I recently heard the following question asked by Tim Keller: “If you and your church were to disappear off the face of the Earth tomorrow, would anyone in the community around you notice you were gone? And if the community did notice, would they say, ‘We are really going to miss them’”? I was stung, disappointed, and nearly disillusioned … but then hopeful. Because, while too many churches and Christians in North America might not be missed, there are many lights that do shine brightly. Lights that bob like buoys in dark water. In this Radix issue, you will hear about a few of them. From interviews with the likes of Shane Claiborne; Caz Tod-Pearson from The Simple Way; Kelly Rader of Inasmuch, a Canadian organization that helps refugees get settled; Chris Hoke, cofounder of Underground Ministries; Pastor Dave Greenlund, whose church has made the papers for its creative community work; and other contributors, there are many who are doing good in the true spirit of an expectant, hoping Jesus. Now, that might sound odd, but is it? Is a God who hopes really a stretch? Mightn’t Jesus hope that we’d be missed if we disappeared? I am certain of it. But in order to be missed, we need to close the gap between ourselves and the world around us; we need to find ourselves in the proximity of those Jesus loves most.
When I read or hear about any person or group that brings the love of Jesus to the hurting, the downtrodden or the overlooked, almost always there will be whiffs of hope circling around. Those helped will speak of having their hopes renewed and revived. Our God brings hope, and when we carry that God of hope inside us to, well, anywhere, there will be hope.
It is our hope that this Radix issue will inspire and incite. In this Easter season – which is also about hope! – may we all be willing to bring ourselves within greater proximity of those whose voices aren’t given space, the undervalued and the hurting. And we can! – Matthew