Mon, May 15th - 8:08AM
Christian Involvement in Development is an Integral Component of Faithful Discipleship
Discipleship is a wholistic process that seeks to restore God’s image in man and God’s glory in creation. As a process it employs several devices to accomplish its ultimate goal, which is a wholistic change. Development is one of these devices that cannot be divorced from faithful discipleship.
Development is a personal and communal process geared towards a wholistic elevation of the present life status and guided by sound biblical principles.
The church in Africa has on the one hand understood that her involvement in development is not an emotional extra but a pertinent venture. This is evident in the church’s investment in areas like water projects, healthcare, orphanages, spiritual nurture, and environmental conservation. Thus far, the church merits a commendation.
However, it has also been observed that the African church has been so much limited in her involvement in development. This is probably because of lack of a contextualized theology of development in an African perspective. This has in turn nurtured the spirit of dichotomy in which the church views herself as sacred and only takes active part in spiritual development. This renders the other aspects of development secular and is thus reserved for the state and/or professionals in their respective fields.
Biblical Evidence
Therefore, based on the preceding argument, the gist of this post is to articulate the biblical evidence that attest that faithful discipleship should consider Christian involvement in development as its integral component. This has been pursued by exploring various biblical case studies that culminate in giving recommendations for the church and a conclusion.
Biblical cases examined include the cultural mandate, the tower of Babel, the reconstruction of the wall by Nehemiah, and Paul’s tent-making strategy.
The Cultural mandate
The Cultural mandate is found in Gen. 1: 27-30; 2:15. Man was given the mandate to rule and subdue the earth. God entrusted man with the creation thereby rendering him responsible for the way he uses the resources at his disposal.
According to this mandate, God wants man to benefit from the creation not by misusing it but by taking care of it. When God entrusted man with everything, he expected man to preserve the goodness of the creation. Such preservations would lead creation to redounding with God’s glory. But this has not been the result. Instead of being the steward of the creation, man has over-worked it. That is why the creation is also groaning and eagerly awaits for the future deliverance (Rom. 8:22-25).
The implication here is that faithful discipleship here must continue with God’s work of creation. In this respect, we have a responsibility that determines our relationship with God, with one another and with the other creation.
Before we even exploit the creation, we have to take care of it. Any Christian who fails to preserve the splendour of the animal order as well as the natural resources fails in his discipleship in general, and development in specific.
Tower of Babel
Another case that gives evidence for the Christian involvement in development is the Tower of Babel. Three points are evident here – community, creativity and commitment (Gen. 11: 1-9).
There was a sense of community amongst these people. They spoke one language and had a sense of belonging to one other. Their voice was “let us”. They correctly perceived that without unity hardly any work could be accomplished.
Secondly, these people were creative. They never failed to utilize their God-given creativity. The act of baking brick thoroughly and using bitumen for mortar (Gen. 11:3) displays creativity at work. They even envisioned the kind of city that they would have eventually had. This was imagination.
Lastly, these people were also committed to their work. They came together, established their objective, and committed themselves to scoring the goal. They excellently perceived that man couldn’t develop unless he is committed to his work.
These three traits are important in faithful Christian discipleship. God has created us as rational beings. The command aspect of life is very essential. Unless we are united with one another and speak with one voice, we cannot realize development. In addition, our discipleship should seek to encourage people to utilize their creativity. God has created us in his image. He has given us the creative power. We must use this for the glory and honour of his name. Lastly, commitment is very important. As faithful disciples, Christians should have the commitment to accomplish their endeavours.
However, we must also learn from this account that we cannot secure development when our plans contradict God’s will. Development encompasses good relationship with God and commitment to doing his will. The architects of the Tower of Babel failed because their will paralleled God’s will.
The Reconstruction of the Wall by Nehemiah
In this account, we observe a sense of community and belonging (Neh. 4:13-16). These people understood that humanity is incomplete without the full functioning of his social life. Also, creativity can be inferred from their undertakings. Neh. 2:18 reveal that the people did all that they could to rebuild the wall. Commitment to the spiritual aspect of life is also made clear (4:14). Nehemiah always sought the fact of the LORD. Fourthly, moral and caring aspect was seldom neglected (2:1-5; 5:10-12). These show how wholistic faithful discipleship is.
Paul and Tent-making
Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles reveals a hardworking Paul. Paul’s epistles confirm his creativity and skills; he worked with his own hands and never depended on anybody (1 Thess. 4: 11-12). He also understood the moral aspect of work (1 Thess. 3: 6-13).
A lesson that comes in a vista clara is that development is not just a passive venture. It is a deliberate active process. We have to work in order to achieve it. Everyone should work in order to earn a living and whoever does not work should not eat (2 Thess. 3:10). Laziness is condemned with the strongest terms possible (Prov. 6: 6-11). Faithful discipleship must encourage every Christian to work so as to earn a living and improve the social setting.
Agape: Jesus’ Model of Discipleship
Jesus’ model of discipleship clearly indicates that the motivating factor for his action was love. It was upon his love for the world that he left all the glory in heaven to come and live a life of troubles and sorrows on earth. A few lessons in regard to development can be glimpsed from Jesus’ model. He gave food to the hungry thereby contributing to their physical development. To the spiritually hungry he came in handy – he shared with them the word of love. To those who were mourning, he gave company, comfort and reassurance. To the morally disoriented, like the Pharisees, he scolded them. He had different levels of social interactions. He met with the multitudes, with the seventy-two, with the twelve; sometimes he met with the inner core of his “cabinet” – James, John and Peter. He also spent time alone with his father in heaven. He appreciated beauty and hard work for he worked as a carpenter too. He paid taxes and taught us to render unto Ceaser that which was Ceaser’s thereby making the stock market flow without interruption. He gave high regards to authority, often submitting but was prompt to condemn evil among those in authority – he called some of them a brood of vipers. He was not biased in any way. He treated no one with contempt irrespective of his gender, age, status, religion and experience. Above all, our Lord offered eternal life for all of humanity.
Jesus’ approach to development was wholistic. He had one agenda: Man’s highest good is to know God and enjoy fellowship with him forever. Love, then, is the highest virtue, for it is the kind of love (agape) that has its source and its end in God himself. Everything he did was motivated by love. He stood to gain nothing in each case he acted upon but still did it to ensure man’s good. This too should be our motivating factor for development. Jesus model is the perfect example we ought to follow. He never sacrificed speaking the truth for his economic gains as Christian leaders do today, neither did he solicite financial support at the expense of his congregant. Yet he ministered to them and spoke to them the idea of love. He developed them and that’s why we call ourselves Christian. We therefore have no reason to fold our arm, hands akimbo and sing and shout “halleluhyah things are normal while oppression still reigns high in our society. Jesus said, “Go ye”, and I reiterate, “Christians go! Go! Go! Go!
Recommendation
-
The case studies above are clear biblical evidences that support the Christian involvement in development as an integral component of faithful discipleship. In addition to the commendations alluded to afore, this section suggests some more.
-
To start with, the African Church should come up with a developmental theology that touches on the communal life, moral values, cultural sensitivity, environmental conservation, and also one that guard against dichotomy.
-
Also, the African church is challenged to device ways and means focusing and mobilising people to utilize the available local resources.
-
In addition, the church should be in the forefront to condemn the Western individualistic kind of life that is expeditiously mortifying the African communal life.
Conclusion
In conclusion, i wish to reaffirm my prior statement that “faithful discipleship is not devoid of development” the goal of discipleship is to restore God’s image in man and care for the creation I such a way that it will redound with God’s glory.
Comment (1)
|
Name: Dan Kidha Kidha
