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Book note. I have been reading Y.P. Yohannan's book Revolution in World Missions (GFA Books, 2002) and find it rich with insight. In a chapter on the relation between social work and the Great Commission, Yohannan exposes four lies about mission work, all four of which, I think, can be expressed in a single false statement—humanitarian aid is required for the Gospel to reach the unsaved in Asia. As a consequence, therefore, our mission dollars are often used as surrogates for the real sustenance of God's word. It underscores, too, the real goal of social work—love for our neighbors, which is an end, not a means. Currently his book is available free of charge at the Gospel for Asia website.

Today I re-read Martin Luther King, Jr.'s April 4, 1967 speech—"Beyond Vietnam" (.pdf)—and was shocked and awed by his insight into a world that, 35 years later, has changed very little. Our technology has changed, we are older but no wiser, and the hearts of our leaders still strive for destruction, the preservation of material wealth, and the sole use of our conspicuous military strength to spread our cultural structure throughout this earth. What King says is instructive:

"The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality, and if we ignore this sobering reality, we will find ourselves organizing "clergy and laymen concerned" committees for the next generation. They will be concerned about Guatemala and Peru. They will be concerned about Thailand and Cambodia. They will be concerned about Mozambique and South Africa. We will be marching for these and a dozen other names and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy. So such thoughts take us beyond Vietnam, but not beyond our calling as sons of the living God."

Because we still love people less than we love our machines, our property, and our profits, we still have with us the "giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism," as King said we would.