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July 08, 2005
What does the Lord require of you...?
David Wayne at Jollyblogger has written a post on Live Aid, the ONE campaign and Africa. I don't agree with the assessments of all those he quotes, although it does give a perspective on different Christians ways of looking at the issue. He quotes an interesting perspective by Gideon Strauss, and promises us more of his own thoughts in the coming weeks, which I look forward to.
This is what I commented there:
"I've been a missionary for 15 years in one of the poorest countries in Africa. I am convinced that preaching the gospel and making disciples of Christ is the best thing we can do for the development of Africa. But I am also convinced that the situation of extreme poverty in Africa and elsewhere is an injustice that challenges us as the church to respond in our personal lives, in our discipleship, in our church life and mission, and - in the pattern of Amos and others - in our prophetic role towards political leadership.
For this we need humility and to struggle with what God requires of me. We need to avoid the arrogance of certainty in claiming we have answers - especially when they come without the cost of the cross. We need to avoid dividing ourselves from fellow believers by throwing our lot in with either Socialist or Capitalist solutions, and instead seek what the Bible has to say, and how it critiques both.
If we as the church are to be a model and channel of God's kingdom of justice and righteousness, this must have a serious impact on our lives as we consider our mission to the world and our attitudes towards our own wealth and comfort...
I would love to see a more Biblical and (to use Andy Jackson's phrase) missional discussion of these issues taking place among Christian bloggers."
Links to my articles this weeks on: Biblical attitude to the poor, Corruption, Aid and Development, Debt, and Trade.
Tags: g8 poverty make poverty history africa mission church discipleship
Posted by Keith at July 8, 2005 10:27 AM
Comments
Hi Keith, Thanks for dropping by my site, the photographic site I wanted to point you to was http://www.frankndixon.com/finder.html
I couldn't agree more with your post by the way, maybe I did get a bit acrried away at the Banty Rooster's site. I come from a pretty politically conservative background but in recent years, after travelling and then living in Nepal, my attitude and certainty about political issues began to sway a little towards the middle, and then I began to see that in both camps there are some pretty important things. We just take public health and education for granted, and even have the audacity to complain and moralise about them. Maybe more importantly though, I understand more completely that the gospel, as you said, is the real hope, as well as a willingness to change in ourselves - as hard as that is going to be.
I don't have time to write tonight, it would be great to see a more open dialogue. Sometimes I wonder if the tables have already turned and we really are living in a post western world. The 'vibe' in asia at the moment is something that will probably end up changing the world - it's going to be interesting to say the least.
Posted by: Chris at July 8, 2005 11:39 AM
