As Christians we confess our faith in God who creates humanity in the Divine image, in Jesus Christ who has reconciled all people and opened to us a future of fellowship, peace and well-being, and the Spirit who calls us to act in correspondence with this vision as disciples of Christ in the church, and as fully human citizens in the world. In contrast to this holistic vision for human life, poverty and inequality serves to frustrate the full flowering of human potential, fragment human community, produce strife and distress and render fragile our hope for the future. Therefore it is the ever-present task of Christians to confront and eradicate poverty, in obedience to the gospel which they confess.
1) Our faith in God who creates humanity in the divine image.
To confess that human beings are created in the divine image is to affirm that we are created for fellowship: "It is not good for human beings to be alone". Our existence is realised in coexistence. We exist in relationship with God, each other, and with the nature of which we are a part. God creates a world whose inhabitants are profoundly interdependent. We are created for life together, and this togetherness is a reflection of the life of the triune God.
However, poverty contradicts and undermines God's decision to create human beings in the divine image, as well as God's judgment on the goodness of creation. Because we are created for fellowship and mutual dependence, poverty touches all, and not simply those who experience it directly. Poverty prevents human beings from realizing their potential, it creates barriers of inequality between people, and bars people from experiencing the abundance of creation.
To confess our belief in God as creator in the face of poverty is to call for a radical revision of our attitudes to possessions, land, natural resources and human worth. While we affirm that the earth and its blessings provide us with all we need to enjoy the fullness of life, we believe that unlimited greed and acquisitiveness, to the detriment of others or the environment, is an affront to the will of God and the dignity of creation.
2) Faith in Jesus Christ who has reconciled all people and opened us to a future of fellowship, peace and well being
To recognize Jesus as the Christ - the One who is to come, is to admit that his coming judges human pride, injustice and self-aggrandizement, and calls us to act with justice, mercy and humility in anticipation of his coming. Christ does not come for a particular race, class or religious group, but for all people. In recognizing Christ we see one who lives in solidarity with the weakest members of society, who himself has no place to lay his head, and who is without societal status. Yet he is the one who Christians call Lord. This confession must lead us to realize that our identity as Christians, and as human beings, is fundamentally linked to that of the poor. An injury to any member of the human family is an injury to the very body of Christ.
When Christ announces good news to the poor, this news is not primarily spiritual, but has concrete economic and social implications. Likewise the preaching and proclamation of the church is authenticated to the extent that it is linked with praxis which results in "good news for the poor."
3) Obedience to the Spirit, who calls us to act in Correspondence with the vision of Wholeness for humanity
While Christians acknowledge the actuality of a fragmented, painful and diseased reality we are called to be partners of God in the mending of creation. The Spirit calls us into a new community where justice is done, and where freedom and love flourish. Christians live by the promise of God, which is a source of creative hope. This means that we have a task to do where ever we find injustice, pain and oppression. Christians are not tied to the past, or limited by the present, but act in relation to the promise of renewal and restored wholeness.
4) The ever present task of the Church to address and eradicated poverty: What Can Churches Do?
We cannot afford to allow our theological expressions to remain mere words. "Words do not feed the poor!" Our confessions of faith are tested and authenticated when they translate into concrete action.
Since poverty is a moral, as well as a political issue, the church should not endeavor to address poverty in isolation from other stake holders. Poverty is the concern of all South Africans, affluent or poor. It is therefore necessary to form partnerships with all those concerned with the problem of poverty. This is both a critical and a constructive task. The church critiques all structures and systems which produce poverty and inequality, whether these structures are to be found within or outside of the church. The church also constructively engages with those who are involved in programs to eradicate poverty. It does this, not as overseer, but as a servant and a partner.
a) Poverty is a Global Issue
The problem of poverty must be understood within its global context. South Africa participates in and is affected by the global community. We must therefore address the systemic problem of economic hegemony of rich nations over poor. The International Debt crisis contributes massively to the problem of poverty in developing countries.
Churches around the world are holding up a biblical vision of economics which critiques both capitalist and Marxist economic theory. According to this vision for economic relationship, human beings are free to meet their material needs through labor. However, a limit is placed on the wealth which human beings are allowed to amass. There comes a time when the land itself must rest, and people who have been enslaved to debt must be liberated. This Jubilee principle affirms that human beings have dignity which is not tied to their productive capabilities. The Jubilee principle has become the basis for a call for economic justice, and the cancellation of odious debts owed by developing countries.
One step which the churches in South Africa can take towards poverty eradication is to participate in the world-wide Jubilee 2000 campaign. Churches must add their voices , resources and prayers to this urgent call for economic justice.
b) Poverty is a National Issue
Poverty is both a product of the historical inequalities produced by apartheid, and of the economic injustice which remains an endemic part of our capitalist economy. As responsible citizens
we must both support the programs of government which are designed to alleviate poverty and redress inequality, and critique programs and policies which are not beneficial to the poor.
Serious questions need to be raised about GEAR , which is based on the theory that economic growth on a national scale will ultimately trickle down to the poor and result in job creation and an improved standard of living. However, the problem of poverty is far too urgent and too serious to depend on this slow program for a solution. It is also doubtful whether economic growth directly benefits the poor, or whether it only serves to supplement the prosperity of those who already hold a position of economic power.
c) Poverty is a Church Issue
The church cannot afford to simply turn its focus outwards, without also critically addressing its own economic practices. The poor are not simply the responsibility of government and social welfare programs, they are members of our own community. The church must continually ask itself whether its proclamation and practice benefits the weak or the powerful. The church needs to direct its attention and its activity so that it becomes an advocate for the poor.
The church can assist in creating awareness of the poverty crisis by making poverty a prominent part of its agenda. The church has a crucial role to play in the formation of its members into responsible people who resist the values of materialism and individualism, and who contribute to a national ethos of equality and mutual empowerment.
The church is in a unique position in that it has access to the hearts and minds of a large proportion of South Africans from all racial and class groups. It can therefore adopt a multi-plex and holistic approach which is aimed at empowering the poor and conscientising the affluent.
The church also possesses the resources of land, buildings and people. These can be used, not only for religious functions, but for community upliftment and social action. Programs such as community health and adult literacy are concrete contributions that churches can participate in.
d) Poverty is an Issue for the Poor
Programs and plans for dealing with poverty should not be implemented in a top-down, paternalistic fashion. The poor will not be helped by hand outs, or by others telling them what is good for them. If we wish to deal with poverty in a constructive way, we first need to listen to those who are directly affected. Those who are daily confronted with the reality of poverty are in a unique position to state their concerns. We must abandon the arrogance of our own understanding and so-operate with the poor in a spirit of mutual learning. The church can speak as a voice for the poor when it allows the voice of the poor to be heard. Churches can act as information centers and communication links between national and local agencies and establish networks with other churches to co-ordinate poverty eradication programs.
e) Poverty is a Human Concern
Although this document comes from an overtly Christian perspective, we offer this perspective, not as a controlling vision, but as a contribution alongside others to dealing with an issue which is fundamentally a human concern. Because at its essence poverty is attack on human dignity which is central to all religions, and enshrined in our democratic constitution. Hence this document is a call to move beyond self-serving individualism to concrete actions which will embody the vision of freedom, equality and justice for all.
An apt description of poverty, as well as a way of moving beyond it, is encapsulated in the following poem by D.H. Lawrence. Let us participate in creating the space in which all people may experience ". . . .natural abundance and plume forth, and be splendid."
Poverty (D.H. Lawrence)
The only people I ever heard talk about my Lady Poverty
were rich people, or people who imagined themselves rich.
Saint Francis himself was a rich and spoiled young man.
Being born among the working people
I know that poverty is a hard old hag,
and a monster, when you're pinched for actual necessities.
And whoever says she isn't, is a liar.
I don't want to be poor, it means I am pinched.
But neither do I want to be rich.
When I look at this pine-tree near the sea,
that grows out of rock, and plumes forth, plumes forth,
I see it has natural abundance.
With its roots it has a grand grip on its daily bread,
and its plumes look like green cups held up to the sun and air
and full of wine.
I want to be like that, to have a natural abundance
and plume forth, and be splendid.