19:23-41).  The desensitization debauchery brings produces new economic and social structures that are inherently incompatible with Christ and His Kingdom.  Where debauchery has become entrenched, there is strong resistance to the Christian message and often the only solution is the eradication of that people group by God.

We as American Christians ought to pray against this emerging spirit of debauchery and for God to bring revival and awakening to our culture before it is too late.  Focusing on the family structures, on holiness in the church, on a redemptive presence in government, academia, entertainment, and commerce are all also things Christians should be dedicating themselves to.  Running from the increasingly corrupt world around us will only allow the fire to spread more rapidly, increasing human ruin and allowing the widespread suffering that always comes with a people group given over to debauched living.  We need God to bring a spirit of repentance and brokenness over what we see around us and in us before it is too late.  As a precursor to the active wrath of God, God eventually “gives us over to” the desires of our heart societally.  Once this happens, it is too late to turn back to God, “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”  May God bring us back from the brink.

The Facts about the Process

II Corinthians 5:17 seems to make it clear, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  At first glance, this sounds all good, like great and exciting news!  Just like a new parent’s birth announcement, we are declared by our Heavenly Father to be a new creation with great joy and excitement!  We are new, set free, given a fresh start, born all over again!  Being “in Christ” is synonymous with being a Christian and that begins with the decision to recognize what Christ has done for you on the cross, paying the penalty for your sin, and by receiving the new life He offers through His resurrection power and leadership.  By embracing this message, referred to as “the Gospel,” we are made into “new creatures.”  This can be both a wonderful realization and a painful one.

The guilt and shame associated with past mistakes is wiped away by God when we come to Christ but not the memories or perhaps addictive behaviors that gave rise to sinful decisions prior to becoming a Christian.  The process of becoming a new creation is complex.  On the one hand, God declares us a new creation, announcing our new reality like a parent would announce the birth of a child.  On the other hand, new birth is a painful, messy, and long process that sets into motion a long journey of struggle toward adulthood.  Coming to Jesus is just like this.  We are declared a “new creation” but what this entails includes a journey mixed with both pain, struggle, and difficulty as well as joy, freedom, and anticipation.  There are “markers for growth” along the way that help us recognize the transformation process we are engaged in.  If we have become Christians, change will impact our whole person.  The concept of personhood is extremely important in understanding what God is ultimately after.  God wants all of us, not just a part of us.  He will not stop until He has our whole “person.”  A “person” conceptually is defined as an entity with a distinct capacity for intellectual, emotional, and volitional expression.  Persons think, feel, and will or choose.  God is after a whole-person transformation and this begins when we become Christians.

There is no single order in how we see God transforming our person.  For some, change comes first to the way we think and this then changes how we feel and then subsequently in what we do.  For others, making decisions to act can over time change one’s feelings which in turn can change one’s believing.  There is no right or wrong order and often change comes on multiple fronts simultaneously.  The transformational process however begins when we become Christians and change, if real, demonstrates itself by manifesting in these three areas.  This helps us know if the decision we’ve made to follow Jesus was authentic or not.  Real Christians begin to experience life change in all areas of their inner and outer world, we cannot help but change.  Also, for many who have become Christians, radical, dramatic change occurs quite quickly, bringing with it new and often confusing desires, passions, and expressions.  For many others, change is less dramatic, perhaps so incremental that one may wonder if anything is happening at all.  This is just like a new born infant who can demonstrate radical, overnight, change in key areas of physical development while also remaining quite dependent and incrementally reaching other developmental goals over a long period of time.  For the new Christian, nothing is more encouraging than realizing God is with them and doing His work to bring transformation, particularly when growth seems slow or non-existent.

Signs of Transformation

Evidence of change in our way of thinking, feeling, and willing shows up over time, again faster in some areas and slower in some.  Though not meant to be an exhaustive list, Galatians 5:22-23 gives us signs of transformation, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  In the original language of the Bible, the word for “fruit” here is singular and that is important.  Read correctly, this teaching says that there is one demonstrative fruit or evidence of the God’s work in our lives and that is love.  Love is the over-arching way we can know we are involved in God’s transformation process.  Love looks like joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  If you want to know whether or not you’ve become a Christian, check your love life.

We demonstrate God’s transformation process over time by living a life of love, a life that impacts not only our relationship with God, but also our relationship with others and with ourselves.  There is no greater evidence of one being a Christian than that of love.  We can know that we are living the life of love characteristic of a new creation when we are experiencing and expressing joy; when we are at peace in our inner world and at peace with those around us; when we are kind to others, including those we don’t particularly like or don’t like us; when our motives are good; when we do what we say we are going to do even when it is costly; when we are gentle, even to those who deserve our harshness, and; when we are practicing self-discipline in areas of eating, finances, sexuality, thought life, and other areas previously undisciplined.  Knowing you are a Christian can be seen in the way in which you are growing in love.

By way of contrast, just before this reference we also read of the evidence, or deeds, of a life that is not in process with God.  Galatians 5:19-21 says, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  This describes a person who has yet to become a “new creation.”  Though it is true that even after becoming a Christian, there may still linger strong desires and occasional relapses into these described behaviors, the difference is that Christians are walking away from this kind of life and into the life of love through God’s transformation process.  Do Christians ever struggle with hatred, jealousy, sexual sin or drunkenness?  Yes.  The operative word here, however, is struggle.  Christians aren’t head-long throwing themselves into a life of sin but rather working with God to walk in a life of love.  For new Christians, this can be a frustrating and discouraging process as the temptation to rely on old habits and comforts is still fresh.  Remember, Christians are in process, moving away from this picture of spiritual death and toward the picture in Gal. 5:22-23 which describes the life of spiritual health or of new creation.

God’s Gifts to Us in Process

Finally, to empower the new Christian to live the life of love, God has given each of us several powerful gifts.  First, God gives us Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit comes and lives in us to enact God’s promise of transformation.  From the inside out, the Holy Spirit changes our feelings, our thought life, and gives us power to change our behavior.  The Holy Spirit is the one who enables us to live the life of love and, over time, brings the change we long for.  In Galatians 5:16-17, we read that it is only through the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit that we are able to live the life of love and resist the life of spiritual death, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”

Second, God gives us His recorded word, the Bible.  The Bible has come to us through a unique and powerful process over thousands of years as God has “superintended” the inspiration of His once-for-all word to humanity.  By reading the Bible, we can know the truth of God for sure and avoid many pitfalls that come from beliefs that may feel right but actually keep us from the life of love God has for us.  By reading the Bible every day, our attitudes and perspective on the world around us and the world within us begin to be re-aligned.  Through regular Bible reading, the life of love becomes clearer and we see more and more evidence of God’s transformation process.  A good compliment to Galatians 5 in terms of life-patterns and fruit is Psalm 1.  As we see from Psalm 1, meditating on God’s word every day is part of what contrasts a life of spiritual death, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Third, God has given us other Christians in His world-wide Church!  Remember, other Christians are also involved in the same messy, painful, wonderful process you are and may often be dealing with remnants of their past that seem contrary to new life in Christ.  Developing relationships with other Christians is a large part of God’s plan to bring about change not only in you but also in the world around you.  Without Christian relationship, many of the deep transformational work of God will not happen nor will the world around us be changed in meaningful, sustainable ways without these relationships.  As a Christian, you are related through God to every other Christian in the world and relationships with many different types of Christians will be a healthy part of spiritual development.  Having said this, however, it is paramount that each Christian joins and regularly contributes to a local group of Christians in a church.  Church membership and involvement is essential not only for Christian growth but also for Christians in reaching their local communities with the life-change God wants to bring to all!

Further Resources 

• Beloved Disciple: The Life and Ministry of John, Beth Moore, Lifeway Christian Resources, Nashville, 2002.
• I Believe: Exploring the Apostle’s Creed, Alister McGrath, IVP, Downers Grove, 1991.
• Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, Revised and Expanded, Henry Blackaby, Lifeway Christian Resources, Nashville, 2007.
• On-line:
  • “How Do I Know I’m Saved?” By Adrian Rogers http://www.christianity.com/Christian%20Foundations/Becoming%20a%20Christian/11531785/
  • “Hour of Decision” by Erik Thoennes
    http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/december/29.56.html

In the past such words as “mystery, wonder, the unknown, and awe” immediately raised red flags for hearers.  Such concepts were seen as holes or limits on one’s ability to demonstrate the rationality of propositional claims.  Subjective experiences that express mystery and wonder today are not only welcome elements of Christian witness but are now often seen as evidence for the personal relevancy of faith to our hearers.

True wonder, or the state in which a person is filled with a sense of awe, comes from experiences with the Divine, albeit an inescapably subjective experience.  In fact, it is this articulation of wonder and its associated outward expressions (e.g. fear, immobilization, spontaneous worship, brokenness, demonstrative repentance…) that mark the unique experiences of women and men throughout the Scripture when confronted with the Divine.  Two great examples of this come from Mark 5 in the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac and the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter.

Our experience of God may not always be as acute as our mountain top or defining encounters with God but true Christians should be marked as people of wonder for we relate to God in an on-going fashion.  Our relationship with God should go beyond rituals such as prayer, Bible study, and fasting and should include actual encounters with the Divine.  This is the one universal thread that draws the Biblical narrative together across characters from Genesis to Revelation.  This should come as no surprise since God is in the business of encountering His creation.  Such encounters are inherently “alien” and produce the kind of reactions we see in the Biblical narrative (again, fear, flight, spontaneous worship…).  While it is true that we are God’s offspring, He is our Father, there is something so terrifying about the Divine presence that we are left with few voluntary, rational responses in the immediate moment.

When it comes to relating our understanding of and encounters with God to others, there is great value in our transparency in this area.  In fact, the current cultural milieu is so desperate to mystically connect with the Divine, the hunger to hear such encounters amongst crowds and individuals is palpable.  While this opens the door to all kinds of deceptions and potential manipulations, authentic wonder and delight in mystery within the Christian faith is an asset, not a liability.  Seeking to root our experiences and the interpretation of such experiences in Scripture cannot be overstated but such authentic, transformative encounters with God are not confined to Scripture reading.  We cannot manufacture such experiences but hope and wait for God to ‘condescend’ and connect with our hungering hearts.

Whether through film, television, music, or on-line and platform gaming, pop culture is riddled with illustrations of a desperate generation trying to manufacture encounters with the Divine.  Such attempts to connect with God through the mundane and even through debauched behavior illustrates just how hungry this ’mystic generation’ really is.  Christians ought to have much to say in this area.  We have authentic, transformative encounters with a God who is intimate with us and longs to love us.  We have the means (community, prayer, fasting, Bible study, worship…) to make ourselves available to God and thus encounter the Divine.

Whether through re-telling and applying testimonial encounters to others or inviting others into Christian disciplines and practices where encountering God is likely, evangelism today needs to include much more emphasis on wonder.  Apologetically, when it comes to sharing Jesus relevantly with postmoderns, we need not run from or hide the fact that our faith, while an historic faith first, is also a faith of mystery.  Unlike the pagan mystical religions of Jesus’ day, our faith is a faith in an historic person, which makes authentic mystery possible!  We leave room for and appreciate wonder and mystery simply because of God, while familiar, is also the awful God of dread, alien, and full of wonder.

The culture at large appreciates wonder and mystery as can be seen in the hit television show, “Lost” or the console game, “God of War.”  Within the often avoided grotesqueries and debauched expressions of American culture is a deep soul cry for the transcendent and we connect with such a cry through the story of the cross, the resurrection and with our on-going story.  In the past, classical composers, expressionist painters, and gritty philosophers expressed this soul cry but today it is the film maker, the poet/singer, the manipulator of pixels and sprites, and those who clamor to consume such shadowy expressions of another world.  While such value is not universal and may be unique to the N. American cultural context, it is nonetheless real and represents a real open door for the brave new world of evangelism.

The first post-resurrection evangelistic sermon was preached by Peter in Acts 2. A stirring message in itself, the end of the message and subsequent message commentary give us some initial footing in addressing the counting/decision/conversion issue. In Acts 2:40-41 we read, “With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.” A few observations are helpful to us struggling with the messiness of evangelism today.

First, the count: The count was 3,000 added to their number that day. The text does not say 3,000 people were converted or that their names were written in the lamb’s book of life or that they were saved-simply that they were added to “their number.” The text also doesn’t say that the 3,000 were first verified as legitimate or there was an assessment period to see if their decisions bore fruit. What does the phrase “added to their number” actually mean? Prior to this message, in chapter one, the female disciples along with the 11 apostles were together with a larger group-all totaling around 120 “Jesus followers.” What is interesting is the repetition of the phrase “was added” and the emphasis in chapters 1 and 2 on numbering. Numbering appears in 1:13,14,15,17,21,26 and 2:39,41,47. In 2:47, the Lord “added to their number” and then the phrase appears “those who were being saved.” It would appear that the way in which the counting of the 3,000 and those “added” daily who were being saved is used in the same manner. Luke throughout Acts records numbers of people who are “added” to the community of the “saved” in a way that may be bothersome to many today. Luke records the “add” as the total number of those being “saved.” How can he be so sure? What about those who turn their back on Christ and the Way? To be sure, this happened all the time and of those being added daily or of the 3,000 added after the first evangelistic message, we can be almost certain that some of them eventually rejected their decision.

Second, the warning: The second important observation in the text is the fact that Peter warns the crowd to “save themselves from this corrupt generation.” The evangelistic call had a sense of urgency, of drastic separation from an already condemned generation of which the hearers were a part. He did not try to give an assurance of salvation or calm the fears of those perishing, he sternly warned them to save themselves. Obviously, Peter did not mean that they, in and of themselves, could literally save themselves, but in the context of his larger message, the call to repent and place faith in Christ’s finished work was the means by which they would be saved. His warning demonstrates what we are calling people to and what we are calling them away from. We are calling them to change allegiances, to recognize sin, to leave their identity and become a part of Christ’s new community of repentant and faith-filled believers (the grand picture of which is provided for us at the end of Acts 2). This is important in what we count. Often, counting decisions gets corrupted because the call to Christ is not clear. This is where legitimate criticism can be aimed at much evangelistic preaching as often the call is so ambiguous, so watered down that we cannot be sure what people have responded to. In such cases, we are almost always left to allow the respondent to self-assess what happened before we count. This was not the case in Peter’s message. He called for repentance, people demonstrated their response by coming forward to be baptized and the community took at face value the legitimacy of all 3,000 who came forward. There was not a re-assessment after the follow-up team had meetings with the 3,000, there was an immediate celebration and recognition of full membership in the “they” Luke refers to as the entire community of faith throughout chapters one and two. The warning, however, places the burden on the decision maker. Peter’s instruction is in the present tense and throughout the epistles, the warning to “be” saved, or walk according to the grace given us remains a source of challenge for all who follow Christ to re-examine continuously our allegiance to Him.

Third, the baptism: Water baptism is so much more than a mere physical indication of a person’s inner decision but it is at least that here in the text. In my evangelistic preaching I’ve used various physical mechanisms to give the decision maker an opportunity to visibly demonstrate her faith. Whether they’ve been items like glow sticks, water, sand, fire, marbles, free-standing doors, coloring on walls, receiving an empty glass to be filled, or simply coming forward, securing some visible and often external item to express faith is important. It is important for two reasons. A visible appropriation of faith (see my larger article on “Re-Thinking Alter Calls” at www.tellthestory.net) allows us to see who and how many people have responded to the call to repent. Second, a visible appropriation of faith is a powerful experiential component to an otherwise personal and inner experience. It would appear from Scripture that there was almost always some visible way, whether miraculous or through human volition, for decision makers to be counted as “added to their numbers.” Water baptism in this passage served this function, though it was certainly not limited to a mere visible appropriation of faith.

Let’s get practical:

There are a number of different “decisions” that can be made when the call to repent is clear.  They include:

•First Time Decisions: A decision by an obvious or self proclaimed non-Christian to follow Christ or a “nominal/cultural Christian’s” decision to become a true Christ-follower.

•Rededicated Decision: A decision to re-affirm one’s salvific faith, to repent of patterns of sin, and re-commit to following Christ as Lord.

•Journey Engagement Decision: Often confused as a salvific decision, people will often respond to a call to repent but not intend to give their lives to Christ as Lord. Such decisions often mark a pivotal point in a faith journey but are short of full trust in Christ.

•The Confused/Unintentional/Insincere Decision: Almost without exception, some will respond to a call to repent because they misunderstood what was being asked of them (no matter how clear the call was) or; they did not intend to respond but were interpreted as doing so or; their response was intentionally insincere. The insincere decision maker responds for all kinds of strange reasons-“I wanted a glow stick,” “I wanted to see what the stage looked like,” “I wanted my picture taken with you,” “I didn’t want you to look bad when nobody came,” “I just wanted to lead the way for others.” These and many other reasons I’ve heard over 20 years of evangelistic preaching.

Some Clarity:

Let’s make some observations about each of these decision makers. The first time decision makers are more obvious and readily accepted for “the count” when they are known or self identifying non-Christians but the count gets messier when a worship leader stands, or an elder or clergy member or life-long church member. Often, event organizers immediately conclude that such respondents are confused/unintentional/insincere decision makers. However, frequently these are nominal/cultural Christians who are authentically making a first time decision. Whether we refer to these as Lordship decisions or 1st time decisions really is immaterial, the decision maker in this category through her response has chosen to “save herself” and she should be counted as being “added” unless there is clear evidence to the contrary.

A “nominal Christian” is a Christian in name only, not in fact. Because of this, a Lordship decision of this type is really a 1st time decision because the nominal/cultural Christian has never been converted, merely religious. Socialized Christians are not converted though they often appear so through their habits and interest in Christian community. They often find themselves serving in leadership roles because they know the culture and language of community but have never repented of sin and placed their trust in Christ. Using this definition gives us permission to include in the count people who have experienced a “spiritual awakening” or “adult decision” and who now consciously follow Christ.

This definition is admittedly very broad; however I think there are 3 reasons why this broad definition for counting is indeed appropriate.

1) The lack of gospel clarity in the church: Many churches in America do not preach the true gospel message or do so unclearly. Also, they rarely call people to faith. Thus, many people who think they are making a recommitment to faith are in fact responding to the gospel for the first time or are making their profession public for the first time. In either case, we should include them in our “count.”

2) The lack of Biblical literacy outside the church: Most people lack the conceptual framework and language for explaining what is spiritually going on inside them. They cannot articulate often what kind of decision they are making are what the implications are when they do so. Again, the precedent in Scripture is to count all responders at face value, to celebrate them and begin enfolding them into community. The rule of thumb should be we count unless there is extant evidence not to do so (admission of confusion, unrepentant life-styles of sin…).

3) Decisions are measurable, conversions are not: Even though we are often still using conversion language (saved, converted, new Christian), we can never truly know whether a person has been saved. We are left with merely the visible representation of people’s decisions and the subsequent spiritual fruit or lack thereof. This means that there will always be ambiguity along the way toward maturity in Christ for people who indicate a decision and even seeming maturity in Christ can be deceptive as many fall away later in life.

Illustration:

Let’s say un-churched Anna makes a visible decision at a conference as a result of an alter call but a year later wants nothing to do with Christ while Hassan, a cultural Christian, makes a visible decision to “recommitment himself to Christ” at a meeting and over the course of the next several weeks begins to bear fruit for the first time in his life. Let’s say Jill makes a decision to follow Jesus as Lord in every area of her life after a life-long tradition of attending church. Jill has significant areas of her life that have never been submitted to Christ including areas of deep sexual sin and relational brokenness but now has been set free and is beginning to joyfully serve in Christian community. Finally, let’s say Tom indicates a “first time decision” on a response card at an evangelistic outreach but later realizes he came to Christ long ago and is only now making a public adult profession of faith. I’ve dealt with these and many other confusing scenarios over the years. Such circumstances make counting a very difficult issue.

Let’s consider why each of these four decision makers should be included as we count those “added” to our numbers.

Anna: Though it is heartbreaking, some decision makers do later go back on their decision, perhaps indicating that they never sincerely came to Christ in the first place. Regardless of how we theologically interpret the range of possibilities, at the time of Anna’s decision, illustrations from Scripture would indicate that we should count Anna, celebrate her decision, hold her to the spiritual expectations of Christian discipleship, and weep later when she turns from Christ, doing all we can to help her hold true to the word of life. In the beginning, however, we count her as a decision maker.

Hassan: Though Hassan has self-identified as a Christian all his life, he has never demonstrated the fruit associated with being filled with the Holy Spirit. He has likely never truly followed Christ though he may have been open all along to authentic discipleship. Hassan needed a clear explanation and call to faith and once he encountered Christ, naturally connected with Jesus and began to demonstrate salvific faith for the first time. Though we may be tempted to consider Hassan’s decision as a recommitment, perhaps he would even say so, in reality his decision is more likely a first time decision as it is associated with first time spiritual fruit demonstrating the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

Jill: Jill would likely never say of herself that she “became a Christian” since in her interpretation of her spiritual journey, she has been Christian all her life. The evidence of regeneration, however, and freedom from deep bondage may indicate she has become born again. The spiritual fruit emerging in her life is indicative of a person who has encountered Christ and given long-term patterns of bondage and willful disobedient to Christ, the likelihood is that she too has made an authentic first time decision and should be counted.

Tom: Tom’s a slightly different story. Tom’s decision is obviously not a salvific decision but rather an affirmation of previous spiritual realities and decisions made in the past. For young people emerging into adulthood, however, it is important that they own their faith in a conscious way. Tom has already been “saved” but has never truly owned this spiritual status for himself. Many Christian youth find an important right of passage by responding publically as adults. Many times when alter calls are made where emerging adults are present, people like Tom wish to publically profess faith to have confidence in the authenticity of their faith or because they’ve never been given such an opportunity to do so before. Either way, the likelihood is that they’ve not been counted before and the fact that they as emerging adults wish to be counted now should be honored.

“Don’t Count Me”

Finally, the question is who should not be counted as first time decision makers. Obviously the confused/unintentional/insincere decision makers with a little bit of interaction will rise to the surface, often immediately after the decision is indicated. Additionally, clear Christians who merely wish to rededicate themselves or repent of specific struggles and incidents of sin should not be counted either. Often, these are interpreted as “Lordship” decisions but true “Lordship” decisions are more often than not authentically first time decisions for what kind of faith can be saving faith that is devoid of submission to Christ as Lord? It would seem from each and every evangelistic message in the book of Acts that the apostles believed salvation necessitated the eventual confession of Christ as Lord.

A journey decision should also not be counted as a first time decision. This category often takes the most work to follow up with and gain certainty. This is particularly true since frequently journey decision makers lack the sufficient language and theological constructs to self-interpret where they are or what kind of decision they have made. These standards leave a wide latitude open for us to include many who indicate a decision for Christ. This seems to be the practice of the first Church and there really is no reason why we should depart from their practice.

Entertainment/sport as an institution of culture has often, in its eroded state, become a vehicle for accelerated societal evil.  When entertainment falls into eroticism (as it often does) and when sport falls into violence (which it often does), the good gift of sport and entertainment goes from a vehicle for cultural expression to the glory of God to an instrument causing accelerated societal decay.  Each and every one of the seven institutions of society has a corresponding broken expression with equally wicked and destructive demarcations.  Commerce falls to greed, government falls to power at the expense of the marginal, families become places of abuse and neglect….The reality is, because of sin, we have rarely seen expressions of whole and transformative institutions.  We need renewal as many of the institutions of our time have or are beginning to enter into the unsalvageable stages of erosion.  The de-evolution of the entertainment industry into eroticism is well documented but we also see irreversible damage to the notion of the family, to medicine, and certainly to commerce.  Corruption, a culture of death, acceptance of broken sexual paradigms are all the cumulative effects of a lack of much needed renewal.

Renewal is not merely the bridled restraint of such expressions of decay.  It is true that the Church has a preservative nature in culture.  The presence of the Church in the World slows the ramped downward spiral of society and the grotesque end stages of unbridled wickedness.  The Scripture’s use of preservative imagery, however, is often misused.  Preservatives do not bring new life, they merely prevent the decay of death from entirely ruining the food they preserve.  Only the blowing winds of God’s grace on a people through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in a unique, corporate way can actually bring new life.  Without this unique act of God, the best we can hope for is a slowing of the inevitable and at worst, when the preserving Church fails, the active judgment of God on a people-perhaps even their eradication.  Renewal is the unique resurrecting work of God through the corporate application of the Spirit’s power in bringing repentance and the subsequent Kingdom transformation of people groups in application to the culture-making institutions of their society.  Renewal is not mere mass conversion nor is it mere revival in the Church, though it may initially begin there, renewal is the macro-transformation of nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues expressed in their culture.

The Church often fails not only to preserve the culture but also fails to be able to receive renewal from God because it trends toward drifting in its identity.  The Church world-wide, when left un-checked, confuses itself as an institution of society.  We are to be “in the world, but not of the world,” says Jesus.  Applied societally, the Church is to participate and lead in every one of the seven institutions but not succumb to the temptation to be those institutions or to circumvent these institutions.  Sadly, we see the Church all too often failing to lead and transform these institutions but instead seeking to become or replace them.  How often have we seen the Church attempt to be a place of commercial enterprise with her ministers and evangelists peddling programs, conferences, products and the like?  How often have we seen well meaning Christian leaders attempting to use the Church as a vehicle for political manipulation and power?  How often have we seen the Church give up its ministry of prayer, evangelism, and the study of the Word of God for entertainment and programs of sport?  To sit in many prayer circles in today’s Church, one would think we are a hospital as we pray for strokes, heart attacks, cancers, and sicknesses at the expense of lost neighbors, broken families and injustices around the world of every kind!  The Church is not a hospital, though we are charged with caring for the broken hearted and the sick.  The Church is not the judicial system, though we are charged with loving the prisoner and visiting them in their hours of desperation.  The Church is not the academy but we are charged with bringing every thought captive to the Lordship of Christ and worshipping God with our whole mind.  The Church is not the family but we are a new family under God charged with caring for widows and orphans.

We are all of these things and none of them at the same time for we are something much greater.  A loftier, controlling identity shadows any particular missional charge, for we are the Bride of Jesus Christ, not merely the sum total of our functions.  As such, our primary passion should be to connect with Christ and to allow the regenerative flow of the Spirit fill us for His glory.  In the world, the Church’s passion should be to be the receptacle of the transforming power of God that can alone bring renewal to our society.  How sad that we drift away and settle for our secondary functions instead of our primary identity like a man who confuses his employment for his true identity.  The Church is to be just and the place for championing justice without being the hall of justice.  The Church is to be a place where the needs of the widow, orphan, sick and lame are addressed without becoming a hospital or place of respite care…The Church is to have no greater preoccupation than that of the person of Jesus Christ and being the receptacle of His renewing power.

The Church is to be in each and every institution, shaping and defining the trajectory of those institutions.  There is no place in society where the Church should not be seeking to bring renewal.  The high courts of justice, the culture-making centers of music and film, the great halls of academia, the research labs of science and medicine-it is all Christ’s.  We are not guests here, this is Christ’s world and He is in the process of reclaiming what is His through us.  When the Church abandons entire institutions, the society should expect to erode into debauchery.  When the Church leaves the university, we should expect godlessness to reign in the dorms, bars, and offices of faculty.  When the Church leaves the world of politics, we should expect unjust laws.  When the Church leaves the medical field, we should expect immoral research and practices.  Jesus will not break if we expose him to the real world but to listen to retreatists, one has to wonder if they have a cheap plaster Jesus picked up at some tourist shop of faith.  The real Jesus can withstand the challenges of brokenness and sin in all these places-He is more durable than we think!

We are to be in the world, acting as the preservative element that prevents it from eroding into darkness and despair.  However, we cannot content ourselves with mere incremental advancements of God’s Kingdom.  We long for it to break through in its fullness, for another ‘Great Awakening,” for mass repentance that gives way to new life!  We are to be waiting and calling on God for the unique work of renewal, of revival and awakening-the work that only God can send from Heaven.  The work of renewal, the breath of God on our land, is the only hope in escaping His wrath and seeing our society live again.  When the breath of God comes, it brings new life.  This new life in society looks like medical breakthrough, a passion for research and learning, just laws, resources for those in need, whole and joy-filled families, redeemed leisure and competition, breathtaking art, dance, film, music-all to the glory of God!  May it be so in our time Lord Jesus.