we're living in the future

I tend to be a bit of a nerd; I'm so excited when new technology comes out which will propel us just that much closer to a Star-Trekian age. Because of this, I've ended up reading tech blogs in the past, and sharing my findings with my past roommates. One such roommate, when he wasn't commenting on how geeky I tended to be, would often shake his head and say, "We're living in the freaking future."

Over the past few weeks, I've been finding myself saying that a lot.

It's insane, this world. I pull up to the gas pump, and in a mere two minutes I've filled my tank with gas which was shipped from who knows where, and I've paid by quickly swiping a plastic card into the pump. What are we doing? This is absurd!

We're experiencing what promises to be the biggest watershed moment in land travel humanity has experienced in the past 100 years with the advent of fuel-cell cars.

Even on a simpler note, I can come into my office in the morning, brew a pot of coffee in seconds, quickly survey news from across the globe, edit photos and print them off, touch up documents, and then prep for a lesson using resources which exist soley in cyberspace.

I was reading an article last night about Space Adventures, the new space tourism company. SPACE TOURISM.

We're living in the freaking future.

Sure, cars don't yet hover, but we've accomplished so much in the world of computing, science and technology that we're light years beyond what anyone 20 years ago could have ever predicted.

And at the same time, millions of children still live in impoverished and malnourished households. Millions of families still lack access to clean drinking water. This year, over 9 million children will die from preventable disease.

We've come so far, but what's the point if that success remains localized? What's the point, if we're living in the future and billions are living in poverty?

It is true that people care about these issues... we just tend to differ on how we care. Let me explain something. The answer to this crisis is not the government. I applaud action taken by politicians who hope to combat these gross crimes against humanity, but this issue cannot be solved by political action. Conversely, the answer is not to simply allow market conditions to take care of the underprivileged. I applaud action taken by corporations which support humanitarian causes, but this issue cannot by spent away.

The answer is the church.

It is time for the richest church ever in the history of the world to see that when Jesus came proclaiming Salvation, he died for souls but he lived for lives. Jesus healed the sick. He took care of the poor and his messages of peace and of calm were to the outcasts and the injured, to the unemployed and the unwanted. He was not content with ministering only to the broken spirits of his people, but desired that the church create a community in which there were no needy people.

No, this vision cannot be accomplished this side of eternity. No, the church should never jettison its message of spiritual salvation to be replaced by a message of emancipation and healing. No, we must always be wary of the pitfalls and temptations of holistic ministry.

But we must also learn that Jesus does not redeem into brokenness, poverty, slavery or injustice. Jesus does not redeem into malnourishment, sickness or disease. Jesus redeems into new creations, and we must work to abandon the old and take on the new.

As we live in the future and as our understanding of this physical world grows by leaps and bounds, the church must take the lead in the epic fight against slavery to this world - to the brokenness and wantonness of this world. Evangelicals need to be on the front line in this fight against malnutrition and limited access to basic necessities - not because we view this as more important than salvation, but because we view this as part of that salvation - the salvation proclaimed by Christ.