22nd October, 2007

SIU FUNG WU

No doubt the church is increasingly interested in public policy issues. About 700 churches across the country participated in the Rudd-Howard webcast in August, where the two political leaders were asked where they stood on a range of moral and justice issues. According to some reports, over 100,000 Christians took part in the event. This is a clear indication of their interest in political debates.

But among Christians there seems to be a difference of opinion regarding which policy issues are most important. Some Christians think that social justice issues are most important. Others, especially evangelical and Pentecostal Christians, tend to be more concerned about personal morality issues, such as same-sex civil union and embryonic stem cell research.

The sin of Sodom

Often the sin of Sodom is mentioned when policy issues are discussed. For example, in Isaiah 1:9-10 the prophet refers to Sodom and Gomorrah to call on both the rulers and the people of Israel to account for their actions. In a democratic system, Bible passages like this demand Christians to take their responsibility to speak up on social issues so that the values of God’s kingdom may be upheld in the society.

For most Christians, the sin of Sodom is about sexual immorality, as Genesis 18-19 indicate.

No doubt Christians should uphold the moral ideals of God. The Biblical mandate for personal holiness is indisputable. Issues such as embryonic stem cell research and sexual morality should be carefully examined theologically and debated in the public arena. However, a closer look at the Scriptures will find that the Biblical view of the sin of Sodom goes far beyond personal morality.

The message of the prophets

In a less well-known (but certainly important) passage in Ezekiel 16:49-50, the prophet lists four things regarding the sin of Sodom, which fall into the category of social and economic sin rather than sexual immorality. The problem with the people of Sodom was that they were arrogant, over-fed, unconcerned, and that they did not help the poor.

In his commentary on Ezekiel, respected evangelical scholar Christopher Wright says that Sodom had “a culture of great pride, of affluent gluttony, and of complacent ease...Furthermore, in their arrogance, greed and callousness, they refused a helping hand to the poor and needy...The language is that of oppression and neglect, of prosperity for some and poverty and pain for others.”

Wright then insightfully links the prophet’s words to today’s global poverty issues. The contrast between the haves and have-nots in the global village today is no less appalling than that in Ezekiel’s days.

About 30,000 children under at the age of five die each day because of poverty-related causes, yet many Australians (including Christians) live in affluence. In 1995-96 our overseas aid level stood at 0.32 per cent of national income. It dropped to 0.25 per cent in the years 2000-03, and now it stands at about 0.30 per cent. Australia ranks 15th among the 22 donor countries. Sixteen nations have either met or set a definite date to meet the internationally agreed level of 0.7 per cent. They include Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. But Australia has no set date yet.

The 0.7 per cent is the target of the well-known Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). These goals were agreed by the 191 member countries of the United Nations in 2000, with the aim to halve the world’s poverty by 2015. The validity of the MDG’s should not be doubted, or else there would not be so many developed countries endorsing it. Indeed the MDGs are not just about more aid, but also better aid. Aid should be given to programs that target basic needs and address the root causes of poverty. It should not be used to serve the donor countries’ economic and/or security interests.

I was present at a public forum recently, where politicians from both major parties said that they were encouraged by the amazing efforts of the public to support the Make Poverty History and Micah Challenge campaigns. They both urged the audience to keep expressing their concerns for global poverty, because only with that could the Government and the Opposition have the mandate to meet the MDGs.

There is a moral imperative for Christians to urge all political parties to eradicate poverty. The sin of Sodom is not just about personal holiness. Justice for the poor in our world is right at the heart of the message of Ezekiel 16:49-50.

Seek justice

Let us go back to Isaiah 1. The prophet likens the leaders of the nation to those of Sodom. It would be a misreading of Isaiah if we think that he is referring to sexual sin alone. The prophet says, “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” (1:16-17; see also 1:21, 23, 26, 27)

In his commentary on Isaiah, well-known evangelical scholar Alec Motyer says that the prophet is here looking for a “transformed society”. The notion that God is only interested in personal holiness is foreign to Isaiah.

Instructions to uphold justice for the fatherless, widows and resident foreigners (ie. “aliens” in some Bible translations) are prominent in the Law of Moses. So much so that Moses speaks of justice for the poor when he urges his people to “circumcise their hearts” - because it is God’s character to care for them (Deuteronomy 10:16-18)!

In light of this it would be hard to imagine that the church should tolerate a low overseas aid level. It is also hard to imagine that Moses or Isaiah would agree that we should cut our African refugee intake. Again and again the Law of Moses says that Israel should look after the foreigners among them. Caring for widows and orphans can be found in the ancient law codes of other nations, but looking after resident foreigners is unique to Israel’s Law.

Likewise, Isaiah twice mentions that God’s people will be a light to the Gentiles (42:6; 49:6). Israel’s task was to bear witness to the Creator God among the nations - a notion that Paul picks up in Romans for the church, and hence for us!

Multitudes of Sudanese have been killed in Darfur, and millions have been displaced because of the fighting since 2003. Christians should not turn a blind eye to the recent Government policy to reduce African refugee intake. Their relatively low education level and pre-migration experience in refugee camps (hence their relative inability to settle in Australia, as the argument goes) is no valid excuse. Given their horrific experiences in the past, the church should call for (and participate in providing) more services and compassionate measures to help them integrate into the society. A policy that disadvantages one particular group of refugees simply marginalizes the already very vulnerable victims of war and political persecution.

Overseas aid and refugee intake are just two examples of justice issues. Space does not allow us to discuss other matters, such as climate change and reconciliation with the indigenous people - both of these are of utmost importance. Climate change is a justice issue because global warming will harm the poor most. And of course an apology to our indigenous people for the past policies of child removal is necessary for reconciliation.

Justice for the oppressed and powerless is not far from Isaiah’s mind when he calls on the “rulers of Sodom” to hear God’s word (1:10)!

What does Jesus say?

The Bible often uses Sodom to warn people of the coming judgment of God. Indeed even Jesus used it to warn those who did not repent (Matthew 11:23-24). But Jesus’ strongest warning was issued against the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his days.

On the one hand in the Beatitudes Jesus speaks of blessings to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6), a message consistent with that of the Law and the Prophets. God is righteous and just and he would come to the aid of the oppressed.

On the other hand in the seven woes against the religious leaders (the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law), Jesus warns against those who appear to be righteous but in fact are full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matthew 23:13-31; see especially 23:28).

Significantly in the fourth woe Jesus says that the “weightier matters of the Law” are justice, mercy and faithfulness (23:23). In his latest commentary on Matthew, R T France says that this teaching is strongly reminiscent of Micah 6:8 – “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”

For Jesus, the more important matters of the Law are justice, mercy and faithfulness, affirming the message of Old Testament prophets, who spoke by the Spirit of God. We who believe in the words of Jesus, the Holy Scriptures and the work of the Holy Spirit, have no excuse but to do justice and show mercy to the poor and the marginalised.

Indeed, one wonders whether we are better than the Pharisees in Jesus’ days, if we neglect justice for the poor? Immediately after the seven woes, Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple (24:1-2), an act of judgment not unlike the destruction of Sodom in Genesis. Australian Christians should do better than the Pharisees, and I believe they do. They are generous and are not slow to give financially to the poor. But it is also time to do what the prophets did. Let us urge our political leaders to act justly and show mercy.

Authorised by David Adams, C/-28 Hodgson Street, Ocean Grove, Victoria, 3226.

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