It’s often said that England and the United States of America are two countries divided by a common language. Indeed, their diction carries on the rich and storied history of Europe far more than ours does, and their system of government still contains the vestiges of monarchy, while we kissed the crown goodbye 237 years ago.
Despite these differences, however, similar spiritual pains plague both of our nations, as well as the rest of the modern West. Secularism is eating away the heart of Western culture, and churches are struggling to effectively combat this unprecedented and insidious attack on religion. Many American churches, faced with such a vicious enemy, have already forfeited the fight and married popular secular culture, discarding the transcendence of Christ’s love for politicized faith and platinum membership in the American cult of tolerance.
Our dedicated team of ten is out to join forces with the folks at Ashurst Drive Baptist to ensure that this doesn’t happen to two of God’s beloved churches. Our task is twofold: to share with Ashurst the strength of our church family by contributing to their youth outreach program, Hang 10, and return to use the insight we’ve gained from them to help carve First Baptist in the image of Christ. The reason behind our mission is simple: Christians the world over, from all faith traditions, need one another if we are going to help the world lift its weary eyes to the divine love that made and sustains it.
As I prepare to embark on this adventure to the ol’ Jolly Ol’ (as they call it), I am reminded of Christian journalist Dorothy Day. According to her, a good society is “a society in which it is easier for people to be good.” By this definition, our society is not very good. But that is exactly the kind of society this mission team, in its small corner of the fight, is set out to make for Western civilization by forging a Christlike friendship with Ashurst Drive. This may seem like small fish and chips, but together, we can show a civilization that never seems to have enough time the joy of eternity.
As we journey across the Atlantic to give strength to and gain strength from our British brothers and sisters in the spiritual battle for the West’s soul, please pray that we will fall totally in love with Jesus Christ with every step we take.