Christian Mission and Poverty

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Christian Mission and Poverty

communities. When this happens, we ignore the most important point in the conversation: we must first deeply know and carefully listen to our neighbors and friends who are poor. Otherwise, we can talk about “the poor” without joining our lives with people who are marginalized. As Christ identified himself with us, we must identify ourselves with one another across socioeconomic lines. As I have listened to the mothers and fathers of the faith talk about Christian mission and poverty, I have been encouraged to resist losing heart as we navigate the complexity of ministry alongside the poor. As we listen to the mothers and fathers of the faith, we hear them focus on both individual needs and systemic justice issues. They help us move beyond our contemporary debates by reminding us that the Gospel is holistic—that it addresses spiritual, emotional, mental, physical, economic, personal, relational, and societal needs. They do not ignore the political dimensions of the Gospel but instead remind us that the Gospel makes us into a new polis—a new city, a new people, a new kingdom. This new society joins together the rich and the poor by elevating the poor into positions of importance in its new economy and calling the rich to enter without hoarding their wealth or relying on their privileged status. The marginalized are central in Jesus’ kingdom. As Richard Bauckham reminds us, the movement of the Gospel is “to all by way of the least.” 5

5 Richard Bauckham, Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004), 49.