The challenge:
There. I've said it. Now you can all hold me accountable to it.
This is something I got passionate about whilst studying Engineering (of all things) a couple of years ago. I signed up for a module in my final year on sustainable development and I found that a lot of the concepts and ideas that were talked about really resonated with what I was coming to understand about the way God's kingdom works.
I've started reading through the bible with this as my focus. Admittedly, I haven't got very far yet (Genesis 4!) but that's partly because there's so much in there to learn.
Click on 'Read more...' for a summary of why I've chosen this as my focus and why I think this is an important topic to engage with as a Christian.
Why study this topic:
Firstly, at the risk of sounding ego-centric, because I want to.
I firmly believe that the interests, talents and desires we have are part of our God given identity and that our identity is a major part of our calling. We are called to love and serve God with all that we are and that means doing the things that we enjoy, and are good at, to his glory. I get excited about community development, so that's what I'll do and I want to learn to do it God's way.
Secondly, I believe that this is something that is really important to God.
We all know that God has given us a mandate to steward his creation. We also know that we are designed to live in community and in relationship with others. (If anyone doesn't agree with these presuppositions, I'll gladly have that debate). Further more, one of the meta-narratives of the bible is the transition from garden to city. In Genesis, God places man in a garden and tells him to fill the earth and subdue it (another topic for future discussion perhaps?). In Revelation, the imagery used to describe mankind's eternal dwelling with God has changed from a garden to a city.
Therefore my conclusion is that God's intention is for us to develop and that this development be done in relationship with others; i.e. in community; and in ways that ensure we steward his creation; i.e. ways that are sustainable. Et voila: Sustainable community development - straight from the heart of God!
Of course, the terms 'sustainable and development' are a tad vague and so in my next post I'll unpack this further and look at how the world has defined sustainable development and to what extent this aligns with biblical principles.
For a discussion of the term community, I can wholeheartedly recommend checking out the Missional Communities blog (yes, the post was written by my wife, but I promise this is an entirely objective recommendation!)
Good work, Stephen.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like your observation that God's plan is to move from a garden to a city. In other words, the consummation is going to look different than the creation - we're moving in a linear direction not round in a circle. I believe that economic growth is a godly pursuit, but unrestricted growth can be very destructive. That's where sustainablity and community come in.
So I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts as you work through the Bible.