Rev Malcolm Duncan: Building a Better World - Part 1

The Leader of the Faithworks Movement, Revd Malcolm Duncan, has just published his first book, Building a Better World (Continuum Press, £7.99, ISBN 0-8261-9152-9). Here, he talks about what motivates him to strive for justice and why it is important for the church to continue to develop its prophetic role in calling for a better world.


|PIC1|EXCERPT:
"Christian faith leads to a spirituality that offers a view of life and the world that treats others as equals, whether they share Christian faith or not. It is a spirituality that addresses the inequalities of the world. It recognises that the line between good and bad passes not through nations, but through every human heart. It recognises that we are part of the problem as well as part of the solution and that in order to build a better world we must also address the issues in our own lives and hearts that need attention. It offers a brighter view of the future and the possibility of genuine change and transformation. It closes the imaginary gap between the physical and the spiritual and helps to join up responses to human need. It points to a connection between people and God, between the earth and its maker, between the inner longing for change that every person experiences and the One who can bring true change to all who seek it."
P123, Building a Better World


The success of the Make Poverty History Campaign, and the outpouring of giving after the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, are just two of the many indicators to me that more and more people are increasingly concerned about working against injustice in our world today.

The central message of Building a Better World is that Christian spirituality provides the framework within which those who long for the eradication of justice and poverty can find support, inspiration and strength. I argue that it has a set of common values, which can be shared by people of faith and people of none. When those values are debated, stronger, more effective partnerships for change can be established. In other words, Jesus' teaching and manifesto is as world-changing now as it has ever been.

We are each part of a community and a world, where every human being has an opportunity to reach their full potential as given to them by God. Building a better world, to me, means a true impression of the Good News, which is Good News at every level, and for all who experience and hear it. It is physical, spiritual, emotional, social and psychological. Anything less is not the Gospel.

I think that in order to change things to build a better world, we need to first recognise that change is indeed possible. Next, we need to explore our own spirituality so that we can be confident about engaging with others, and move beyond a debate about God to a conversation with God. We need to find our fit in the world, looking at places in our communities that desperately need to know the love of God, going where no one else will go. We need to stay involved in those places, and build collaborative partnerships with others, even if we sometimes don't agree with all their beliefs.

|QUOTE|I hope that Christians will read the book and be challenged by it, to consider more positive partnership with others, to make a difference in their communities and in the world. I also hope you will buy copies to give to friends who long for a better world, so that it could provide a spirituality for them to explore. I hope that people will talk about and debate the issues raised, in churches, in small groups, in towns, anywhere where people are interested.

This book isn't an analysis of all the facts, but a beginning of the conversation. You can join the debate directly and discuss issues with me at www.buildingabetterworld.typepad.com. Then get involved in your local church and community. Encourage your local church and your community to work together with others, to make a difference. You can find out more about how to do this from Faithworks at www.faithworks.info

The challenge is to play our part, while knowing that we are part of something bigger, and something better than we have ever thought possible. As each of us puts down this book, or passes it on to someone else to read, I hope people will ask: is now is the moment? As we reflect on what we have read, perhaps in the quiet we will hear the footsteps of Someone who is taking the stage. The Conductor's form is just recognisable, but in the silence of anticipation, we will hear the gentle tap of a baton on a music stand. The melody is rising in your heart, the words are forming in our minds. We are about to begin.


The Reverend Malcolm Duncan

[Rev Malcolm Duncan is the leader of the Faithworks movement, and previously worked as Head of Mission at the Evangelical Alliance UK].