Certain causes get the lion's share of the press these days. Climate change is getting lots of points at the moment, Stop The Traffik is another rightfully important cause as is the huge and controversial issue of debt, famine and war in developing countries... and of course HIV is big big bad news across the globe but especially in sub-saharan Africa.
The thing is; are there certain causes that God has given us over others?
Are there causes in the world for which he has more passion than others? And if not – if he cares about the plight of all his created ones, then where do we draw the line? Is there a line?! what I mean is that we often talk about individuals – especially in the UK, in terms of “evangelism” but we talk about huge issues across the world in terms of “mission” or “justice.” In rougher areas of the UK we do sub-categorise in terms of areas of speciality ie those who combat the epidemic of STI's or teenage pregnancy or drug dependancy or homelessness and so on...
BUT is there a list pinned up in God's office of all the causes worthy of the title “justice??” By which reckoning... when we have ticked them all off will he then be happy to pop along back down to earth...?
Of course the conclusion is that ALL needs anywhere and everywhere are “mission” that sprout from a heart of “justice” and grow up the support stick of “evangelism.” That means that un-press worthy “loneliness in Ibiza” and “middle class debt/stress” or the less public-attention-grabbing “fear and insecurity amongst the rich” must also fall into the pot of 'things that God wants to turn around.' God loves people. He cares. He understands the inequality across the world. He knows that the pain felt by a white English man left by his wife in Kent is still pain - as much as the black teenage girl discarded by her mother is pain. Equally valid pain. Differing conditions; differing intensity and scale perhaps; but still pain. And while there is still pain the world is not yet healed.
Perhaps then in talking about the equalisation of justice in every country to every level of privileged and under-privileged people, the word we should use is in fact “MISSION.” That's right; as Hugo Anson of Grassroots says 'imagine how the world will be when God has perfected it completely – then look at how it is right now. Everything between those two points is God's 'mission.'
So then the idea in our heads changes from championing a few select causes to realising that EVERY TINY LITTLE INJUSTICE - AND EVERY HUGE OVERPOWERING INJUSTICE in the world is not only important but is quintessentially, undeniably, fundamentally, inextricably part of God's redemption of the world... That is, the changing of it from sin infested and fallen, back to a purified, cleansed and renewed state at one with heaven. (This probably depends on your theology but for me I believe that Jesus will come back as part of the cleaning up process that will take this dirty world and renew it to a state better than Eden with God rightfully and physically in charge)
My Christianity now, therefore, is not just about evangelism and love to certain UK individuals that are close enough to me to demand a response - and a concern and support of mission and justice causes in foreign lands that have a good marketing department that can make me feel uncomfortable/ guilty or just downright pestered enough to respond... no my Christianity is now fundamentally committed to and supportive of ALL mission everywhere no matter how big or little it is; recognising that as long as one person is still lonely in New York – or one last person has a sneezey cold in Serbia – or one last child has HIV in Swaziland – or our carbon use is still damaging our environment in the Antarctic– or the UK Government is still sanctioning selfish and ungodly trade laws – then this world will not yet be redeemed the way God intends.
Ok there's some oversimplifying in there – this is merely the tip of the [sadly melting] iceberg – I think as we get nearer and nearer to the end God will become more and more active and the enemy will get more and more overt and violent. Let's not forget Jesus said “the poor will always be with you” after the prostitute poured a year's salary of perfume over Jesus feet - meaning we should not neglect to worship as outrageously as we fight injustice. So starting with ourselves and the things we can do something about, let's get cracking, there's a big bad world to be gloriously redeemed...
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