Webster defines a cause as a principle or movement militantly defended or supported. Though the phrase, "The Cause of Christ," is not found in Scripture, the meaning certainly is found there. The Bible often speaks of doing things for Jesus’ sake.

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake." (2 Cor. 4:5.) "We are fools for Christ’s sake." (1 Cor. 4:10.) "For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for your Gentiles. . . ." (Eph. 3:1.)

There are many good causes in our society and world for the good of mankind. Political leaders, celebrities, and citizens give themselves whole-heartedly to them. Here are some of them.

• Did you know that more than 840 million people suffer from hunger around the world?
• That number is about three times the population of the United States. This is chronic, persistent hunger which kills 24,000 people every day, or over 8 million people each year.
• Three out of four who die are younger than five years old.
• Half of the population on earth, approx. 3 billion human beings, lives on less that $2 per day. They are too poor to afford an adequate diet and life’s essentials. Yet, the problem of world hunger can be solved. There is enough food and resources to remove hunger.
• Thirty one million Americans, about 10% of our population, are hungry.
• Twelve million of these are children. Studies show that even mildly undernourished children may suffer from permanently stunted physical, emotional, and intellectual development.
• The USA produces enough food to nourish all of its citizens, but nearly 100 billion pounds of safe food are thrown away every year by retailers, restaurants, and farmers.
• In 2001, 37% of adults requesting food assistant were employed. Requests for emergency food assistance in 25 major cities increased for the seventh year in a row, by 23%!

There are many organizations and churches that battle this problem of mankind. World Hunger Program (WHP) was established in 1985 at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. Church and community pantries help, but the needs are tremendous.

Most have heard about MADD---Mothers Against Drunken Driving. Here are some sobering facts about this problem.

• In 2000, America experienced the largest percentage increase in alcohol-related traffic deaths on record. In that year, 17, 380 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes---an average of one every half-hour. These deaths constituted 41% of the 41,945 total traffic fatalities. One person every minute is injured in an automobile accident caused by drinking and driving.
• Drunk Driving is the nation’s most frequently committed violent crime.
• "Mississippi’s Drunken Shame," Daily Journal, June 26, 1980: One out of every seven drivers on the road is drinking. Drunk drivers killed more than 350 people in MS in 1979. We have the weakest and most permissive laws against drunk driving in the USA. Mississippi is the only state in the union that has two laws covering drunk driving.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for persons of every age from 4 through 33 years old.
• Alcohol-related fatalities are caused primarily by the consumption of beer (80%). Many studies have shown that beer is the preferred beverage of drinking drivers. It is not the strength of the drink that matters; it is the amount of alcohol consumed.
• Many more violent crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol than all other drugs. Alcohol is society’s legal, oldest and most popular drug.

Only time will sober a person. Drinking strong coffee, exercising or taking a cold shower will not help.

In September 1993, the most detailed portrait ever available on the condition of illiteracy in this nation was released by the US Department of Education. Results showed the following.

• 42 million adults Americans cannot read.
• 50 million recognize so few printed words they are limited to a 4^th or 5^th grade reading level.
• One out of every four teenagers drops out of high school. Of those who graduate, one out of every four has the equivalent or less than an eighth grade education.
• Illiteracy is on the increase in the USA, increasing by approx. two and one quarter million persons each year.
• Fewer than 10% of the population in need is being reached by the various programs. The Federal government alone has more than 79 literacy-related programs administered by 14 agencies.

• One household in twenty reported a land mine victim; one third of these dying in the blast. In Afghanistan, one adult male in every ten had been involved in a mine episode.
• One in ten of the 2100 land mine victims encountered was a child.
• The rates of land mine incidents have more than doubled between 1980 to 1990.
• Without mines, agricultural production could increase by 88 to 200% in Afghanistan, 11% in Bosnia, 135% in Cambodia and 3.6% in Mozambique.
• Households with a land mine victim were 40% more likely to have difficulty providing food for the family.
• A total of 54,554 animals were lost due to landmines, with a minimum cash value of nearly $200 per household across the whole study.

• Teen pregnancy rates are much higher in the United States than in many other developed countries. It is twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada. It is nine times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.
• Each year almost 1 million teenage women become pregnant.
• 13% of all US births are to teens.
• 78% of births to teens occur outside of marriage.
• Teens now account for 31% of all non-marital births, down from 50% in 1970.
• Nearly 4 out of ten pregnancies among teens are terminated by abortion. There were about 274,000 abortions among teens in 1996. The reasons most often given by teens for choosing to have an abortion are being concerned about how having a baby would change their lives, feeling that they are not mature enough to have a child and having financial problems. 61% of minors who have abortions do so with at least one parent’s knowledge. The great majority of parents support their daughter’s decision to have an abortion.

There are many such causes that affect human beings around the world. John Walch founded an organization to seek for missing and exploited children after his son was abducted and killed. Like theWalch family, many found organizations and get involved in these causes after it affects them directly and personally. Others devote themselves to fighting diseases, cancers and birth defects.

If you were to read, especially the Minor Prophets, they would sound much like the above statistics and causes in Israel. The prophets denounced the ill treatment of orphans and widows in the land because of greed. They called upon Israel to care for the strangers and poor among them. Amos wrote,

"But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream." (Amos 5:24.)

"I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they (Judah) sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes." (Amos 2:6.)

"Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor and you take from him burdens of wheat. You have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not dwell in them. You have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins. They afflict the just, they take a bribe and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right." (Amos 5:11-12.)

"Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion. . . that lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall. . . for they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." (Amos 6:1-6.)

In the New Testament, James wrote powerfully about this as well.

"If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say into them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful to the body, what shall it profit?" (James 2:15-16.)

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27.)

Christianity involves feeding the hungry, dealing justly with your fellowman, caring about the physical needs of people as well as their spiritual.

Being involved in the Cause of Christ is greater than all the other individual causes in our world. This Cause includes all the good causes named above. It focuses upon the foundational problems that man faces. At the core of world hunger is greed, corrupt political leaders who steal from their citizens, and a lack of concern among those who have more than they need.

Those who are suffering from AIDS do not need more government programs and money. They need the Gospel of Christ. At the heart of most difficulties faced by mankind is sin. That is not to say that we should not continue to clothe and feed the needy. Christians should care about the plight of fellow humans struggling to survive.

There is no greater cause than the Cause of Christ in our world. It addresses the needs of the whole person---body, soul and spirit. It is the real answer to the problems that we face. Everyone deals with sin. Everyone has been hurt by it. If we are looking for a way to deal with this problem, the Lord has already founded a Body that does just that. We can not conquer it by our power and wisdom. But He can and has.