Getting away with it

I know that we have probably all let our memories of this year’s World Cup go, not that everyone was even paying attention of course. I get the feeling that for a lot of us, the whole tournament will be remembered for the incredible amount of cheating and trying to get away with it that went on. This, from some of the most well paid role models in the world!
What a culture we’re nurturing! When did become so untrendy to toe the line? When did being a rebel rule breaker become cool? Why do acceptable mantras now include ‘success at all costs’ and ‘trample on anyone to get to the top’. And why are we surprised that our society’s conscience is diluted?

Christian Aid is one of the agents calling for dishonesty and underhanded tactics to be uncovered. Because while footballers who cheat get disciplined or develop a bad reputation, when multinational companies do it – people are trapped in poverty.
Poor countries have the riches to help work their own way out of poverty, including natural resources and products that we rely on, but it’s multinational companies that are reaping the rewards. A worldwide culture of financial secrecy allows tax-dodging firms to rob poor countries of more than 160billion dollars a year. Tax avoidance drains poor countries of more money every year than they receive in aid.

So I want to do myself out of a job. If developing countries were treated with the same respect we demand, they wouldn’t need aid anymore. I am talking about putting pressure on the powerful and causing a fuss and asking for a change in our consumer culture but you know what? I want to find my national pride again.

Goldfish

So much of life seems to be hit and run, fads and trends, fashion and shock driven. Our attention spans are ever shorter as we are fed a diet of sound bites and fast living. The danger with that is that we short change ourselves and those around us.

This year has seen some of the most heartbreaking disasters of a generation. In January in excess of 220 thousand people died as a result of the earthquake in Haiti. This summer a food shortage hit West Africa, leaving ten million people facing the prospect of severe food shortages across the region. The death toll following severe floods in Pakistan will continue to rise as food prices increase, disease spreads and people are left without shelter.

People across the world have wasted no time in giving generously to the appeals and to the desperate need of the families hit by these disasters. It’s been incredible and if you have given to any appeal then thank you. Yet it’s now, as the immediate shock has subsided, and the media has left and our attention turns to something else, that the need is greatest.

Agencies like Christian Aid are in it for the long haul whether it be a disaster situation, or long term development projects in communities completely ignored by the world’s press. Rebuilding countries, and lives, is a lengthy and delicate business but one to which we are committed.

1.5 million people are still living in makeshift shelters in Haiti, nearly half a million children are still facing malnutrition in Niger, and tens of thousands of people in Pakistan have seen their whole lives washed away. Please don’t forget them.

The Constructive Use of Discontent

I’m a bit of a ranter. I’m fairly laid back in general, I don’t get angry with people at all, in fact I hate confrontation! Yet, get me on something that hits a nerve and I provide an impressive rant. There are a few topics which spark this kind of reaction; anything to do with poverty, inequality and development, the future of the church, and the lack of dairy free cheese that melts on toast.

In general I get pretty wound up when I see what’s really going on in the world, the majority of human beings who live with so little, women who don’t stand a chance, children with no options. Add my ability to rant at will on such topics, with an unsettled urgency to change the world – and I find myself with a tangible feeling of discontent.
I was asking my friends recently whether this was something I was afflicted with forever, or whether I’d grow out of it and chill out. Our discussion could be summed up like this: ‘look at the world, and look at what God wanted for us. I don’t think we can be anything but discontent.’

The constructive use of discontent is an ongoing challenge for me; between rants I aim to ensure my actions reflect my words and trying to balance dissatisfaction with hope is sometimes a struggle. Oscar Romero used a phrase that I cherish; ‘my soul aches’. He was talking of his people in El Salvador, persecuted, poor and oppressed. I think my soul aches, and honestly it’s a bit tiring. But I think it’s supposed to. Seeking the Kingdom of God doesn’t come cushioned.

Improvement eclipsed by numbers

I read something this week talking about the surprise a particular writer finds each time she observes a community acting like they ‘still believe in each other and their possibilities’. That phrase hit home with me. I get accused every so often of being an idealist, even a bit naïve. Actually I take it as a compliment and a challenge! It is sad that optimism and belief in people comes as such a surprise, and I have to confess that even with my naïve idealism I have been guilty of writing people off or sometimes possessing an unhealthy amount of cynicism.

In the same magazine I read another article about the history of economic progress and came across the idea that ‘improvement has been eclipsed by numbers’. For example, what society once strived for was a better standard of life for people, and some would argue that this has become an exercise in reaching higher targets, accumulating more wealth and shrinking human experience and need into statistics.

These two phrases – believing in each other and human possibilities, alongside the idea that improvement has been eclipsed by numbers led me to think about the church. (I need to get out more.)

The Christian church teaches that people are full of potential and that as community we can open up endless opportunities, we can do big things and be loving world changing people. Yet in our heartfelt need to keep our traditions alive we’ve been occasionally guilty of striving for numbers rather than putting our focus on improving the way we engage with the Kingdom of God and the people made in His image.

God doesn’t need us to package Him inoffensively, give him a gloss and market him strategically. I truly believe becoming Kingdom focussed involves equipping each other to serve and stand up for those who are left out in the cold. I don’t think we need to worry too much about that putting people off!

I have seen how churches who have chosen to be outward looking first have found that with such a prophetic calling their congregations have been set alight to realise countless possibilities. And it’s hard to ignore that people with a purpose attract people. I wonder if it’s time we just get on with loving each other...