Walking the Walk
Sometimes I wish people would just shut up about their religious beliefs and let their actions speak for them. You remember that old song we used to sing at church camp that went “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love…” Some people embarrass the whole religion by claiming to be Christian and then hating and judging others in the name of Christ. My children experienced this first hand when involved in some “Christian” homeschool organizations when they were younger. Because we were the wrong kind of Christian (not fundamentalist Biblical literalists) in they eyes of some people we were more or less excluded from any friendships. No wonder my kids refuse to be a part of the Christian tradition!
Sadly it seems that most religions, to some extent, thrive on judging and excluding others. But Christianity claims to be based on loving God and loving others. How much better would it be if people didn’t say that they were Christian, but instead acted it out by showing concern for other people?
Several years ago we decided to sponsor a family through World Vision. Sponsoring a child is an amazing thing – what costs so little to us can change so much about the life of a child or family. Not that it would have changed anything, but we signed up for this long before anyone from my own Christian denomination told me that they didn’t approve of the organization because “they proselytize.” (Maybe some of the people do but their official policy is that they do not.) According to their mission statement, “World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.” It continues:
“Why we serve:
Motivated by our faith in Jesus Christ, we serve alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God’s unconditional love for all people.”
Who needs “words” when you do that?! When you really walk the walk, you don’t need to talk the talk. I have to say that the more I’m involved with this organization, the more impressed I am. They’re big, they’re powerful, they’re everywhere, and they get things done. When the Haiti earthquake struck, they had some of the first people on the ground helping out. After the Super Bowl this year, when ads were on TV to by a “Saints Super Bowl Championship” t-shirt I wondered what happens to all the pre-printed “Colts Championship” t-shirts. World Vision got them and sent them to Haiti. You never heard a World Vision person saying that Haitians deserved the disaster because of past sins. They saw people in need and they responded. They used “their words” to ask for help on humanitarian grounds.
I could write pages and pages about all the important work they do, and the issues they take on. They currently have a traveling and online exhibits called “The AIDS Experience” where people can learn, in heartbreaking detail how AIDS has affected Africa and what it’s like to be a child who is affected by AIDS. You can see it here: http://www.worldvisionexperience.org. I really like it, too, that they target their educational efforts at more conservative churches who have traditionally been more about talking about faith than getting their hands dirty working with the unwashed of the world. Their president, Rich Stearns, has written a book, “The Hole in Our Gospel,” taking to task Christians on being so uninvolved in working to eliminate poverty.
So now I’ve used 570 words (to this point) to tell you about one organization whose mission is to actually walk the Christian walk instead of just talking the talk. Some people may have issues with them because some of their people talk too much about being Christian, but it seems that at least they’re trying to do some good in the world.