Nate Ruch - Co-Director of Center for Youth and Leadership NCU

I've done alot of thinking recently about the need for action regarding justice. It seems that in the Western Christian world there are alot of demands placed on the government, schools and culture to bring God's justice to the earth. Government must treat religious organizations fairly, especially in regard to legal rights, etc. Schools must allow children to pray and practice their religion (something I fully support) or Christians bemoan the "disintegration of our culture" and direct our ire at school boards and school administrators. Interestingly enough, the very people that Christians point at as the cause of our problems are sacrificing their lives for the children that we desire to bring the gospel to. The real injustice is that the Church often feels "justified" in hurling accusations at institutions that pass "unchristian" policies, while at the same time refusing to serve alongside the people closest to the people that Jesus died for.

My wife and I served as pastors at a church for almost ten years and we were convinced that we were the only ones reaching teenagers in our community. Our time was filled with one church meeting after another, three and four days a week. We were so busy that we didn't have time to volunteer at the schools that our kids attended or to listen to a neighbor who was raising their children as a single mom. When I stepped out of church ministry and we began to spend more of our time with parents on our kids' ball teams, school opportunities for parental involvement and the like, we realized that there are thousands of terrific people sacrificing their time in the community for other people's kids.

If we are to work for justice and peace in our community we must be able to give the time necessary for service outside of the church. A real consideration may be to eliminate busy activities in the church that don't bring us closer to the people we are to serve. When we know and understand the people with whom we have a conflict, we create natural avenues for conflict resolution.