Consensus-Driven Christians: The G8, the World Summit and How Understanding “Integral Mission” is Inspiring Evangelical Christians to Advocate with the Poor | Lausanne World Pulse Archives

Evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom didn’t need convincing that it was their responsibility to advocate with the poor when the G8 came to Scotland. In the words of the Micah Call, the campaign echoed ‘the call of the prophets and the teachings of Jesus.”¹

Film-director Richard Curtis and the NGOs got the slogans and symbols right, Mandela set the stage, Geldof and Bono played their part and the famous ‘clicked’ the knowledge of ‘a preventable death every three seconds’ into the hearts and minds of many. These were all good things.

However, my sense was that the movement among Christians was more like the mobilization of a ready reserve. They had mobilized on a similar scale before, most clearly in the Jubilee 2000 debt campaign and the peaceful encircling of the G8 in Birmingham. Many church-based networks have practiced the drills frequently recent years.

Biblically and evangelically it was a ‘no-brainer’ to witness to the love of our Lord in Edinburgh, to wrap churches in white bands, to send campaign postcards and to pray. Evangelical Christian families had booked their tickets and buses before the mainstream hype. Why?

Integral Mission
The beautiful concept that many evangelical Christians in the UK seek to live out is integral mission. As stated in the 2001 Micah Declaration:

Integral mission or holistic transformation is the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel. It is not simply that evangelism and social involvement are to be done alongside each other. Rather, in integral mission our proclamation has social consequences as we call people to love and repentance in all areas of life. And our social involvement has evangelistic consequences as we bear witness to the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. If we ignore the world we betray the word of God which sends us out to serve the world. If we ignore the word of God we have nothing to bring to the world. Justice and justification by faith, worship and political action, the spiritual and the material, personal change and structural change belong together. As in the life of Jesus, being, doing and saying are at the heart of our integral task. (http://micahchallenge.org/Christians_Poverty_and_Justice/)

The words misión integral come from Latin America and closely echo the idea of holistic mission. A Spanish-speaking friend reminded me that it is similar to pan integral (wholemeal bread). The importance is not that separate ingredients have been brought together (integrated), but rather that nothing has been taken out!

Consensus and social capital: a powerful combination
In relation to global poverty, the political landscape in the UK has been re-shaped. Perhaps the turning point came in the late 1990s and the Jubilee 2000 campaign, but the roots may go even deeper. During the May 2005 British Election campaign, parties focused on global poverty and development for a full day. Global poverty was indeed a significant domestic political issue! The Conservatives committed themselves to implementing Labor’s promise to increase overseas aid to 0.7% of GDP by 2013, while the Liberal Democrats said they would do it by 2011. Chancellor Gordon Brown, often quoting Isaiah, was nearly prophetic by applying the message of God to the situation of our times. Had he been a U.S. Secretary of State or an Australian Treasurer this would have entailed political risk. But in the UK, politicians speak out on global poverty and have it make a difference.

Investment organizations like the Evangelical Alliance of the UK, Tearfund, the Baptist Union and Christian Aid have made great efforts to empower, encourage and equip networks of pastors and volunteers. This has created a depth of social capital (http://micahchallenge.org/prayer_resources/documents/388.doc). Social capital reflects trust. When information and calls go out, they are received as being trustworthy.

More importantly, a critical mass of Christians in home groups, youth groups and other church gatherings discuss the biblically-grounded advocacy materials they receive. Many will then take action together. This type of movement-building cannot be overstated. Church-based campaigns are operating counter to the predominant direct mail to individual mode of secular campaigning agencies—and they are building social capital where it has been lost in Western societies. This is part of the everyday transformational work of the church in the community. What makes it even more valuable is that Christians create trust across social boundaries.

In the weeks prior to the G8, the media tested possible weaknesses in the extraordinary consensus that had emerged behind the Make Poverty History campaign. They questioned the value of giving additional aid and debt cancellation to corrupt or poorly governed countries in Africa. My initial reaction was that a complex and real issue might be exploited in a simplistic way, giving G8 leaders a way out. But those involved were not only able to see through the simplicities, but also were able to deal with the complexities of the issue. The debate in the media was transformed into a positive discussion of (1) the conditions applied to aid; (2) the rights of countries to set their own economic direction within the bounds of human rights and accountability to the poor and; (3) the question of trade justice.

Many more people went to Edinburgh than the organizers had expected. Many waited hours to join the band of people encircling the city. Christian churches, groups and families were abundantly represented. Most knew that (1) the deals on debt and aid had been done prior to Gleneagles; (2) these were enormously worthwhile but incomplete and; (3) they required continued vigilance both in the North and in the countries of the global South. They knew gains made would not be fully realized and sustained until poor communities were treated fairly in international trade.

From Make Poverty History to Micah ChallengeMicah Challenge was one of the international networks that birthed the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP), which is designed to coordinate civil society campaigns in 2005. Micah Challenge national campaigns are also involved in national platforms under GCAP, one of which is Make Poverty History.

Micah Challenge was created by the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Micah Network to fight poverty long-term. One of the founders, Ann Persson, recently reflected on the mission of the Micah Challenge at St. Paul’s Cathedral just before the G8 Summit. According to Persson, it was the job of Micah Challenge to “re-sound the voices of 2005 from now until 2015.” We intend to do that and far more.