“Jesus hates suffering, injustice, evil, and death so much, he came and experienced it to defeat it and, someday, to wipe the world clean of it. Knowing all this, Christians cannot be passive about hunger, sickness, and injustice. Karl Marx and others have charged that religion is ‘the opiate of the masses.’ That is, it is a sedative that makes people passive toward injustice, because there will be ‘pie in the sky bye and bye.’ That may be true of some religions that teach people that this material world is unimportant or illusory. Christianity, however, teaches that God hates the suffering and oppression of this material world so much, he was willing to get involved in it and to fight against it. Properly understood, Christianity is by no means the opiate of the people. It’s more like the smelling salts.” Timothy Keller
I read this quote by Timothy Keller and it really struck me. I grew up in church. I have attended churches that illuded to better days coming as the sweet ole bye and bye. I think there are hymns where we can even sing about it.
On Monday this week I sat in a local park with some homeless people over a pot of chili. I can tell you right now that our conversations were not about how they know it is o.k. because someday their suffering will be over. We talked about how hard it is to keep someone from stealing their bikes when they go to the local shelters to eat. We talked about where they were going to be eating their Christmas dinner the next day because they have no family to share it with. We talked about how cold it was the few days before and how hard, even in Miami, when the temperature drops to 47 at night, it gets really cold sleeping outside.
The good news of Jesus, when properly communicated, gives hope for people today! The good news of Jesus when properly communicated says I will fight for you when no one else will! The good news of Jesus, when properly communicated offers life today, not in some distant future!
How can we communicate the good news of Jesus today to someone who needs hope, freedom, and even life today?
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