Impact

Every so often a person, a book an event comes into your life and has monumental impact.  Probably 15 years ago, or so, I heard the name Mark and Jeannie Labberton from my brother Phil and his wife Cindi.  They met and became good friends in England while Phil and Mark were working on their doctorates at Cambridge.  We never had the good fortune to meet Mark and Jeannie, but providence would have it that we have encountered Mark through his new book, "The Dangerous Act of Worship".  I have been "absorbing" the content of this book a chapter at a time over the last 2 months.  I normally consume a book in a matter of hours, and when in stride, a book every week or two.  But with the move and all the changes and traveling going on in my life at the moment, that pace has slowed.  But Mark's book could not have come at a better time.  This is not a book for a quick read as it is full of  deep and thoughtful truths.  I thought I would give you an exerpt from this book so as to possibly wet your appetite for more.  This comes from the chapter "When Worship Talks To Power".

"The realignment of power is fundamental to the cause of justice because much of the twisted soul of injustice is the abuse of power.  Whether the injustice is poverty, bonded slavery, land grabbing, forced prostitution, hunger, rape, or racism, we find the abuse of power.  Likewise, an abuse of power is at play even in more mundane examples of injustice; gossip, manipulation, coersion, lying, deception, or libel.  At the core of it all lies an abuse of power.  Nothing thwarts God's purposes more than twisted power; nothing renews God's purposes more than redeeming power.

Christian worship (and prayer) can and should be one of the most profound and relevant responses to power abuse in the world.  In worship (and prayer) we cast our lives upon the faithful and just power of God.  When we do so, we appose all acts of unjust power.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about God's remarkable initiative and grace marshaled to realign power."

"I am stunned when I hear statistics like these:  that more than 25 million people around the world today live in slavery; that 40 percent of the world's population lacks basic sanitation facilities and over one billion use unsafe water; that in the least developed countries over 50 percent of the population is not expected to live to the age of sixty, compared to just over 10 percent in the most developed countries; that the per capita spending on police in India is about twenty-five cents per person per year, whereas in the Unites States it is over $250 per person per year.  And India is better off than countries where no police force even exists, such as Liberia and Chad.  In other countries the local police would be the last place to go for help in the face of injustice, because of graft and corruption.  We assume that the basic protection of law enforcement most in the United States enjoy is more or less present in other parts of the world, but it is not.  Many people in other countries, especially the poor, are exposed to whims of power abuse, and the police are but one example."

It is so easy to find our comfortable place in life, inoculated from the pain and injustices of others with whom we share this planet.  Stepping out of church ministry in a beautiful place to live, I am beginning to reawaken to the real reason that we were called to ministry . . . no, make that the christian life!  It is not just for those called to 'professional' ministry.  It is for all of us that call ourselves Christ followers.  The only true change of injustice is the realignment of power under the grace filled love of the One who alone holds all power.