Make a difference where you live
(From Fiona McDonald, one of our Briefing readers in Turner, ACT, Australia.)
Much has been said in recent days about Prime Minister John Howard's response to the Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse (also known as ‘Little Children are Sacred’ report), released on 15 June 2007. This report made 97 recommendations aimed at increasing the protection of these children in the Northern Territory—including overhauling the education system, stepping up support from government agencies, addressing the problem of alcohol abuse and tightening pornography laws. John Howard declared the situation “a national emergency” and has now put in place measures to fix the problem—including bans on alcohol on Aboriginal land for six months, a compulsory medical examination of every Aboriginal person under 16, a ban on X-rated pornography and new conditions on welfare payments.
Some are supportive of Howard's forthright measures. But some are wary of the racial overtones, his ignoring of the recommendations in the report to involve communities in the decision-making and implementation of change, and the grandstanding of a government in an election year in response to a problem that has been known about for some time. Peter Hartcher, political editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, wrote in a recent article:
The Howard plan is a beginning, a necessary condition for dealing with any problem. Howard's plan, while necessary, is insufficient. His plan is essentially authoritarian and punitive. It is a plan for establishing control and stabilising the problem. It is not yet a plan for rebuilding deeply traumatised and dysfunctional families and communities. That will need to be the second phase. (Source)
Some Aboriginal communities have not reacted well to news of a federal intervention, choosing instead to take their children and flee rather than face a repeat of the stolen generation (Source). The Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mr Mal Brough, was also quoted in The Canberra Times as saying “[W]e think that the reason that a parent would not be interested in having their child's health evaluated and the appropriate medical interventions occurring anywhere throughout society is one reason and one reason only and that is that someone is putting the fear of God into them and that is unacceptable” (Source).
Reading some of these reports, I wondered what should be the Christian response. I was reminded strongly of Steve Etherington, a CMS missionary in the Northern Territory, and his urgent prayer requests for Christians to come and work in the churches in his state. His prayer stemmed from a recognition of the need of Aboriginal people to know God and the hope offered in the gospel. Ironically, Mal Brough is right: all of us—Aboriginal people and white people included—need the fear of God. Fear of God (i.e. reverence, awe, worship of God) is the beginning of wisdom, and this sort of wisdom can help stamp out abuse, alcoholism and dysfunctionality. I couldn't help but think that the result of Steve's intentions would make so much more of a difference than John Howard's initiatives.
So how should we as Christians respond to this issue? We should be challenged by the desire to do something to help. We should be challenged to apply the gospel of grace to this situation. We should be seeking to live as distinctive witnesses in the midst of these people. There are lots of jobs for trained Christian professionals in the Northern Territory church—youth workers, pastors, Bible teachers, and so on. But there are also lots of other positions in the Northern Territory that could be filled by Christians: teachers, medical staff, counsellors, social workers, administrators, lawyers, builders, civil engineers, police, youth workers, childcare workers, mums in playgroups, honest shopkeepers, art dealers, and so on. The state needs Christians who are willing to live in the towns and remote communities of the Northern Territory to act as ambassadors for God, spreading the message of God's great love, and his offer of forgiveness and reconciliation. It needs Christians willing to speak about the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in overcoming human weaknesses like alcoholism, drug addiction and pornography addiction. It needs Christians willing to read the Bible with other people, help people apply it to their lives, pray with them and hold them accountable. It needs people willing to share their lives the way Jesus did when he came to earth.
But perhaps you can't move to the Northern Territory or anywhere near the top end (Queensland and Western Australia included). What can you do? You can pray. You can look around you and think about how you can make a difference where you live and work. That's Steve Etherington's challenge. Look for the marginalized, the poor, the weak and the downtrodden in your community. I worked as a doctor in the Aboriginal Health service in the ACT in response to that challenge. What will be your response?
Let's be those who offer glasses of “living water” to those who need to hear (John 4). Let's be those who care for the sick, visit those in prison and invite people into our homes (Matt 25:34-40). But let us not be those who say “Go in peace, be warmed and filled” while at the same time doing nothing (Jas 2:14-17).