The Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel offer hope in the midst of despair. The Apostle Paul prayed that the Church might “know the hope to which it has been called” (Ephesians 1:18). Apart from Christ our world is devoid of hope. This is evidenced by the spirit of despair, which is intensified in our nuclear age. As a result, conflict pervades international, national, ethnic, social and economic relationships.

Apart from Christ individuals also are devoid of hope. The pursuit of material gains, status, pleasure, and personal security on the part of poor and rich alike, is futile and gives no hope as evidenced by the rising suicide rate, and the increasing dependency on alcohol and other drugs.

The hope that we proclaim God has revealed and provided in Jesus Christ alone. He is our only source of confidence–not human wisdom nor ability. The hope we share requires repentance and faith which results in forgiveness and reconciliation in this life. The culmination of our hope is the return of Christ and everlasting life in His presence. This hope, which is the message of the Scriptures, provides the only answer to the despair of all humanity.

Words of hope without a life of love lack credibility and are as noisy gongs and clanging cymbals in the ears of God and man. We, therefore, confess our past failure to demonstrate hope consistently in tangible ways. We furthermore rededicate ourselves to both proclamation of the gospel and expressions of hope such as the alleviation of human suffering, the feeding of the hungry, and support of development programs.

The National Association of Evangelicals calls upon the Christian Church worldwide to SHARE THE HOPE expressed in the Gospel of Christ and pledges itself to this joyous task.