The book is about bodies. Both the bodies mutilated and killed in the genocide to the Body of Christ. Nearly a million people were killed in a hundred days in Rwanda in 1994. The tragic fact is that Rwanda was a “Christian nation,” consisting of 90% professing Christians. What makes the Rwanda genocide unique is that the killings were so intimate. Neighbor killed neighbor and those sharing communion were also killed by those attending the same congregation.
The genocide in Rwanda raises questions for all Christians world-wide and the event is a mirror to the Church, particularly in the west. Rwanda raises the question of identity>> who am I? Am I white, black, American, African, Hutu or Tutsi? If so how is this rated to my identity as a Christian? How do they relate, how are they different? These are some o the questions raised in this great, great book. The event in Rwanda has become a mirror to the church in the world The author suggests that the crisis of Western Christianity is reflected back to the church in the broken bodies of Rwanda (p13).
“In Africa as in America, there is a multitude of powers and stories that try to define who we are: the color of our skin, the nation of our birth, the history of our culture, or the charcteristics of our tribe. But when I baptize someone into the church of Jesus Christ, I see That God is making a claim on their bodies. Are they still black? Are they still white? Are they still Rwandan? Are they still American? Perhaps. But there is a real sense in which our identity gets confused (mixed up) with Christ’s identity in baptism. Who we are becomes (or at least ought to become) confused and confusing to others” (pp17-18).
In 1994, Christians every where went to church the week of Easter. They took communion together and heard the command to love God and their neighbor. By next Sunday, church members were killing each other. Up to this point Rwanda was the model of evangelization in Africa. Nowhere else on the continent was Christianity so well received. It was a battle between Hutu’s a Tutsis. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray said that the “blood of tribalism is deeper than the waters of baptism.”
The author mentions that he sees many missionaries and short-terms going to Africa just about every time he visits. “These Christians are not just going to tell people about Jesus. They are going to educate people about AIDS, dig wells, teach children, and help start small businesses. The enthusiastic Christians are doing great work. But sometimes I am troubled by their assumption. I worry they do not see how Africa’s problems are tied up with the problems of the West> But even more, I worry that by operating under the assumption that they are going to “save Africa,” they miss the fact that Christian mission is not so much about delivering aid or services as it is about the transformation of identity” (p23).
“Rwanda can help the church in the West see itself more clearly. We can never begin to imagine a new future for ourselves until we find ways to remember ourselves differently. Our mission is to become a new community that bears witness to the fact that in Christ there is a new identity. It is only being such a unique people from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9) that we can both name and resist the spells that would have us live as tribalized people” (p25).
In chapter two the author tells what happened. He explains the genocide a bit as well as looks at the history of a few other genocides in the past (the first genocide in modern history was the eradication of Native Americans by European settlers in current day USA (p.38). He also talked about how the West abandoned Rwanda when everything was going down… “But Rwanda in 1994 exposed how shallow that commitment can be. When Western countries can make themselves feel good about their virtue by offering “relief” to others, they will do it. But when help calls for sacrifice, as it did in 1994, the West seems to prefer sacrificing Africa to putting any of its own resources or people at risk. Western Christians abandoned Rwandan Christians again in the name of a higher loyalty that claimed their allegiance. In the face of these different levels of betrayal, we begin to see the extent to which the blood of tribalism in its many forms runs deeper than the waters of baptism. That is what the Rwanda genocide exposes and puts before us as a mirror” (pp44-5).
Chapter three is an important one. In it he tells the story that made Rwanda. He shows how Rwandans became people who were willing to kill one another because of a story they were first told by Europeans and later learned to tell themselves. The author shows how we become the people we are because of the stores we tell ourselves (p.52). “Rather than questioning, resisting, and interrupting the formation of identity through racial, economic, and national categories, Christianity so often affirms, intensifies, and radiates these identities. When this happens, Christianity becomes little more than a thin veneer over what we imagine our natural identity to be” (p.53).
One of the problems of those in the church was that they were not able to re-imagine a new story, other than the one they were told. After looking at Romans 12 (Do not conform to the patterns of this world), the author writes, “But before we can start serving God with our bodies, our minds must change. They have to be made new, says Paul. Again, our deepest problem is our poverty of imagination. So our transformation must begin with the renewal of our minds. And that is what the Christian story is about—- offering a fresh lens through which to see ourselves, others, and the world. In the process, Christianity is meant to shape a new identity within us by creating a new sense of we—a new community that defies our usually categories of anthropology” (p.69)
In chapter four the author explores the stories that form those living in the West. It is a very powerful in that he has lived in the States for many years and yet still has an outsider view of “our reality.” He gives us a very important perspective into the stories that form us.
In order to not conform to the patterns of this world, we need to be aware of what those patterns actually are. Too often those patterns are so natural to us that we find them normal and do not see the need for non-conformity. Katongole suggests that in order to do this we need to overcome two silences… The first is the silence about history. “As we seek to understand the stories that shape us, it is important to name the silence of history in so many of the stories we tell. Gang violence didn’t “just happen” in US cities. The war on terror didn’t just happen. There is a history that we have to account for. When we don’t, it is easy to assume that things such as tribe, race, and terrorism are natural, or simply the way things are” (p.77).
The other silence is the silence of geography. “Almost anyone who talks about the Rwandan genocide in the West assumes that it was an isolated event. It happened over there. It happened in a place completely unlike the ones we know. This is the silence of geography” (p77).
The author states that Americans sing the national anthem, salute the flag, and pay taxes without much thought. These things did not appear in a vacuum. A couple of our stories: He looks at Leviathan by Thomas Hobbs>> this is a classic work of political theory in USA. In it we are taught that humans are in a state of nature, “each living independently of everyone else, acting only in his or her self-interest, without regards for others… What is significant in Thomas Hobb’s story is not only the assumption that human beings are driven by self-interest and united only by mutual contract. His story also assumes that the only relationship between those who belong to one sovereignty and those who do not, is that of a state of war” (p.81). This is one of the reasons the US does not have a problem mobilizing citizens to war to defend their “interests.” “It does not matter whether these citizens are Christians or not, or whether in so doing they will be killing other Christians. The story of national sovereignty runs far deeper than any bonds that Christians in one country share with Christians of another country” (p.82). Our national identity is so strong that Christians are willing to kill Christians (in other countries), and this is just “the way things are.”
Another influential story in the American way of life is “The Wealth of the Nations” by Adam Smith. It is through this story that our economic institutions have been established and maintained. Adam Smith stated that everyone is in a competition for a limited supply of resources. “This meant that the strongest and best survived through a natural process, thus producing the best society possible. There was no need to correct for economic injustices, Smith said. An “invisible hand,” like Mother Nature, would take care of that. Each person simply needed to do his or her best to climb towards the light in order to achieve the best possible human society” (p.83).
“When we probe the foundational stories of Western society, their assumption seem to be quite anti-Christian. The story that makes the West is very much the “pattern of this world (Rm 12:2) that binds us. Failing to see it, we live our lives according to its script. A story that assumes we are selfish and self-interested people gives rise t institutions based on that assumption. These institutions of society in turn form us into selfish and self-interested people” (p.84).
Maybe the deepest tragedy in the Rwandan genocide was that Christianity did not make a difference. People, Christians, killed each other. They followed the script that was handed to them through their stories, and they did not have the imagination to live a different reality. Now the question must be asked, “does Christianity make any real difference in the West?” “The question is not so much whether Jesus’ message has been proclaimed in all the earth. The real question is, what difference has the gospel made in people’s lives” (p.85)?
“The church has learned and practiced ways of reading Scripture and worshiping God that prevent the gospel from making a difference in our lives” (p.89). In Chapter five the author explores three “postures” of Christianity without-consequence. “We need to understand where and how our ways of reading Scripture are held captive by the pattern of this world if we are to experience the freedom of another way. But it is not enough to understand the problem. We must learn a posture that allows us to hear the good news of Jesus and believe it in the world” (p.89).
IN chapter five the author states, “That Rwanda, the most thoroughly evangelized country in Africa, was the site of an unimaginable genocide is a sign that we have to rethink the notion of a “Christian nation.” (p.93) What should Christian mission look like after the genocide, and how should the church engage in the social system? The author suggests that there are three main ways in which Christianity has positioned itself vis-à-vis the dominant story of Rwanda. (A look at three postures)
1) The Pious Posture:
Mark 15-21>> Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus’ cross (p98)>> “Simon never stops to ask why Jesus is being crucified. He des not question the twisted authority that would kill the Author of life. No, Simon’s pious posture prevents him from seeing that there are times when we are called to stand up against injustice and not bow to earthly authorities. Simon carried the cross obediently.”
>> Rwandans were obedient people, when the government said kill they would. The Hutu’s did as they were told, and they did not challenge the “Hutu Power” that commanded them to kill. Christians in the West assume the pious posture when relating to political authority. This posture assumes that the gospel is primarily a spiritual message directed toward the hearts of individual women and men (p.99).
2) The Political Posture
John 18:19-22>> Jesus was slapped in the face and asked if this is the way you answer the high priest?
Though it was a political decision to have Jesus crucified, the religious leaders were a part of that decision. “Notice how the guard defends the power of the high priest. He believes in a religious faith that is politically engaged, and he is deeply offended when Jesus does not respect the recognized authority” (p.102). >> the temple guard demonstrates the cardinal virtue: loyalty. Many Rwanda’s were loyal to the governing authorities, and such loyalty lead them to actively participate in the genocide.
In the West many hold this posture and assume the tenets of democracy uncritically. “The role of the church, they say, is to ensure the spread of democratic capitalism for the good of the whole world” (p.103). They also become offended, just as the temple guard was, when anyone challenges the authority. “Stressing the virtues of loyalty and responsibility, the political posture does not push the church to imagine possibilities beyond those the ruling authorities name” (p.104).
3) The Pastoral Posture
John 19:38-42>> Joseph of Arimathia>> took Jesus from the cross but we do not hear him ask, “Who did this to our Lord? We do not hear the question, “Why” They are a perfect example of what I call the pastoral posture” (p.106). Many Christians have good intention, want to serve, but we do not asked the larger questions of why? We do not look at the cause of the injustice>> as the good Samaritan we take care of the wounded but we do not ask about the dangerous condition of the road. “What we do not see as clearly, however, is how a military chaplain blesses unjust wars while baptizing traumatized soldiers or how a ministry to the homeless accepts the economic assumptions of a system that continues to make people poor. Our pastoral posture trains us to meet the immediate needs of people without asking too many questions” (p.108).
Is there another way?
The gospel message has spread throughout the world, but the pressing question to the Church is whether or not Christianity is making a difference in the world? What difference does Jesus make when our president names other people “our” enemy? What difference does Jesus make when nations go to war? What difference does Church membership make when government authorities tell us what is good and what is bad? What difference does a personal relationship with Jesus make when advertisers tell us what we should desire? What difference does the Bible make when the market tells us what is a good investment of our time and resources? (p.109).
“Rwanda has pushed global Christianity to a breaking point. It is not enough to re-evangelize Rwanda with the same postures of social engagement that were offered in the past. Rwanda has exposed the hidden lies of Christendom. But it has also revealed our shared need for a new way to live as Christians in the world. It is not enough to be pious, to be safe and obedient, or to be compassionate and kind. The church in Rwanda did not lack any of these. Much more is at stake if we are to reclaim the lordship of Christ and live as ambassadors of God’s new creation in the world” (p.110)
Jesus established a new way= the kingdom of God>> which challenges the basic patterns of this world.
Interruptions (chapter 6)
Matthew 26:13>> Mary M anoints JC’s feet and this act will be told wherever the gospel is preached.
The Prophetic Posture
“Mary assumes a prophetic posture and anoints Jesus to be king of her people. She has not been given the authority to do this. Jesus’ name isn’t on the ballot (and besides, even if it were, she doesn’t have a vote). But Mary dares to question the social, economic, and political assumptions of her day with a single act. She is crazy enough to interrupt”
“I believe Mary represents the “rebel consciousness” that is essential to Jesus’ gospel. Wherever the gospel is preached, we must remember that its good news will make you crazy. The good news of God’s kingdom will force you to question social norms. Jesus will put you at odds with the economic and political systems of our world. This gospel will force you to act, interrupting the world as it is in ways that make even pious people indignant.” (p.116)
Ministry at the margins
In the pastoral posture we see ourselves as minister to the margins>> as bridge people delivering resources from the generous and powerful to the less fortunate. This means that we do not often turn around in our places of ministry to reimagine the world from the margins. “In our attempts to remain relevant, we keep a constant eye on our Blackberry to get the latest news from Washington” (p.125).
The prophetic posture calls us to relocate and to see ourselves as resident aliens. We live in the world, but we are not of the world. We create wild spaces that redefine the good, the norm. “In the end, there is an abundance in the wild space that is created by Jesus. But it is an abundance of broken pieces. The new reality made possible in wild spaces is not about creating the ideal conditions for a new society. Jesus doesn’t tuen five thousand stones into whole loaves so that each man can have one for his family. No, the multiplication is in the fragments. God offers us new possibilities as we trust Jesus and begin to work with the fragments where we are” (p.142)
“The church’s primary purpose is not to make America more Christian, but to make American Christians less American and Rwandan Christians less Rwandan. We are no longer Rwandans or Americans, neither Hutu nor Tutsi. If we are in Christ, we have become part of a new creation” (p.156)
