solving problems

There are big problems in the world.  We don't often concern ourselves with adressing them, unless our daily work requires that we do.  For some people, biblical faith inspires engagement in such problems.  For others, humanitarian goodness encourages their concern to fight the good fight. However you come at these problems; faith, ambivalence, or genuine humanitarian concern; they are real.  Here's a starter list:

• Hunger and food insecurity
• Affordable housing
• Access to health care
• Access to clean water and sanitation
• racial and gender inequality
• Growing disparity between wealth and poverty
• religious/ideological extremism that leads to violence

If we take these as massive global problems, we might ask ourselves what role does the individual play in solving these things?  I don't mean, how can each person do their small part to ameliorate the suffering caused by these problems.  (Although that may be part of the solution).I don't mean how does one person stick a bandage on a massive, bleeding, open wound.  I mean what role might an individual play in solving these problems for good? I know one person can lead a movement that brings real change.  Think about Gandhi in India or Desmond Tutu in South Africa or Lech Walesa in Poland or Liu Xiaobo in China or Leymah Gbowee in Kenya.  These individuals found ways to address real problems with direct action.  It is possible to be a catalyst for substantial change, an instigator, a mobilizer who inaugurates and activates latent desires for justice in the hearts of humankind.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about problem solving in his ethics.  It is an invitation to the church to be about the work of solving massive global problems.  In the 1940's he saw the world coming apart.  He saw an apathetic, indifferent church, unwilling to confront the problems with creative and meaningful action.  He saw the church stand idle or contribute to genocide.  He suggests that the church cannot avoid the injustice and brokenness that wounds the world and threatens our annihilation.  We must seek to end it together as a global movement.  He wrote:
 
"What is behind the desire, which is awakening in Christendom throughout the world, to hear a message from the church to the world that offers solutions? It is essentially the following ideas:  the social, economic, and political, etc., problems of the world are out of hand; the ideological and practical solutions being offered are all ineffectual; the world of technical progress has thus reached its limit; the car is stuck in the mud, the wheels are turning at top speed but cannot pull the car out; the problems are so universally human, both in their scope and their nature, that some quite fundamental remedy has become necessary; with respect to social, economic, political, sexual, and educational problems, the church has thus far failed; through its own fault it has given offense, which hinders people from believing its message.  "Woe to those who give offense to one of these little ones..." (Matthew 18:6.) A theologically correct Christian proclamation is not enough; neither are general ethical principles.  What is necessary is a concrete directive in the concrete situation.  The strength of the church's spirit is not yet exhausted.  Christians throughout the world have grown closer to one another than ever before.  Jointly we must tackle the task of proclaiming a message from the church.  In short, the church is supposed to offer solutions for the world's unsolved problems, thus fulfilling its commission and restoring its authority."

I know there are churches that believe in the cure of souls and the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins as the only locus of action for the church.  The church has been relegated to the spiritual realm.  Church is a private institution for believers and members. Church exists for Christians. The evangelical Christian worldview has abandoned the world to hell, sought to save a remnant of chosen faithful believers, and centered their work on weekly worship of God.  They have failed to see the connection that Jesus makes between salvation, the forgiveness of sins and real, physical healing!  Jesus did not only announce the forgiveness of sins.  He healed people, brought enemies together around a common table, restored dignity to the poor and the mentally ill,  advanced the role of women, confronted the wealthy and powerful with a vision of a common humanity in which all were fed, housed, etc...
Many people are skeptical and do not believe global problems like poverty and hunger can be solved.  Actually, the money and resources are there.  The will to exercise power to mobilize resources in order to effectively address these problems is what prevents them from being solved.  Human will.  I believe that we have been offered freedom from the mistakes of the past in order to live better now. The New Testament story is about becoming free from that which prevents us from being fully human, enjoying the fruit of creation, and living in harmony with others.
I think Bonhoeffer is right.  The church is uniquely poised to meet the challenges of the 21st century with imagination and hope.  As the church in the west loses authority and power we gain the trust of those who long for health, peace, and dignity. We gain their trust by listening and serving them in real,authentic ways.  We gain their trust by sharing generously.  We gain the world's trust by standing with those who bear the burden of global injustice and telling the world that this must and will come to an end.
I am the pastor of a small congregation of Lutheran Christians in a small town in Pennsylvania.  But we are working together to end hunger, to end the deadly threat of Malaria, to repair broken relationships, to heal the sick, to bring dignity to those trapped in poverty, to care for the elderly and the young.  I believe that we are called to solve the world's problems because it is our faith in God's goodness, power, and love that will save us,heal us, and set us all free.