Abstract
Compassion and the Mission of God explores the biblical and theological basis of compassion in order to understand why God cares for the poor, and to argue that God calls Christians to bear witness to the Lord by engaging in the ministries of social justice, disaster relief and community development. Das, an expert with rich experience in non-governmental organizations as well as theological education, has successfully delineated the grand narrative of God’s redemptive work in Scripture and in the early church to clarify the relevance of ‘doing good to all’ (Galatians 6:9–10) in today’s broken world. The main argument in this book centres around how integral mission, that is, ‘the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel’ (p. 133; citing Micah Network, 2001), fits in the greater context of the mission of God, with a special reference to social responsibility for holistic transformation of the poor and oppressed.
After tracing his personal journey in Chapter 1 to explain why he has written this book and offering in Chapter 2 his analytical framework for a contextual understanding of Scripture, Das examines, from Chapter 3 to 5, a coherent narrative in the Old and New Testaments that highlights the importance of bringing justice to the vulnerable. In Chapter 6, Das sheds light on the theological divide over the role of the church in serving the poor. He does so by revisiting definitions of the gospel, righteousness and multiple types of eschatology that have led the church to adopt different perspectives on whether it should be primarily responsible for poverty and injustice. The following three chapters, 7 to 9, delve into the historical development of modern missions towards the recent missiological approach of integral mission and the concept of transformation, while treating the roles of liberation theology, fundamentalist evangelical churches, the Lausanne Covenant and the Micah Declaration. Chapter 10 then discusses practical implications of why and how we live out God’s compassion by looking at three aspects: the need to become agents of blessings to all humanity, to become advocates for justice and to proclaim God as redeemer.
The key contribution of this book lies in its all-encompassing survey of Scripture and its treatment of theological arguments over God’s compassion and concern for the poor. Through a compelling and well-structured argument drawing on different threads from the fields of theology and missiology, Das explains how God’s Kingdom becomes real on earth through acts of compassion for the poor, vulnerable and marginalized (hence the subtitle, ‘Revealing the Invisible Kingdom’). The tension of ‘already but not yet’ in the concept of the Kingdom of God is so vividly articulated and critically argued that professionals involved in social justice and development will be able to reflect on God’s calling to think and go beyond a dichotomized view of reality that divides the physical from the spiritual.
While Das has provided a solid theological and biblical understanding of compassion and transformational development, further application needs to be addressed, particularly how readers might go beyond their awareness of some challenges Das mentions regarding the following two issues. First is the awareness of the presence of human sin. Das stresses throughout the latter part of the book how transformation should be interpreted biblically, implying that it is God who transforms the lives of people and calls them to become His co-workers for change, while offering the valid caution not to become ‘anthropocentric’ (p. 161). However, his reflection on this issue is limited only to ‘a deep and constant awareness that evil is real, that human beings are sinful and that sin permeates and warps social, economic and political structures’ (p. 162). Second is the awareness of misuse of power when offering material assistance. Das discusses the risk of compassion ministries creating ‘rice Christians’ (p. 175), a term for church attenders who convert to Christianity for physical benefits rather than from religious conviction. The ways in which ‘helping hurts’ both aid givers and the poor recipients are already discussed in the well-known book When Helping Hurts, by Steve Corbett and Brain Fikkert (2009), which calls for a more sustainable approach to bearing witness through the work of development. However, Das’s suggestions may have left readers wanting to explore more well-argued ideas as he concludes with the following statement: ‘the only thing that can be done is to be aware of the power dynamics’ (p. 176).
Nevertheless, this book makes a significant contribution to missiological scholarship with its focus on integral mission. Das has advanced Evangelical perspectives on social responsibility, most notably through his elaboration of biblical and theological accounts of why God cares so much for the poor, and why we should make the same ‘gut-wrenching response’ (p. 185), in keeping with his sharp reminder that ‘the Christian faith is not just about believing propositional truths and having correct theology, but is also about transformed lives’ (p. 170). Das is to be commended for offering a strong argument for the sort of reflective thought and action necessary for transforming nations as God commands. His book is likely to inform future theological and biblical research, inspire further academic advancement and become an important resource for practitioners working in the fields of mission and development.