Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2007-2010) has challenged the Methodist Church in Great Britain to “radically change our unfed, divided, poorly managed global order which leads us all too often to forget that the real enemy is not another country. The real enemy is poverty, debt privation, disease, illiteracy, pollution, and squalor.”
The former Labor government leader in his June 13 lecture, “Justice and Hope,” asked “how our interdependence as a world—our openness and our interconnectivity, which by our mistakes became a liability, a channel through which disease and recession spread at speed across the world—can instead become what it should be: …the platform for the international cooperation we need, and through which we transcend… selfish individual interest.”
Brown presented his lecture to commemorate the start of the Walking with Micah: Methodist Principles for Social Justiceproject. Continuing the Methodist Church’s long history of social justice work, this project aims to “help the Methodist Church to explore what it means to be a justice-seeking church.” The project’s name is a reference to the oft-quoted verse Micah 6:8.
In his years in government, Brown sought to express his heart for social justice through policies such as Sure Start (an initiative to improve childcare, early education, and support for families), international aid packages and debt cancellation for some of the world’s poorest countries, and strong support for environmental stewardship—themes that he emphasizes in the lecture, and policy proposals for which he writes about in his new book, Seven Ways to Change the World.
The problem Brown identifies is not new; humans—and the countries we comprise—have acted on self-interest for as long as we’ve existed. However, the global context in which we live does frame this age-old problem in a new way.
“There is a fundamental mismatch… between the global nature of shared challenges like climate change and the primarily national approach within which we organize ourselves to confront them,” Brown diagnosed.
The pandemic is a prime example. Brown questions why “hundreds of thousands of lives have been needlessly lost worldwide during the pandemic through a lack of equipment, medicine, and vaccines.” He is unreserved in his criticisms of “the abject failure of political leaders to cooperate and work together.” It is precisely in the moment that required global cooperation the most that leaders and the (wealthy) countries they represent turned their backs on the international community to prioritize their own self-interest.
How, then, do we transcend the selfish individualism that marks everything from our behavior at the dinner table to the calculated words at the negotiation table? Faith, Brown argues, is key.
“It builds a sense of community, and… gives us the courage to pursue what we believe in… Without moral courage—that is to stand firm for your beliefs and to have the willpower to see things through—you will not achieve your aims. And in our generation, it is the courage to stand up against worldly trends towards selfish individualism that can change our society for good,” Brown said.
Brown notes that even Jürgen Habermas, a leading European philosopher and once a staunch proponent of secular liberalism, “came to the conclusion that liberalism stripped of faith is quite unable to inspire people to bridge the gap between the world we have and the world we can build.”
World leaders have many opportunities this year to demonstrate their commitment to “building back better” at upcoming forums for multilateral action, including the tenth review conference of the Nonproliferation Treaty in August, the UN General Assembly meeting in September, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November, and the G20 meeting also in November.
“All of these will test the capacity of our fractured world to address problems that cannot be solved without multilateral cooperation,” Brown said.
Although countries’ track records give little cause for optimism, Brown concluded on a hopeful note. “It is hope that provides us as human beings not just with the energy to get things done, but with purpose and a sense of direction. It’s the bridge between what we are and what we have it in ourselves to become.”
But per the title of Brown’s lecture, hope alone is not enough; we need justice too. In accordance with the words of Micah 6:8, let us do justice and give cause for more hope.
Comment by Jeff on June 25, 2021 at 2:00 pm
No. The “real enemy” is not another country, but neither is our real enemy the laundry list of social justice causes Brown spouted.
Our real enemy is, and always has been, satan.
That’s the truth. That satan is real is not necessarily a popular truth here in the Age of “Enlightenment”. But unpopular truths are no less true.
Comment by Lawrence Kreh on June 25, 2021 at 4:22 pm
Our real spiritual enemy (Satan) thrives on social injustice and self interest. In the gospels, Jesus consistently places the common good over “my rights”. Yes, some issues that pose as social justice are misguided, but that is no excuse for proclaiming self interest as gospel truth.
Comment by Tim P Wohlford on June 25, 2021 at 7:14 pm
I hardly think that my local Libertarian Party is the sign of moral decay or shirking of personal responsibilities. And no, I’ve never even attended a single meeting of said group, just noting the silliness in this statement.
COVID deaths world-wide are still a number that is hotly debated, but I suspect that none of the usual gov’t initiatives worked worth a damn. We hit a virus that was, likely, made by a government, and the world-wide agencies were in the bag for the originating government. And he wonders why I distrust authority?
This isn’t a conservative theologian here. He’s all in for the gov’t solutions. My sense is a spray-coat of “Jesus paint” for yet another appeal for world-wide NGO solutions that, in the past, have either been failures, or hijacked for the enrichment of a powerful few.
Comment by Dan W on June 25, 2021 at 10:57 pm
Brown challenged them to “radically change our… poorly managed global order”
He said “There is a fundamental mismatch… between the global nature of shared challenges… and the primarily national nature within which we organize ourselves to confront them.”
And “It is precisely in the moment that required global cooperation the most, that leaders and the (wealthy) countries they represent turned their backs on the international community to prioritize their own self-interest.”
Is Brown proposing a new Roman Empire? A new Pax Romana to keep us in line? He isn’t selling social justice and Christian charity. He is selling global control and loss of self determination.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 NIV
Comment by Loren J Golden on June 25, 2021 at 11:15 pm
“The real enemy is poverty, debt privation, disease, illiteracy, pollution, and squalor.”
I wholeheartedly agree. However, we must be clear on what these terms mean:
Poverty: Spiritual poverty, resulting from the absence of Jesus Christ in the lives of men and women.
“For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by the fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” (Rev. 3.17-18)
Debt Privation: The human condition, for we owe God a debt of obedience to His Law that we cannot repay. Only Jesus Christ can remedy this situation.
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king (i.e., God) who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one (i.e., us) was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents (1 talent=6,000 denarii; 1 denarius=one day’s wages for a laborer, or 8 hr × $7.25/hr = $58; 10,000 talents = 60 million denarii = $3.5 billion). And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants (i.e., also us) who owed him a hundred denarii ($12,000), and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until his should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master (i.e., God again) all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Mt. 18.23-35)
Disease: That would be sin, a terminal disease that afflicts every man, woman, and child on this planet. Only faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the Cross is the cure.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2.1-9)
Illiteracy: Biblical illiteracy, to be precise. Men and women do not know Jesus Christ, because they do not spend enough time in the Word of God.
“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Rom. 10.13-14)
“Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Dt. 8.3, Mt. 4.4, Lk. 4.4)
“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (I Thess. 2.13)
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (II Tim. 3.14-17)
Pollution: Again, that would be sin, which pollutes (or defiles) every fiber of our being and makes us spiritually unclean in the sight of God.
“Do not defile yourselves by any of these things (i.e., incest, adultery, child sacrifice, homosexuality, bestiality); for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. For the land has become defiled, therefore I have visited its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.” (Lev. 18.24-25 NASB)
Squalor: The way we revel in the filthy muck of our sin.
“‘For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,’ says the LORD.” (Jer. 6.13-15, 8.10-12)
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Rom. 1.28-32)
So then, “the real enemy is poverty, debt privation, disease, illiteracy, pollution, and squalor.” Or to put it more concisely, the real enemy is sin. And the only hero who can conquer this enemy is Jesus Christ, who died on the Cross and rose again from the grave:
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the bod of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6.5-11)
Comment by George on June 26, 2021 at 3:16 pm
Be careful when listening to a British politician giving advice on our worldly problems.
No other country has sucked the life blood from so many non developed countries and then walked away leaving problems of their creation. The Middle East, Asia, and Africa all suffer from the effects of British colonial rule. I’m afraid our own country has failed to learn from their mistake either. Gordon brown wants to blame pandemic deaths of the “have nots” on the “haves”. No mention of the Satan led communist Chinese. That figures.
Comment by David on June 27, 2021 at 6:00 am
George —So, we have hereditary guilt now for Britons “even to the third and fourth generations”? How about southern evangelicals that supported slavery and segregation? Are they to be ignored too?
Comment by George on June 28, 2021 at 6:26 am
Well golly darn, David. Let’s just take all them there history books and burn’m. I’m curious as to what history will say about this pandemic years from now. Will our politicians want to blame the lack “equity ” in this world and fail to mention that it was the godless Chinese government that produced it and then cover it up. I wasn’t trying to hang the burden of guilt on the Brits. Just pointing out another clueless liberal politician’s lack candor.
Comment by David on June 28, 2021 at 6:57 am
The Japanese NHK channel in English had an excellent two-part documentary about Covid-19. It very closely resembles bat viruses found in southern China about 1,000 miles from Wuhan. There is a question of how the virus reached Wuhan as bats normally do not fly that distance. Farmers are known to enter bat caves to collect the droppings for fertilizer. There were also early cases of illness among miners who entered caves. Whether some infected people traveled to Wuhan or the virus was brought there for study is something the Chinese government has not revealed. Also, in October 2019, Wuhan hosted the Military World Games, a sort of Olympics, that might have served to spread the infection worldwide. Recent information suggests that lab procedures where viruses were studied in Wuhan were lax as far as containment. Studying viruses to see if they can directly infect human cells in vitro is actually a common activity.
Comment by George on June 28, 2021 at 7:52 am
Well that explains it all. Let me stand corrected. There is no arguing with the facts. Could have happened anywhere. Right? It was just an innocent accidental thing and there was no coverup or failure to protect the outside world. The Chinese government warned every other nation as soon as it could. Stopped all international travel. We owe the Chinese communist government a great deal of thanks. Maybe we can fund their Wuhan lab . Oh, forgot. We did that already. Now, let’s drink some more coolaid.
Comment by David on June 28, 2021 at 9:46 am
There is no question that the Chinese government attempted to cover up the epidemic. Physicians there who reported, or worse, published early accounts of it were subject to arrest. All totalitarian governments are averse to bad news as it reflects on them.