Hear my heart today as I continue to share with you some what is resounding in my heart today. As a leader, and as a leader of worship, the responsibility to take the song of freedom to the streets , to take the song of hope to the lost is gathering great momentum - yes, nations are gathering with open hands and open hearts to the overwhelming need that greets the majority of humanity every day.
So, what is justice?? Justice is 'Jesus Grace'...seeing all people as equal no matter what their circumstances, poor or rich. Justice is the defining line of truth when it comes to the treatment of humanity... and social justice is the outworking of this truth, serving those unfairly treated, in a practical way. It is our role as Christians to see that no person is disadvantaged... and that every person has access to the good news.
On any given day, our newspapers could read '20 000 people died yesterday due to extreme poverty.....' This is the reality of what is happening today, so with great urgency in mind, we need to approach the magnitude of this uncomfortable truth, both locally and globally, intelligently AND swiftly. Working with experts, fuelled in prayer and inspiration... AND not trying to reinvent the wheel for the sake of it, but working together for the greater cause of restoring the true value of a human life. Even in Australia, which is my immediate frame of reference... the UK, the USA, we live in very rich countries... but we are actually a minority group when it comes to the standard of living that we are used to. Over 75% of the world's population live on less than 5 dollars a day. Just this stress alone and the impact of it on any family brings about a whole gamut of issues that are very real, and often the outfall is pure devastation.
People assume that the best way to help is to go to the mission field, but some of the great injustices happening today happen in our own country.... 1 in 3 girls in Australia are sexually abused - why is this? Why do girls have to cut their arms to relive their emotional pain?... Why do we have so many teenagers in mental institutions in our own nation when they should be enjoying the best years of their lives?? The answers to these questions are not light, they're heavy, and it takes work, energy, finance and great faith to relieve the tragedy human suffering that unfortunately is all around.
Different aspects of the global church have always made the fight against injustice their theme song which has been fantastic.... But secular society has led the charge on many fronts. Even though I have received a lot of flack for it, I wholeheartedly stand behind the work of LIVEAID and Geldof, Bono and U2, actually the global music industry has done a lot for many years to make the average person even aware of what is going on out there, Bill and Melinda Gates, so many government bodies have poured multiplied millions of dollars into aid, but SO much more is needed, many banking sectors have contributed to debt relief which again, is brilliant, but there is SO much more to be done. Look, ANYONE who is championing the cries of the seemingly forgotten, the orphans and widows, and the many women who literally bare the brunt of the outfall of poverty, I thank God for them.... but we as the church have much to do... and not for our sakes or to feed ego's, but to respond to the needs as the hands and feet of Christ. GOD is definitely on the move in our hearts however, and I do believe that one who honours the worship of Christ, is well positioned to hear the voice of God as we heed the call! There is not a church leader I speak to around the world whose heart is not gripped some way or another by the mountain of need we are all faced with. I believe the word of God makes the call to our mission plain and simple - all we need to do is to get busy doing it.
