United in Poverty

   The German theologian Moltmann maintains that theology must "enter into the changing conditions of the culture in which it is pursued, perceiving and developing its own concern in those conditions". (WJC p. 64) He describes the dual sides of civilization as heroic and barbaric, victorious and defeated. Moltmann questions whether the Christ that we experience in the First World is the same Christ experienced in the Third World and asks how does the First World theology and reality impact the Third World theology and reality. He writes, "The crucified Christ has become a stranger to the civil religion of the First World and to that world's Christianity."(WJC p. 65) Moltmann notes that the new poor in the First World nations are siblings to the Third World poor. He asks who Christ is for these "surplus" masses of people. He asks where Christ is for us in a world threatened by nuclear destruction. In light of this nuclear threat Christian churches are called to serve peace and life in contradiction to the scientific and technological civilization. Moltmann takes issue with ecological crises in the world today. He maintains that the acquisition of power, the consolidation of power and the pursuit of profit have led us to a place of universal ecological death. Moltmann maintains that Christology must challenge the perils of world destruction. By separating a Christology from “above” and from “below” we miss the point. He maintains that we have to study Jesus’ humanity in order to know his divinity and we have to study His divinity in order to know his humanity.
     I agree with Moltmann that we must consider theology as influenced by the context of the listener. I must acknowledge that my interpretation of the person of Jesus Christ is influenced by my background. Warren Buffett has decided not to leave his billions to his children simply because they are winners in an “uterine lottery" .
     I am not wealthy and yet by the nature of the place of my birth, my parents and my community I am a life lottery winner compared to most of the humans on this earth. Although I have spent my life working at being a good person and a follower of Christ I am called to recognize how my benefits in society cause hardship for those who provide them. I see Jesus in this world revealed through those who standup and lead the pursuit of a divine vision in the midst of human weakness and sin. People like Mitch Snyder, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa and that young girl in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai, who was shot for standing up for the educational rights of girls. All of these people recognized the evil and injustice in the world and at the same time they possessed a divine vision of a world, a vision of the kingdom of God. 
    Christ became human and brought a message of the reality of the kingdom of God and we are challenged to pursue the divine in the mist of our human nature. The Definition of Chalcedon concerns the dual nature of Christ, totally divine and totally human. Moltman’s description of the challenges in the world today also expresses a duality. The culture of injustice, profiteering and death versus a divine culture of justice, generosity and life.
     The person of Jesus Christ in today's world still speaks good news to the poor. Many of the poor in the First World suffer from a loss of vision, purpose and a sense of isolation and hopelessness. When I consider who Jesus is in our world today I see a world of full of hungry people; literally hungry and spiritually hungry. The clamor of industrialization and marginalization of the “surplus people" in the world is deafening. The message of the reality of Christ among us revealed in the body of Christ is the answer to this noise. Christ, in His humanity, walked in this world and struggled with the challenges of injustice, poverty, illness and death. Through Christ’s divinity we are graced with a vision of the kingdom of God.