Conversations

One of my delights as a father have been conversations that I get to be part of with my sons.  They are wonderful and caring young men who thoughtfully consider their world and their place in it.  Recently I have had some correspondence with one of them based on our reading of an essay written by Noam Chomsky¹. 

Chomsky raises questions about the disquieting efforts by the west to maintain economic advantage over other parts of the world.  Living here in Africa and on the edge of the Republic of South Africa a question that often comes to my mind is, “Had I been born in South Africa during apartheid, would I have opposed it or just accepted it as the way things were.”  Chomsky’s essay had challenged me to question my western ‘birthright’.  Should I be questioning how it is that I have so much, or do I just accept it as the way things are?  Am I part of a culture that has exploited others to my material benefit?  Below are a couple of exchanges between one son and I as we contemplated these issues.

“It leaves one to wonder.  Wondering about the course of history and whether we as Christians will be known in this stage of history as mere pawns or non-entities. …  Do we really yearn for another Kingdom and take the time to think through what it would entail?  Are we complicit in the great injustice of our time?  Yes.  Are we complicit of believing in a doctrine of scarcity and in so doing hoarding in excess and calling it "prosperity" to the detriment of others?  Yes.  Have we baptized competition and conquest as a noble and necessary means of human interaction rather than wrestling with the harder to enforce (because you can't!) doctrine of compassion, generosity, and cooperation?”

“A term that has come to my mind often, of late, a play on past references to 'godless communism', is 'godless capitalism'.  In the end, godless capitalism may be more insidiously suffocating and destructive to the Christian church than the ruthless, overt persecution of godless communism.”

“I'm looking for that conviction; to be willing to stand up to the gates of hell in defiance. To yearn for, trust in, and act out another Kingdom other than the one of the world. One of justice, righteousness, love, peace, hope, forgiveness, compassion, humility.”

Pastor Dan Cochrane at CrossRoads church in Red Deer, recently offered some similar thoughts².

“A lot of people get rich on the back of others. … The cry of people who’ve been exploited … God hears.” 

“As a Christian I must always be in a position financially where it’s impossible to live without trust in God.”

Do I have the willingness to hear what God hears and the courage to question my supposed birthright and how much of it is derived "on the back of others"?  Am I willing to stand for something different?  It is easy to talk the talk.  Walking the talk, questioning my birthright and being willing to live financially where I need to trust God, do I have the faith and courage to go there?

~ Benno ~ 

1 Noam Chomsky’s essay can be found at http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/09/201192514364490977.html 

2 Pastor Dan’s full message from 18 Sept. 2011 can be found at http://www.crossroadschurch.ab.ca/sermons/2011-09-18-FaithThatMakesADifference2.mp3