The words “economy” and “life” should sit easily together. What is the economy for if it is not to serve and promote the living of life? Yet in our world today it has become a matter of protest to put the two words together. The way our global economy is working means death rather than life for large numbers of people.
When more than a thousand delegates from all parts of the world gathered for the World Mission Conference of the World Council of Churches in Arusha in 2018, they “had to reckon with death-dealing forces that are shaking the world order and inflicting suffering on many.”
They did not hesitate to name these destructive forces: “We observed the shocking accumulation of wealth due to one global financial system, which enriches few and impoverishes many. This is at the root of many of today’s wars, conflicts, ecological devastation, and suffering.”
The earlier WCC mission affirmation Together towards Life (2012) had put its finger on “a global system of mammon that protects the unlimited growth of wealth of only the rich and powerful through endless exploitation.” “Mission spirituality,” it observed, “resists and seeks to transform all life-destroying values and systems wherever these are at work in our economies, our politics, and even our churches.”
At Zomba Theological University we are currently working towards a programmatic expression of such resistance, spirituality and transformation. Under the umbrella of the Council for World Mission’s programme on Theological Education for the Economy of Life, we are collaborating with kindred institutions in different parts of the world to develop a Masters programme that will equip future scholars and leaders to engage with the issues at stake.
A number of our collaborators will travel to Malawi later this month to join us for a consultation aimed at turning this dream into a reality. We hope this might be one small step towards defeating the death-dealing forces and promoting an economy of life.
Thinking Mission Blog 