Has the church become part of the problem and not the solution?

You can easily block out the sun with a 2p coin. You simply place it over one eye while keeping the other closed. I remembered this while listening to one of the anti-capitalist protestors chatting on Radio 4 the other day. The young woman admitted she had no faith but added that she had been genuinely impressed to discover that Jesus had a passion for the poor. I found her ignorance startling, and began to wonder what had been blocking her vision of God.

The Old Testament constantly stressed this aspect of his nature. Amos for example told his contemporaries that they were risking God’s judgment because of their rampant self-indulgence and disregard for the needs of others. He summed up God’s feelings in these words “I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" (NIV)

The prophet Micah preached the same message. Things seemed to be going well at the time but like everyone else Micah knew that the rich and the powerful were using their influence to exploit the weak and enhance their own privileged lifestyles. And so he told them in no uncertain terms that God wasn’t interested in their unethical religiosity rather “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (NIV)

Justice means fair play. It means giving everyone a fair deal. It means focusing on people’s basic needs and, where necessary, rectifying the imbalances that allow injustice to flourish.

I sense that many an Old Testament prophet would have understood the feelings of those camping outside St Paul’s given what columnist Jenni Russell wrote in the Sunday Times

“Officialdom wants the camp to disappear because its presence is making the authorities feel most uncomfortable. … Our version of capitalism is delivering great wealth to a tiny minority and great uncertainty to everyone else. People are anguished because no politicians have effective plans for reversing that."

Russell went on to note the recent announcement that the average incomes of directors of the FTSE 100 companies has risen by 50% in the past year to £2.7m, while over the same period ordinary employees in the private sector had a pay rise of 2.6%.

She might well have added that we also live in a world where more than 2.2 billion live on less than £2 a day.

Jesus frequently talked about money and wealth too. He suggested among other things that we should use what we have to improve the lives of the poor and and warns us that wealth can easily become a substitute for God. He also stressed that a blind disregard for the poor will guarantee us a place in hell!

And so, given all this we might well ask why the young protestor was so surprised to discover that the God of the Bible is concerned about the poor. What has been blocking her view? I wonder if it’s related to the way we’ve often shared the gospel in the past. One well-known religious commentator reflected this a little while ago when he suggested on Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’ that Christianity doesn’t exist to make the world a better place, it’s only there to get our souls into heaven. (He made me question what Bible he read!).

Or is there an equally disturbing reason: the church has allowed itself to become part of the establishment and in so doing become part of the problem and not the solution. If this is the case then we would do well to heed the words of Jesus “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (NIV)


Rob James is Executive Chair of the Evangelical Alliance Wales and Pastor of Westgate Evangelical Chapel