Christianity is not just a religion but a way of life. The value of human life is not based on economic status but on being created in the image of God. Involuntary poverty threatens this divine conferred dignity and robs people of their humanity (ubuntu). It also robs the poor of their ability to meaningfully defend their dignity. In this case, the Church must stand with the poor and oppressed in demanding justice for all.
The Bible has two stories that are important to doing prophetic mission. These stories came as a result of one major question, “what shall I do to be saved?” This question is asking about what is needed to be truly human in God’s world. This is the very question democratic capitalism, socialism or any other political ideology is trying to address.
Notably, while the philosophers answer it through abstract theories and debates, Jesus responded in relational terms. The answer is to love God and neighbour as oneself. To Jesus, love involves giving up oneself for the sake of the other or what I call radical neighborism. Jesus told the lawyer the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25ff) and challenged the rich ruler (Lk 18:19ff) to give everything to the poor and follow him. In other words, what it means to be truly human (umuntu) cannot be separated from loving God and our neighbour.
Radical neighborism is fundamentally based on God’s radical love. If Jews saw themselves as superior to Samaritans and the young rich ruler considered himself to be above the poor, Jesus alerts us to the principle of love, which reduces ethnicity, power and economic status to service. Christian love breaks all human boundaries and challenges us to love our neighbours as ourselves.
Radical love goes beyond worldly love since it carries with it some social and economic responsibilities. Jesus showed that our moral God cares for us and demands ethical prophesy from us. Here, concern for the neighbour cannot be separated from our common salvation. The young man is told to keep the relational commandments (Matt 19: 16). All to practice this love out of Christ's concern for all.
1 comment:
Yes I'm back, even if I'm using someone else's computer lent to me for the time being.
I fully agree with your latest post: I know what it is like to srive for a particular goal. And fortunately me dream of backpacking the world was fulfilled in 1997.Read more
But pleasing God is my greatest desire, which will be ongoing until called home.
A great post.
Wishing you all the best,
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