 Christians cannot pray The Lord’s Prayer without being committed to social change. In teaching His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10), Jesus was telling them to pray and work towards transforming this world into one where people live out God’s will in every sector – politics, economics, the arts, technology, education, entertainment, and science among others.
“Salvation is not only for personal change, but for world transformation,” declared Dr Tony Campolo at a recent seminar for pastors and leaders organised jointly by NECF Malaysia and Malaysia Youth for Christ.
“The Greek word for world in John 3:16 means the earth and everything in it. That means the company that you work in. We are the agents of social change,” he said to nearly 500 participants – mainly pastors and leaders – from over 110 churches in his message entitled “Answering God’s Radical Call While Living in a Real World.”
In evangelising the unbelievers, Christians must preach a wholistic gospel. “This means we need to shift the emphasis of being saved to go to heaven to transforming the world to become the kingdom of God,” he reiterated.
Dr Campolo highlighted the danger of the escapist theology promoted by books such as the popular “Left Behind” series which has a great following in the US. “The books tell Christians ‘don’t worry about changing the world, don’t worry about stopping war and poverty because the world is going to burn anyway’. They discourage Christians from engaging in social action.
“Anybody who discourages the Church from changing the world, for working for social justice, is preaching against God’s word,” he thundered.
Using the Israel-Palestine issue as an example where social justice is needed, Dr Campolo said that the Palestinians have the same entitlement as the Jews to a homeland with secure borders. “We can’t live in peace with our Muslim brothers unless we stand for justice.”
Another area requiring social justice is Third World debt, and for this, Malaysian Christians have the prophetic mission to challenge the US to act justly. “Poor countries can never escape poverty unless their debts are cancelled. Christian organisiations are doing their bit by rescuing people on the micro level but Christians must also act on a macro level by getting their debts cancelled,” he said.
A fine example is Uganda. “When the US cancel the country’s debt, it was with the condition that all the money owed in interest and principle be put on a special fund that addressed the AIDS crisis in the country. The country spent millions of dollars on educating the people on AIDS, setting up clinics and testing. Within five years, the incidence of new cases dropped by 40 percent and deaths dropped 25 percent while all over Africa, the figures were going up.
“This is the gospel – to declare good news to the poor,” he said.
He called on the Church to give youths a worthy cause to live for; otherwise they would join another cause. “I don’t say (to them) ‘get saved so you can go to heaven’. I tell them ‘ do you want to change the world, to be part of the only movement that can change the world?’ The Christian movement is the only movement destined to create justice in this world, eliminate poverty, look after the old. Don’t promise them health and wealth. They want to commit themselves to something more worthy,” he urged. |
