As I've pondered the James Cameron announcement (see the last post), I've come to the conclusion that we've got to think about our role in this mess. If the Church concentrated on making the world more like Heaven, if our number one goal was to end hunger, create shelter, provide heat and clothing, and then move into realms like education, health care and then into even broader arenas like human rights and creating equality, I think the world wouldn't be interested in spending time disproving Christianity. I imagine they'd celebrate the work of God on display.

But in the past couple years we've seen Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion plastered all over Barnes and Noble. We've seen the author of The Da Vinci Code publicly stating that it is a work of fiction, and then at least thousands of people exploring if it was true or not. We've had Oprah's The Secret speaking to thousands of people looking to fill a void in their life that God wants to fill so badly. Just as we are seeing a waning interest in The Da Vinci Code, all of these things will soon be forgotten and Jesus will still be capturing the hearts, minds and imaginations of millions of people around the world. But I think to dismiss all of what's happening without critically examining our role in it would be to do the Church a disservice.

It seems like people are fed up with Christianity in America. How did we get this far? Certainly we are to expect persecution, but this doesn't feel (at least to me) like a kingdom's power being threatened. This feels like people with good intentions wanting to make the world a more tolerable, more peaceful place, and the way they've deemed most efficient to accomplishing that end is to disprove Christianity.

And when I read the Book of Acts, all I can think is... "Huh?"

We're supposed to be a movement of people making disciples of all nations. We're supposed to be preaching good news to the poor, restoring sight to the blind. You know, proclaiming and demonstrating the Kingdom of God. Instead, we're running multi-million-dollar building campaigns and getting in bed with political parties.

Case in point: The following story is from USA Today on November 28 of last year:

The president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America has declined the job, saying the organization wouldn't let him expand its agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage.

The Rev. Joel Hunter, who was scheduled to take over the socially conservative group in January from Roberta Combs, said he had hoped to focus on issues such as poverty and the environment.

"These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," said Hunter, a senior pastor at Northland Church in Longwood, Fla.

Hunter announced his decision not to take the job during an organization board meeting Nov. 21. A statement issued by the group said Hunter left because of "differences in philosophy and vision." Hunter said he was not asked to leave.

"They pretty much said, 'These issues are fine, but they're not our issues, that's not our base,"' Hunter said.

I find myself asking questions like "Are we being good stewards of the faith?" And, "God has clearly blessed America... have we used that blessing in a way that glorifies Him?" Let's keep talking about this. I welcome your feedback, whether you agree or disagree with me. More soon...

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