Why?
That little three-letter utterance is one of the most powerful words in the English language. Within it lies the cause that affects. Therefore, it contains the first step toward real solutions.
I have been asking that question a lot recently. I live surrounded by brokenness, suffering, and injustice, and I desperately long to address the systematic issues that cause them. So, I find myself asking it repeatedly. Why?
It is easy to jump to quick conclusions and nice packaged answers. I find myself doing that at times. Why does suffering exist that could be prevented? Pre-packaged answer: Because people don’t care! But is that really true?
Most people I know do care. They care about orphans and will cry readily at their plight. They care about the unborn and are vocal about their opposition to abortion. They care about the poor and will send a check to help. They care about the displaced and pray daily for the refugees.
Most of us care, to one degree or another. The cause of injustice is not an absence of care, but the level of it. We care. We just don’t care enough. We care enough to do something, but we don’t care enough to sacrifice. So, we only scratch the surface of the need.
This has always been a problem with the world-at-large. However, over the last century it has become a significant issue within the church. The Kingdom built on sacrifice has opened itself to the American Dream of comfort and prosperity and confused it with the Gospel and discipleship. As a result, our picture of the church has been blurred, distorted, and stained. And so has our vision of a godly man, woman and family.
We expect and demand more for ourselves. As a result, we have less to give. We care, but we don’t care more for others than we do for ourselves. And real sacrifice has become rare.
Why are their so many children without families? Because we don’t care more about their fates than we do for ourselves. There are way more than enough Christian families out there that have room for another child or two. Every child could have a family. But that might be messy. We can’t foster or adopt. We might expose ourselves and our children to icky stuff. We care, but not enough to act. So nearly 150,000,000 children will go to sleep tonight without a mom or dad to tuck them into bed. We care, just not enough.
Why will so many children suffer and die alone? Because we care, but not enough to expose ourselves to grief and pain. “It would kill me to love a child and see them die!” Our Jesus “took up our grief and carried our sorrows,” but we think He would not want us to do the same for others. So thousands of children will die alone today without ever knowing loving arms around them. We care, just not enough.
Why will so many babies die in their mother’s womb today? Because we hate abortion, but not enough to move beyond political activism. We don’t care enough to intentionally leave behind comfort to form relationships with struggling young ladies. We don’t care enough to love them before the pregnancy so that we can walk with them during the pregnancy. We don’t care enough to make family-wide sacrifices so that we can help support a pregnant girl and, soon, a young mother so that she feels that life is an option. We care, just not enough.
Why will so many displaced people have no safe place to sleep tonight? We care about refugees, and will even share that support online, but will not translate that concern into action that provides answers. We want them to be safe, but not enough to risk our own safety to make it a reality. We won’t risk the hostility of others who don’t care or agree in order to sponsor a family and help them find belonging and hope in a new land. We care, just not enough.
Why will so many die today apart from a knowledge of Jesus? Because we care about the lost, but not enough to go. That is for others to do. God wouldn’t want us to uproot our family. He wouldn’t want us to put our children at risk. The God who gave His only Son so that we might have life would never want our children to sacrifice for His Kingdom. Would He? We care, just not enough.
Millions live without hope today, not because no one cares, but because not enough people care enough. And that is the overwhelming cause that affects our world.
On a regular basis we have people visit our homes and ministry. They will hold our kids, hear their stories, visit families in rural villages, learn about the children we have lost, and they will cry. They will be broken by the plight of those with disabilities. They will be moved by the work we do. And they will shed tears and leave. And quickly their normal lives resume and nothing changes. After a few touching posts on Facebook or Twitter, they return to complaints about the weather, irritations with customer surface, or the same tired political arguments. Nothing changes.
I have come to understand how worthless tears are, unless we quickly wipe our tears and get to work. Caring is useless unless it drives us to action that produces change.
Every day I face a battle, and that battle is with myself. Will I care more about myself or about others? It is not just a daily battle, it is a moment by moment battle. Will I put my own comfort, safety, resources, and emotions first, or will I be a servant?
All too often, I fail this test. When I am done posting this, I will stand up from my desk and make decisions that will affect others. What will I choose? And what will be the effects of those choices?
The Gospel is powerful, and the world is watching. For far too long, we have spoken of the love and sacrifice of Jesus without living it. And the results of this have been devastating. The world sees the church as irrelevant and uncaring because we have not cared enough to act in relevant ways. But it is not too late. And there is no better time to start than right now.
What breaks your heart? It is time to care enough to act.
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:18 NIV
Blessings from Guatemala!
Daryl, Wanda, and the Crew
