How should Christians respond to injustice? What should we do to honour the Bible’s call for justice and advocate for a fairer and greener world?
A report was released at the recent Justice Conference. Written by researchers at Tearfund and polling agency Barna, it looks at how Christian faith and action go together. They suggest that a ‘whole life response’ has five different aspects.
The report is called Christians Who Make a Difference, and it mainly focuses on poverty, but we can expand that to include the wider goals of Joy in Enough. Here are some ways that we could make a whole life response to creating a fair and sustainable future:
- Financial giving – let’s line up our giving with our values, supporting people and organisations that are working on inequality, climate, and political change.
- Prayer – do we pray specifically for the change we want to see? How can we encourage our church to pray more for environmental and social issues?
- Personal responsibility – whole life responders recognise that they are part of the solution, and look for opportunities to volunteer and take action. What local projects could you give time to? How can you help?
- Political advocacy – let’s lobby governments and local authorities to bring about change, speaking up for those who lack a political voice. Think about what you feel invited into – from signing petitions to protest, running for office or even peaceful direct action.
- Lifestyle change – finally, what we can change in our own lives to make sure that we are living out the change we want to see? Think about what the next step might be – ethical banking, reducing our carbon footprint, or eating less meat.
We all have our own gifts, and our own personal circumstances. We may have more to offer in one area than another, or we might recognise that there is more that we could do on one of those dimensions.
The report suggests that one in 20 people are ‘whole life responders’ in this way. What about you?
Joy in Enough 