Poverty and Worldview
On February 18, 2006, Darrow Miller, director of Food for the Hungry, was the plenary speaker at Trinity Church in Charlottesville. The Missions’ Conference topic was “The Problem of Poverty.” Full of preconceived notions, I attended his talk about Africa. I expected to hear all about the “Dark Continent” and the need to send more money and more missionaries. I was surprised and intrigued by what he had to say.
He affirmed that the continent is the world’s poorest. The indices of Poverty (infant mortality, HIV, life expectancy, debt, corruption, human suffering) are startling. The average life expectancy of an African is 51 (28.6 if you live in Sierra Leone). Thousands are dying daily of AIDS. In countries ranked highest in human suffering, 24 out of 30 are in Africa. And so the sorry tale continues...
That of course wasn’t the surprising part. In actuality, Africa is the richest continent in the world in terms of natural resources. Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Zaire have the potential to feed the whole continent. There is an abundance of minerals, hydro-electric potential, and natural beauty. The country has a rich heritage, a rich tapestry of people. Africa is the most “converted continent”. In Namibia and Kenya, 84% call themselves Christian. The potential there is incredible.
Africa has received more foreign aide that any other region of the world.
Why the Poverty?
The answer is not lack of money; the answer is worldview… or rather, lack of a biblical worldview. In their zeal to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to Africa, the missionaries missed something. Yes, they taught that Jesus was Savior. Personal salvation, “fire insurance” was offered and accepted. But as important as personal salvation is, it is not the whole story. The missionaries did not adequately teach the whole story: Creation, the Fall, the call to live as God’s people, the future return of the King. Instead, the gospel story was ripped from its moorings and inserted in the worldview already present in the minds of the people: that of animism, and tribalism. Their thinking and way of living did not change. They continue to live that fatalistic worldview and they continue to reap the bitter fruit. Poverty will not be eradicated until the mind is renewed by the redemptive story of Scripture.
Sadly, I think of the mess in the Middle East. All the desires for these countries to govern themselves, to set up a just and productive society seem to be destined to the same failing, because their worldview is bankrupt. Militant Islam can never produce the fruit necessary for a self-governing, moral, just, beautiful and compassionate society.
Our young American nation was built upon a Judeo-Christian worldview. Even though many did not know or believe the Bible, the ethos of a biblical worldview was present in the society. The fruit produced was morality, beauty, aesthetics, order, justice, compassion, strong work ethic… conditions necessary for a free society to grow and survive.
Finally, even more tragically, America no longer has a biblical worldview, but a naturalistic, materialistic one. Even most who call themselves Christian live like the rest of the world, because they have accepted the lie that their faith is strictly a personal belief that is relegated to the realm of “opinion” and “not really important.” The emphasis turns to materialism, promotions of self, sensuality, and as the serpent in the garden said "you can become like god."As that philosophy gets its hooks into our society, all that we have called good will slip away.
Is it too late for America? What are we as Christians to do?