We draw to an end of this paper from Steve de Gruchy from Micah Network. Traditionally evangelical churches haven’t had a strong social justice aspect to their work. In recent years, there has been a greater emphasis, but often as a thinly veiled attempt at conversion or not particularly well thought through as to the theological reasons why we engage with mission in much more holistic way.
In the paper from de Gruchy, he integrates mission and social justice (which he calls development) arguing that all is part of the Missio Dei, the mission of God, to bring Shalom to people. Here is part 9:
The mission of the Church requires personal conviction, commitment and witness.
The Church is the community of believers. At its heart is thus a profound dynamic between the collective and the individual, one we see best represented in baptism, the sacrament of belonging and participation. On the one hand we are baptized into the body of Christ, and we now belong to a community that has existed through centuries in many different places - and continues to exist in many different cultures today. On the other hand each individual person is baptized and ‘named’ before God, so that this is a radically personal act through which we participate in the community. Without the community there can be no personal faith - for it is the community that passes on the scriptures and the sacraments, and keeps the faith alive so that we may be introduced to it. Yet, by virtue of our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus, each one of us is personally set aside by God and gifted by the Holy Spirit to participate in the missio Dei.
The mission of the Church is clearly a collective task, but because of this dynamic of belonging and participating, that mission requires personal conviction, commitment and witness. Each Christian is required to grow in faith personally, to turn their life to the life that is offered by God in Jesus Christ, and seek to bear witness to this life - by being a disciple of Christ - in the midst of the world. At times, when individuals fall away from this discipleship, it is the task of the collective body of Christ to remind them of their calling in Jesus Christ. At other times, when the collective is itself falling away from the missio Dei, it is the task of individuals to bear witness in such a way that the Church is called back to serve the shalom of God.
My Comment: de Gruchy here is bringing the tension of the individual and the community. In our western mindset, we have traditionally emphasised the individual, and have ignored or diminished the place of the community. But we need the whole church to engage with the mission of God to bring about transformation in our communities. Together we can make a huge difference, apart we are a drop in the ocean.
Churches have often been abusing and controlling - subjugating the individual to the supposed will of God, that is really no more than the ego of a person or persons. Some groups have reacted against this; others remain in a CEO, top down model of church.
Can we create a community that occupies the middle ground: one that empowers people with their dreams to participate in the mission of God, in the midst of community?
Tags: Missio Dei, Mission, Missional Church, Social Development
Pervious Posts: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
See read more section for de Gruchy’s summary, which is part 10.
Here is de Gruchy’s summary:
The mission of the Church draws it inexorably into the task of development
We have seen that the Church is called to participate in the missio Dei, and that the goal of this is the manifestation of shalom. Shalom is the experience of right relationships with God, with creation and in society. It means peace with justice, and power shaped by truth. It concerns matters of politics, economics, ecology, culture, and religion. As we have seen, because it is doing this as its participation in the missio Dei, this work is God’s work and therefore spiritual work.
The mission of the Church, thus draws it inexorably into the task of development, which we have defined as: ’social, cultural, religious, ecological, economic and political activities that consciously seek to enhance the self-identified livelihoods of the poor’. This is not an optional extra for the Church, but is at the very heart of what it means to be the People of God, seeking to be faithful to the missio Dei as manifest in Jesus Christ.
“Together we can make a huge difference, apart we are a drop in the ocean.” I agree that the collective has a greater impact on communities because we can motivate and encourage each other, but indevidually we are all drops in the ocean, that’s what makes the volume of water.
Sometimes, if members of a church are lethargic or uninsightful and lack direction or passion they could influence other members to give up because it seems too overwhelming. It reminds me of a clip from the film ‘The Holy Man,’ where thousands of starfish were washed up on shore and an individual was trying to save them by throwing them back in the water. They were told by someone ‘what’s the point in trying to save them all? There are too many.’ But the individual picked another one up and threw it into the water saying, ‘I just saved that one.’ (just one is better than none)
Of course it’s not us who can save people, only Jesus can, but to work alone is just as important and useful, than part of a group.
That’s a great story Tanya - thanks…