ENI – Christian leaders from around the world are pushing for a “theology of simplicity and caring” to bring hope to a “prodigal world” teetering under a burden of widespread economic crisis, and climate change.
“It is time to challenge the growth-is-success myth, which also has contaminated the Church, and shift to a more transformative way of thinking and lifestyle in tune with God's creative order and purpose,” said Rev. Daniel Kim Dong-Sung of the Saemoonan Presbyterian Church, Seoul, said to be the oldest Protestant church in South Korea.
Linda Mead, a lay leader of the United Reformed Church in Britain, said the call is for Christians to help lead the way in “living more simply amidst climate change.”
Mead noted that churches are looking at the theology behind climate change and how it will affect Bible studies and liturgy.
Christians may also learn from indigenous and rural communities where sharing and caring are part of life, said Josephine Muchelemba, a Zambian theologian. “Our parents and neighbours would work the farms through the exchange of labour.”
In the search for alternatives, Rev. Park Seong-Won of the Young Nam Theological University, South Korea, urged Christians “not to grow tired and weary in doing good” and to search for better alternatives to humanity's current rut.
