Anger and Powerlessness: a theological reflection on gentrification

This reflection is part of a long paper I wrote for a Diploma in Community Ministry at the Urban Theology Unit in about 1990.  It led to me writing a booklet for them on gentrification.  The paper describes the process of gentrification and the attempts of social science to understand it and then looks at its history in various locations in London.  Put simply gentrification is the process whereby traditionally working class housing becomes middle class.  It accelerated during the 1980s and was closely associated with yuppies and the greedy capitalism of that era.  This was my attempt to as a young urban mission activist to describe my theological response to the phenomenon.  Reading it again after 20 years I can see that in many ways it is confused and rambling but this section still seems to me to have value, as it struggles to understand how we can experience God in the complexity of the modern city.  It argues for a passionate and active engagement, rooted in a passionate God who is angry at injustice and lies.  This is very clearly a response to the frustrations of living in Thatcher’s Britain and particularly in a borough (Wandsworth) which was a flagship for right wing policies.  Many of the ideas need developing – especially the issues of theodicy and I certainly wouldn’t write it in the same way now, but the issues raised here have recurred throughout my work ever since.  Anger has continued to fascinate and worry me, spin and lies bother me and the quest for a passionate, articulate theology of the heart attract me. 

Forces beyond our control

When examining gentrification I became aware that I was dealing with many varied forces which are not always easy to perceive, let alone fully comprehend.  The academic arguments over gentrification are an illustration of this.  Gentrification is one of those phenomenon which it is easy to see happening but far from easy to explain. It is not possible to represent it in any agreed statistical way or to show its existence by any agreed physical signs.  Not only is gentrification difficult to describe it also has no universally accepted causes. People agree over various causes such as the growth in the service sector and the decrease in the manufacturing sector. They do not, however agree as to how these relate to each other and how important they are in concretely creating gentrification.  Gentrification is difficult to describe and understand; it is consequently largely outside anyone's direct control.  The process is a symptom of the forces which seem to control our society but which even government can only nudge and deflect, not determine.  As Christians this causes us to ask the question of whether God is in control of these forces and whether we, as the body of Christ, have any special influence over them.

Urban development

Urban development, of which gentrification is a part, is not a modern invention.  It has been going on ever since there have been cities.  We can see many of the same dynamics recurring time and time again. The closest parallel to gentrification is hausmanisation, it is named after Hausmann who redesigned Paris with wide avenues and sweeping vistas for the benifit of the nobility.  In our examinations of Chelsea we have also seen the effects of urban development over more than a century.  Much of this has been similar to the affects of gentrification; providing living space for the rich while the poor are moved on. The railways have had a big impact on urban geography.  The term 'railway blight' signifies the effects that the building of the large London terminals had on the Victorian city.  More recently it has been motorways and other road schemes that have had the biggest impact.  The poorer the area the less able it has been to resist road building - you would not expect a dual carriageway to be ploughed through Dulwich village. Gentrification, therefore, is just a part of urban development.  It is part of the same struggle over urban recources where powerful interest clashes with powerful interest.  The little people are left on the margins.

Who is in Control?

Theodicy

I have already posed the question of whether God is in control of urban processes such as gentrification.  I want to argue that this question is crucial if we wish to know how to respond effectively to gentrification. I also feel that it has great importance in the process of establishing an engaging theology for urban mission.  I have become convinced that within the city the task of creating a theology which really speaks to people's hearts is avoided in the rush to be active and do something.  In our continual rush to be relevant to the "pressing needs of the inner city" we seem to miss out on developing a potent urban theology. Such a theology needs to be in a dialectically tension with all the projects and fund raising which so devour our time and energies.  Is God in control of the city? That is where we must start, and that means the question of theodicy.

is God really in charge?

Traditional theology - as typified in hymns and choruses spends much time telling us that God is in charge.  The problem for urban dwellers is that this is not very apparent. After all our God is meant to be a God of love and love does not appear to be the driving force of our age.  We can, of course, give many answers to this problem. It is one of the great questions of theology.  Before I try and give any answers it is important to listen to how this question is asked so as to understand what kind of answers are being looked for.  My experience has been that the traditional answers are largely rational exercises which may give a little comfort to the heart but do not prove practical in bringing about change.

why do the wicked prosper?

This question of 'Why do the wicked prosper' is one that is common in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms.  When studying gentrification one can't help asking it over and over again.  Why is it that property developers and wealthy yuppies always seem to be making a killing? Why is it that gentrification dishes out the goodies with no sense of justice or mercy?  Of course yuppies and property developers are not necessarily wicked, but it is not their personal righteousness which is relevant. They are only the lucky pawns in a game whose rules no one fully understands.  The wickedness lies in the game which produces permanent homelessness alongside elegant, desirable, residences. The lucky winners have to decide for themselves how much personal wickedness they accrue from winning a wicked game ...  The losers, however, tend to associate the wicked with those that gain in a game whose rules they have no control over.

why do things never get better?

Our society is based on the promise of continued progress.  Exactly what progress means is rarely defined. In fact it is probably impossible to define.  The important thing is that we have a sense that things are getting better.  We are improving.  We will be better off than our parents.  The experience for those at the bottom of the urban pile, however, is that things do not get better. Progress is illusory. The very idea of progress creates oppressive expectations.  Even if statistics can show that people really are getting better off, for many this has no meaning for their lives continue in the same old way with no sense of progress.  This is not to say that people live useless or less than human lives.  Simply that they are stuck with what they've got; a saucer of dreams and little real power over their own lives.

The difficulty of social action theology for the powerless.

This foregoing analysis reveals the difficulty of developing a practical theology of social action for urban people.  They have, to put it bluntly, better things to do with their time than engage in fruitless struggles with the vaguely understood forces which shape their lives.  It is not surprising, therefore, that people fall back on the private sphere where they are able to exercise some control over their lives.  In order for a theology which encourages engagement with social issues to be popular it must be practical. - Or else persuasive enough to encourage people to engage in apparently fruitless activity!  For a theology to have this degree of persuasiveness it must touch something fundamental in urban people.  I believe this something is to be found in the sense that God should be working for justice even if He does not appear to be doing so. This belief is based in the  primary conviction that God is real and important to people even though they may not often find ways of expressing this[1]. The following reflection will attempt to lay the foundations for a theology rooted in a sensitivity to a God who should be working for justice.

Responses to powerlessness and the inactivity of God

In this section I will examine a variety of responses to the problems I have outlined above.

Secular salvation

These problems are something which engage all people, christians or not.  The secular world has many responses to these.  I outline a few key ones below.

 

Education is the historic answer to poverty.  It gives both the skills to increase earning power, and, more controversially, a 'responsible' attitude to life.  Education is aimed at individuals, but to such a massive extent that it can transform whole societies.  The future prosperity of nations would seem to depend on the success of their education systems.  Adult education attempts to make education something more than an initiation rite for the young into adult society.  It tries to pick up those who have been failed by the schools, as well as offering training in new skills such as computing. Education's power is such that it has become a hot political issue.  It can be as easily used to perpetuate social division as to combat it - witness the struggles over secondary modern and comprehensive education.  Or, more violently those over bantu education in South Africa.  Education has great power to bring change, but it depends on its political masters.

 

The breakdown of traditional community and family structures has encouraged (or been encouraged by) the growth of social work.  Social work has many different ways of operating but it seems to focus on the problem individual or family.  It attempts to enable the individual to overcome immediate difficulties and enter into the mainstream of respectable society.  It is criticised for failing to recognise the systematic nature of poverty and for undermining traditional values. Whatever we think of it social work has a central place in our society.  It is the system's hands on contact with the poor.  Any attempts to address the issues of powerlessness and suffering need to engage with social workers and their masters in the social service departments.

 

An alternative to the establishment approaches described above is that of the trade unions.  They attempt to organise that group which is seen to encompass the poor - the working class.  They believe that collective action can lead to the empowering of this group.  This has succeeded even to the extent of becoming a major political force.  The success of the trade unions is undeniable.  Whether they now serve the interests of the poor is less clear.  Their very success has made them part of the establishment.  Their powerful base amongst the mass of manual workers distances them from the unemployed and marginal groups such as women and black people.

 

These approaches have all been important in combating poverty and building a more just society.  Persistant poverty however has undermined confidence in them and caused people to look for fresh approaches.

 

Community work has been much concerned with the powerlessness of urban people in the face of the bureaucrats and the wealthy. It attempts to provide ways for ordinary people's desires to be met. It does not seek to impose a vision of what is right but only to enable people to get what they want.  There are many different methods of community work such as community organising and the encouragement of tenant's associations.  Elliott and McCrone[2] say of these tenant's associations:

 

Even the most durable associations on the monolithic housing estates offer only a poorsubstitute for the bonds of neighbourhood kinship and community that characterised some of the old working class areas.  But they do in a few cases seem to have a produced a newpride, sense of dignity and confidence in local populations.  Where they combinerecreational, cultural and social activity with serious economic programmes and politicalcampaigns, they offer some hope for the regeneration of locally based collective life.

 

Community work, therefore, is a secular belief system which offers the hope of power for the powerless. It is becoming an increasingly important part of the church's response to urban deprivation.

 

We can go on to look at church responses.

Church Elitism

The historic activity of the church in urban areas could be described as elitist.  By this I mean that the church has operated as an alien institution whose desire has been to keep such influence as it has and to pacify disruptive tendencies in the urban population. This might seem to be a somewhat cynical view but it does explain much about the way the church operates in the inner city. For instance the portrayal of the inner city as an infidel urban jungle. The church operates as an outsider having a lack of real identification with the needs and aspirations of urban people. The Anglican church identifies with the establishment and the nonconformists with the suburban middle classes who view the inner city with, if anything, more apprehension than the establishment. While the church has, to some extent, moved away from its position of elitism the legacy of elitist approaches is still strong.  The church too often has the character of a coloniser. It wishes to have a presence on the housing estates and in the cosmopolitan high streets of the city, but fails to establish solidarity with the people.  As a Elliott and McCrone point out

 

In their quest for ‘stability’ and even ‘fairness’ the housing departments have become prime agents in the control of the working class…  developing techniques for the management of conflicts (establishing residents associations with non resident teachers and ministers and others as members, for example) and able increasingly to call another bureaucracies for further information on areas and individuals p95

 

From its elitist position the church has little chance of understanding the theological dilemmas of urban people. It either assumes they are irreligious or that religion is beyond the scope of people so much in thrall to deprivation.  Gentrification is likely to encourage the elitist and colonising tradition within the urban church.  In fact there is some evidence to suggest that those still firmly embedded in the elitist tradition are seeing gentrification as the answer to their dreams - finally providing a way for the effective colonisation of hopelessly pagan lands, as a Baptist leader said to me ‘gentrification is the main hope for the church in the inner city’.

Pietism

Historically the other dominant force in urban religion has been pietism - religion which is confined to the reality of the individual soul.  The hold of pietism on the religious understanding of urban christians should not be underestimated. An extraordinarily large proportion of the literature on urban mission is devoted to the task of combating pietism, such as the theological section of Faith in the City.  Pietism itself may not be quite so terrible as some people think. It does at least provide people with a way to relate to God that can make sense of their lives.  The main problem with it is this enormous amount of effort that is spent in criticising it.  Time and time again you find attempts at urban theology being little more than justifications of social action in the light of assumed pietistic criticisms. I have a suspicion that urban pietism needs to be learnt from before it is criticised. Does it manage to make God relevant in an environment which has no place for God?  If so, how - and why?

Church technocracy/activism

If elitism and pietism have been the historic ways the church has related to the city, activism is the heir apparent.  The Faith in the City process gives a good example of this.  Its theological approach was tentative, appearing to be scared of criticism for proposing a top-down, elitist theology of the city.  It supported the development of a more indigenous approach, drawing on the approach of liberation theology, where theology could develop from the bottom up.  Some years on from Faith in the City, however, the major emphasis seems to be on the Church Urban Fund - even though the people involved with the process never wanted this to happen!  The problem was something had to be seen to be done.  Urban fund projects have, in places, taken on an elitist nature because not enough time could be spent in building up grassroots support.  Activist approaches always tend to be elitist in the end for it is the elite that are best at doing things. That is why they are the elite.  Again, gentrification is likely to encourage activism and technocratic approaches.  Concerned incomers see the frightful needs on the estates which loom above their victorian cottages and the impulse to do something about it is almost too great to resist.  The likelihood is, unfortunately, that the "something" might help local people but will not empower them.  Activist approaches also tend to be anti-theological. They are wary of the abstractions of elitist theology and sick of the inanities of pietism.  Activism's answer to the problem of the inactivity of God is to do as much as it can - and so, to fill up the gap God has left by not doing anything.  I would not wish to be over critical of the good work that the activists do in the city.  I would warn strongly of the dangers of technocratic solutions which enfeeble local communities, and of the lack of a theological content which can touch people's hearts.

Signs of the Kingdom

Another approach to the complexity and unyielding nature of the city, and its absentee God has developed in recent years.  This movement has grown out of a concern for the Kingdom of God.  It is deeply rooted in the life of the city, knowing only too well its problems and joys.  It realises that the city cannot be changed over night and takes its clue from Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom which was not only by word but also in deed.  These deeds are understood as signs of the Kingdom. Sometimes these signs are like the projects and programmes of the activists but they can also be unplanned events which seem to point to the values of the Kingdom.  There is much to commend in this approach, the problem with it is that it can be seen as a retreat to a curiously pietistic pessimism.  It pulls away from engagement with the rough and tumble of the big political struggles and tries to find God in the more easily grasped affairs of daily life.  Symptomatic of this is its partiality for pacifism and non-violence.  It therefore finds it difficult to comprehend the angry God of History who is such a central part of the bible.  There are also doubts about its value for developing an approach to gentrification. Gentrification does not fit into its small scale perspective.  Gentrification can be perceived at the micro level but it will thereby be misunderstood - if the analysis goes no further.

The absence of Liberation Theology

A feature of urban mission in the past ten years has been the engagement with theologies of liberation.  The really intriguing aspect of this engagement has been the failure of attempts to apply liberation theology to Britain's cities.  Many argue that this is inevitable because liberation theology has grown up in a different context and is therefore bound to be irrelevant to Britain.  This is a somewhat odd belief. Pentecostalism, for instance, is indigenous to North America but it has enjoyed tremendous success in Latin America and in Africa.  Religious movements are perfectly capable of crossing cultures and adapting themselves to new contexts without loosing their genius. Why then has liberation theology failed to take root in Britain given the enormous amount of interest shown in it?  Liberation theology gives an answer to the absence of justice, and therefore the absence of God, in the shanty towns and dictatorships of South America by proclaiming a God who is on the side of the poor.  It is able to tap a communal understanding of radical injustice and show God to be deeply and passionately interested in this situation.  The real problem with liberation theology in Britain is the inability to tap any such communal sense of fundamental injustice.  Even the poor in Britain do not share the same understanding of injustice.  They interpret life and society in terms of their own fears and grievances. So while liberation theology has proved non-transferable we do perhaps have lessons to learn from the way it touches people's hearts and relates God to their deepest needs.

Isaiah

Little people in a big world

My first reflections will be based in the book of Isaiah.  In it we have the record of prophecies directed at a small nation caught in the midst of imperial struggles.  This is a situation which urban people should have some affinity with - being little people in a big world.

Our plan's/God's plans

 

The Lord says; these people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.  Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.

Is 29 13-14

 

Here is a situation where there is a pretense of justice being done but, in reality, there is only the obeying of man-made rules.  The parallels with the modern city are clear. A show of civic responsibility is donned but in reality it is the rules of profit making which dominate.  This is particularly so with gentrification where image is so important and what appears to be is often more valued than what really is.

 

Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us?  Who will know?"  You turn things upside down as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!  Shall what is formed say to him that formed it "He did not make me"?  Can the pot say of the potter "He knows nothing"?

 

Is 29 14-15

 

This passage echoes much urban experience, many people are planning in secret, trying to hide their schemes from God and man.  They become obsessed with their own power and ability to 'kick ass'.  In fact such entrepreneurs are frequently seen as the key to urban renewal.  This passage, however, warns against pride and the attempt to become little gods by manipulating God's creation.

 

In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field seem like a forest?  In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.  Once more the humble will rejoice in the Lord; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.  The ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who have an eye for evil will be cut down - those who with a word make a man out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.

Is 29 17-21

 

Isaiah now goes on to contrast the scheming of man and their self-centred planning with the reality of God's plans for Israel.  God's plans are a reversal of human expectations "The deaf will hear the words and the eyes of the blind will see".  It will be the oppressed and the needy who rejoice. The ruthless and the mockers will disappear.  All wickedness shall be removed from the land.

 

In Isaiah's understanding of the world it is God's plans which are the reality, not man's.

 

In Isaiah we have many pictures of what God's plans would mean for humanity - they are all expressions of the shalom, or peace, of God.  Much has been written about this in recent years[3] so I will only give a few examples that are most relevant to our subject.

 

Is 5 8-13 'Woe to the property empires' (see also 32 9f)

Is 3 14-15 God judges the people for their oppression of the poor.

Is 32 18 God promises secure homes for all.

 

There is a graphic illustration of these principles in the story of Naboth and Ahab (1 Kings 2l).  Here Ahab, with the help of Jezebel, overcomes the resistance of Naboth to having his family inheritance - a vineyard, conveniently located near to the royal palace - compulsorily purchased by the crown.  The prophet Elijah, however, flying in the face of the wisdom of the day, challenges the king for flouting the shalom of God.

 

The Old Testament gives us a vision of a different reality.  That only makes our problem worse - we have a beautiful dream, an alternative perspective but is it practical? And if not practical is it worth struggling for?

Jesus

Jesus is where we must look to find the answer to our problem of who is in control of the world.

Jesus: The anger of God

I want to focus on one passage from the gospels which can give us a starting point from which to address the previously rehearsed dilemmas.

 

Another time He went into the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there.  Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched Him closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath.  Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand "Stand up in front of everyone."  Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"  But they remained silent.  He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."  He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.  Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Mark 3: l-6

 

Here we see Jesus being angry.  It is not a commonly acknowledged part of the Saviour's character, although perhaps nowadays we are getting more used to the idea of Jesus having emotions.  But what was Jesus angry about?  He was disturbed by a system of belief which prevented the doing of basic acts of mercy - a frustration common in the city.  Perhaps the best example is found in the social security system.  People are discouraged and often effectively prevented from working because of the ludicrous nature of our taxation system. This passage is not unique.  In fact it is randomly chosen from many similar passages in the gospels.  Perhaps the best known of these is Jesus' driving of the money changers from the temple.  Jesus' anger is a central part of the gospel record.  I would argue that this is far from insignificant but is in fact an expression of His father's longstanding anger at what had happened to his creation.  And it is not only an expression of His anger but the definitive expression of it.  God's anger required its incarnation in the prophetic person of Jesus in order to find satisfaction.  This may be odd and contentious ground but it seems to me that the anger of God in the Old Testament does have an ominous, unfinished feeling about it.  God is always threatening to come and sort out the world but never really gets round to it (Is 63.1-6).  The anger has a destructive edge to it which we do not find in Jesus, for in Jesus the anger of God becomes truly constructive.  The words of Isaiah come true in Jesus "He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets.  A bruised reed He will not break, and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out till He leads justice to victory."  Jesus expresses the anger of God but in a truly prophetic way so that it heals and renews and is not twisted into hate[4]. I believe that it is this anger of God which provides the starting point for a theology which can touch the hearts of urban people and lead them to prophetic action.  But anger is a dangerous emotion, one with which the church is still uncomfortable and something which will lead us into many tribulations.

Reflections on anger

This subject which we have opened up is a vast one which has not been much explored[5]. I offer below a few starting points from which the meaning of God's anger can be worked at.

 

1 Anger has probably only been used extensively, theologically speaking, in Black Theology.  Black Theology arose from the challenge of Black Power which itself arose from the anger and frustration experienced by blacks in the urban ghettos of North America. This anger provided the engine room for Black Theology.  Black Theology had a distinctively urban origin which encourages me to think that anger is an important starting point for urban theology[6]

 

2 Anger at injustice, not irritation at annoyances.  Anger is used to describe a range of emotions, what I would want to concentrate on is those expressions of anger which arise from a sense of injustice.  This is the nature of God's anger.  It is not a paternal annoyance at people being naughty and not saying their prayers, but is a deep seated anger at oppression, suffering and godlessness.  Of course much of our anger is trivial and rooted in our selfishness. Anger is also an untidy emotion which mixes up many things and can often blur our understanding.  This untidiness, however, makes it relevant to the urban scene.  Anger relates directly to people's experience. It is not dependent on expert analysis but engages the energies of ordinary people. 

 

3 Society's enlightened distrust of anger.  Our society distrusts anger, although not as much as it once did.  This distrust comes from the Enlightenment which emphasised the role of reason in controlling the emotions.  This distrust greatly affected the church as this quote from C.H.Dodd's, Commentary on Romans[7] shows: 

 

Romans l.l8 But God's anger is revealed from heaven.  The tense again is the continuous present.  A process is going on before our eyes - the revelation of the wrath of God.  I should prefer to keep the old translation here, because such an archaic phrase suits a thoroughly archaic idea.  To render it into the terms of ordinary intercourse is to bring the idea into a sphere to which it does not belong.   

 

Whatever theological points Dodd is making it is clear that he can not cope with the idea of God being angry. It just does not fit into his idea of what is proper.  Anger disturbs and disorientates respectable society in exactly the same way as the inner city disrupts the order of the well planned metropolis.

 

4 Communal not individual anger. Anger is too often seen only as a personal vice. If anger is shared it is likely to be more justifiable and more useful. Of course anger can lead communities into embittered frustration. There is no magic. Nonetheless every serpentine politician knows he is set for immortality if he can faithfully voice a community's anger.

 

5 Justification and the Wrath of God.  This is a vast subject which I can only barely touch on but it does illustrate why a theological understanding of anger is so important. In Romans we can see that the start of God's interaction with the present world is his anger (Rom 1.18).  If God was not angry He would have left the world to its own devices, for God's anger is how we experience God's love.  Love and anger are not opposites but complimentary.  God is by very nature love. But we would not know that love if His anger did not compel Him to enter the world to seek and save the lost.  In using anger to describe God's interaction with the world we are being much truer to biblical usage.  The Bible uses the concept of God's anger freely, without the embarrassment of our over rational and over precious modern culture.

 

God's anger can therefore be seen as the reply to the age old question of 'Why do the wicked prosper?'  God does not solve the problem of wickedness with a flick of the divine wand but shares with us the anger which is excited by a world gone out of control. Because anger is such a common experience in the inner city it provides a point of identification for urban people with God.  In particular we can now begin to make sense of the helpless anger which is often created by change sweeping over an area.  I would not wish to condone a hatred of incomers or developers but I would say that an anger at things happening above and beyond people's heads is godly.  This anger, however, is not necessarily constructive. It needs to take on the character of prophecy in order to become something which creates good and does not merely witness to evil.  In the next section I will go on to examine prophecy in more detail.

Jeremiah and Prophecy

Prophetic witness

Prophecy has become a popular subject for urban mission.  There are increasing calls for the church to take a prophetic stance on the issues of the day.  There is no doubt that prophecy has a crucial role to play in making God real in the inner city.  Prophecy, however, has its risks and should not be dabbled in without sensitivity.  To examine the nature of prophecy I want to use the model of Jeremiah.

 

You are always righteous O God, when I bring a case before you.  Yet I would speak with you about your justice: why does the way of the wicked prosper?  Why do all the faithless live at ease?  You have planted them, and they have taken route; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.  Yet you know me, O Lord; you see me and test my thoughts about you.  Drag them off like sheep to be butchered!  Set them apart for the day of slaughter!

Jeremiah 12: 1-3

 

In this passage we see a personal complaint by the prophet to God.  He is obviously intensely angry.  Not only with the wicked and faithless but also with God.  These sentiments are ones urban people can readily identify with, although they may not have quite the same godward devotion as Jeremiah.  God answers Jeremiah in the subsequent verses:

 

If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?  If you put your trust in a land of safety how will you manage in the flooding of the Jordan?  Your brothers, your own family - even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you.  Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.

Jeremiah 12: 5-6

 

This answer is not exactly comforting.  God seems to be telling Jeremiah to stop grumbling because things are not going to get any better, only worse.  This should make us slightly wary of being prophets!

 

Further warnings are given in Jeremiah 2: 5-8

 

This is what the Lord says: "What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed from me?  They did not ask, where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt ... I brought you into a fertile land to eat it's fruits and rich produce.  But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.  The priest did not ask, where is the Lord?  Those who deal with the law did not know me; the leaders rebelled against me.  The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.

 

God finds fault with Israel for failing to appreciate the land into which God has led them.  The situation is similar to the church in the city.  God has given the cities to us as a rich inheritance, but we scorn them and live in them otherwise than God desires.  The church has failed to ask 'Where is the Lord in the City?'.  We have assumed he is not there.  We try merely to keep the cities quiet, do some good works and look for God in the green and pleasant English countryside.

 

If this comparison is anywhere near fair then the church has problems in the city which require something more profound than a more efficient strategy or greater resources.

False prophets and the church

This leads on to a consideration of the essential subject of false prophets. Gentrification has encouraged false prophecy; creating sugar-coated visions of the city of the future - the truth of which are not important but only their capacity to generate profit.  These are the prophecies which predict a new quality of life; a new urban style on the decayed remains of a clapped-out city.  They ignore the realities of life for those who make way for the fulfillment of these prophecies but do not share in them.  In the shadow of these false prophecies, prophecy becomes a dangerous game.

 

Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble.  I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and his holy words.  The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.  Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness. ... among the prophets of Samaria I saw this repulsive thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray and among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: they commit adultery and live a lie.  They strengthen the hands of evil doers, so that no-one turns from his wickedness. ... do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes.  They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.  They keep saying to those who despise me, The Lord says: you will have peace.  But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word?  Who has listened and heard his word? ... the anger of the Lord will not turn back until He fully accomplishes the purposes of His heart.  In days to come you will understand it clearly. I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.

Jer23 9-21

 

This powerful passage begins with a description of Jeremiah's authentic prophetic experience.  The words of God in him are so powerful that they make him feel sick.  This is in contrast to the smooth and smiling words of the false prophets who promise that all shall be well.  The false prophets are characterised by:

 

1 Reliance on gods other than the Lord.

2 Moral laxness

3 Support for the wicked and their schemes

4 A failure to be directed solely by the word of the Lord.

 

False prophecy stirs up the anger of the Lord which will lead to the accomplishment of God's plans.

 

In the light of these damning indictments of false prophets Christians should perhaps be careful of presuming to take the role of prophets.  If we are to take on this role it must be, above all else, a vocation which comes from God and not something we choose for ourselves. There is much to suggest that it should be something which makes us uncomfortable.  Prophecy requires both a high moral standing which harmonizes with the best values of the day and the insight to ensure that it does not serve to bolster the interests of the unscrupulous and uncaring.

 

This use of prophecy can creatively develop anger.  It is able, without dimming its passion or losing itself in hate, to be used to confront gentrification and other urban realities from a genuinely Christian position.



[1] For instance see the book Adah Story Buchi Emecheta for which concerns the life of a poor mother in a crumbling tenement

 

Adah’s mind was full.  She wasn’t interested in the ladies’ problems…  she was worrying about her own problems.  What was God’s purpose in creating people like her?  To be born just to keep tasting bitterness and sorrow and simply watch other people get all the goodies. p162

[2] Elliott B & D. McCrone; The City – patterns of domination and conflict; The Macmillan Press 1982 p136

[3] Roger Dowley The Recovery Of A Loss Bequest

[4] But see the perpetuation of God’s anger in Revelation 15-16.  God’s anger can only be understood in the fullness of history

[5] But see Campbell AV The Gospel Of Anger London: SPCK 1986.  Theological reflections on anger with a pastoral emphasis see especially page 78 Cry Rage and Koyama K “The Wrath of God in a Culture Of Tranquillity” chapter nine in Waterbuffalo theology London SCM 1974.  Contrasts the Christian angry God with the tranquillity of Thai culture.  Anger means God is active in history

[6] See James Cone God of the Oppressed and also Song CS Theology from the Womb of Asia New York Orbis 1986.  He uses the word passion which is close in attitude to my discussions and anger while not using the word.

[7] Dodd CH The Epistle of Paul to the Romans Moffatt New Testament Commentaries London Fontana 1959.  Dodds characteristic inability to cope with the passionate is illustrated by his description of Revelations as ‘muddle headed fantasies’.  It is surely relevant that he started life as a classicist.