A Biblical mandate for advocacy on poverty and corruption - ABLI presentation
Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 5:47AM Yesterday I had the great honour of speaking in the Plenary and conducting a workshop session at the African Biblical Leadership Initiative (ABLI) forum in Uganda.
I was invited to present on our campaign 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption'. A number of the participants asked me to upload the slides from the presentation.
You can view the slides online below (please note that the first slide is blank, there is content from slide two).
If you would like to download a copy of the slides you can download them in PowerPoint format here. They are in PPTX format and the file size is about 7.5MB. If you use the slides please just attribute their source.
I told three stories to make the point that Christians have a responsibility, a ministry, to advocate for justice (speaking out against corruption and working with and for the poor).
Story 1 was called Philip's story. It asks a powerful theological question: If God has made the earth plentiful. If Africa is so fertile and rich in natural and human resources, then why is he, and so many other Africans, stuck in abject poverty?
I used this wonderful video from NURU international.
Story 2 is a Biblical story. I give some Biblical and Theological input on God's Economy (the oikos [household] nomos [management]). The etymology of the contemporary English word 'economics' derives from two Greek words that mean the 'management of the household of God'. The basic point here is that God desires a different standard of equity, justice and the management of the earth's resources so that every person can have a share of God's loving provision to flourish and live in blessing.
Some participants challenged a statement that I made in which I said that the prosperity 'gospel' is not Biblical. I stand by that statement. I do not believe that God is an 'investment banker' where if one follows certain deterministic principles God is contractually bound to make one rich. Moreover, it is simply not possible for the world to all live at the same standard of consumption that is expounded by prosperity preachers. We can sustain that level of consumption of the natural resources of the earth. If every person on earth lived at the standards of the average first world citizen the planet would depleted in a few short years.
However, I also do NOT believe that it is God's desire that the poor should remain in poverty. I also do not believe that all wealth is evil and wrong. I believe that what God wants is greater equity between the poor and the rich. In God's economy no child should have too much while another child has too little. Of course there would be some who have more (e.g., persons who pursue business) and some who have less (persons such as myself who follow a life of service in the academy or in ministry). However, no one should have too little and no one should have too much.
I do believe that part of the ministry of the Church is to develop the nation. We should be involved in economic development. We should be encouraging entrepreneurship. However, we should also be encouraging responsible stewardship. We should be encouraging simple and responsible living.
Aman, and a visiting Bishop from Zambia, both put their finger on the problem. They both suggested that the problem is the terminology that we use. For me, and many 'westernised' Christians the word prosperity has connations of excess (i.e., how does one get a bigger house, a better car, a higher salary than the good one already has). However, for most poor persons prosperity means being able to meet the needs of your family and live with a reasonable measure of economic and social freedom.
Just to give some credit, I used a slide from my colleauge at the University of Stellenbosch, Dr Marius Nel, in this section. It traces the development of the Historical Jesus scholarship. I basically ask the question 'which Jesus shapes your faith?' In short, the kind of Jesus that one finds preached by popular television preachers does not resemble the Jesus of the Bible very much. If you want to find out what the Jesus of scripture cared about do yourself a favor and JUST read the red letters of the Gospels (the words of Jesus) for a month or so and see what Jesus thinks about, talks about, and cares about. You may be surprised that he cares more about justice, economics, gender relations, systems of power in society than you thought.
Story 3 is our story. I used the 'EXPOSED - Shining a light on corruption' campaign as an example of advocacy on corruption and poverty. In this section I drew on the great work of my colleague, Amanda Jackson, on advocacy.
I used this video.
I hope there may be something of use here. Please let me know what you think. God bless, Dion
Reader Comments (2)
It is good to care. It is better to be wise. I would strongly advise all who want to end hunger or poverty in places like Africa to read Toxic Charity and The Bottom Billion before plunging into action. The developed world has spent billions in places like Africa and Haiti and the countries are little or no better off. In 1970 the per capita GDP of Zimbabwe and South Korea were virtually identical ($290 for Zimbabwe and $291 for South Korea). By 2004, Zimbabwe's GDP per capita had hardly budged, having increased to just $351, meaning that the average Zimbabwean was only marginally better off in 2004 than 1970. In South Korea, however, GDP per capita increased to $14,266, an astonishing forty-nine-fold increase. (In fact, matters are even worse than these numbers imply, for Zimbabwe's GDP per capita had been as high as $867 in 1982, and from 1997 to 2004 it declined every year, from $735 to $351.) Comparisons for similar pairs of nations—e.g., Singapore and Zambia—yield similar results. These changes did not happen because we gave more charity to South Korea. The problems of poverty are not something that outsiders can solve with money. There are significant changes that need to be made by leaders in poor countries and we outsiders have to be wise in our generosity. We send bed nets to eliminate malaria, putting local manufacturers out of business because ours are "free" to the people. The nets also pile up in storage because many people live in houses too small for their use. This is not to say that we should do nothing; but much good hearted charity does harm to the recipients. People throughout the world do not remain poor and hungry because we do not give enough. They are poor and hungry because their leaders largely do not want to make the changes that would reduce their people's poverty and we rarely give wisely. If we honestly look at the world, Walmart has lifted more third world people out of poverty than the International Monetary Fund or any Christian Church charity program. We would probably do better spreading the gospel as traditional Christian values (e.g., the Protestant ethic) do wonders for economic development.
Dear John,
Thanks so much for your considered comment. What you raise above is gravely concerning.
I do think, however, that your response may not take into account how complex the situation in Africa is (I make this point since you only cited African examples). Many Western governments, institutions and businesses have a great deal at stake that is pinned to the mineral, natural and human resources of the African continent.
Approximately $148 Billion is paid in bribes to African nations each year (that is 25% of the combined GDP of Africa). I'm not sure if you're aware that until just a few years ago it was still legal for businesses in the UK to report bribes paid to foreign nationals and institutions on their balance sheets? Clearly the problem is not only corrupt Africans. Corruption (which is linked to poverty) is a much more complex phenomenon.
This does not justify, or nullify, what you have said above. It is so sad that greedy and corrupt persons in many African nations look after themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens. The example you cite of Zimbabwe is among the saddest of all. I was born in that beautiful nation and feel the pain personally.
That being said, I agree that aid is not the entire solution to the problem of poverty. However, aid is necessary in many cases. It would seem to me that you have never visited the countries you cite above, or met a person who has not eaten in days, or someone who has to walk for hours to get water that is clean enough to drink.
When one is faced with real suffering even an imperfect solution is better than no help at all. No statistic could ever stop a person with a measure of compassion from caring for someone who is in desperate need if they have the means. It may not be profitable to do so. It may not be a lasting solution, but it is important that we do all that we can to help those who are suffering.
Of course, together with that we have to have the courage to find more lasting solutions. We must find ways to address both the symptoms and the disease.
Did you get a chance to watch the Nuru video in this post (the one that highlights Philips story)? It presents a model of development rather than aid. I have the joy of serving on the board of Poverty Cure - here enterprise development is suggested as a long term, sustainable, solution to poverty.
The point of my post was on advocacy - I am assuming that you are a Christian because of your suggested solution of introducing a Protestant 'ethic' (I am not entirely sure I know what you mean by that).
However, do read Proverbs 31.8-9.
By the way I have read Collier's work and will look into Lupton's. I still hold to the view that the unequal distribution of power and wealth between the developed and developing world is a complex matter and that stopping all aid is not a viable solution to the problem of poverty. We need to deal with both poverty and corruption. Some will be able to do both, others will probably be better suited to one or the other.