Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? Job 38:41
“Unlike many Westerners who see the societies in the Bible as far removed from them not only in time and place but also in ways of life, the Majority World readers find there the same realities they experience in their everyday life. Most of them relate their lives to biblical stories about “pressing social problems as famine and plague, poverty and exile, clientelism and corruption” as well as domination “by powerful landlords and imperial forces, by networks of debt and credit.”
The congeniality of the Bible to African Christians is also reflected in their repackaging of the local traditional language about traditional “sustaining divinities, ancestors, and the Supreme being” to refer to God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. In this hermeneutic, they affirm that the latter “are superior to all the powers available in the people’s map of their universe. Ultimately, African Christians realize that “the biblical message is in its origin anything but a Western import,” and find in it enough resources to cope with the challenges of life.”
Viateur Habarurema in Christian Generosity according to 2 Corinthians 8-9: It’s Exegesis, Reception, and Interpretation Today in Dialogue with the Prosperity Gospel in Sub-Saharan Africa (Carlisle, UK: Langham Monographs, 2017) 228-229. Habarurema lectures full-time at Protestant University of Rwanda and pastors part-time.
In preparation for advancing generosity in Africa, this book helps me understand the general mindset of many Christians there. And, if today’s post seems “far removed” from your situation, then ask God to help you identify with those who everyday reality is clouded by poverty, systemic oppression, and corruption.
For such people, whose theology is largely formed through oral conversations and the telling of stories, the Bible offers hope and resources to cope. Hope for deliverance from powerful forces by the Almighty God, and stories of miraculous provision for those needing the same miracle that was recounted from the biblical narrative.
So how does this relate to each of us and the global generosity conversation? We must put ourselves in the shoes of others as a good starting point. We must acknowledge that the God who provides for the raven (see today’s Scripture) also provides for you and me. And there’s nothing wrong with hoping in God for such help. It’s a good thing.
Where we can offer help to avoid traps like prosperity theology is to remind everyone to read the biblical texts in their context and read the full story. For example, if a person feels like they are living in a wilderness situation, and they are crying to God for help, it’s great to ask for manna, or daily bread. It’s the heart of the Lord’s prayer!
But as God supplied, like He did for the nation of Israel in the wilderness, we must alert them to pitfalls like worshipping the golden calf. Our proclivity as humans is to desire and worship the gifts of God instead of God. Remember, He supplied the calf in the first place! And we must all look in the mirror and acknowledge that we all commit this sin.
God, when I feel far removed from brokenness, draw me toward difficulty to identify with those who suffer. For those who feel the same challenging realities as recounted in Scripture, hear their cries for help. Aid them like you help the ravens. And please guide my preparation for GTP generosity efforts in Africa and the majority world for your glory. Amen.