JUSTICE.

Yesterday at church we talked about JUSTICE.

A pastor from the African country of Burundi spoke. The title of his message was "The Just Worshipper"...

The premise of the message was that justice should be a part of worship. That God LOVES justice, and that when we act justly and show justice to people who need it most, that we are worshipping in a way that pleases God.

I know that all of that sounds pretty straight-forward, but I think it is definitely something people need to hear.

The speaker told of his childhood. He was raised in the church in the country of Burundi during a civil war. His father was a pastor of a church, and he said he spent almost everyday at the church. He explained that he eventually became very disappointed in the message he received from the church. Every message had the same point, that God loves you, and that if you don't repent and ask His son Jesus into your heart you will go to hell when you die. He was angry and thought,

"If God loves me so much, why doesn't he care about what is going on now? Why does God only want to save me after I die? Why doesn't he care about the thousands being brutally murdered around me? What about the children who are starving and the families being displaced from their homes? Why doesn't he care about them?"

I think that we, in America, have been teaching the same message. We have been saying, "Where are you going to go when you die?" so much that people are sick of it! What about RIGHT NOW?

God wants to be more than a savior after we die. God DOES care about right now.

And He wants to use us to act justly... it's our worship.

We need to show justice to those who don't have a voice. We need to give equally to those that we would normally avoid. We need to treat everyone the way we treat anyone. We need to give everyone the same chance at success. We need to help all who are oppressed, beaten, betrayed, confused and afraid.

Afterall...

How can you love your neighbor, if you're only living for Heaven?