It amazes me to see a blossoming movement of Christian social reconciliation. Christian social reconciliation has blossomed before in the early centuries and the Radical Reformation. Jesus is well known for social reconciliation. In fact, this is his goal for humanity. Some prominent people in the current movement are Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Jim Wallis, Walter Wink, John Yoder, Ron Sider and René Girard. They come from different Christian backgrounds.

I see atleast three categories of Christian ministry. Christ most importantly brings life. How can Christians bring life? What do Christians save others from?

1) Illness. Jesus heals disease, mental illness and deformities. Medicine and science allow us to heal. Prayer heals. Christians must lift up science and all types of inquiry to follow Jesus. We need to treat AIDS/HIV, TB and more. Many doctors and scientists throughout history were Christians. (Evolution is a legitimate way to look at creation. If you reject evolution, you reject a part of God’s creative power, which is love. Anti-evolution rhetoric is one of the greatest causes of atheism today.)

2) Poverty. Jesus feeds the hungry, lives communally, rebukes the rich and clears the Temple court. You cannot serve both God and money. Jesus relocated from heaven to serve the oppressed. The last shall be first, and the first last. God’s redistributive economics is jubilee justice where every servant has enough. Christians relocate, redistribute and reconcile to follow Jesus. (Failure to help the poor is another cause of atheism.)

3) Violence. Jesus constantly battles against the strand of zealous nationalism in Judaism. Jesus is the suffering servant instead of a militant nationalist. Christ opposes the zealot mentality by subverting Roman/Temple power nonviolently (the Romans/Temple lost all credibility after killing God, a perfect being), showing compassion to Roman centurions who were disliked by the Jews (imagine how Palestinians dislike Israeli soldiers or how Iraqis dislike American soldiers), and even forgiving all sins on the cross. Judas Iscariot gave Jesus to the Romans/Temple to push Jesus to violence (the view that Judas betrayed Jesus to fulfill Jesus’ mission — hence Judas is a hero — is not present in the canonical Gospels, but is present in the Gospel of Judas, a gnostic text). Jesus’ disciples (Luke 9:56; John 18:11) and Judas betrayed Jesus every time they expressed zeal for violence. The fact that Jesus’ disciples were so troubled by Jesus’ arrest/cruxification (Judus commited suicide; Peter betrayed Jesus three times) shows how strongly they believed in the power of violence before the resurrection. The whole idea of the resurrection is to get ride of violence. Paul was a zealot before turning 180 degrees to become a Christian. The zealots killed for power, wealth and prestige. Jesus died to give all this away. Jesus ended sacrifice and taught the supremacy of mercy, even to enemies, as it was from the beginning of time. Christians overcome evil with good because our battle is not against flesh. (Causing violence or not stopping violence with love breeds intense atheism.)

Zach Hunter, a 15 year old from Atlanta, is an inspiring activist for Christian social justice. He started the “Loose Change to Loosen Chains” campaign when he was twelve. He recently wrote a book! "Be the Change."

"We can have a new peace and love movement, but instead of how the hippies tried to do it without God, we can do it with God." - Zach Hunter

Here’s a short video.

Read about International Justice Mission (IJM), a leading Christian human rights organization.

History

Founded in 1997, IJM began operations after a group of human rights professionals, lawyers and public officials launched an extensive study of the injustices witnessed by overseas missionaries and relief and development workers. This study, surveying more than 65 organizations and representing 40,000 overseas workers, uncovered a nearly unanimous awareness of abuses of power by police and other authorities in the communities where they served. Without the resources or expertise to confront the abuse and to bring rescue to the victims, these overseas workers required the assistance of trained public justice professionals.

When the poor are hungry, homeless or alienated, the Church has come to their aid by providing food, shelter and missionaries to meet the pressing needs.  But when the poor have been oppressed, treated unjustly and suffered under the hand of someone more powerful, little was done on their behalf.

Accordingly, IJM was established to help fill this void, acting as an organization that stands in the gap for victims when they are left without an advocate. IJM staff members (human rights experts, attorneys and law enforcement professionals) receive case referrals from, and work in conjunction with, other non-governmental organizations and casework alliances abroad.

Education

IJM is committed to helping local churches embrace God’s call to "Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan and plead for the widow."  Christians around the world are experiencing the joy of partnering with IJM to bring freedom to victims of oppression.  Their faith is being buoyed as they pray daily for the work of IJM and see the results of their intercession.

This entry was originally published at Interconnectedness

I’ll be in the top 2.44% richest people in the world when I start working next year for NYCTF ($42,500 annual income).

$8 could buy you 15 organic apples OR 25 fruit trees for farmers in Honduras to grow and sell fruit at their local market.

$30 could buy you an ER DVD Boxset OR a First Aid kit for a village in Haiti.

$73 could buy you a new mobile phone OR a new mobile health clinic to care for AIDS orphans in Uganda.

$2400 could buy you a second generation High Definition TV OR schooling for an entire generation of school children in an Angolan village.

See how rich you are at globalrichlist.com.

Are wealthy Christians called to Relocation, Redistribution and Reconciliation? Do Christians follow Christ?

This entry was originally published at Interconnectedness

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war [as a medic]. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, "Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.

The young man held out his package. "I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this."

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift."

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son.

The auctioneer pounded his gavel. "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?" There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted. "We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one." But the auctioneer persisted. "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?" Another voice shouted angrily. "We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!" But still the auctioneer continued. "The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?" Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. "I’ll give $10 for the painting."

Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. "We have $10, who will bid $20?" "Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters." "$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?" The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!" A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now get on with the collection!"

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I’m sorry, the auction is over." "What about the paintings?" "I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets every thing!"

God gave his son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, "The son, the son, who’ll take the son?" Because you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

From Christian Stories
Contributed by Gods Work Ministry Inspirational and Encouragement E-Mail

This entry was originally published at Interconnectedness by Mikhail (Misha) Lomize