It has been a long time since I have written, so instead of commenting on one news item, I feel the need to share a few thoughts about several.
Last week, Ann Coulter, wrote a blog criticizing an American missionary who contracted Ebola while serving in West Africa. She basically said that it was idiotic to put yourself in danger in another country when there is needed missionary work here. What is sad about her comment is that I have heard the same sentiment from people in the church. "Why do we want to send missionaries over there when so much work needs to be done here" is a refrain that is heard too often among believers. When Jesus said, "you will be my witnesses, in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" I am sure that he did not mean that we would finish in Jerusalem before we could move on to Judea and so forth. We are called to go and to send missionaries both at home and abroad, not to the exclusion of either.
Speaking of Ebola, some have wondered including Coulter whether it was right to pay the expense of bringing the missionaries home. I am sure if you would have asked the doctor and nurse, they would have told you leave us here. I am reminded of the story of Father Damien, the Belgian missionary who served in Hawaii 150 years ago. He served among the lepers, ministering to them every day for 15 years. He risked his life and contracted leprosy. Once he knew that he had contracted leprosy, he gathered the people for worship. For 15 years he began the service, saying my fellow believers. That morning he said, welcome my fellow lepers. Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." These missionaries served like Jesus by laying down their lives for those they treated. In so doing, they communicated by example the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that in being brought home, they have raised the awareness of Ebola and the treatment that they received will now be used on all who have contracted the disease.
This week the attention has come to two stories. First, we are hearing reports of believers in Iraq are being tortured and killed for their faith. How do we honor the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to remember their friends and families and seek for ways to minister to them. Just as important, we must never allow lesser things (the pleasures of this world) to make us compromise our faith. I pray that we will stand firm to the end.
Finally, today we learned that actor and comedian Robin Williams has died of an apparent suicide. At this point, this has not been confirmed, but if true my initial though still stands, how. The picture I have of Robin Williams is full of life, vitality and joy. It is a reminder that pictures can be deceiving. We don't really know what is going on under our masks. In the church, we should never take for granted the masks, we sometimes wear. We must make sure that all believers in the church are in close relationships with someone else so that we can lean on each other and help each other.
