It amazes me to see a blossoming movement of Christian social reconciliation. Christian social reconciliation has blossomed before in the early centuries and the Radical Reformation. Jesus is well known for social reconciliation. In fact, this is his goal for humanity. Some prominent people in the current movement are Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Jim Wallis, Walter Wink, John Yoder, Ron Sider and René Girard. They come from different Christian backgrounds.

I see atleast three categories of Christian ministry. Christ most importantly brings life. How can Christians bring life? What do Christians save others from?

1) Illness. Jesus heals disease, mental illness and deformities. Medicine and science allow us to heal. Prayer heals. Christians must lift up science and all types of inquiry to follow Jesus. We need to treat AIDS/HIV, TB and more. Many doctors and scientists throughout history were Christians. (Evolution is a legitimate way to look at creation. If you reject evolution, you reject a part of God's creative power, which is love. Anti-evolution rhetoric is one of the greatest causes of atheism today.)

2) Poverty. Jesus feeds the hungry, lives communally, rebukes the rich and clears the Temple court. You cannot serve both God and money. Jesus relocated from heaven to serve the oppressed. The last shall be first, and the first last. God's redistributive economics is jubilee justice where every servant has enough. Christians relocate, redistribute and reconcile to follow Jesus. (Failure to help the poor is another cause of atheism.)

3) Violence. Jesus constantly battles against the strand of zealous nationalism in Judaism. Jesus is the suffering servant instead of a militant nationalist. Christ opposes the zealot mentality by subverting Roman/Temple power nonviolently (the Romans/Temple lost all credibility after killing God, a perfect being), showing compassion to Roman centurions who were disliked by the Jews (imagine how Palestinians dislike Israeli soldiers or how Iraqis dislike American soldiers), and even forgiving all sins on the cross. Judas Iscariot gave Jesus to the Romans/Temple to push Jesus to violence (the view that Judas betrayed Jesus to fulfill Jesus' mission — hence Judas is a hero — is not present in the canonical Gospels, but is present in the Gospel of Judas, a gnostic text). Jesus' disciples (Luke 9:56; John 18:11) and Judas betrayed Jesus every time they expressed zeal for violence. The fact that Jesus' disciples were so troubled by Jesus' arrest/cruxification (Judus commited suicide; Peter betrayed Jesus three times) shows how strongly they believed in the power of violence before the resurrection. The whole idea of the resurrection is to get ride of violence. Paul was a zealot before turning 180 degrees to become a Christian. The zealots killed for power, wealth and prestige. Jesus died to give all this away. Jesus ended sacrifice and taught the supremacy of mercy, even to enemies, as it was from the beginning of time. Christians overcome evil with good because our battle is not against flesh. (Causing violence or not stopping violence with love breeds intense atheism.)

Zach Hunter, a 15 year old from Atlanta, is an inspiring activist for Christian social justice. He started the “Loose Change to Loosen Chains” campaign when he was twelve. He recently wrote a book! "Be the Change."

"We can have a new peace and love movement, but instead of how the hippies tried to do it without God, we can do it with God." - Zach Hunter

Here's a short video.

Read about International Justice Mission (IJM), a leading Christian human rights organization.

History

Founded in 1997, IJM began operations after a group of human rights professionals, lawyers and public officials launched an extensive study of the injustices witnessed by overseas missionaries and relief and development workers. This study, surveying more than 65 organizations and representing 40,000 overseas workers, uncovered a nearly unanimous awareness of abuses of power by police and other authorities in the communities where they served. Without the resources or expertise to confront the abuse and to bring rescue to the victims, these overseas workers required the assistance of trained public justice professionals.

When the poor are hungry, homeless or alienated, the Church has come to their aid by providing food, shelter and missionaries to meet the pressing needs.  But when the poor have been oppressed, treated unjustly and suffered under the hand of someone more powerful, little was done on their behalf.

Accordingly, IJM was established to help fill this void, acting as an organization that stands in the gap for victims when they are left without an advocate. IJM staff members (human rights experts, attorneys and law enforcement professionals) receive case referrals from, and work in conjunction with, other non-governmental organizations and casework alliances abroad.

Education

IJM is committed to helping local churches embrace God's call to "Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan and plead for the widow."  Christians around the world are experiencing the joy of partnering with IJM to bring freedom to victims of oppression.  Their faith is being buoyed as they pray daily for the work of IJM and see the results of their intercession.

Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.

When confronted with violence and death, it is incredible to hear stories of sacrifice. A 76 year old professor, Liviu Librescu — himself a Holocaust survivor — sacrificed his life to save his students. He barricaded the door from Cho Seung-Hui. Librescu's son, Joe Librescu, said, "My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee. Students started opening windows and jumping out." Some students broke legs as they jumped from the classroom's second-floor windows.

"Librescu, an Israeli engineering and math lecturer who survived the Nazi killings and later escaped from Communist Romania, was one of several foreign victims of Monday's shootings, which coincided with Israel's Holocaust remembrance day." ()

Yesterday, Monday, April 16, 2007, Cho Seung-Hui killed 30 people before committing suicide. He killed two people in a dorm and 28 people in Norris Hall at Virginia Tech.

Maybe Jesus being the gate to God is more about sacrificing our lives for others — like Librescu being the sacrificial door for his students — than adhering to doctrine. We are called to imitate Christ, not believe in Christ. God believes we can follow him.

John 10:9-16:
"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

From ():
Students who survived the massacre at Norris Hall spoke of school janitors who, as Cho opened fire upstairs, ran to help others instead of saving themselves.

"The janitors came running through, and told everyone to get out," said Nick Vozza, 20, of Burke, Virginia, who was in the Norris Hall basement when Cho began his attack two floors above.

In a German class upstairs, a few students tried to barricade the door against the onslaught of bullets, and then tried to help their injured classmates while they waited for help, Trey Perkins, 20, told Fox News.

Of 15 students in his class, he said only about six came out alive.

Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.