Already and Not Yet

The Bible can help us understand contemporary events in new ways.  The story of the Syrophoenician woman who argues with Jesus about healing her daughter helpfully sheds light on a very important event that occurred at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 27, held in Egypt in November of this year. 

When speaking with a ministry colleague a few years ago about the complexities of serving individuals who are being commercially sexually exploited, they wondered aloud how we can expect someone to leave their exploiter when the person’s immediate needs are taken care of through exploitation. This ministry colleague reflected on a situation in which a woman living in dire poverty in another country was faced with the decision between being sexually exploited or letting her children go hungry.

Marinel Sumook Ubaldo, 25, is a climate justice, gender equality, and human rights activist from the Philippines. In 2015, as a youth ambassador, she addressed the UN delegates who signed the Paris Agreement. A registered social worker who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in environmental management at Duke University, Marinel has founded or worked for a number of environmental organizations, including Living Laudato Si’ Philippines.

My name is Harold Roscher and I am a Cree man who was adopted as a part of the sixties scoop. In spite of those events in my life I have been deeply loved and allowed to flourish. Although my story has been incredibly good, many of my Cree siblings in Christ have not experienced the same blessing.

Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian-American journalist who worked with Al Jazeera for 25 years. She was beloved by the Palestinian community and well known for reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the Arab world, Shireen Abu Akleh’s name was well known, even before her death. Shireen exhibited courage and thoughtful principled analysis in her reporting. Many thought her an inspiration for women interested in pursuing a career in journalism. From a Melkite Catholic family, she was born in Jerusalem and lived in the United States during her early life.

Creator God,

You are God over all the complexities of this universe. You know the ways the stars were organized, and the infinite nature of the galaxy. You are a God who knows how our bodies were formed – tissue and bone, eye shape, and skin color.  You God, know all of the complexities, in our world, our countries, our churches, and in each of us. 

“Deconstruction” is one of the biggest buzzwords in Christendom right now, especially within my generation. The debate continues to swirl as some outside my generation argue that deconstruction leads you away from the faith. I aim to be careful with the topic and acknowledge that there are real concerns from those deconstructing and those that have seen others implode from deconstructing. Before continuing:

My name is Jisoo Vis, and I am a Korean Canadian wife, mom and lawyer living in Vancouver, British Columbia.  I am a third culture kid, having been raised in Mainland China (as a missionary’s kid) and the rest of my life in various parts of Canada.

As a lawyer exposed to legal thought on people’s fundamental rights and freedoms, I often think about the implications of Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (part of Canada’s constitution), which states the following: 

Christians live in "already but not yet" time. The kingdom of God is already here through Jesus’ life, teaching, death, and resurrection. It is present today in this world and it is spreading like "yeast" (Matt 13:33). At the same time, the full manifestation of the kingdom is not here yet. It will be fully established in the eschaton, on the end of the day when Jesus returns with his angels to redeem all the believers and renew everything. So, as the church witnesses and participates in God’s kingdom, we know that it is imperfect.

Greg Paul from Sanctuary Church in Toronto once said something to this effect: “If you plant a church for the middle class, the poor will not come. However, if you plant a church for the poor, the middle class will come”. Planting a church which celebrates socioeconomic diversity is a picture of God’s kingdom to come and a means by which we can participate in the Kingdom of Jesus now.  At the same time, socioeconomic diversity in churches is brutally hard. Most churches in North America grow through affinity groups.