Why the World Needs Jesus

UK Times (Matthew Paris)"

Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it.
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In the city we had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall...."


This is one of the themes that is lost in the streams of the rise and fall of civilizations, the pathway of Christianity through mankind. It's a faith that simultaneously takes the individual and removes him from the equation, and yet instills freedom and a sense of direction in any circumstance.
To be like Christ, to stand tall and apart in a world that is filled with Darkness is what Christianity is about.

Its not really a surprise then, that even those who wrongly believe in the absence of a deity would recognize the benefits of Christianity. At its roots, it truly is a 'Religion of Peace', propagated not by the sword or the spear, but by the love and communication of Christians.

What is the main difference between the Western school of political thought, and the rest of the world? Men have rights endowed by God for Life & Liberty, and are not owned by the state.
That is the natural outgrowth of Christianity, where the power to choose life and death rests in the hearts of each and every man.
At it's core, freedom is the ability to choose. This choice is the ultimate expression of freedom, and that gives men reason to stand tall in the face of a fallen world.