Transforming Unjust Structures: The Fourth Mark of Mission

For the past several weeks we have been considering the Mission of God in the world by looking at the Anglican Communion’s “Five Marks of Mission.” We have been asking ourselves, “What is it that God is doing, in our lives and in the world?  What is God’s mission and purpose?  What does God care about most passionately?”  This evening we examine the Fourth Mark of Mission, which is “to seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind, and to pursue peace and reconciliation.” 

Transformation is at the heart of the Gospel message.  God is transforming us individually, making each of us a “new creation” in Christ (II Cor. 5:17).  But God is also transforming us collectively, along with the whole Creation: “Behold, I make all things new,” says the One seated upon the Throne in the book of Revelation (Rev. 21:5).  God’s work of transformation, then,is personal and spiritual, and it is communal, social and political.[i]  God cares about us as individuals, but God also cares about our life together.

The Bible has plenty to say about God’s passion for justice and about God’s vision for our life together:

It speaks of the goodness and order of God’s Creation (“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good”-Gen. 1:31), and of the rebellion and disobedience that plunged us into the bondage of sin.  It holds out to us God’s promise to restore the Creation and reconcile all things in Christ (Col. 1:20)

The pivotal story of the Exodus reveals God’s compassion for God’s people, and God’s desire to free them from oppression.   We read that the Egyptians were exploiting the Israelites’ labor, restricting their freedoms, and rendering them powerless; this is what dominant political and social systems do.  The liberation God wins for the people of ancient Israel is political and economic, as well as religious.

In the giving of the Law, God establishes communal norms that protect the poor from exploitation and limit the power of the rich.  God’s laws are designed to create a common good, and to allow it to flourish.

When the people stray from these laws, God sends the prophets to challenge their unjust social-political structures and to re-focus the attention of the people on God’s vision for them. The prophets cry out against the human suffering created by unjust systems imposed by the wealthy and powerful.

Similarly, the Good News preached by Jesus is not only personal and spiritual, but also communal, social and political.  Jesus comes announcing that “the kingdom of God has come near” and urging people to “repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).  The repentance he requires is not just a turning away from personal sin, but the transformation of social and political systems that elevate some at the expense of others.  “Kingdom” is a political term, and although Jesus could have spoken of the “family of God” or the “community of God,” he chose to speak of the “kingdom of God,” a kingdom that stood in stark contrast to the kingdoms of Herod and of Caesar, with which his hearers were very familiar.  He taught his followers to pray that God’s kingdom would come “on earth” as it already is in heaven – he meant right now, in this life, not just in the after-life.[ii]

In this kingdom, this transformed community, the powerful are brought down from their thrones and the lowly are lifted up; the hungry are filled with good things while the rich are sent away empty (Luke 2:52,53).  In this kingdom, the poor are blessed and those who weep learn to laugh (Luke 6:20,21).  Jesus tells us that it is for this reason that he was sent into the world: “to bring good news to the poor,” “to proclaim release to the captives,” “to let the oppressed go free,” “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18,19).

Jesus not only teaches about this new kingdom, he embodies it by befriending “tax collectors and sinners;” by associating with[...]