Just Act

'The defining phrase on earth as it is in heaven is critically important
and often forgotten. This phrase obliges the disciple of Jesus to care about the earth and what happens to it and to the people who live on it. The Christian faith is not just a methodology for preparing disembodied souls for the next world. The well known Christmas carol "Away in a manger" includes:

Be near me, Lord Jesus: I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray:
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with thee there.

The unspoken assumption of this language is that the (sole?) purpose of the Christian faith is to "fit us for heaven." Ecology, peace among peoples and nations, economic justice, racial equality, and refugees and land rights are all political issues that have to do with this world and are thus beyond the scope of the concerns of the Christian faith. But such is not the case if we pray "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth." The oft quoted saying of Jesus "My kingdom is not of this world" (KJV) is better translated "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting" (Jn 18:36 NRSV, italics added). The origins of and inner dynamics of the kingdom of God do not evolve out of the culture and politics of this world. But the kingdom is on earth and thereby is deeply concerned for the earth and all that happens to the people who live on it…' (Kenneth Bailey, 2008, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes)

Actions

Sustainable Living

Green living is a lifestyle that cares for the health and well being of all creation.

• Wendell Berry - theological fuel for our attempts at creation care:
  
  'The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.'
  
  'We learn from our gardens to deal with the most urgent question of the time: How much is enough?'

> Download our ‘Sustainable Living Archive’ as of 19 November 2009 (PDF, 40KB)

Collaborative Living

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21

• Jonathan Perkins contends that community development depends on:
  a. Relocation (living in the community where you feel called to serve)
  b. Reconciliation (forming relationships that reconcile people to God and with others)
  c. Redistribution (a just (re)distribution, sharing and revaluing of resources - people, time, money, skills)
  
  Three questions to fuel discussions and re-imaginings: What could this mean for you? What could this look like where you're at? (What is this looking like where you're at? Share some stories).

> Download our ‘Collaborative Living Archive’ as of 19 November 2009 (PDF, 28KB)

Stories

Faith Factory, Waitakere Corps

In my life group, belonging to the Faith Factory, Waitakere, there is one thing that each of us has in common - having the heart to serve. So as a group we decided to get to know the people in our neighbourhood where we hold our life group. After a bit of organising, knocking on doors and a delayed event due to the weather, it finally happened. Much to our surprise, we not only had most of the neighbourhood turn up, but a few extras. Having lived on the street my entire life, it was sad to acknowledge the fact that most of us knew each other, but had never really taken the time to get to know one another; I’m talking around 23 years. It was a great feeling to know that we all made the effort to get up off of the couch and get to know the people living next to us and on our street.

A life group is about sharing life together with the people in it and learning about Christian theology. As a group, one of our members had a need; her house was in desperate need of some renovation. So our group, along with some people from church went to her house on a Saturday to do what we could. With all our efforts of sanding, painting, pulling out weeds, sweeping, vacuuming, clearing, tidying, and wiping, we were met with more work. This house was a bigger job than we imagined and not having the right equipment left us at a disadvantage. Although we tried, we were far from successful. Despite this, we demonstrated what it meant to stand by someone in need, to love and care each other. One of the boys that lived there summed it up by saying, 'thank you - for helping us'.
                                                                                            
The year I turned 18 was the same year that I fell pregnant. This was a difficult, scary and rude awakening for me. It was also the year that I had renewed my faith in God and I had returned to the church I grew up in. It was devastating to me to have returned to my church only to end up pregnant and unmarried. I thought the worst, but to my surprise many stood behind me and for the first week after giving birth, I had people from our church bringing me and my partner dinner. We also received all the baby essentials, the most we bought ourselves was a stroller, everything else was given to us by family, friends and our church. We received tremendous support from the people in our congregation and our family. It is because of this that we are who we are today. We are a success because of the ones that cared for us.

Events

• Sign on: a petition to reduce NZ's emissions by 40% by 2020
• Read the notice board page in the latest edition of War Cry magazine
• Check out the Match Factory social action calendar  online

Quotes

‘Look at the world around you.  It may seem like an immovable, implacable place.  It is not.  With the slightest push – in just the right place it can be tipped.’ (Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, 2000)

‘It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a man (woman, or child) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he (and she) sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.’  (Robert Kennedy, cited in Jeffery Sachs Common Wealth – Economics for a crowded planet, 2008)