What shall we do?

What shall we do?

Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

God is commanding Liberians everywhere to repent. Sin has filled their land with poverty, disease, rape, sexual immorality, corruption, stealing, greed, and murder. Just a few years ago sin brought civil war to their nation. There is an uneasy peace in Liberia. Churches pray for peace because they fear war will once again come. And without changed hearts, repentance, it could.

Sin has robbed this people of their hope. It has destroyed the family structure. People are afraid to walk the streets at night because there is no light and thieves and rapists prey on victims. Government officials and Non Government Agencies (NGO’s) use the money intended to help the people to enrich themselves. Everyone wants a little bribe to do the job they were hired to do.

Some UN official or NGO group decided to do something about rape. Women in Liberia are mostly second class citizens and are used by the men for sex, willing or unwilling. So some organization got funding to stop rape. It would be unusual if this organization didn’t get lots of money to help stop rape. And after buying the fancy Jeeps and cars, after renting the best housing, after paying the servants and the bar tab, they used a few dollars to put up silly billboards.

After all the money, after all the thought, after all the meetings, they decided that some cartoon billboards that asked men not to rape women would be just the program to stop rape. Tell that to the poor young girls we visited in JFK hospital.

The UN and most NGO’s believe Jesus is in our imagination. They see us as foolish. Praying and preaching can do nothing they think. So they try to stop the brutality of rape with cartoon billboards. They seem to believe that these evil men who see women as animals to be used and abused, will look at these cartoons and be changed.

They think that a ban on guns will stop murder. In Liberia, almost no policemen have guns, but most criminals do. So the people huddle in their dark shacks at night, afraid to venture out. They think a law will make these evil men give up their weapons.

The UN and NGO’s have convinced Liberians that they are their hope and their future. Many Liberians see America as their deliverer. They danced in the streets on our election night, believing a black US president would mean more money from America, believing one of their own had made it to the top. They saw hope in his election.

As hopeless, deceitful, and damaging as looking to the UN and the NGO’s programs for hope, they do not have anywhere close to the negative impact on Liberia as the importation of the American Church.

The American Church is mostly dead and ineffective, yet we have held it up in Liberia as the model for the country. We have come and built buildings when the people need food. We have come and brought a dress code when people live in dirt-brick shacks. Liberians outdress Americans on Sunday. We have brought our praise songs and dancing, that make happy at church, but bring no hope at home.

We have brought our Sunday religion that is dead the rest of the week. Liberia is a slave to sin, but the Liberian Church mostly stays inside the church, just like the American Church.

And worst of all, we have brought the prosperity gospel. If you want to be healed, give the pastor money as a seed and you will be healed. If you want to be rich, give the pastor money and it will be returned one hundred fold. If you don’t get these things it is your fault because you simply don’t have enough faith. So give more money and have more faith. Liberia is full of prosperity preachers who offer to fix the consequences of sin for a little seed money.

But what was Jesus’ message? Repent. Seek ye first His Kingdom and his righteousness, then all these things will be added unto you. Turn from your wicked ways and live righteous lives. Jesus came to save, not condemn. He came to save us from sin. He came to save Liberians from their sin. They live daily with the consequences of their sin and Jesus wants to help them, change them.

The only hope that Liberia has is Jesus. The only way they can have Jesus is to repent, seek forgiveness through the blood of the cross, and become new creations, a changed people. Liberians must choose between sin and righteousness.

They must quit looking to cartoon billboards, American money, and prosperity preachers for their hope of change. Peter confronted the crowd with their sin. They cried out “what shall we do?” Peter replied “"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Liberia is crying out “what shall we do?” We must tell them to repent and be baptized.

Kris