'Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest imperative of the 21st century'

'Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest imperative of the 21st century'

This not a quote from Pope Benedict XVI, though he has been saying the same thing, but from Mark Pickup, whose article 'Light of Christ lends hope as I travel down a dark road', I posted yesterday. Mark is a Canadian with MS who has two blogs, one under his own name, the other being 'HumanLifeMatters'.


Mark graciously commented on my post. He writes with authority, as he has had multiple sclerosis (MS) for many years. This is how he describes himself:

About Me

I have been married to wife LaRee for 33 years. We have two children and five grandchildren.

InterestsI am disabled (triplegic) with advanced multiple sclerosis. As my disability increases I have become interested in discovering Christian meaning in suffering. My priorities are faith family and sanctity of human life. I will dedicate whatever energies I have left to these things. I am now convinced that if a society does not embrace the sanctity, dignity and equality of all human life (and North American society does not) then any barbarity is possible. A truly civilized society includes in its tender embrace every human life. This includes every child developing in the womb those people with mental or physical disabilities those with terminal conditions derelicts the old and people who are not wanted or even loved by anyone.

Impossible you say? Perhaps but I'm a sucker for hopeless causes. Perhaps it comes from having what many consider a hopeless disease. Love is what defines enlightened and civilized society. But love needs the divine. The brotherhood of man needs the Fatherhood of God. Love without God becomes selective, coercive and arbitrary -- turning lives of the weakest into hell on earth. It was because of this hard-won understanding that I founded of the Christian disability organization HumanLifeMatters (see www.HumanLifeMatters.ca .) Yes I am convinced that human enlightenment is impossible without God. Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest imperative of the 21st Century.

Notice that last sentence: Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest imperative of the 21st century.