The American Way!

Are you aware of all the things that infiltrate our Christian faith from outside, from the world? Most of our Christmas and Easter traditions are imported from paganism. Some of this was done intentionally so that the Church could connect with people in a different religious context.

Often, the church within a region or culture unknowingly contextualizes the faith to match something with which they are familiar. Some of these changes are fine, even proper:

Four times in four different epistles, Paul tells his readers to “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” While some of our brothers in the Lord still practice this literally (or I should say “literalistically,” the topic of another post for another week), the North American church has generally practiced this as a firm handshake or, my preference, a hug.

On the other hand, there are also features of the world which infiltrate our faith and in so doing degrade or corrupt “pure religion.” This is known as syncretism and it is defined as “the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.” What does that look like? Well, in Southern Germany, where my father grew up, the Catholic farmers would have both a crucifix over their kitchen table and a Wurzelsepp near the front door. A Wurzelsepp is a tree root which naturally looked like a man’s face (wurzel – root, sepp – short for Joseph) and was carved a bit to accentuate the human features. The Wurzelsepp represented tree spirits found in the woods and would be prayed to, even as the crucifix, for protection.

Well, we are currently seeing in Western Christianity a movement in missions toward microfinance. This is a capitalistic response to the imperialistic missionary practices of the past. Historically, the solution to social and economic problems in developing nations was to make those people more like us people. We would Americanize (or Europeanize) them! In extreme cases, it meant bringing them to our country where they could learn a “better” way. In more subtle, but I believe more insidious circumstances, it meant pouring our money into foreign welfare programs designed, although not intended, to build wealth among the corrupt and to enslave the poor. But now, microfinance offers what capitalists are viewing as a healthier solution. And the church is jumping onboard.

Basically, microfinance offers entrepreneurs in developing economies a loan to grow a small business. This is a loan that is expected to be paid back. The return on the investment is then lent again to another entrepreneur. This eliminates local loan sharking and usury in the neighborhood of 400%. It also encourages the thinking and activities that build economic stability in communities. And the really good news for American Christians looking for ways to impact global, systemic poverty issues is that our few dollars go a LONG way in desperate economies. Here is a video from World Vision highlighting their microfinance efforts. Watch it at home. Then, watch it as a CONNECT group. Begin talking about what your group could do in the world. Begin praying about how God has blessed us all immensely and given us so many opportunities to make a real impact for His Kingdom. Two web sites to check out would be: World Vision Micro and Kiva.

Since I’m originally from Southern California and my wife’s family is in Arizona, let me put it into a context familiar to me. What if, instead of demonizing desperate Latin Americans who are trying to sneak into our country for a better life, we invested in them in their communities so they could begin to build a better life where they are? Do you think they really want to leave behind the place of their birth and the members of their families?

BTW, I know this isn’t the final solution. I’m not naïve. I understand systemic corruption and Godless leadership. But microfinance seems to me to be a way to deal with poverty so as to preserve human dignity and the imago dei, the “image of God” in humanity. And you can get started making a difference right now. So, do you want to know something about how God has SHAPE’d you for His Kingdom? Well, He put you here and He led me to blog this. So, now what are you going to do? It’s your move…