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.
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.
