So while flipping around blogs I came across Brody Harper’s recent post about Call+Response and it got me to thinking.  Actually, recent discussions with Joe and ded already had me thinking.  Joe’s comment in God of War really concerned me,

Until all these Christians who espouse to love others actually show it, until we are actually suffering with these others, I’m prepared to serve in the military. Because the soft skilled people build bridges and water treatment plants, sewerage plants, electrical plant, and schools for those people who have no quality of life. Because the military medical professionals save lives and prevent treatable diseases. Because I know that people in Iraq and Afghanistan throw rose petals at the feet of soldiers when a new school is opened. Because the Christians aren’t doing too much

Consider also the the One campaign and Compassion.  There are others as well, but I won’t list them here.  What I see is something akin to the tithe in church.  Basically there are those who give some money, but very few actually do the work.  I don’t think Jesus meant for ‘the harvest is great, but the workers are few’ to be taken as the goal of the church.

So all of this money is being given, but to whom?  I may be wrong, and if I am, Joe, please correct me, but what I gather from Joe’s comment is there are few outlets in which one can be involved in actually creating some sort of quality of life for others.  Sure a person can fund a project, but who will actually do the work?

Now I don’t want to get involved with or be accused of pushing an American view or ideal on other cultures.  But when I speak of quality of life, I mean what Joe talks about above, the infrastructure, but also, the freedom to pursue life to the fullest.  Maybe it could be argued that the military is one way to remove from power those who would oppress, and it would be a convincing argument, for the kingdom of man.  But when historically the military has been used to secure resources and economic security since the 1400s, it becomes, as an institution, suspect of its motives; no matter how otherwise inclined its rank and file may be.  Because the military is directed by others for economic gain, the schools and other infrastructure can be bombed the next day and could potentially order those who built it to do the destroying.

But for the kingdom of heaven, there has to be other options and for me that is where subversion comes in.  Like carrying a pack two miles instead of one.  By taking oppression to the extreme or making it more visible, it will start to turn stomachs and change perceptions.  Jesus didn’t say it was going to be a blast, so when there are options like the military, options resort to violence, it becomes tempting to join in with such institutions to do good.  I talked about this is my post would jesus have been a socialist pt 2.  It isn’t going to happen overnight, and that is where the temptation to fix things via our way, faster is so alluring.

I also think Gregory Boyd does an excellent job of discussing the implications of meshing the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man in his book The Myth of a Christian Nation.

So does anyone know of organizations that help build infrastructure in oppressed and war-torn areas without being part of the military-industrial complex?  Or better yet, can we organize the majority of Americans who call themselves christians to stop fueling our consumerist economy?  Because let’s face it, the 27 million slaves that are out of sight, out of mind and will continue to be as long as they cannot provide our nation with some sort of incentive to free them.  Like modern day slaves, the vast majority of christians are out of sight, out of mind.  The only difference is christians have self-imposed their irrelevance.

-mike