I came to Romania to study missions. One of the things I expected to do here was to participate in sharing the gospel with Romanians. I had a view of missions that was so focused on salvation that I overlooked the transformational nature of the gospel. We have learned in our development course that there is often distaste in western Christians circles about the notion of working toward universal human flourishing. Many times mission work is thought of as being solely proclaiming (our) “Jesus” to the lost; the focus is on an eternal abundant life that begins at physical death. In a lot of ways it is enough for us if people go to heaven when they starve to death. We aren’t happy that people are without food, but can handle that reality so long as we are reaching them with the gospel. I didn’t even realize that I believed this until I came to Romania. Development and the gospel are about the same thing: people. We have been taught that sustainable development is about meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. If the glory of God is man fully alive, then why is it that a lot of Christians are looking to usher in the coming of Christ by letting the world fall to pieces? As a Christian, I needed to reexamine my responsibility to mankind and all of creation.
We have been studying sustainable community development as an approach to Christian missions. This has been totally new territory for me. I have always been interested in social justice issues, as well as environmental concerns, but have been dubbed a radical/liberal by a lot of fellow believers because of my focus on the quality of this life. Studying development here in Romania has shown me just how “Christian” sustainable development truly is. Typically, development has been thought of in terms of economics, but we are learning that development is not about money alone; it’s about people. We have tried to examine sustainable development holistically. Sustainable development involves social, environmental, and economic development. The word development here does not mean uninhibited growth toward an end of abundance. Development necessitates that we focus on meeting the needs of all people while at the same time respecting the limits of our resources. This requires us to spend time thinking about what it means to flourish as a human being. Poverty, disease, ecological devastation, and financial crisis are all connected. I see all these problems and do not know where to begin. Sustainable development is not a solution to a problem; it is a way of approaching life in this world. The future of the world itself and all people---present and future---depends upon the choices I make today, tomorrow, and every day that follows.
Even though I exist in a time in history when any response to human suffering or environmental crisis is consequential, I have to figure out why I should care in the first place. I can’t value a sustainable approach to development just because things happen to be awful. I need to approach development as though it should have always been sustainable; as though sustainable development is right for its own sake not just because it has the potential to fix some of the problems we have created in our pursuit of “development”. It is the quality of motivation that is significant. How I think about people and the world has bearing on how I should live. I have a Christian world view which should influence how I care for all of creation, including but not limited to human beings. It is not as though Christians today are called to sustainable development because of the state of the world. Christians have always been called to care for the kingdom both now and forever, it just so happens that things are currently worse than they have ever been in regards to human flourishing and creation care.
We are facing a humanitarian crisis---millions of people are starving and oppressed. We are also facing an environmental crisis. Our real crisis is our way of thinking. We have to illustrate the connection between ecological issues and issues of human welfare if we are to change the way in which development is done. I think we tend to approach all of this and try to understand it linearly, as though once we figure out the exact steps to take in order to have healthy people and a healthy planet we can work really hard to implement those steps and all will be solved. I, as one person, think about these things and realize this is impossible for me to bring this about alone and instead of being inspired to join with others I am moved to retreat from the task as it looks daunting. But the reality of our situation necessitates that I do something, anything. I can’t single handedly solve the humanitarian and ecological problems of our world. But I can live a life that is conducive to the saving of both.
♥hthr
No comments:
Post a Comment