The Only Hope

Kay Warren writes about the Church:

"I know it sounds crazy, but the church-with all its warts and flaws-has advantages over every other institution in society. More than 2 billion people claim to be followers of Jesus Christ- and this means that no organization is bigger than the church. No government, no relief agency- no single country, in fact- is bigger than the church. These churches are scattered in nearly every country on earth, and there are more churches than all of the McDonald's. WalMarts, Starbucks, and Macy's combined. Some places have a few or no hospitals or universities or libraries, but they have a church!

Churches are part of a grassroots networking system, which means they are much more efficient and effective than bureaucracies. The church around the world is growing at the rate of 60,000 new converts a day. The church has been around for nearly 2,000 years...it has a track record of caring for the sick, heloping the poor, and leading people to Jesus Christ. Jesus himself told us to go into the world and do his work- there is no stronger authorization than that. The church offers love as the motivation for everything we do; the highest call on our lives is to love as Jesus loved. Governments and the private sector cannot love in the name of Jesus; only Christians can do that.

"God's strategy has always been to work through his people... to be his hands and feet in the world, to be his voice of love, to speak truth, to act justly, to combat evil, and to do good. Our job is to push back the encroaching darkness and be God's light in a desperately dark world. Our mission is to care for the sick, the widows, the orphans- and to heal in Jesus's name. We are to preach the Good News of salvation and to disciple the nations, bringing all into fellowship with him and each other. The Lord of all calls us to lives of love, mercy, and grace, thus making the invisible God visible. It's not a matter of one or the other; we must care for both body and soul. We are Christ's ambassadors. "