Everyone wants to be known as an instrument of God’s power, whether they fancy themselves prophets of doom, salvation, judgment, terror, or abandonment, or whether they even fancy themselves the equivalent of God. Even if they don’t believe in God, and choose to call him something else, such as fate or karma, or just natural selection, they speak authoritatively, as if in possession of some knowledge not available to others. They speak futility, anxiety, repression, suppression, concession, depression, despair, harshness, and rejection. They are known by many names: Christian, Jew, Muslim, atheist, humanist, pagan, intellectual, scientist, and sometimes simply ignorant, yet their message is always “I am right, you are wrong, concede to my greater wisdom.” And, finally, the majority of spokesmen for the dogmas of these various belief systems tend to be armed mostly with weakly supported presuppositions, which they call insights or inspiration, and present them as “facts.”
Yet in the midst of all these who claim their special knowledge and wisdom, and who go to great lengths to preach their dogmas, there is also a movement of others who expend their energy living the undeniably virtuous and humble principles of our historical faith. Instead of standing on a soapbox, they can be found reaching out to the lost and despairing. They do what they can within the constraints of their usually limited resources, and in the doing they become gradually more selfless and generous, gaining peace and joy in the midst of the suffering they minister to.