When I look at the church, what gives me hope?
People who choose to be steadfast and to fight for biblical community even in the midst of human brokenness and suffering give me great hope. When I look at the church today, I see men and women, young people and old, courageously continuing to “remain” (John 15:4) as invested members of the body of Christ, even when the community of the church fails to live up to the standards of the kingdom of God. The church often fails, but nonetheless, Christ’s love continues to break forth in the lives and ministries of faithful believers. Hope remains as humanity cries out and waits in eager anticipation for this broken world to be redeemed and one day fully restored.
Mae Elise Cannon is senior director of advocacy and outreach for World Vision USA and the author of Social Justice Handbook and Just Spirituality (both from InterVarsity Press) and co-author of this year’s Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith (Zondervan).
