“We are concerned about the direction that the journey of humankind on this planet entrusted to us by God has taken. Excessive use of natural resources by human beings has led to a
241 Accra 2004:3.
242 De Santa Ana 1998:129.
243 Sacks 2005:270.
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continuous destruction of the earth. While many people still live in poverty, others live in affluence. The on-going increase of world population and the urgent effort to make a life in dignity possible for every human person lead to the fundamental question how life on earth for everybody can be shaped in a way reconcilable with the dignity of nonhuman nature and the life possibilities of future generations. The pure continuation of current ways of global economic activities leads to a dead end. We have to turn it around. As churches we confess that we have not fulfilled our responsibility to care for God’s creation in the way we are called to do. We look at indigenous cultures to get inspiration for a relationship of human being and nonhuman nature which is characterized by respect. We see the need of developing perspectives for the expression of such respect in a highly complex global economy and society. We speak as people of faith who come from Christian spiritual traditions. At the same time we hope that our conclusions are relevant for the publics of modern pluralistic societies in search of orientation. We understand such ‘public theology’ as a service to the world which we are called for as Christians.”244
The sentiments expressed above in the preamble of a consultation by the leading representatives of German and South African churches in February 2013 in Stellenbosch, South Africa, who tried to find a new consensus between North and South on the implications of sustainable growth, almost clarify what the mission of Christians should be in these trying times. Sacks argue that there may be poverty in every age, but that does not make it God’s will for the world. As long as there is hunger, poverty and treatable disease in the world, there is work for us to do. This includes promoting and advocating for sustainability and the duty to show kindness to the poor, the powerless, the suffering and even creation.245 Freudenberg is of the view that amongst the Reformed faithful the conviction grew that directing one’s kindness to the poor was a consequence of a new understanding of the Christian faith that transferred its activity of grateful charity from the individual to the congregation. He suggests that the contours slowly emerged of what was to become Calvin’s attempt to address the
244 The words of this preamble was the result of a consultation by leading representatives of German and South African churches February 5-7, 2013, in Stellenbosch/South Africa trying to find a new consensus between North and South on the implications of sustainable growth. The meeting included church leaders, theologians and economists from both countries. It was the follow up of a consultation in 2010 which produced 20 theses meanwhile known as the ‘Stellenbosch Consensus’. When the following 20 theses are now called ‘The Second Stellenbosch Consensus’ the continuity to the 2010 consultation is deliberately expressed. The relationship between ecological questions and justice questions are subject to a hot debate between wealthy countries and countries struggling to overcome poverty. This controversy has also been visible in the debates during this consultation. It is all the more valuable that our common ground as churches has nevertheless led us to the consensus.
245 Sacks 2005:82.
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social question of poverty: work, a modest and frugal lifestyle, and brotherly love-virtues that now increasingly asserted themselves and were able, at least partly, to address the ills of poverty.246 This understanding of showing kindness to the poor can be traced throughout all the documents of the global ecumenical families.
Following and highlighting the negative effects that the current economic system has on the world, Agape presents us with a useful analysis of what poverty looks like within the current economic world order: “Today, 1.5 billion citizens of our planet – the majority of who are women, children, and Indigenous Peoples – live on less than one dollar a day, even as the world’s richest 20 per cent account for 86% of global consumption of goods and services.
The annual income of the richest 1% is equal to that of the poorest 57%, and 24000 people die each day from poverty and malnutrition.”247 Global poverty is but one of the devastating ramifications that is produced by the current economic system. The cry of the powerless and those who are suffering is so loud and should be heard on a global level. Churches, ecumenical movements and all Christians should stretch forth hands of kindness to those who are unable to help themselves. On the one hand it is the kindness that should overcome all boundaries and barriers and penetrate deep into the hearts of those caught up within the complexities of poverty and suffering and on the other hand it should be the kindness that displays love, caring and concern to the groaning of creation.
All of creation declares the work of God’s hands. Conradie is of the view that “Christians confess that the world is God’s creation, that God looks at the world with compassion and mercy – so much so that God regards it as worth dying for – and that the Spirit renews the whole of God’s creation from the destructive impact of sin so that it can flourish yet again.
This is the way of looking at the world underlying the Christian liturgy but also its proclamation, fellowship and service. This cosmological vision, this way of looking at the world, provides the stimulus for a Christian environmental praxis, ethos and spirituality.”248 Through this explanation it is clear that we are all connected and that God is the Sustainer of all life. And because God is the Sustainer of all life, it flows into the notion that human beings are placed on this earth to participate in his creation. Sacks help us to understand the power within this notion. He says that when God created the world, He provided an opportunity for the work of His hands – man – to participate in His creation. The Creator, as
246 Freudenberg 2009:155.
247 Agape 2005:8.
248 Conradie 2013:75.
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it was, impaired reality in order that mortal man could repair its flaws and perfect it.249 God has so much confidence within human beings that he even trusted human beings with the work of his hands. But what is happening to creation and the environment today?
“Environmental problems of global warming, depletion of natural resources, and loss of biodiversity loom ever larger: for instance, we will lose 30 to 70 per cent of the world’s biodiversity in a time span of 20 to 30 years.”250 If God entrusted his creation in our hands, responsibility must be taken to ensure that God’s creation is being looked after. “The God who created the world in love calls on us to create in love.”251 Based on this fact is the notion amongst ecumenicals that even the world economy belongs to God and therefore they are opposed to any system such as, consumerism that set itself against the principles of God.