Ramblings of a Broken-Hearted Pastor

Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision, was quoted as praying this prayer, "Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God." This prayer has been on my mind since I read it a couple weeks ago in the book The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision. The Holy Spirit has used this prayer to influence and guide me as I've traveled to Nicaragua, thought about hurting people in Africa and read about injustices in the poorest parts of the world.

All around the world young girls are forced to have sex over and over several times a day, seven days a week with no break.

Over 30,000 boys have been captured and made to fight for the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) in Uganda. The leader of the LRA is Joseph Kony, the number one war criminal in the world. One of the first things that he makes these boys do is kill their parents.

Many children in Africa can't go to school and be educated for one simple reason. They have to get water from the only water supply available to them, which could be as much as an hour away. And it takes several trips to get enough water for the day. So most of their day is walking back and forth to get water that is also filled with parasites and diseases. This is where most kids won't grow past age 5. Those who do may wind up burying their parents who will die from AIDS and then live on their own with no income.

People not only die of AIDS and other deadly diseases. They die of treatable problems as well. One of the biggest killers in the poorest countries is diarrhea. The people get dehydrated and can't hydrate the way they should, so they die. Another treatable disease is Malaria. I took a pill before leaving for Nicaragua, one while there, and will take a couple more in the upcoming weeks. But so many people simply don't have access to the drugs that I do. And so Malaria kills tons of people every day. Then there's tuberculosis. I read where it's estimated that 1/3 of the world's population is infected with the TB bacillus (2008 - World Health Association). That is two billion people. Fortunately only 5-10 percent of these people will develop full-blown TB. But still that's 1-2 million people. Those who have no access to the medicine or to doctor care (whether in Africa or America) will most likely die from it.

I could go on with information that God has placed in my path over the past few weeks. But I will not, so as to not overwhelm. Instead I want to share a few ramblings of a broken-hearted pastor.

I to pray that God will break my heart for what breaks His. Even though these injustices weigh heavily on me, they are the things that weigh on God. Think about this. Our earth produces enough food for every man, woman and child in the world to be fed. So why aren't they? INJUSTICE.

There are war-torn areas of the world where kids are the armies. Why? INJUSTICE.

Innocent people live in fear all around the world. Why? INJUSTICE.

People die daily of very curable diseases. Why? INJUSTICE.

So why is there so much injustice? First, the devil is at work ruling this world. Jesus called him the ruler of the world, so who am I to disagree. Second, the Church in areas where things are good is not doing the job she should be doing. Paul urged the Corinthian church to give to the church in Jerusalem knowing that they had more to give. So do we. As we worry about attendance and buildings and programs, we are missing so much. We have so much and others have so little. Yet we give out of our abundance instead of like the poor widow who gave all.

I'm not saying that any one of us can solve the world's problems. Instead, I'm saying that too many of us aren't doing enough -- or anything to help solve any problems. We are the Church of Jesus Christ. We Christians are the hands and feet of Christ and the adopted sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven. We are called to feed the hungry, give the thirsty something to drink, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the imprisoned and sick. So how are we doing? If so many in this world are hurting, then we're not doing as well as we should. The Church as a whole must step up. But as individuals all we can do is our part. So I urge you to do just that. Listen to these words of God and meditate on them to see if the Holy Spirit decides to speak to you.

Woe to those who make unjust laws,

to those who issue oppressive decrees,

to deprive the poor of their rights

and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,

making widows their prey

and robbing the fatherless.

- Isaiah 10:1-2 (NIV)

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

- James 1:27 (NLT)

There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.

- Deuteronomy 15:11 (NLT)

"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.

Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD.

- Jeremiah 22:16 (NIV)

He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

- Proverbs 19:17 (NIV)

Then the King will say, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me-you did it to me."

- Matthew 25:40 (MSG)

Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion for the world is to look out; yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good; and yours are the hands with which He is to bless us now.

- Saint Teresa of Avila

In the love of Christ,

greg