government health care? why christians shouldn’t be surprised

This whole health care thing has gotten way out of control! And this is something that the church (that means us, the people, not the institution) needs to take notice of and do something about. But what I am about to propose to you may take you off guard.

First let’s take a look at the actual issue that is driving this whole thing. Basically, while many people enjoy the privilege of decent medical care, there are still over 40 million people in the United States that have no coverage whatsoever.

I could provide my own commentary on this and other numbers, but there is enough of that already. What I will say is that there is a big need in our country today as it relates to care for the sick. So the government responded.

With this response by the government, many in the church are expressing outrage over such a ’socialist’ act! And that brings us to the point that I want to make…

Why is the church surprised? After all, isn’t the government simply doing something that the church should have been doing all along?

Personally, I’m still not sure what to think of the plan itself. But where there is an obvious need like this, I would prefer to see the church step up to meet that need. If we had, then there would be no problem that the government would feel compelled to fix.

Aren’t we (the church) called to take care of the sick? (Just in case you were wondering, the answer to that question is, “yes”.) Then how have the medical needs in our country gotten so bad? The only answer that I can think of for these questions is that we (the church) have not stepped up to the call.

The good news is that I know that it is possible for the church to meet needs like this. Things like relational tithe that are designed to help people in a community meet each other’s needs are solutions that could eliminate the need for socialized health care.

Whatever it looks like, if you want to fight things like socialized health care, then the best way to do it is by eliminating the needs that government feels obligated to address. As the church we should be leading the world in finding creative ways to meet the needs of the sick (and the orphan, and the widow, and… you get the idea). We should be a light to the world.

The church that Jesus called us to be is full of people who were created in the image of the most Creative Being in the universe! And we have been tasked with taking care of this place, and each other. For once I would like to see the church BE the solution, rather than complain about someone else trying to meet a need that we have failed to address.

keeping china in perspective

by Christina Kuo Graham

China is one of the oldest civilizations on the face of the earth and home to one-fifth of the world’s population. Chinese are an amazing group of people. What nation could have built a great wall so long that if superimposed on a US map would stretch from Los Angeles to New York and beyond? Only the Chinese. This achievement not only reveals human potential but spiritual potential. God knows this but so does the enemy, Satan. Therefore, anyone who has been called to ministry in China is aware of the spiritual warfare that is present and that it must be overcome on a daily basis.

Today, China is fast becoming the world’s next superpower. Their ability to provide quality goods and services, faster and cheaper to the global world market is compelling other nations to rely on this once “sleeping giant.” With 1.5 billion people, China is the largest consumer society on the planet. Unfortunately, progressive cities like Shanghai may have the highest GDP in the country but it rates the lowest on citizen morale, happiness and well-being. The top two social problems in this financial capital are suicide and divorce. A large wave of farmers and peasants continue to move into the cities looking for work and a higher standard of living. Despite the frenetic hustle and bustle, Chinese are spiritually empty and long for greater meaning and purpose in life.

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) most of the churches went underground. But today Christianity is emerging and experiencing greater religious freedom than it has ever known. On any given Sunday, churches are packed in the city and in home meeting points throughout the countryside. Believers come in every form of transportation to hear the Word of God. Even those who are physically-challenged overcome all obstacles to make their way to church. Unfortunately, there are not enough pastors to minister to the growing flock of believers, so many who need discipling or spiritual counseling often leave with their needs unmet. In John 21:16 Jesus tells Peter if he truly loves Him to, “Feed My sheep.” Now more than ever, East Gates is focusing on discipling believers so no one will go “hungry,” but instead, be filled with the Living Word of God.

Now some may ask, “Isn’t there religious persecution?” Yes, but it’s not pandemic like most in the West are led to believe. This is a complex issue and our China staff says it is very important not to generalize or come to quick conclusions when you hear or read about persecution in China. (See Persecuted Christians — What’s Really Happening?)

Chinese believers are learning how to live out their faith in wisdom like Christ did while on earth. We share with our Chinese brothers and sisters that if need be, we are to suffer persecution for righteous sake (1 Peter 2:20-23). We are not to invite persecution through unwise actions. There is a difference. Christians in China who know the true Church in China, and what is “happening on the streets,” will tell you that both conditions exist. It’s up to us in the West to discern between the two and not jump to overall conclusions about the matter.

For those who are impatient with the progress of Christian growth and development in China, one wise Chinese pastor  said, “When you have a country as old as China, you must look at where we’ve come from and where we are now. One must look for small improvements every day for nothing happens overnight, especially in areas that concerns the human soul.” His wisdom clearly illustrates the Chinese proverb, “Every thousand mile journey begins with a single step.”

It is important to remember that no other country has experienced as much political, economic  and social change as China has since the late 20th century. At East Gates, we use the analogy that in the West, we had time to go from the 45 LP record to the tape cassette. Then we rapidly transitioned from the CD, to DVD, MP3 and now we have instant Internet download. China had to transition from the 45LP to DVD overnight.

In the West, we have a different geopolitical, religious and historical background than in the East. In the US, we have struggled for religious freedom and human rights among different ethnicities. We must allow China, a nation with one-fifth of the world’s population the same grace period to establish itself in these areas. Maintaining geopolitical, socio-economic and religious stability in a country that is so culturally and ethnically diverse is not easy. Thankfully, the Church in China is predominately non-denominational in orientation which fosters greater unity among believers. As China continues to open doors, we pray this unity will grow and be strengthened so that Christians will have a positive and far reaching impact in their communities, cities, government and nation.

 

About the author: Christina Kuo Graham is the wife to Ned Graham (son of evangelist Billy Graham), and is the Director of Operations for East Gates International. East Gates International is an interdenominational religious non-profit organization dedicated to serving the Church in China as well as other entities that best serve China’s future growth and development.

what message are you sending?

A couple of years ago now when my wife and I lead the meetings for our young adults ministry in our home, we had one young man come visit our group for the first time. When I talked to him on the phone before he came over that night he made it clear to me that he was not a Christian, and really didn’t want to have anything to do with it. But…  he was making some changes in his life and was told about our group so he decided to check it out.

He came that night and our discussion for the evening was centered around Rob Bell’s BullhornNooma video. The idea of the lesson was centered around the perception that we (as Christians) give other people about Christianity. My first question to the group after the video stopped was, “what do people outside of the church think of people inside the church?” After a short silence from my regulars, this young man boldly stated, “WE hate them!” Wow…   did this young man just come to a Bible study in MY home, and make a statement about how much he hates everything that I stand for?

Amazingly then young man came back the following week, and God touched him! He surrendered his life to Jesus that night, exactly one week after making such a strong statement. This young man has an amazing testimony, and is still actively serving the Lord today. But I am not writing this to share his testimony. I am writing because of a troubling trend in society today where Christianity is loosing ground because Christians are not behaving the way that Jesus would have wanted us to. Check out this video about current perceptions of Christians…

YouTube Video :: Video :: Perceptions of Christianity

So my question to you us, “what message are you sending the world about Christianity?” Do people see a 1 Corinthians 13 Christian? How about a Great Commandment or Great Commission Christian? Or do they see someone who causes division and strife? How about a judgemental or hypocritical Christian? And if you are reading this and thinking about how someone else needs to change, then you probably need to seriously check yourself (or, take the plank out of your own eye instead of complaining about the speck in someone else’s eye).

Here’s a better question…  How can we change the perception of Christianity? What types of things should we all be doing right now, today, to send the right message?

wordle :: why believe in a god?

After several back-and-forth comments with an atheist (and a few others), my last post (including comments) got up to over 5,600 words pretty quickly. That is some serious content! I encourage you to check out the conversation, but for those of you that prefer not to read the entire post and comments, I thought a wordle would help to provide a good summary…

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