Thursday, March 01, 2007

Unsung Evangelical Heroes

Note: I bet we all know some people that fit into this category, real "jewels" in our church and community.

On February 23, the film Amazing Grace: The William Wilberforce Story was released in theatres across the United States. Wilberforce was one of the greatest social reformers of all history. While best known for his lifelong work to end the slave trade in the British Empire, he tirelessly labored for the poor and downtrodden as well as started the royal society to end cruelty to animals. Wilberforce changed the world and, as such, has been a great inspiration to many who seek to make a difference in the world. Unfortunately, while a great hero to some, Wilberforce is simply not on the radar of most people today.

Wilberforce was a man of deep faith – Evangelical Faith. In today’s world, the word evangelical conjures up so many different images – arrogant, pompous, self-righteous, right-wing, power hungry and hypocritical, to name a few. While I would like to say all the caricatures are media biases and conspiracy, as a leader of a global network that serves 420 million evangelicals, I have to hang my head and say I have seen it all and sometimes it is not very pretty.

However, there is another side to evangelicals. As someone who travels 250,000 miles a year around the world, I have come across hundreds of unsung heroes, women and men of faith who are profoundly changing the world where they have been planted. These individuals don’t have a big TV “ministry” or influential radio show or even pastor a big church. They are people who every day serve the poor, the neglected, the sick and ill-treated. They sacrifice their time and often their own personal resources for the sake of others. For some, they risk their lives everyday.

Read more of this editorial on Christian Today.

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