Whose Banner Do We Raise?

"Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back..." ~ Jeremiah 50:2

I enjoy this interactive blog, even though the comments are very telling sometimes. Usually folks get the point I'm trying to make, but there are other times when it's apparent that I've failed at communication. So I keep wrangling with words and praying for grace. Hope you'll pray for me, too.

Mind if I wrangle a bit more?

I'm overwhelmed with humanitarian causes. People feel passionate about their causes, you see, and expect me to feel likewise. Join the Facebook social network, for instance, and you'll find yourself inundated with every group and organization under the sun. I guess joining a cause could be one way people derive a sense of identity and purpose in life. After all, Oprah confesses to feeling the giver's "high" when she donates her millions. But if we give because it makes us feel good, is that truly selfless? Okay, forget about Oprah.

Standing for something worthwhile does make us feel better, especially when it causes others to view us as oh-so-charitable. Now, I'm not criticizing. I'm just wrangling with words, remember?

'Cause it's hard to watch the news without a visceral response anymore. We hurt for people; we want to do something. Or maybe we're so saturated with the world's suffering, we've grown callous or numb. We escape through entertainment. But to fight for injustice is to help our fellow man, right? "Stand up and be counted," we've heard. "Make a difference!" And so we try.

How? By fighting the plight that tugs at our heart the most: mental illness, poverty, right-to-life, politics, economics, animal rights, human rights, sexual abuse, home education, family preservation, environmental issues, disaster relief, religious freedom, world hunger, cancer research, sex-slave trade, terrorism, genocide, racism, pro/anti-war, literacy, Aids, world peace - the list is endless.

But the list is endless because the world is broken. We keep trying to fix the world, but nothing seems to change.

People, we've fallen and we can't get up.

Not without Christ.

The birth pangs are increasing. There will be no world peace until Jesus returns. Oh, but I need to rephrase that: Peace is available here and now for those who put their trust in Him. Otherwise, the world's turmoil will increase until His return.

Some will read and argue that we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus, going into all the world to relieve any suffering we can. Certainly, but that's not my point. When burdens have been laid upon our hearts by Him, He enables us to meet those needs. But we forget that humanity's greatest need is always spiritual. Our greatest need is Christ.

I look around and see people raising every banner, but the banner of Christ. I see people making a religion out of social justice, imitating Christ, yes. Following His ways, yes. But never abiding in Him because they've yet to realize their own greatest need. A great delusion comes over them when they think that serving a social gospel will make them right in His eyes.

Because there can be no "global peace plan" where there is no Gospel. Oprah may think she's fine with God, but where is her hope? In her evolving higher self? Her money? Her philanthropy? Without faith it's impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and without faith in Christ, the world will continue in darkness.

Let us raise the banner of Christ: in our homes, on our blogs, in our world - but in our hearts, first of all.