Polarization, Peace and Pentecost

There was a brief moment at the end of April when the sun broke through the gloom. Covid-19 was gaining a foothold around the globe and the true scale of the threat was emerging. Suddenly it seemed there was a real possibility of genuine international cooperation to beat the virus. “It’s like a world war except we’re all on the same side!” Would a common enemy called coronavirus enable the human race to get over themselves and realize that we share living space on a rather crowded and infected planet?

Alas, the clouds rolled in quickly. In very short order world leaders were trying to corner the market in non-existent vaccines for their own nation, unproven medicines were stockpiled, and PPE consignments were hijacked in mid-air (a governmental equivalent to buying out all the toilet paper you can find). America was busy putting America first, and Britain Brexiting. There was a league table of who was doing better than who in fighting the virus. While everyone else was preoccupied, China was surreptitiously trying to grab Hong Kong, Taiwan and a chunk of India. And Kim Jong-un blew up a liaison office on the border with South Korea. Nice one that.

The re-energized polarizations were not limited to political leaders. Social media space has become a war zone of who is hoaxing who, whose lives matter and who is allowed to say what, who can use what bathroom, and who likes Donald Trump. I didn’t tell you that the quote in my first paragraph came from Bill Gates, because I knew some of you would stop reading at that point. That’s polarization.

So world peace lies in tatters again! Was I dumb for even hoping? It used to be a regular feature of beauty contests that contenders would vacuously claim to “dream of world peace”. But followers of Jesus Christ, whether they are beautiful or ugly, really should dream of world peace, because that is what he came for. He is the Prince of Peace, and the promise of his kingdom is that it will come with ever-increasing peace.

In the midst of this chaos we celebrated Pentecost, the amazing day when “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians” together heard of the mighty works of God. The church was the original United Nations. Pentecost was the day when God reversed the curse of Babel through the gift of tongues so that the nations could once again speak to each other. On the day of Pentecost, God put us back in the place where “nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” What a prospect!

Since that day, we haven’t, in all honesty, been great stewards of the kingdom of peace that was birthed in our midst. We are the salt to flavour the earth, but our saltiness has been questionable. I have a modest proposal for world peace(*): that we believers start learning to live in honour with other believers, especially those we disagree with and who differ from us (like how to spell “honour” properly! 😁 ) We can’t blame the world for being the world if the church is failing to be the church.

(*) Acknowledgment is due to the Mennonites who have their own version of this proposal

Race, riots and radical economic transformation

I have resisted writing this blog. So much has already been said and so much capital made of the deaths of George Floyd and Collins Khosa that I hesitate to wade in. But I do want to address some words to my own people – to my brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to address those who have the courage to post on social media and to those who silently nurse their opinions and fears. We Christians have an unerring capacity to be so right and yet get it so wrong at the same time.

Pain is real. Pain is personal. I can imagine what it is like to be a black person on the receiving end of racist behaviour. But I don’t actually know. Which is why I have to listen to the stories of schoolgirls from St Anne’s or motorists stopped by the police in the US. Empathy is a dangerous delusion that convinces me I already understand and don’t need to listen any more. But I almost certainly don’t understand.  People in pain need to be heard. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “A riot is the language of the unheard.” (That’s an observation not a justification.)

“Let’s just move on now!” might be a sensible suggestion (or not!), but it translates into, “Your pain is of no importance to me.” Or, “There’s something wrong with you if you still feel pain.” Likewise, “I’ve had a tough life too,” or “<some other group> are really badly treated too,” means I have stopped listening to you.

Listening is not an admission of personal culpability or responsibility to fix things. It’s just listening, which says, “I hear your pain.” Listening to your story doesn’t mean I agree with your interpretation of events (people in pain often blame “the system”). But I can’t listen to your story and fight your thinking at the same time. I have to make a choice to shut up.

Social injustice is real too. Not every pain is caused by social injustice, but some is. The meme which says, “The problem isn’t race it’s sin!” is a flat denial of the existence of social injustice, and people who believe that clearly haven’t read their bible for a while. The story from Genesis through to Revelation is a heart cry for social justice: deliverance from slavery in Egypt, captivity in Babylon or oppression under the Roman Empire. In fact, the very last question the disciples are recorded as asking Jesus was, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”, which was a cry for social justice.

The gospel of the kingdom is God’s answer not just to personal sin, but (possibly more so) to social injustice. It is a kingdom of ever increasing shalom, where every tear will be wiped away. And this is not spiritual escapism, but a coming earthly reality, where the meek will inherit, the poor will possess the kingdom, the mourners will be comforted, the hungry and thirsty will be satisfied.

The church has consistently and rightly been at the forefront of the fight to alleviate the consequences of social injustice. We have inherited a culture of caring for orphans and widows and remembering the poor and showing hospitality to strangers and visiting those in prison. Some of these things we have done well, some less well. But the real challenge is not alleviating the ill-effects of the system but changing the system.

Race riots are not about providing care for George Floyd’s widow or Collins Khosa’s children. They are about changing the system that allowed their deaths (and many others) to happen. And changing the system is problematic because of the law of unintended consequences. Even with the best of intentions things can work out badly when we try and fiddle with things. Communism stands as an object lesson in the perils of social engineering. But I want to make three observations on the subject.

First some major changes to “the system” have worked well. We can name the abolition of slavery, the vote for women and, more recently, the dismantling of apartheid. All of these were fairly radical changes in their time, and I do not believe there can be many who today would wish to reverse them!

Second no one, even from the most laissez-faire economic viewpoint, actually believes in unregulated capitalism. We have already introduced into the system laws to protect us from monopolies, to protect the environment from wanton dumping and to stop children being sent down mines, for example. It is the right and duty of every society to consider how to regulate its activities for the protection and benefit of all its members. Yes, there are trade-offs between freedom and protection, but the conversation is valid and necessary.

Third perpetuating the status quo in South Africa (or the USA or UK) is not an option. Racial injustice is still embedded in our cultures and systems, and the present race riots are witness to that. In South Africa we have a government that is fully representative of the “previously disadvantaged majority”, yet the previously disadvantaged are still disadvantaged, for the most part. Political freedom has not translated into economic freedom.

Is that the fault of the government? Quite possibly. Will “radical economic transformation” work where previous plans have failed? Probably not. But here is the test of our hearts, church: are we willing the government to succeed for the sake of the poor? Or are we fighting a passive-aggressive rearguard action to protect the status quo for as long as possible? When we pray, “Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven,” we are asking for change. What kind of change do we have in mind? If not “radical economic transformation” (the very name sounds like a recipe for disaster) then what? If we are the “blessed in order to be a blessing”, then let’s have a good look at blessing the most down-trodden in our land. It’s time to see a new Africa. Again.

What’s wrong with conspiracy theories

They’re thriving at the moment! Some are ludicrous and some have a greater sense of plausibility. We need to be “wise as serpents” and know what’s going on (or may be going on.) Don’t we?

Here’s the problem: conspiracy theories neatly divide the world in two. Too neatly. There’s the baddies (WHO, Bill Gates, left-wing politicians and governments generally) and then there’s the goodies, which by definition means us. The naive victims.

But reality is not so neat. The one powerful lesson of Covid-19 infection is that we are all potential victims and at the same time potential perpetrators. The enemy is not “them”, as Paul reminds us, but spiritual forces of wickedness. Of course those forces work through human agency. Because we are all proud, threatened, defensive people, we have the potential to partner with demons of fear, greed, domination, murder. All of us.

So the problem is not that there is no conspiracy, but that there are millions of them. Billions. It’s called politics. Where two or three are gathered – there is a conspiracy. Some conspiracies are genuinely for good. Some are misguided. Some are self-serving. And some are downright evil. But mostly they are just people doing what seems best to them.

This is a unique moment in human history. Never before has humanity faced an economic crisis of this magnitude together. Sure we have different views on how to tackle it. Sure we are looking for someone to blame, and sure some stinking partnerships with demons have come to light. But the enemy is not them.

The great news is that we are not alone in this battle. God so loved the world. The whole world. Including them. His heart aches for every person not living in the peace of the kingdom. There is a divine restlessness driven by compassion until the kingdom comes in fulness.

And the second part of the good news is that through Jesus I am free. I no longer need to partner with my fears and the drive to self-preservation or greed. I actually can be a bigger person, even in the midst of the crisis.

So let’s position ourselves as part of the solution. Let’s pray with the compassion of heaven. Let’s stand fiercely in the freedom that has been bought for us.

Unreasonable joy

One of my prayers this week has been, “God, what do I need to be learning in this season to prepare me for the next?” I really don’t want to waste this time! I don’t want to come out the end of lockdown basically the same as I went in. I mean that really is a waste of pain! I want to make it count. And God said, simply, “Joy.”

Watch this video sermon to follow my journey into unreasonable joy – joy not based on my circumstances.And PLEASE engage with us via the comments feed below.