Friday, June 12, 2009

Why should Chrisitians care about the Millennium Development Goals?

I think Ian Douglas (my former thesis advisor!) offers a great explanation of why the Mission of God in the world should matter to Christians (and other people of faith) and how the MDG's might help.

And here is where the church, the body of Christ generally and the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church in particular, can play an incredibly important role in the movement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Being faithful to the call to God's mission, effecting God's shalom, is what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus. The MDGs offer a concrete invitation to get on with what God wants us to be about; to join with sisters in brothers in Christ, with people of other faiths, with wider global civil society to be about the repair of the world...

The movement is not about a single quick fix, done today and forgotten tomorrow. It's about building a movement of God's people in response to the missio Dei. So as Christians, as Anglicans, as Episcopalians, we have a key role to play in the shalom movement of the MDGs. Let's be about it.

2 comments:

Susan said...

Donna, can you say more about "effecting God's shalom" and the "shalom movement"? I find the concept difficult and there are not many theological wise words or sermons I can find that make sense to me. I gather that shalom is a deep concept, not a translation of what we meant by "peace" in the 60s, nor exactly the lion lying down with the lamb.

Donna McNiel said...

Hi, Susan-

Sorry, I've not been paying enough attention to comments!

I think the Presiding Bishop is one of the most articulate about God's shalom. She talks about the Reign of God and all that we trust God intends for us. It's about wholeness, justice, peace, and unity with God and one another. Her newest book, "Gospel in the Global Village: Seeking God’s Dream of Shalom," is a collection of sermons on this theme.