How God is calling us to action now

BY WALTER MIDDLETON

When creating the world, God abundantly provided everything needed to sustain life. God also gave humans dominion over the environment and entrusted us with the responsibility to weed, prune and inhabit the earth (Gen 1:28–30 and 2:15).

Children eat free meals at a feeding centre of the World Mission Church, a nongovernmental agency, in a slum area in Manila, Philippines. (CNS photo/Romeo Ranoco, Reuters)

Today, as a result of human sin — after the fall when judgement was given to humanity in the form of toiling in the fields and battling with weeds (Gen 3:17–19) — the production, distribution and consumption of food are no longer based on equality, socially and environmentally sustainable agriculture, and economics which prioritise the welfare of all people.

Jeremiah says: “And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination” (2:7).

Today, close to one billion people go to bed hungry every day, and over 15 million children die each year from hunger. But that is not God’s design for this world. God wants to see every human being, especially children, have the opportunity to live in all its fullness.

What do we Christians have to offer? How can we live out our vision and mission for the poor, the hungry, the marginalised and the oppressed. As Christians we are called to:

1. Care for the poor/hungry as commended in Deuteronomy: “Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land” (15:11).

Jesus commends those who give food to the hungry, declaring that “just as you did it to one of the least of these members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).

However, we do this with care, ensuring that we do not create dependency but instead work towards families and communities sustaining their own well-being.

2. Care for the environment as part of the  mandate in Genesis: “God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and care for it” (2:15).

One of our core value as Christians is to be stewards of God’s creation, care for the earth and act in ways that will restore and protect the environment, and ensure that whatever we do is ecologically sound.

3. Promote justice: “Is not this the fact that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice…to let the oppressed go free…is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” (Isaiah 58:6-7).

While providing food in times of want is commendable and necessary, the first and foremost vocation is that we loose the bonds of injustice and let the oppressed go free.

This vocation requires that we reflect on, critique and act against unjust systems and structures that lead to hunger, poverty and exploitation.

4. Seek transformational development: “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4). This passage makes it clear that well-being is more than food alone.

As Christians, we ought to adopt a broader holistic approach to development that addresses the needs of the entire person and community. This includes, as this passage alludes to, the person’s spiritual health, contributing to the overall well-being of families, especially children so that they can experience the love of God and their neighbours.

As Christians, we should seek to sow a seed of joy and hope for those who are suffering. We need to strive to be good soil so as to make God’s kingdom on earth fertile and fruitful. We need to be good stewards of God’s abundant resources that he has given us.

God intends the fullness of life for the human community to be a present goal, not the endpoint of history, which calls us to action as God’s stewards.