So this is my first blog ever...

A couple of definitions --  Humanitarian: A person devoted to promoting the welfare of humanity.

Jesus: The human-divine Son of God; the great High Priest who intercedes for His people at the right hand of God; the central figure of human history; the one who conquered sin and death; and the way, truth and life through whom alone can we be reconciled with God.

Are you a humanitarian?  It is a big word and an even bigger idea.  With Haiti on our collective hearts and minds it would be hard to understate the need to ask ourselves if we really do exist for others.  Sure, we do sometimes, maybe even much of the time, but as for me, not all the time.  We live in a broken world, groaning under the weight of its decay, haunted by the knowledge that it could have been different.  We see shadows and remnants of the perfection that was and is to be, but live in, with, and through the vestiges of brokenness.  

We don’t have to look very hard or dig very deep to discover the inescapable tragedy that surrounds us.  Children starve, human beings are sold, multitudes die of malaria, and millions live in the streets.  Medical epidemics sweep over countries like consuming wildfires, even while solutions exist.  Devastating hunger plagues some homes while culinary abundance exists in others—suffocating poverty living next to untold riches.  In the midst of all of this, we grasp for meaning, hope, direction, and love, but often don’t find them.  We intuitively know that the world should be different but often lack the power to change it. So what does it mean to be a humanitarian?

So ask yourself this, Was Jesus a Humanitarian? He created this world and then became a part of it.  Imagine what it must have felt like for Him to walk in what had been good, but was then corrupt and fallen.  The God of the universe, the Creator of light and Giver of life, found Himself surrounded by injustice, sickness, hunger, and depravity.  

If ever there existed a man for a job, it was Christ to fix the plight of His creation.  It was Christ to restore the order of His Kingdom.  Surely there has never been another human with proficiencies so perfectly fit to conquer the issues of global poverty, hunger, sickness, injustice, and oppression.  It is odd then that of all the titles given to Christ, “humanitarian” has not been one of them.  

I wonder why....

In the weeks to come I am going to think about this, because even after writing a book on the subject, I still have questions.