This was the title of my presentation to a Global Mission Consultation hosted at Lake Kivu by the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. It brought together participants from 36 countries who were united in a consensus that, globally, we face a time of catastrophe.
This is very evident when we look at the global situation from the perspective of the vulnerable and excluded sections of the human community. The scenes from Gaza during the past two years are etched on our consciousness, awakening us not only to injustice and inhumanity in the particular context of Palestine but to a clearly emerging pattern where the firepower of the West is being turned upon “people of colour” perceived to be a threat.
Meanwhile the battle that we should be fighting, to address the climate crisis, is of little concern to those leading the most powerful countries. This inexcusable neglect results in life becoming even more precarious for those on the edge. Again, the wealthy seem content to secure their own position, leaving the poor to bear the brunt of the climate crisis they are hastening with their extraction and consumption of fossil fuels.
Such matters were clearly in focus in Rwanda. Scholars and practitioners of Christian mission, however, were in no mood to be complacent. On the contrary, they were very much aware of how much Christian mission has been complicit in colonialism, violence and exploitation of natural resources. Indeed the aim of the Consultation was to find ways to reimagine mission in such a way that it will be a force for justice and life in our time.
My own paper proposed that we need expressions of mission that are humble and kenotic, spiritual and discerning, imaginative and transformative, dialogical and collaborative, prophetic and reconciling, and ecumenical to the maximum. There is no room for complacency.
Thinking Mission Blog 