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I know what you’re thinking– “Whoa, two posts in one day…what is the world coming to?”
Well, that’s a good question, and it is actually what is prompting today’s second post. Let’s recap some recent news:
And as I worry about the impact this could have on our work, I can’t help but wonder what impact these stories would have if they were closer to home. Can you even imagine the outrage if our government stole international aid supplies? Can you imagine the fear if rebels attacked Washington, D.C.?
But reading these stories is very personal to me. When I read about Karen State, Burma, or Omdurman, Sudan, I have memories to go with it, mental images of the people and places now filled with suffering and death. It feels a bit like it would if the headlines had been different –
Corpses Line the Streets of Purcellville, VA
Rebel Attacks Reported in San Diego
I think that approaches the sort of personal impact we’re supposed to feel when the Body of Christ suffers. After all, when one part of the body feels pain, the whole body suffers with it. Does reading these stories, and knowing the impact they are having on believers, feel like you have lost a finger? Do you even feel a pinch?
So what is the world coming to? Nothing that we could not have expected as a result of sin. Dictators rule, storms and earthquakes cause suffering–and some of us, the “lucky” few, are blessed beyond all measure. But don’t let that make you forget that you are part of the Body, and must feel its pain. Without that pain, you will never know the joy of its fellowship.
But don’t stop with the pain…there is so much that you can do without ever getting up from your knees.