One of the things that hurts my heart ever since the day I first landed in Africa in 2005 was the amount of orphaned children running around. They ran around with pot-bellies from the lack of protein in their diet. They ran around barefoot in the dusty and broken glass filled streets. They would literally pick mud balls off of the termite mounds and eat them because of the nourishment that the termites left in creating their mounds. The conditions that these kids lived in were horrendous. Many, if not all of them were orphans and the women of the villages would just care for whoever was in their home. The children were everywhere! And they would beg and plead for you to take them with you back to America. It was HEART-BREAKING. In 2007, I had the opportunity to do a similar trip back to Africa, this time centralized in Uganda. I had a camera, and I would take pictures of the faces of these beautiful children. Below are a couple examples of these pictures. I never wanted to forget the faces of these children because they were a constant reminder to me of the pain in the world as a result of sin.
Were these children suffering because of their sin? Probably not. But they were suffering because sin entered this world and had ravaging effects throughout the generations. In Uganda, we saw many children whose parents were killed as a result of Joseph Kony and his child army. We didn't know it at the time, but the war that was happening in that land, even while we were there, was because of this man Joseph Kony and his abducting children to be sex slaves and warriors for his own gain and power.
My reason for joining in this movement is not because it's a Christian movement. Invisible Children INC. does not claim to be a Christian organization, nor do I believe it would have the same effect in our world if it were to claim to be Christian. The truth of this movement is that it hits on a nerve in every HUMAN that says murder, slavery, sexual exploitation, and abduction of innocent children is wrong. What this movement is doing is proving that there is an inherent morality in all humans that says that Joseph Kony is vile and doing evil things. This inherent morality in humans was given to us by God. In fact, it is a proof of the existence of God that atheists cannot account for. It's called the Moral Argument, and if you are struggling with doubt about if God is out there, google this argument and compare it with the 10 commandments that God has given us in his TRUE and perfect Word.
My reason for joining this movement is because I have a holy anger against anyone who would abuse a child. I have a holy anger against anyone who would abduct a child and put them into sex slavery. I have a holy anger against anyone who would abduct a child, brainwash them into a killer, and force them to kill their parents and family. I have a holy anger against anyone who sticks their middle finger up to a Holy and Righteous God in their pursuit of personal power and glory at others expense.
I also have a faith in a righteous, sovereign, and just God who will have his way with Joseph Kony ultimately, that is, unless he repents and gives his life to Christ.
WHAT!?!?!?!? CHRIS!? YOU'D WANT THIS GUY TO BE SAVED AFTER ALL HE'S DONE?!
yes... This is not my flesh speaking, mind you. My flesh want's this guy to burn. But my transformed heart of flesh that God gave me from a heart of stone longs for this guy to see Jesus. I may not have killed people. I may not have abducted children. I may not have sold young girls into sex slavery. But I do know that my sin merits the exact same punishment that Joseph Kony deserves. But what I also know is that I serve a God of GRACE who in spite of my wickedness and sin sent his Son Jesus to die and take on my sin on the cross. Jesus suffered the wrath that Kony deserves, the wrath that I deserved IN MY PLACE. That's the gospel folks.
I believe that my God's grace can even extend to Joseph Kony and I would love to see that be the end of this horrible story. Keep in mind that Paul was like Joseph Kony before Jesus stopped him in his tracks on the road to Damascus and said, "Saul, why do you persecute me?" We all are like Joseph Kony APART from a relationship and trust in Jesus Christ taking our sin away with his perfect sacrifice.
So why do I support the Kony 2012 movement? Because I want this guy to be stopped, and I want the rest of the people on the International Criminal list stopped. But I want people through this movement to question where their hope can ultimately be held. In a fallen world hope can be put in the hands of a government that tries to stop people like Joseph Kony, but you will ultimately be disappointed sometime along the way. In a fallen world hope can only be held securely in Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins by the shedding of his blood for us. It is my hope that through this movement people find their hope in Jesus, and that pastors and Christians alike will use the vileness of Joseph Kony as an example of a sinner that STILL has a chance for forgiveness.
We need to step out of our flesh and into the sovereignty of God and pray that this man is stopped, but also that he might see the error of his way and repent. There will still be the earthly consequence of his sin, but even Kony can find forgiveness in Jesus Christ. If we struggle with this thought, we need to give our lives a reality check about our sin, and realize that ALL SIN grieves the heart of God, and small or big, our sin separates us from God apart from Christ. This is a sobering thing that forces us to rely on a gracious God, and not our own strength and understanding. That is my prayer for this movement.
