Justice, Mercy and Humility: integral mission and the poor

It seems that very few churches or Christian mission organisations make any effort to consider how the context of their mission is likely to change before they plan. There is a tendency to plan as though the future is simply an extension of the present.

Futurists seek to identify driving forces for change. There is a widespread consensus that one of the major driving forces for change as we race into the 21st century is globalisation. It is our belief that globalisation is already changing the world in which we live, seek to serve Christ and think about mission. We join others and use 'McWorld' as a metaphor to characterise the globalisation of our planetary society.

In the 1990s the global community moved into a new neighbourhood, which is discussed constantly in the business community, but seldom in the church. Overnight we moved into a new one-world economic order. Two major events directly contributed to this process of rapid globalisation.

First, in the 1980s and 1990s we began hardwiring our planet at incredible speed into a single global electronic nervous system of satellites, fax machines and internet communications.

Second, with the sudden end of the cold war all the centrally-planned economies were thrown into the trash bin and for the first time in history virtually all nations in the world joined the free market race to the top.

In spite of the protests at recent G8 conferences, there are many upsides to this new global economy. It is creating jobs and increasing wealth for a number of people in many different countries. The internet has become an avenue for increasing international understanding. This new global economy has become in itself a tremendous force for promoting global stability for the simple reason that doing war gets in the way of doing business.

Future of the poor

In the 1990s we saw an unprecedented explosion of wealth among the top 20% of the world's population with the creation of more millionaires and billionaires than during any decade in history. The bottom 20% of the world's population, however, has actually lost ground. The UN's Development Programme states that 30 years ago the poorest 20% of the world's population earned 2.3% of the world's income. Now they earn only 1.4% and that amount is still declining. At the same time the richest 20% increased their share of global income from 70% to 80%.

One of the cardinal doctrines of this new global economy is that if we are allowed to buy one another's banks and phone companies and fish in one another's ponds, it will automatically raise all boats. The following example from Uganda would seem to call this assumption into question. A European fish company, contracted with the Ugandan government to build a large fish factory on the edge of Lake Victoria, sends 200 tons of flash-frozen fish a week back to Europe. Of course there are some economic benefits for a few of the elite in Uganda, but tens of thousands of Ugandans can no longer afford to buy fish from their own lake because the European fish factory has driven up prices fourfold.

Even though global population growth is slowing, it will still grow from 6.2 billion today to between eight and ten billion by 2050. Most of that growth will be among our poorest neighbours in densely congested urban areas. Today almost half of the global poor are under 15.

One other trend should concern us. In this competitive race to the top a number of Western countries are trying to find ways to reduce the drag on their economies by cutting back spending in foreign aid and social programmes at home. This means that the church and private sector will increasingly be asked to address the growing physical needs of those left behind in this new global economy.

Future of the middle class

Everywhere we work in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US, people tell us they are working harder and longer to stay even in this increasingly competitive global economy. In 1977 less than half of families in the US relied on dual incomes. Today that figure has dramatically increased to two-thirds and is still climbing. Some women are working simply to pay the bills and keep their heads above water. Others are working to buy extras. Similar trends are observable in other Western countries. In fact, a growing number of people in this new 24-hour, seven-day-a-week-on-line economy work almost continually.

'McWorld' wants more, not only of our time, but also of our money. This new boom economy is not only an assets-based economy, but a shareholder economy. And shareholders do not want a 3-5% return on their investment. They want a 15-30% return if they can get it. The only way that can happen is for all of us to be persuaded to consume at levels never seen before on this planet so that yesterday's luxuries become today's necessities.

These trends mean that Christians in many of our Western countries have less time for family, prayer, Scripture, church or to volunteer for mission activities at home or abroad. This means that mission organisations need to increase significantly their investment to help their constituents find ways to steward their time more effectively if they want to have their continued involvement.

Some argue that if the pressure on us and our young to consume more continues, it may be good for the global economy. But it will not be good for our humanity and spirituality.

Future of the church

All our churches are going to be challenged to address not only the mounting physical needs that are filling our planet, but the growing spiritual needs as well. What is not generally recognised is that we are actually going backwards, not forwards, in world evangelisation.

Peter Brierley of Christian Research reports that 28% of the world's people identify themselves as some brand of Christian: Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox. Because population growth is outstripping our best efforts at mission that percentage will decline to 27% in 2010 and continue to decline after that.

We are witnessing a new competitor for the hearts and minds of a new generation. In the past ten years we have seen the creation of a new borderless global youth culture. The marketers of 'McWorld' are not just selling products to the global young. They are consciously at work seeking to persuade the young to change their values so they will all buy the same products.

While there is a growing hunger for spirituality in the West, church attendance statistics in continental Europe are in free fall as it rapidly moves towards becoming a post-Christian culture.

The missing generation in the church in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US is the under-35s. The young are disappearing from our churches in alarming numbers.

If the Western church is to have a future we need to target strategically the evangelisation of the under-35s. We must also give the Christian young who are with the church greater responsibility for leading and reinventing the church for the 21st century. Between 2010 and 2030 the 'boomer' generation - those born between 1946 and 1964 - will retire, which will mean a serious decline in income for Western churches. Therefore, our reluctant forecast is, given current trends, that mission support from the Western church could go into decline by 2020 for the first time since the end of World War II. Declining resources would likely mean growing competition between word and deed missions.

As we struggle to define the relationship between evangelism and social responsibility we will need to rethink essential questions. What is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to what extent has it been modified by our seeking to accommodate the rationalism of modern culture? How do we communicate that message in a postmodern world? What does it mean to become a believer in a postmodern culture? Is it possible to measure our mission results? How do we relate the faith claims of the gospel of Christ to other religions in a world of increasing religious pluralism?

Future of the economy

While the influence of postmodernity is growing, modernity's influence also continues to grow. The creation of this new global economy is actually accelerating the rate at which the influence of modernity and Westernisation is reaching into every corner of the planet. There seems to be little recognition of the threat modernity presents to the church. Evangelicals, of course, relentlessly do battle with modern culture on moral issues such as pornography on the internet - and we should. But too often we treat the other messages of modernity - such as individualism, materialism and consumerism - as though they are value-neutral. Many evangelicals, for example particularly in the United States, tend to treat the free market, which is a product of modernity, as though it is simply a value-free economic mechanism that produces only positive outcomes.

Rob van Drimmelen, in an important book entitled Faith in the Global Economy calls for the demystification of economics. He persuasively points out that the assumptions on which modern economics are based are far from being value-free. At core, modernity and free market capitalism are driven by a vision of the better future - the so-called 'Western dream' - that is inherently a different vision for the human future than that of the kingdom of God. How can Christians possibly hope to contend with the messages from modernity and our new global economy and keep in sight what is important if we have already unconsciously bought into the same dream for the better future that drives economic globalisation?

This is an edited extract from 'Justice, Mercy and Humility: integral mission and the poor', edited by Tim Chester. Available from Paternoster, an imprint of Authentic Media. It is reprinted with permission.

Justice, Mercy and Humility: integral mission and the poor

Chapter on 'The globalised future' by Tom & Christine Sine

Future of the poor

Future of the middle class

Future of the church

Future of the economy

Main Articles

Other articles