Month: October 2007

Categories
Future

Biofuels and world hunger

Food SupplyThe UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, has recently made the headlines by claiming that the planting of crops to produce biofuels instead of food constitutes a “crime against humanity” because it results in a scarcity of food, driving up prices beyond what the poor can afford. In the past year, poor harvests, rising oil prices and a surge in demand for food from China and India have all contributed to substantial rises in food prices globally.

In Australia, Mr Ziegler’s comments appeared less compelling, because they were reported in the context of Australia’s sugar crop, which has in recent years been in oversupply. The use of Australian sugar to produce biofuel seems unlikely to have any adverse effect on world food prices. On the other hand, the diversion of current food crops in Africa and Asia to biofuel production would create obvious food supply problems.

The question of whether the world can produce enough food to feed everyone is not a new one. In 1798 Thomas Malthus famously predicted that increases in population would lead to mass starvation. Since then the world population has increased by 600%, but food production efficiency has increased even more.

Categories
Present

Measuring the effectiveness of charity

VolunteerOne of the most challenging sessions at this year’s Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit was the session by Harvard Business School’s Michael Porter, entitled Doing well at doing good. Professor Porter argued that churches on the whole are inefficient in the way they use their resources for “doing good”, such as by serving the poor. We fail to measure the effects of our charitable efforts, and we fail to notice when our efforts sometimes do more harm than good.

Good intentions are not enough, and the act of charity is not enough. If we are serious about serving our neighbours, then we should be making sure we maximise the social value of our actions. If someone else can provide a service more efficiently than us, we should be helping them to do it, rather than attempting to compete with them. There are many worthy causes, but we should only involve ourselves in ones where we can provide significant benefits relative to the resources expended.

Unfortunately, I am not sure that Professor Porter’s words were resonating with all of his listeners. There is a great tendency to pride amongst volunteers – “This is what I have to offer; I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart, so you can take it my way or leave it” – and this prideful attitude causes incalculable harm to the cause of Christ. No true follower of Jesus thinks of himself or herself as a “volunteer”.

Categories
Past

A life of significance

MulticulturalA B Simpson died on this day 88 years ago. Simpson was a Canadian Presbyterian preacher and author, and he ended up as the accidental founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination (which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary), in much the same way as John Wesley ended up as the accidental founder of the Methodist denomination.

In 1873 at the age of 30, Simpson became the pastor of the largest Presbyterian church in Louisville, Kentucky, but his real heart was for reaching “the neglected peoples of the world with the neglected resources of the church”. He moved to New York in 1880, and in 1883 he established a formal program for training ministers and missionaries in a multi-cultural context. His vision was for “a church that can be at once the mother and home of every form of help and blessing which Jesus came to give to lost and suffering men, the birthplace and the home of souls, the fountain of healing and cleansing, the sheltering home for the orphan and distressed, the school for the culture and training of God’s children, the armory where they are equipped for the battle of the Lord and the army which fights those battles in His name.”

As a result of his willingness to devote his life to serving in the name of Jesus those whom other people were neglecting, Simpson has had a significant influence on the lives of many. His Christian and Missionary Alliance organisation eventually became a thriving denomination with a strong emphasis on evangelism and church planting. Well known author and speaker Ravi Zacharias is a C&MA member.

Categories
Faith

Who is responsible for my spiritual growth?

GrowingMark Galli has made an interesting post relating to the research described in the book which I reviewed yesterday. The research found that many people who were at an advanced level of spiritual maturity were dissatisfied with their church, largely because they feel that they are not “being fed” by their church; that is, the church is not helping them to continue in their spiritual growth.

Willow Creek proposed to address this problem by coaching people to become self-feeders, taking more responsibility for their own spiritual growth. But Galli asks a pertinent question: Should we be encouraging this apparent spiritual narcissism by helping people become “self-feeders”? The implication seems to be that “my faith” is about “my feeding and spiritual growth”, rather than being about worshipping God and serving others.

In Luke 17 (verse 5), the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith (a sort of “feed me” request). Jesus replies that the tiniest amount of faith is enough to do great things. He then says that servants shouldn’t expect to be fed at the end of a hard day in the field. Instead, the servants should serve supper, and then say, “We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.” Maybe people who are at an advanced level of spiritual maturity need to concentrate on serving others and not feeding themselves.

Categories
Books

The Truth will disturb you

Spiritual GrowthLast weekend the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit came to Melbourne. This gave me an opportunity to get my hands on the book Reveal: Where are you? by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson. It’s a short book, and I read it on the same day that I bought it. According to the front cover it contains “the brutal truth about spiritual growth”, and “six provocative discoveries that will change the way you think”.

I have already referred to the book in a post back in August, but now that I have had the chance to read it, I can say that it really does contain some thought-provoking insights. The book categorises church attenders into four different groups depending on their spiritual maturity: Exploring Christianity, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, and Christ-Centred. A key discovery is that there are two other distinct groups: those who are Stalled in their spiritual growth, and those who are at an advanced level of spiritual maturity but Dissatisfied with their church.

The book promises that more research will be done on these two groups, but it does indicate that churches have not done a good job of teaching mature believers that they are responsible for their own spiritual development. It seems to me that another reason for dissatisfaction is that those who are further along the spiritual path are less likely to be satisfied with a church which is run poorly.

Categories
Poverty

South Africa and the Zimbabwean crisis

Sitting on the FenceSolidarity Peace Trust, a faith-based non-governmental organisation in South Africa, has just released a report on the role of South Africa in the current Zimbabwean crisis. Since the implementation of the Zimbabwean government’s land redistribution program in 2000, the key contributors to the country’s GDP (agriculture, manufacturing and tourism) have collapsed. Unemployment is around 80%. Tourism earnings have halved. Agricultural production has contracted by more than 50%.

The economic crisis has forced many highly educated citizens to leave Zimbabwe, and this has precipitated the collapse of the health and education public service sectors. The recently passed Indigenisation Act requires majority ownership of all businesses to be transferred into indigenous hands, and this is expected to add to the wealth of the ruling elite, rather than addressing any of the economic problems.

South Africa has maintained a stance of “quiet diplomacy”, aiming to prevent “a complete collapse of authority in Zimbabwe”. Thabo Mbeki has opposed the use of economic sanctions, preferring a policy of appeasement. Meanwhile, a number of South African companies have found ways of profiting from the economic chaos in Zimbabwe.

Categories
Future

The future image of Christianity

ImageAccording to research by the Barna Group reported in the book UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, 38% of non-Christians in the US aged 14 to 29 have a “bad impression” of Christianity, compared with fewer than 20% ten years ago. There are significant cultural differences between the US and Australia, but at least some of the negative impression of Christianity is probably rubbing off in Australia.

Are non-Christians being offended by the Cross? Are they being offended by the overwhelming generosity of Christians, their willingness to serve the poor whatever the cost, their enthusiasm in identifying with the marginalised and oppressed, their desire to bring justice, mercy, forgiveness and healing wherever they go? Unfortunately not. It seems that non-Christians see Christians as being anti-homosexual, hypocritical, judgmental and too involved in politics.

Where does the future lie? It seems to me that the identification of Christianity with reactionary conservative political views is something which has come to the fore only in recent years, and it is likely to pass when the church refocuses on the mission of Jesus, rather than right-wing politics. However, in the mean time considerable damage is being done to the cause of Christ. People are choosing not to become followers of Jesus because the image of Jesus is so poorly reflected in those who claim to be his followers.

Categories
Present

Largest prize in the world

ChissanoYesterday, the inaugural winner of the largest individual prize in the world was announced. The winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership (worth US$5 million plus US$200,000 per year for life) is Joaquim Chissano. Chissano was the head of state of Mozambique from 1986 to 2005.

When Chissano came to power in 1986, Mozambique was in the grips of civil war. He helped to negotiate an end to the war which had lasted for 16 years, leaving a devastated economy, ruined infrastructure, and a deeply divided community. Although Mozambique is still a poor country, Chissano’s greatest achievements were in bringing peace, reconciliation, stable democracy and economic progress.

By way of contrast with many other African leaders who are unable to release their grip on power, Chissano decided voluntarily to step down from leadership of the country at the end of his second term, rather than seeking re-election. Announcing the prize, Kofi Annan commended President Chissano for his “major contribution outside his country’s borders” which included providing “a powerful voice for Africa on the international stage”.

Categories
Past

Christian mistakes day

Christ’s ReturnToday is the 173rd anniversary of The Great Disappointment, the day in 1844 when New York farmer William Miller had confidently predicted that Jesus would return. His original prediction had been for some time in the year 21 March 1843 to 21 March 1844, but nothing had happened by 21 March 1844, so Miller had to confess his chronological error and accept a “tarrying time” of seven months and ten days proposed by one of his followers based on Hab 2:3 and Lev 25:9, so 22 October 1844 became the new date.

Miller’s calculations were based on the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated,” when read in conjunction with James Ussher’s calculation that the prophecy was made in 457 BC. By the way, James Ussher was the 17th Century scholar who calculated that the world was created on this day, 22 October, in the year 4004 BC, at 9am Greenwich Mean Time. So, if you’re prepared to swallow some curious presuppositions, happy 6010th birthday, world!

Most of Miller’s followers were disillusioned by the failure of his predictions, but one small group, led by James White and Ellen Gould White, refused to believe that the predictions had been wrong. They believed that Christ did in fact purge the sanctuary on 22 October 1844, but the sanctuary was in heaven rather than on earth. This group became known as the Seventh Day Adventist Church. That’s something for you to think about when next you munch on your Seventh-Day-Adventist-produced Weet-Bix.

Categories
Faith

Paying the price of faith

PersecutedThe leaders of Grace Presbyterian Church in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, are under investigation for treason, according to a report from Christianity Today. Kazakhs are expected to be muslims, and Russians are expected to be orthodox. Anyone who subscribes to a minority faith is likely to be regarded with suspicion. Religious oppression seems to be rising to a new level in the ninth-largest country in the world (in terms of area – Australia is the sixth largest).

Another article in Christianity Today describes how Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has been clamping down on church leaders who are critical of him. Pastors are regularly subjected to surveillance and intimidation. Government agents attend church services and question churchgoers. Any attempt to do what is good or right is viewed with political suspicion.

Just as poverty in any part of the world is something which we have to take personally, oppression of people for their faith is something which we have to take personally. Christians everywhere are called to share in the suffering of fellow-Christians anywhere. Faith is not true faith unless you are willing to pay a price for it.