Stillness and the Adoption Movement

"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10.

I think of these words often lately. Probably because I have virtually no time for stillness. And when I read this article today about the rash of adoptions from Africa by the evangelical movement, and the ensuing flood of problems, I wondered what has happened to Christianity in America.

It's all fine and good to view your home as the first mission field. It is. But doesn't it occur to anyone to prove themselves a little while before expanding that field? Or that issues which arise in the home can be entrusted to God just like in the mission field? In the panicky rush to save as many lost souls as possible, people have forgotten that God is still omnipotent. He's not sending people to hell because you didn't adopt them.

And religious issues aside, I can't help but think that only in America are we so entirely disconnected from the realities of life without SUVs that we would adopt traumatized, malnourished children from the opposite side of the planet and expect them to immediately begin flourishing under our loving smiles. How stupid. How arrogant.

Christians today are fast becoming humanists with a religious facade. They have bought into the idea that as Christians, the weight of the world rests on them and the fate of the world is dependent on their prayers. What happened to God? Is there any room for Him in the world of Evangelical Christianity?

Obsession is selfish. Obsession with the best of intentions is still selfish. You cannot glorify God through selfishness.