Post on 12-Jan-2023
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN ADDRESSING POVERTY: MY LOCAL
MINISTRY SETTING
By
Peter Wanyama
15234-MEA
East Africa Graduate Studies
Final Assignment
Submitted to Douglas P. Lowenberg
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for
BIB 5293
Hermeneutics: God’s Message and Its Meaning
Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
The Challenge of Poverty
Information on poverty is readily available. Poverty is a
monstrous problem in the world today. Various information
centers highlight this reality. For example, according to a
poll by Gallup International, “26 per cent of respondents in
65 countries believe poverty is the most important problem
today” (Angus Reid Public Opinion 2005).
Globally, over 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 a
day. This is just about half the world population. One out of
every two children lives in abject poverty across the globe.
Out of these 640 million do not have adequate shelter, while
400 million cannot access safe water. As for health services,
270 million children are left out. Nearly 11 million children
lost their lives in 2003 before the age of 5 (Causes of
Poverty 2011).
In my own country, Uganda, the picture is more grisly.
Isn’t it astonishing that thirty-five per cent of Ugandans
live below the poverty line basing on internet data (Uganda
Economy 2011)? The poverty line is the estimated lowest amount
of income required to obtain the basic necessities of life.
According to Busulwa (2010), Uganda poverty levels are
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning determined in terms of the number of people surviving on less
than a dollar a day. Going by this index, it could be inferred
that the percentage of Ugandans living below the poverty line
is far much higher than suggested by diverse data obtainable
on the World Wide Web. Being the Ugandan that I am, I know
without a shadow of doubt that an average Ugandan can only
subsist on one dollar a day if he has some food in the garden
or stored away somewhere. Ours is not a cash economy. Assuming
that this is the situation, and we have to convert the food
into money, it would be correct to assume that the poverty
line in Uganda could be fixed at probably $3.50 dollars. As
such those living below the actual poverty line far exceed the
35% we mentioned above.
The Nature of the Challenge
To analyze the nature of poverty in my country, we start
off by looking at the causes. They include bad political
leadership, poor human rights, corruption, crime,
insurgencies, poor management of the environment, non-
prioritization of the agricultural sector in government
funding, inequitable laws governing world trade,
globalization, unemployment, negative attitude to work, etc.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning All the above apply to the Uganda situation. Uganda’s
postcolonial history is riddled with tales of political
instability. Not only were there numerous coup d’états but
also civil wars. It was not until 2006 that civil war guns
fell silent after Joseph Kony was flushed out of the northern
part of the country. In the north, a whole generation lost out
on education and development as there was massive internal
displacement ensuing from the insurgency. Some highlights on
the civil strife in Uganda are in The Kingdom of God in Africa: A Short
History of African Christianity (Shaw 1996, 317-318).
When you look at government and public behavior, it is as
if corruption has been institutionalized. We rank high on the
global corruption indices. Government attempts to fight this
vice have been very selective in terms of tribe and political
philosophy. A corrupt government functionary has deemed
palpable only if he belongs to the ‘wrong’ tribe or political
party. Public infrastructure has for the most part been run
down. Hospitals and health centers exist; albeit, they are
shells. They lack modern equipment, essential drugs, and
personnel. Public schools are a waste. Free primary education
has been hijacked by political expediency so that its products
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning end up failing to attain a solid foundation for further
learning. It is no longer a shock to find rural pupils up to
the fifth grade who can hardly read a sentence written in
simple English. Certain ill-planned economic outfits initiated
largely with inflated political egos have ended up becoming
white elephants. Such misallocation of public investment has
aggravated the plight of the masses.
Secondly we are obliged to look at the results of
poverty. Disease and death are rampant. Others are poor
sanitation, poor education, prevalence of illiteracy and
ignorance, political upheavals, political manipulation, moral
degradation, lack of dignity and self-esteem, thriving of
dictatorships, and vulnerability to Islamization by petro-
dollar Arab blocs. Young and jobless women have sometimes
resorted to commercial prostitution to make ends meet. Donor
nations try to cajole or compel our country into tolerating
sodomy or else choke the aid conduit. This is a recipe for the
high incidence of HIV/AIDS. “According to the UNAIDS annual
global report of 2010 (with data from 2009): There are
currently around 1.2m people living with HIV in Uganda”
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning (Freethought Kampala 2011). The population of Uganda is
currently estimated 32,369,558 (Wikipedia 2011).
The government of Uganda has come up with very specific
programs to address poverty. Nevertheless, the approaches
pursued are a far cry from ameliorating the suffering of the
citizens at the grassroots. The money that would trickle down
to the common man is usually swindled by ruling party
functionaries and technocrats in the implementation structure.
Thus, the country is yet to walk along the path of fundamental
reversal of the poverty situation. Add the enormous
supplementary endeavors by NGOs. These tend to give a fish,
other than teach the people to catch a fish. They are very
helpful, though, in times of emergencies and disasters.
The Significance of the Challenge
Issues of poverty are rampant throughout the country.
National wealth is being concentrated in the hands of a few to
the detriment of the majority. The church exists in this
social climate. The church in Uganda today should neither fold
hands nor look the other way. The problem of poverty cuts
across all faiths. We can no longer relegate the
responsibility of guiding people out of poverty into
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning prosperity to government agencies alone. The church must take
the bull by the horns. As we delve down into this paper, we
will ascertain biblical precedents for this quest. We will
base our arguments on two texts, one from each testament.
Exegesis of Deuteronomy 15:4-15
4 However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is givingyou, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wickedthought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts,is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal tothe LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you putyour hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. 13 And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
As far as the Old Testament is concerned, I have chosen
to focus on this text of 12 verses. The passage highlights
issues very pertinent to our current discussion. We will first
of all flash back to issues in the day this communication was
delivered. Gordon D. Fee rightly proposes that the immense
cultural and chronological distance between us and biblical
writers makes it all the more important that we do thorough
exegesis (1991, 26). I will go by the advice advanced by three
distinguished scholars that “the meaning intended by the
author to the original recipients . . . must be the meaning
they could understand at that time, not the meaning we would
determine based on our position of advanced historical
developments (Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard 2004, 11). Thus,
the following analysis is a work of careful scrutiny.
Authorial Intent
Moses told the children of Israel that had left Egypt
nearly forty years ago that it was the intention of God to
bless them in the Land of Promise (v 4). He however qualified
the blessing by saying that it was going to be contingent upon
their obedience to His commands (v 5). By virtue of the said
blessing, the nation of Israel would rise to the position of
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning lending other than borrowing from other nations. Because of
this economic prowess, Israel would rule over other nations (v
6).
From verse 7 through verse 15, Moses clarifies to the
nation of Israel that even in the Promised Land there would be
poor people in the community of God’s people. Sympathy and
empathy was to be shown to the poor. One who happens to be
well off should be willing to lend to the poor (vv 7, 8). He
advises that if it need be, the children of Israel must brace
themselves for bad debts. The haves were to be voluntarily
benevolent to the have-nots. Magnanimity was not to be an
option but a way of life. (9-10). Those who would be
impoverished to the level of becoming slaves were to be
unconditionally freed during the seventh year of their slavery
so that they would have a fresh start on life. Moreover, they
were to be freed with bounty (vv 12-15).
In his address, Moses specifies the reasons as to why
those who deem well off should assist the poor. To begin with,
it is so that the children of Israel will overflow in
blessing, and secondly because of hindsight. Israel ought to
remember that they were slaves in Egypt. The first idea is in
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning verse 10: “Give generously to him and do so without a grudging
heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you
in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.” The
second idea is in verse 15: “Remember that you were slaves in
Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this
command today” (emphasis mine). Moses explicitly teaches God’s
people that the primary means through which the Lord was going
to bless them would be through their work and everything they
would put their hands to (v 10).
Historical Situation
The children of Israel had taken nearly 40 years in a
circuitous trek through the Sinai wilderness since departing
from Egypt. At long last they could espy the acclaimed land of
Canaan. Moses is now 120 years old and he will soon die. The
Israelites he is addressing are largely a new generation born
or raised in the wilderness, their parents having died in the
desert sands. The addressees therefore have no experience of
settled life. They are hitherto nomads at best. The phenomenon
of owning land, creating wealth, and accumulating possessions
is more or less a novel idea.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
The message Moses is giving to them is not new, per se.
The command to obedience had been reiterated numerous times
(Lev. 26:3-14) just as were the instructions forbidding the
exploitation of the poor (Lev. 25:35-43). The new generation
had to hear for themselves firsthand. With manna falling from
heaven every morning, their clothes not wearing out, and their
feet not swelling (Deut. 8:1-5), this huge community had
experienced relative equity. To this point, the community had
been generally egalitarian. If even among this nomadic
community there was a difference between the have and have-
nots, it was barely minimal. In Canaan, social classes would
begin to emerge. Hence, there was need for Moses to prepare
them. The paradigm for living was going to shift immediately
these people set foot on the land of their dreams.
Literary Context
Moses employs referential language in the entire text. We
stand at a better vantage point to understand what Moses is
communicating in view of the honest observation by Stein
(1993, 73) that our scientifically advanced generation
generally leans toward referential language in the
dissemination of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering,
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning medicine, dentistry, advertisement, etc. The language of the
text is referential; there is no evidence of commissiveness.
We also need to note that the text, being part of the law
genre, is casuistic (Stein 1994, 193). Notice how the
casuistic nature applies to verses 5 and 10 whereby the
blessing of wealth is premised upon obedience and generosity
respectively! I nevertheless observe an element of the text
being apodictic (Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard 2004, 341-342)
in some of the sections where there are proscriptions,
injunctions, or commands.
The text begins with Moses informing his audience that it
was not God’s plan for any of them to be poor. “However, there
should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God
is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly
bless you” (Deut. 15:4). The language here is imperative.
Verse 7 lends to this argument. “If there is a poor man among
your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD
your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted
toward your poor brother.” It does not say ‘when’ but ‘if.’ In
Jehovah’s plan, there should not be a poor person among them
because they are moving into the land of opportunity.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
Having said that there should be no poor person among
them, he elaborated on the anticipated blessing of the Lord.
It would elevate them to be a lending and dominating nation (v
6). Moses then gives guidelines on how to help a brother who
happens to become a victim of poverty get up on his feet
again. He unequivocally commands Israel not to dare encourage
a scheme that would hold fellow Israelites in perpetual
slavery (vv 7-14). The text stops where Moses gives the reason
for non-exploitation of the poor – the fact that this future
mighty nation was once entirely enslaved in Egypt (v 15).
Reflection on their past should cause them loathe the idea of
perpetrating slavery in their ranks.
Principles and Implications Embedded in Deuteronomy 15:4-15
Principles
Several hermeneutical principles can be derived from this
Old Testament text. Firstly, it is the will of God that His
people will be blessed and that there should no poor among
them. This position ties into Andria’s argument on this
subject: “Poverty does not come from God, because all that he
does is good (Gen 1:25).” He however warns against equating
poverty with sin, though sin underlies the factors in our
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning economy, politics, environment, psychology, and social
conditions that result in poverty. He elaborates on the causes
of poverty, especially in the African context, as including
selfishness of leaders, tribalism, ethnocentrism, laziness,
absence of motivation, and lack of creativity. He strongly
discounts the notion that “poverty is rooted in human nature”
(Adeyemo et al 2006, 231). It appears to me that Andria is not
making rash statements here. He seems to have scrutinized the
matters he is addressing. Tribalism among the ruling elite has
deliberately disenfranchised certain sections of my country.
Allocation of government resources in terms of favored tribes
has plunged big segments of the population in my country into
poverty by design. All the causal factors he mentions apply to
my context. A vital feature he doesn’t mention is that there
are people who are wallowing in poverty due to lack of models
to follow. Poverty is so rampant in some places here in Uganda
to the extent that there are people who have become complacent
or calloused. They hardly have a model in their immediate
community that can act as a stimulus. They need someone to set
the pace. Poverty, ignorance, lack of exposure compounds into
an amalgam that inhibits people in a poor community from
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning seeing beyond their immediate community to some model of
emancipation.
Furthermore, God’s people should have systems that create
wealth so that they can be able to lend to other sections of
society and to live a life of dignity. It is obvious that the
tone of verse 6 is national. This does not preclude the idea
of individuals lending to others. A nation that fears Jehovah
will be so immensely blessed that it will have capacity to
lend to other nations. This is not true of Israel alone but of
any other nation that operates on biblical principles. It is
an open secret that at one point in history Great Britain
could boast of the de facto “British Empire” where Britain had
financial supremacy among other indicators largely because of
corresponding epochs in history when the nation was led on
principles of obedience to the Bible and the fear of God. The
same is true of America. Having biblical foundations from the
piety of the Puritan migrants, America rose to become the
richest nation in the world. Today, America may be borrowing
heavily from China because, as a nation, they have allowed the
biblical foundation of their nation to be pervaded by inroads
of secularism, liberalism, humanism, and in one word, sin.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
Did not Jesus refer to the then future church as a
nation? “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be
taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it”
(Matt. 21:43 - NKJV). The church should create systems that
will emancipate people from poverty. A good example is that in
Uganda, most of the schools are missionary-founded.
Pentecostal churches are waking up now. I know many schools
that are appended to Pentecostal churches today. Pastor Gary
Skinner of Watoto Church in Kampala (PAG) runs orphanages that
have seen hundreds of orphaned kids study from kindergarten
through university. There is a Pentecostal pastor in Kampala
who has started a microfinance firm to extend loans to pastors
at relatively low interest rates. I am a beneficiary. In my
own church, the ladies started pooling money which has
accumulated into millions and they are lending to one another
to start or grow income generating projects.
Also, the blessing of the Lord is conditioned on our
obedience. It is interesting to invoke the Lord on the
promises He has given us. It is not equally as easy to obey
the Lord. All covenant blessings are contingent on obedience
to the Law, not less the one under question. The summary
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Douglas Lowenberg makes on this point is worth noting. He
recapitulates the writings of several distinguished authors on
the function of prophets as covenant enforcers. He says that
whether the prophet “addressed royalty, the priesthood,
nobles, or commoners, the prophet appealed for God’s people
corporately to return to their covenant relationship first
established with Moses at Mount Sinai” (2007, 56). Fee and
Stuart correctly observe that when obedience is achieved at
individual level, wellbeing, good health, prosperity,
agricultural bounty, esteem, and protection will be realized
as corporate blessings (Fee and Stuart 2003, 185). Smith
argues that the prophets preached a message of transformation
to the people of God to bring them back to conformity with the
terms of the suzerain covenant with Jehovah whenever they had
been contaminated themselves with the norms and standards of
the Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, “plus the
people’s endemic rebellion against the discipline required to
serve God” (Smith 1994, 43).
I could not agree more with them but also wish to add
that obedience is but a first step toward being blessed by the
Lord. After we have obeyed the Lord, we have to wait upon the
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Lord to do what pleases Him. What pleases Him is our best
good. Of course, the Lord is righteous and just. Nevertheless,
a holistic examination of the entire Scripture reveals that no
human being should assume that Jehovah is completely
predictable.
Again, for stated and silent reasons, God’s people ought
to know that there will always be poor people among them. Our
Lord Jesus Christ Himself warned in John 12:8: “You will
always have the poor among you, but you will not always have
me.” We will obey the Lord, work with our hands, help out the
hurting, and do many other things but the poor will always be
there. This ought not to be mistaken to signify that the Lord
has condemned some to poverty. In my opinion, due to
disobedience to God at individual and corporate level, and
also as a result of certain factors, within and beyond our
grasp, there will always be the poor among us. This is not a
disincentive but a spur for the church to fight poverty. This
statement of Christ clarifies that war against poverty is not
an illusion; it is real. We do well to acknowledge that He
said this as a rebuttal to Judas’ avarice; Judas purported to
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning harbor intentions of helping the poor when in reality he
longed to satisfy his own insatiable appetite for wealth.
In addition, helping the poor redounds into greater
blessing. Those who seem to be well off must intentionally
help out those who are poor and deprived. It is the will of
God when we bridge the gulf between the poor and rich toward
more equitable living. In Luke 6:38, Jesus teaches us
generosity will rebound in phenomenal blessing: “Give, and it
will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken
together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For
with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Whereas meeting a financial or material need of a destitute
person may not in itself combat poverty, it may produce the
necessary motivation for steering some people out of poverty.
A biography that has indelibly left an imprint on my life is
that of George Muller. He gave his all to offer orphaned
children a chance to learn and to live, yet he neither begged
nor borrowed. The more he gave to the children’s course the
more God blessed him. The challenge is that all the financial
and material blessings God bestowed were ploughed back into
the same course. He could afford to say in 1894 that the
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning “principles on which the Institution is carried on are the
same now as those on which it was founded sixty years ago”
(Pierson 2008, 303). Therefore, for the church to reverse the
prevalence and effects of poverty, the fight must be selfless
and consistent.
Lastly, those who have failed in life need to be gladly
given another opportunity to succeed. As Israel was disallowed
from inventing schemes of holding their kin in perpetual
slavery so are we not to perpetrate practices that are bound
to hold Christians and others in slavish servitude. I
mentioned a Christian bank that is extending very low interest
loans to pastors. This contrasts with the myriad of
microfinance schemes in my milieu that are established under
the banner of poverty alleviation yet in practice they are
fleecing the poor by the day. We need to have the spirit of
Jubilee. Although an attempt to prove that Israel ever
observed the year of Jubilee is an uphill task, it is
important to note that the stipulations required as regards
the observance of Jubilee would be possible. Obedience to God
unleashes necessary supernatural interventions required to
fulfill His promises.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Implications
Clearly, there is no sense of sensus plenior in the passage;
however, there are some implications. It is not the will of
God for His children to subject their brethren to any
situation that is tantamount to enslaving them. When we look
at the reason why Jehovah would not tolerate perpetual slavery
among Israelites, we can infer that when we salvage the poor
from their predicaments, we demonstrate our appreciation to
the Lord who freely redeemed us from the slavery of sin
through Christ.
That God promises to make His people prosperous does not
make wealth an automatic indicator of God’s blessing. Many
(including some Christians) have accumulated wealth through
ungodly means and such wealth cannot be attributed to God. In
my country, believers are often tempted to use the world’s
lenses in identifying the blessing of the Lord. They usually
get deceived to conclude that a preacher who is flamboyant and
rich is anointed and blessed. This mindset tends to throw
Christian leaders into a frenzy to become rich and
ostentatious just to give the impression that they are
blessed. When this becomes the order of the day, ungodly
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning schemes are employed. This is when the end justifies the
means. This value system is misconstrued. This pattern does
not alleviate poverty – it empowers one man at the expense of
the majority.
Lastly, just because God has commanded generosity to
benefit the poor does not warrant taking advantage of those
who are well off or rich. All should work their way out of
poverty. This is especially critical in my cultural and
national context. The Samia people have an adage: omwana
yiyeyere olwoba syatulao (a child will always return to the spot
where it picked a mushroom). Because one has received charity
does not mean one makes charity his mainstay.
Contextualizing Deuteronomy 15:4-15
Differences
The cultural setting of the biblical audience was that
they were hitherto leading a nomadic life as a new generation.
In contrast, in my culture, by and large people are already
settled; ownership of fixed and moveable property is not a
hard-to-understand phenomenon. My people eat out of their
sweat whereas Moses’ people were surviving almost entirely on
free food. Looking at this dissimilarity, I would assume my
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning culture might decode Moses’ communication faster than his
audience.
Slavery was part of Moses’ society, although the majority
of the people he was speaking to could remotely understand it,
having been raised in the wilderness. Slavery is an alien
concept to Ugandans. Slavery in contemporary Uganda is
understood only in terms of our history. But the idea of the
rich exploiting and oppressing the poor is rife.
Similarities
However, the culture of Moses’ audience and my culture
have certain things in common – they are likely to define
poverty in the same way. For a man living in Norway (I have
been to Norway several times), to be poor is to have a small
house, drive an aging car, live in a flat, or fail to afford
certain insurance schemes. For a typical Ugandan, poverty
means no food, no shelter, no clothing, no education, and no
health care. This is the way Moses’ audience must have
understood the message.
What I have just delineated underpins the apparent
difference in interpreting Deuteronomy 15:4 among Christian
leaders from Africa and the Occident, both conservative,
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning because to be poor means different things to them. Probably,
what God means when He says that there should not be a poor
person among His people is that none of them should lack the
basic necessities of life. This is a far cry from the
Norwegian’s interpretation of poverty. In essence, when a
Western brother preaches to an African to endure poverty,
usually his message is placed on wrong plane – contemporary
Western perception of poverty in their country. This leads to
the abuse of passages such as 1 Timothy 6:1-11 when an
otherwise well-meaning brother from the West preaches to
African brethren. Here God sets the lowest possible standard
for contentment – having food and clothing. Paraphrased, this
means having the most basic needs. God cannot be saying that
African believers should be content without the most basic
essentials of life, which is largely the context of poverty to
the people of Moses (to sell yourself as a slave you ought to
have reached the extreme on this continuum) and the Ugandan
cultural setting.
In the first paragraph in this section, we have seen that
the majority of Ugandans are settled. Ironically, there is a
small fraction in the northern districts whose communities
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning were decimated by insurgency. The ravages of war pushed
communities into what is called Internal Displaced People’s
Camps (IDPCs). In other words, there is an adult in northern
Uganda who entered an IDPC as a child, or was born there. For
him or her, most of the food, clothing, and medicine have been
donated by NGOs all his life. He or she is likely to respond
to Moses’ message as the Israelites would. A few IDPCs are yet
to be demobilized. Some of the churches that are under my
spiritual oversight are in this geographical area. This in a
sense becomes a similarity between the then and there and the
here and now.
Efficacious Application of Meaning to My Situation
God wants the people living in my context to know that it
is His will that there should be no poor person among His
people; He has a plan to bless them. The two grounds, one
explicit (v 5) and the other implicit (10), upon which they
can miss the blessing of God, are disobedience to the commands
of God and indolence respectively. For the reasons highlighted
above and other circumstances that are latent in this text and
in society today, “There will always be poor people in the
land” (Deut. 15:11).
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
It does not end here. We will arouse Christians to
initiate systems that will enable the children of God to
emancipate. We will encourage them to help the poor out by
giving a fish in the short term but teaching them to catch
fish in the long term. We will inform them that it is better
to write off a genuine brother’s debt than to subject him to
treatment that relegates him to a level of a perpetual slave.
The church should involve full swing in social action:
building and running schools, investment in agriculture,
starting small scale industries, operating banks and related
financial services with a view to alleviating poverty first
among their own ranks and then to all humanity. “Therefore, as
we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially
to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal. 6:9-10).
William Carey did not only start numerous churches in India.
Besides, he founded numerous schools (Benge 1998, 211). In my
opinion, the ideals of the nineteenth and early twentieth
century missionaries that engaged in the social transformation
of the people should not be abandoned by the church today. It
is the strategy that has to be revised from time to time.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
By responding to the challenge of HIV/AIDS the Ugandan
church will address, at least indirectly, the monster of
poverty. Health precedes productivity. An ailing population
can hardly fight poverty. The size of this paper does not
permit us to elucidate. I find the views suggested by Garland
and Blyth very helpful. They write:
Some denominations have already set up their own AIDS awareness programmes to educate pastors, church leaders, women’s fellowship groups and young people about AIDS. But how many of our theological colleges have courses about HIV/AIDS on their training curriculum for pastors and theological students? Every one of our institutions needs good training opportunities for its students to learn how to teach others about AIDS and how to mobilise congregations to respond to HIV/AIDS in their midst. (2005, 288)
Exegesis of 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
We will now consider our second text. It is contained in
the second epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. Below is the
passage in full:
6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle anddoes not live according to the teaching you received fromus. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow ourexample. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule:"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earnthe bread they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Authorial Intent
Apostle Paul speaks so explicitly in the above passage.
If I were permitted to reorganize the flow of content, I would
fix verse 11 before verse 6. Paul and company have heard that
some in the Thessalonian church are not busy with productive
work; they are busy with the wrong thing, interfering with
others’ issues (v 11). They instruct that brethren who are
idle by choice ought to be identified and isolated by the
church since their perennial indolence was tantamount to
disobeying apostolic teaching (vv 6, 14). However, they
shouldn’t be treated as enemies (v 15). Without pampering the
lazy, we should show mercy. Brethren are reminded of the
exemplary life of the apostles in matters of industry (vv 7-
10). The sluggish are commanded to work and live off their
sweat (12).
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Historical Situation
This message commanding the church to engage in
productive work came on the heels of the first letter to the
Thessalonians. It was a message in the early ministry of Paul.
In the first letter he raised the eschatological hope of the
Thessalonian brethren when he taught concerning the Second
Coming of Christ (Parousia) showing how the dead in Christ will
resurrect and rise to meet Christ when He comes in the clouds
and we who are alive are to be translated and lifted to follow
suit (1 Thess. 4:13ff; 5:2). This seems to have heightened the
expectation of the brethren, consequently causing them to be
so obsessed with the Parousia that they became anxious and
vulnerable to deception (2 Thess. 2:1-3).
It is likely that this deliberate idleness in sections of
the church stemmed out of theological conviction that work was
not worthwhile since we could be flying away the next second.
Noteworthy is that there is a trajectory of this behavior from
the time the first letter was penned down (1Thess. 4:11-12).
If the previous warning was terse and whispery; now Paul has
to be elaborate and loud. It is likely that this message was
sent after Timothy, coming from Macedonia, joined Paul at
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Corinth on his second missionary journey (Acts 18:5). This
means the church at Thessalonica was still young in general
terms.
Literary Context
In this section of the epistle, the Apostle Paul
repeatedly refers to authorship in the plural (vv 6-12). By
saying “we,” Paul implies that what he is articulating is not
a private but a corporate position held by his whole team. The
language is highly referential. The issue at stake is
conspicuous. He therefore starts off by directing the orderly
brethren to disassociate themselves from the errantly idle
believers (v 6). He challenges them to be retrospective about
the apostolic model set regarding work while Paul was
physically with them (vv 7-10). Everyone knows what he is
talking about. It is not until verse 11 that he mentions the
presence of self-acclaimed idlers. He directs that they must
start working to feed themselves (v 12). He reiterates the
isolation of the adamantly sluggish brethren (v 14). As a
father, he winds up moderating his harsh tone by advising that
the errant brethren be not treated as enemies (v 15).
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
Principles and Implications Embedded in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Principles
This text contains a number of biblical principles. To
begin with, refusing to work is an act of disobeying the Word
of God (v 6). Many times it is misconstrued that work was
imposed on man after the Fall. Such a school of thought puts
work in negative light. The idea of work actually antedates
the Fall. Genesis 2:15 reads: “The LORD God took the man and
put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
Commenting on this Scripture, Matthew Henry says “We are not
allowed to be idle in this world and to do nothing” (1991).
When I had just come to the Lord I used to look at work as
something that was inevitable but nonetheless a curse from
God. It was a few years later that I began to understand that
work is a noble undertaking. In my culture, some people grow
up hating work because when they were young, they were
punished at school or at home through being assigned with
menial tasks. It is common that people harbor this notion deep
in their veins. It is our duty to instruct them out of it.
Praise be to the Lord!
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
I like what Detlef Bloecher says: “Work is not a curse of
the Fall but a wonderful provision by God. We are called to
glorify God through our work” (Lewis 1996, 19). Many are fast
learning to approach work with joy, not as though they have to
put up with a curse that God has slapped upon them.
Next, a believer must not be a parasite on others if he
has the opportunity and good health to engage in productive
work. The impression of taking advantage of others is
overruled here. There must be a good reason for one to depend
on someone else. Even when that is the case, it ought not to
be perpetual.
Also, Christian leaders are not exempt from working
manually; by so doing they set an example for the church to
emulate. It is not only in this passage that Apostle Paul
speaks of his industrious nature. This is a frequent theme in
the Pauline corpus. Luke’s note is the antecedent to the
Pauline epistles on the subject: “After this, Paul left Athens
and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila . . .
with his wife Priscilla . . . Paul went to see them, and
because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked
with them” (Acts 18:1-3).
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
Paul worked with his hands not only to supply his own
needs but also those of his protégés. He reminded the Ephesian
elders in Acts 20:34-35: “You yourselves know that these hands
of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my
companions.” If we truly care for our sons, spiritual or
natural, we will go to great lengths in working to cater for
their welfare. Paul Newberry explains how fathers care for
sons when he says that a “father’s heart fills with affection
and interest when faced with the concerns of the children”
(Newberry 2003, 82). To extend this idea, a pastor who loves
his wife may often assist in chores at home. Could this be a
nuance in Paul’s advice that husbands should love their wives
as Christ loved the church to the extent of putting His life
on line for her (Eph. 5:25)? Paul talks about his work example
to the Corinthians as well (1 Cor. 4:12; 2 Cor. 11:9).
Furthermore, engaging in productive work is the primary
means to meeting the most basic of needs – food. We mentioned
this in our discussion of Deuteronomy 15. God may choose to
supply our needs variously; however, we should know that
working with our hands remains the principal way to providing
for our needs. Divine intervention and miracles, though real,
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning are secondary. Matthew 10:9-10 (“Do not take along any gold or
silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey,
or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth
his keep”) ought to be read in juxtaposition with Luke 22:35-
36 (“Then Jesus asked them, ‘When I sent you without purse,
bag or sandals, did you lack anything?’ ‘Nothing,’ they
answered. He said to them, ‘But now if you have a purse, take
it, and also a bag’”). You will not have money without work.
Furthermore, we learn that unbecoming demeanor must not
be left to prevail unabated. Wayward behavior must be
confronted and punished with intent to correct it. Paul
unequivocally recommends discipline to those who are
conducting themselves inappropriately.
Lastly, the church must not tolerate self-made
parasites; it must compel them to work. Parasites are
intolerable. Bona fide dependents are tolerable. Such could be
children before leaving the parent’s nest, destitute orphans,
some people with disability, aged widows, or refugees from
catastrophe-hit areas.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Implications
Not only are there principles but also implications. Sin
is not necessarily black and white; it does not necessarily
have to be a blatant moral mishap. Paul classifies obstinate
abhorrence of work as sin. He even prescribes discipline. Why
would he suggest a penalty for this conduct if it did not deem
sinful. Moreover, the discipline he recommends is grievous.
Suppose that one rejects working and there is no magnanimity
coming his way. His indolence could precipitate other vices
such as lying, stealing, or robbery. Like jealousy or hatred
is the seed for murder, so is indolence a seed for other
evils.
This text is not intended for the church to deny support
to their leaders. Elsewhere, Paul declares that it is his
right to be supported by the church (1 Cor. 9:3-14).
Nevertheless, he worked with his hands when he had to in order
to be exemplary to the church. Evil-minded brethren might
invoke Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 3 to block church
support to full time ministers. In fact, there are countless
passages in the epistles that plainly instruct followers to
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning support their spiritual leaders and very many others in the
Old Testament where this principle is latent.
Another implication in this passage is that of gaining
work skills. Probably it was more practical for Paul to work
and support his ministry entourage because he was skilled. He
had learnt a trade, possibly alongside his synagogue training.
I have a testimony. More than ten of the pastors that work
under my oversight are professional teachers. By virtue of
this, they are more capable of supporting their families
simultaneously as they care for their churches as compared to
those who solely look to the congregations for their upkeep.
It might be too much to say that one should first go through
vocational, tertiary, or college education prior to devoting
themselves to ministry; but where applicable, so be it. When
the church grows to a level where the leader has to abandon
his occupation, everything happens rather naturally. Thus,
when the church encourages the acquisition of skills among its
own ranks, it is definitely addressing the problem of poverty.
This is a big need in my context. Adei underscores this idea
when he says that people “who work hard, learn a trade,
improve their knowledge and skill, are entrepreneurial, learn
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning to save and invest small amounts, and who are faithful to God
are often able to improve their material conditions” (Adeyemo
et al 2006, 762).
In addition, it may not be wise to deprive the idler of
food from the onset. The principle of no-work-no-eating in
verse ten should not be taken absolutely. Paul may have
employed such language hyperbolically. In the highly useful
book, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, we learn that through a
hyperbole, a Bible writer emphasizes a matter he feels very
strongly about in order to evoke the maximum results in the
audience (Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard 2004, 311-312). In the
words of Stein (1994, 123), the hyperbole “is a powerful form
that enables the writer to convey not just factual information
but also feelings and emotions.” If we let an idle brother
starve to death, we won’t have given him an opportunity to
reform. We all go through transformation from something day by
day. I don’t think Paul is teaching the brethren to be
callous, unkind, and unmerciful. That would contradict his
general teaching. Mercy means offering someone what he does
not deserve. Thus, whereas we may share food with the idler,
we have to intentionally and unambiguously teach him that to
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning work with his hands is the way to fend for himself, and in
turn help someone else. This is the message in Ephesians 4:28:
“He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work,
doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have
something to share with those in need.” In other words, this
is the way to chase poverty and to prosper.
Another implication we find in this text is that if you
refuse to engage in productive work you will end up in
unproductive activity. By neglecting working with their hands,
these sluggards indulged in being busybodies. Believers who
are busy in meaningful work are less susceptible to meddling
into others’ affairs.
The last implication I sight in this passage is that we
should not deny food and help to someone who is unable to work
due to sickness, disability, old age, displacement,
catastrophe, or other unavoidable circumstances because of
this text. It is possible that someone who closes his bowels
of compassion from the hurting will misuse Paul’s counsel to
the Thessalonians. Apostle James is clear on this topic (James
1:27): “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and
faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the
world.” We will be addressing poverty by helping destitute
widows and orphans. Generosity is a Christian virtue. Jack
Canfield is an extremely successful American entrepreneur. He
is coauthor of the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. He
postulates in one of his books to the general audience that an
increase in an individual’s wealth almost always portends an
increase in wealth for the entire society (2005, 413). Whether
or not Canfield is a Christian, he poses an irresistible
example for the church to follow in fighting poverty in my
country. This is his personal testimony:
Along with our publisher and coauthors, we’ve given away millions of dollars to more than 100 organizations including the Red Cross, the YWCA, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Since 1993 we’ve planted over 250,000 trees at Yellowstone National Park with the National Arbor Day Foundation, underwritten the cost of building homes for the homeless with Habitat for Humanity, fed the hungry ofthe world with Feed the Children, and prevented thousandsof teen suicides through Yellow Ribbon International . . . We believe that everything we give away comes back multiplied many times over. (414)
The few wealthy Christians in my national context are not
doing enough in this regard. The mentality of many is that
philanthropy is the work of the West. Even when disaster
strikes, not many wealthy Ugandans of native origin will
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning respond. Last year mudslides killed scores and displaced
thousands around Mount Elgon. Mostly, Ugandans of Asian origin
joined organizations like the Red Cross and Oxfam to help.
Another scenario is where Christians are more avid to raise
money for a decent funeral and yet the same Christians are not
as ready to raise money to aid a poor sister who needs to
undergo a major surgery she cannot afford. They will watch her
die and then raise money for the funeral. Similarly they won’t
be willing to raise tuition for a poor boy who is failing to
afford college education; ironically, they are more than
prepared to raise him lots of money for a lavish wedding if he
tells them he has a girlfriend to marry. This is a skewed
strategy to assisting poor people in my culture. We cannot
address poverty this way. Christian leaders in my context are
faced with a gigantic task to change the mindsets of the
people in this regard.
Contextualizing 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
Similarities and Differences
Just as in the Thessalonian setting, there are Christians
in my cultural setting who are healthy and physically fit but
have a negative attitude to work. They survive by becoming
41
Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning perennial beggars and often liars. The differences are in the
reason. For the Thessalonians, it was probably over-expectancy
of the imminence of the Parousia. Maybe, they sat waiting for
Jesus to show up. In my situation it is usually a
misinterpretation of the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 6.
It is an exaggeration of “living by miracle.” In a more subtle
situation are grown-ups who neglect work because they still
enjoy the comfort of their parents’ nests. They do not
understand that every adult has to live a life of his own. I
know of parents who have had to “throw out” some of their
children before the latter woke up to the reality of industry.
At Thessalonica, those who were not busy were by
commission or omission busybodies. Likewise in my context,
believers who tend to gossip and slander others happen to be
the idle ones most of the time. This is also true of most
talebearers. It is true that most gossipers that I have met in
my life as an adult are for the most part people that do not
have meaningful work. They idle away mudslinging; criticizing,
or cursing others. To refuse to engage in productive work is
to allow oneself to become a busybody.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning
Today most Christian leaders in my context tend to be
positive about engaging in work. There are, nevertheless,
others who still maintain that a man of God is a full time
minister and should not bother himself with sweaty work. This
category only picks out supportive Scriptures and interprets
them out of balance. This matter therefore bears a contrast as
well as a parallel to the practices in my cultural setting.
Efficacious Application of Meaning to My Situation
I think the command that Paul gives to the Thessalonians
that they should not associate with a theologically
misdirected idler can be applied in my context by way of
having the church leaders intentionally teaching on the
biblical basis of work frequently. The example Paul sets by
resorting to his vocational trade to raise money for himself
and his team, could be emulated in my context by full time
leaders changing their attitude toward work and actually
engaging in it whenever they have an opportunity. There is a
great lesson from the example of President Jimmy Carter as
related by Shawchuck and Heuser. Adorned in overalls and with
hammer in hand, Carter labored alongside others under the
auspices of Habitat for Humanity. His quest to provide shelter
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning for the poor captured the attention of the press and spurred
up unprecedented donations to the organization (1993, 90-91).
Although I am not sure of the Christian convictions of
President Carter, I still see a great virtue in him that the
church can emulate. Christian leaders in my community should
not only get involved in poverty alleviation programs but also
rally the believers to do so. Our church started a project of
rearing local chickens and goats in Busia District six years
ago. The program gives goats to youths from very poor
families. When the goats reproduce, the first kids are given
to other youths. So successful has this scheme become that
many of this youth have their school fees paid through this
means. It has also drawn the attention of government officials
in Busia District who have occasionally approached our local
pastor’s office to examine the success of this project.
In contrast with Carter’s example, most leaders in my
culture usually shun manual work. When a leader’s social
location rises, he tends to hire others to do him all chores.
One may argue that this puts money into the pockets of the
hired. True! However, it ought to be balanced. Rich Carter
could have donated millions to Habitat for Humanity and
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning invited the press. This would not have fundamentally changed
the profile of the organization as was the case when the world
saw images of him working in overalls. There is a vegetable
garden in my compound. I am the one, almost exclusively, who
tends it. I do this to offset our family budget. I also save
money in order to help someone else. Residually, I provide an
example to the church members and the neighborhood. As a
result, there are seasons when I do not buy certain varieties
of vegetables and I have observed that elders in the church
have copied my model. When the vegetables are in excess, my
wife sells and gives away some.
The man or woman who does not want to work will be given
food on condition that he is willing to start working on his
own to provide for himself. He needs to be assured that
whereas it is true that we have to be ready for the return of
our Lord Jesus Christ, we should at the same time work as
though He is not coming soon. By encouraging spiritual growth,
believers can be made to understand that work is as essential
to their spirituality as, say, worship.
Finally, the fight against poverty will not be
comprehensive without a proper understanding of money. Some
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning believers wrongly think that money is evil. The Bible does not
say so. This misunderstanding creates a delusion that equates
poverty with spirituality. According to Paul, it is the love
of money that is a recipe for all evil, not money per se (1
Tim. 6:10).
Canfield refers to some preunderstandings regarding money
that have to be discarded if we have to harness the making of
money toward helping ourselves and society at large. They
include what I just discussed above – the thought that money
is evil. Other destructive preunderstandings are: “money
doesn’t grow on trees; you have to have money to make money,”
people who have a lot of money are wicked, not everyone is
supposed to have money, “you can’t buy happiness,” and rich
people cannot be spiritual (2005, 373-374). Our
preunderstandings, if wrong, are a bad tool for sieving
reality.
Fee gives advice to Christians who dream of becoming
better stewards, that they understand the position of the
Bible on the subject of money. He encourages the honest
acquisition of money and giving to further God’s causes and
the betterment of human life. He warns against “individualism
46
Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning and consumerism.” He surmises that money is a potential source
of great good in the world. Once gotten, it can be turned into
a resource or a servant. He likens it to a pair of hands that
accomplishes what Christ would do; feet to move where Christ
would; and a voice that declares God’s promise and hope (Lee
2003, 164-168). With this kind of perspective, the church in
Uganda is able to mobilize its ranks toward creating wealth
and using it to fight poverty among Christians in particular
and the nation in general.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Ayedemo, Tokunboh, Solomon Andria, Issiaka Coulibaly,
Tewoldemedhin Habtu. 2006. Africa Bible Commentary. Nairobi, Kenya: WordAlive Publishers.
Benge, Janet, and Geoff Benge. 1998. William Carey: Obliged to Go. Seattle, WA: YWAM Publishing.
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Peter Wanyama, 15234-MEA BIB 5293 Hermeneutics: God’sMessage and Its Meaning Klein, William W., Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard,
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Lowenberg, Douglas P. 2007. Hermeneutics: God’s Message and Its Meaning, Graduate Study Guide. Springfield, Missouri: Global University.
Newberry, Paul. 2003. Spiritual Fathers: A Biblical and Practical Perspective on Spiritual Fathers and Fathering. Kent, England: Sovereign World.
Pierson, Arthur T. 2008. George Müller of Bristol. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers.
Shaw, Mark R. 1996. The Kingdom of God in Africa: A Short History of African Christianity. Katunayake, Sri Lanka: New Life Literature.
Shawchuck, Norman and Roger Heuser. 1993. Managing Your Own Effectiveness. In Leading the Congregation. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 77-92. Quoted in Global University, Foundations for Christian Leadership: Supplemental Readings. (Springfield, Missouri: Global University, 2003), 38.
Smith, Gary V. 1994. The Social Dimension of Transformation. In The Prophets as Preachers: An Introduction to the Hebrew Prophets. Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 25-45. Quoted in Douglas P. Lowenberg, ed., Hermeneutics: God’s Message and Its Meaning – Readings and Resource Materials. 1st ed. (Springfield, Missouri: Global University, 2005), 152.
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