The Jamaica Call to Action (Part 2): Ten ‘Calls’

The Jamaica Call to Action is unique not only in the two concise convictions on which the document is based (see the previous post), but also because of the comprehensive and specific ‘Calls’ that make up the core of the document. These cover everything from lifestyle to theology to economics to agriculture.

Here is a brief analysis of these calls and the fields of study to which they apply:

1. For all of us: #1. A new commitment to a simple lifestyle.  Lausanne actually called for a simple lifestyle in one of the early documents of the movement (Lausanne Occasional Paper #20), a call that we understand anecdotally was controversial even in 1980. This call leads the list as a recognition that nothing we attempt corporately will matter much if it does not come out of lives that are committed to action as well as words. Living “within the proper boundaries of God’s good gift in creation” is an implicit acknowledgement that we live in a limited, closed system, and that self-restraint is not only necessary but good.
2. For theologians: #2. New and robust theological work.Theology is the basis of all we believe and should be the basis of all we do as Christians, and this is no less true of our creation care response. The Consultation is asking theologians to engage this topic in a number of areas, including a new look at humanity’s identity with respect to creation, a theology that will challenge economic ideologies that run counter to biblical stewardship and so do harm to creation, and importantly a new examination of eschatological doctrine and teaching.
3. For those engaged in missions:   #3. Leadership from the church in the Global South and # 5. Environmental missions among unreached people groups.  Recognizing that the ‘Global South’ (a United Nations term) will bear most of the brunt of the environmental crisis, the Consultation is asking here that these sisters and brothers offer leadership – practically and by example – to the rest of the church. This statement is intended to be read as an implicit acknowledgement that we are all in this together. Recognizing that creation care is part of our response to the gospel, it is logical that we find ways to incorporate that concern in the church’s efforts to reach those who have not yet hear the saving message of salvation through Jesus Christ. Since many of these who are unreached are also among the early victims of environmental degradation, such an integration is not only logical but is likely to be effective both on the gospel and on the environmental side of the equation.
4. For pastors and denominational leaders:   #4. Mobilization of the whole church and engagement of all of society.  If we are to engage all of society in this effort, and it seems that we must if we are to be effective, the church is the only institution that can do this effectively. The local congregation is where simple lifestyle can be preached and modeled, there theologies can be preached and responded to, and where people of every occupation can be challenged to act in their own particular spheres of influence.
5. For scientists, political leaders and business people: #6. Radical action to confront climate change.  Jamaica was not a climate change conference, but the Consultation recognized that this is one of the big, intractable problems with which we have to deal. Scientists still have work to do, but the burden now lies on our leaders in politics and in business – particularly large, multinational corporations – to bring about rapid and effective changes in policies and practice.

6. 

   For farmers (and eaters): #7. Sustainable principles in food production.  This call recognizes one of the most difficult aspects of our current situation: By merely eating, we do untold damage to God’s creation. It doesn’t need to be this way, and change is possible, if difficult. It will take commitment from everyone in the food-chain, farmers to diners, to change a system that currently traps almost all of us.

7. For economists, business people and political leaders: #8. An economy that works in harmony with God’s creation.  As with food, our economic lives are tangled in a web that seems designed to do great harm to creation. We can do better, but it will take commitment and perhaps sacrifice to transition to a system that works with, rather than against, the principles by which God’s creation operates.
8. Finally, for those of us who work within the creation care movement:   #9. Local expressions of creation care, and #10.  Prophetic advocacy and healing reconciliation.  Even as creation care goes ‘mainstream’, the activities for which the movement has been known are still necessary. We can only restore our lost forests by planting one tree at a time. We can only bring back our lost rivers by healing the streams in our back yards. And as long as there are those whose communities are being devastated environmentally, there will be a place for both ‘speaking truth to power’ and for bringing the kind of healing that only biblical reconciliation can bring.

All of these things need to be done.   Every one of them is within reach.   We have the collective knowledge.   We have the ability and the resources. We need the will.

But we need something more – which is why the Call to Action ends with one more plea which is discussed in the final post of the series. To read the final post click here.

Update (9/13/2013. 4:33 PM): Added link to final post in the series.