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Pastor
Harry Richard grieved as he watched flames consume Notre Dame Cathedral
in Paris. Just two weeks earlier, his church in Louisiana was set
ablaze. It was one of three predominantly black churches in his area
that were intentionally burned down, according to police.
Meanwhile,
Islamic militants are being blamed this morning for the Easter bombings
in Sri Lanka that killed at least 290 people. Devastating floods have
left millions in Iran facing a humanitarian crisis. And the CDC says
this flu season is now the longest in a decade.
The
news reminds us every day that we need the redemptive work of the risen
Christ every day. Unfortunately, our secular culture is less convinced
than ever that Jesus is relevant today.
How can we show the world that every day is Easter?
Imagine a world without Easter
He
states that a ten-year investigation led him to conclude: “My
generation of Americans—those born in the 1980s and younger—have been
largely denied the truth about Christianity’s influence and record on
social justice.”
For
instance, Dickerson notes that nine of the ten best nations on earth
for women’s rights, according to the World Economic Forum, have majority
Christian populations. Followers of Jesus such as Isaac Newton,
Johannes Kepler, and Blaise Pascal also played an essential role in
launching the Scientific Revolution.
This
tradition continues with Dr. Francis S. Collins, leader of the Human
Genome Project and now head of the National Institutes of Health. He
states: “God can be found in the cathedral or in the laboratory. By
investigating God’s majestic and awesome creation, science can actually
be a means of worship.”
Schools, medicine, and slavery
Dickerson
also notes that “nearly every leading university in the world was
founded by Christians.” He cites the fact that the first nine colleges
in the US were founded by Christians. He also found that each of the top
ten universities in the world, according to the Center for World
University Rankings, was begun by Christians.
Christians
“planted the seeds of modern medicine” as well. Dickerson references
Edward Jenner (the father of immunology), Florence Nightingale (the
founder of modern nursing), and Johns Hopkins (whose bequest founded one
of the most innovative hospitals in modern medicine). He adds that the
top ten hospitals in the US, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, were all founded by Christians.
And
Dickerson reports that Christians played an essential role in ending
slavery in most parts of the world. In fact, he could not find a single
abolitionist in the US who was not a follower of Jesus. And, of course,
there is the example of William Wilberforce in the UK.
None of this would have happened without Easter.
Making every day Easter
Here’s
our challenge: convincing the culture that Jesus’ resurrection is as
relevant to our present and future as it was to our past. This calling
requires us to be as engaged in human rights, scientific and medical
progress, advancing educational excellence, and ending racial
discrimination as the Christians who came before us.
In
addition, it is vital that we live in ways that contradict the
caricature our critics have drawn of us. Consider two imperatives.
One: Respect those who do not respect our Lord.
When
pagans in Ephesus started a riot against Christians in their city, an
official scolded the crowd: “You have brought these men here who are
neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess” (Acts 19:37). We
are to defend our faith boldly, but we are to do so “with gentleness and
respect” (1 Peter 3:15). The more people criticize us, the more they
need our Lord.
Two: Be joyful in a joyless world.
Solomon
observed: “Everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his
toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Ecclesiastes 3:13). If I do not find
joy in the vocation to which God has called me, I dishonor the One who
has assigned it to me. William Barclay was right: “A gloomy Christian is
a contradiction in terms.”
“Death is strong, but life is stronger”
Phillips
Brooks: “Tomb, thou shalt not hold him longer; death is strong, but
life is stronger. Stronger than the dark, the light; stronger than the
wrong, the right.”
When Christians are relevant, gracious, and joyful followers of the risen Christ, the world will know: He is risen, indeed.
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