Jesus came to “seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10) and to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).
We–those who believe in Jesus and follow him–are to do the same works that Jesus did, and even greater works (John 14:12).
So therefore we should be about the business of seeking and saving what is lost, and destroying the works of the devil.
There is much in our world that is broken. Much that is lost. Much that is the work of evil.
Here are just two things I’ve run across in the past week:
- In Nepal, my friend Ramesh has a ministry that rescues over 10,000 girls from human trafficking every year.
- In Mexico, I am reading about how armed drug cartels are “outsourcing” assassinations for $100/kill, and ordering whole populations to evacuate their towns.
The response of the church should be, I think, to build “communities of peace” – “resilient communities” – “healthy communities.”
This goes back to the original mandate given both to Adam and then to Noah, in which we were told to “fill the earth and subdue it.” We have so often misinterpreted these passages. But to “fill” the earth means to help the land fulfill its destiny. To subdue it is to “tame the wild.” It’s not about using land, resources or people for our own gain, but to “garden” it.
We must train people to be healthy leaders, who build healthy organizational structures, to accomplish healthy goals in the earth.
The church should therefore be a place not to retreat from the world, but to support the development of healthy leaders, to be a place that capitalizes projects which repair damage, which redeems what is lost, which brings resurrection life to what is dead…
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