Social movements and ministry of the Church
- Part 1 -

Benjamin Gondaimei *

A Church in Ukhrul

Introduction:

It is vital to know how Christian faith functions in the society. Religion formulates the core value of our society, through the system of belief, values, symbols and practices giving meaning to the individual, to groups, to society and the cosmos. People struggle for liberation, dignity, peace and harmony operates through the social system being inspired by the religious tradition and values. Upholding of Social Gospel and the Kingdom Values is by virtue the ministry which aims at giving wholeness to the people. In this paper an attempt is made to see how social movements and Christian ministry are correlated and functions in the same direction.

1). Social Movement:

The appearance of Social movement in the literature of the European came into being in 19th century in the context of industrial capitalism. It pointed towards the social phenomenon of emancipation of the exploited classes in general and the industrial proletariat in particular. H. Blumer defines social movements as collective behaviour to establish a new order of life, campaign in support of a social goal, typically either the implementation or the prevention of a change in society's structure or values.

Although social movements differ in size, they are all essentially collective. That is, they result from the more or less spontaneous coming together of people whose relationships are not defined by rules and procedures but who merely share a common outlook on society. There is no consensus on the exact meaning and content of social movements.

Social movements in India are complex and distinct in character, Peasant movement, Dalit movement, Women's movement, etc. Different ideological streams like socialists, Gandhians, Marxists, Phule-Ambedkarite, Dalit ideologies and Feminist have inspired this kind of movement. Social movement challenge basic assumptions underlying present policies that relate to aspect of political and social structures. These movements develop a new type of intervention in the political process which aims at empowering people, pushing alternative policies from below rather than conquering power in the state.

Social movements cover a very wide and big scope, and promote the interest and rights of the different groups of people like agricultural workers, peasants/farmers, tribals, women, dalits, students, backward caste/classes, ethnic, linguistic and religious groups, and emphasize the need for change in areas like caste, class, gender, environment-ecology, health, science, technology, human rights, civil liberties, peace, arms race etc.

1). a. Jesus Movement:

Christianity in the earliest days started as a renewal movement within Judaism, known as Jesus Movement. Hellenistic Christianity developed predominantly outside Palestine, whereas Jesus movement was a Palestinian phenomenon which spilled over into the neighbouring region of Syria and became a particular form of Christianity, Jewish Christianity, after AD 70. The movement that originated around Jesus must have suffered a traumatic setback with his death.

Not so much that a Messiah couldn't die, but that nothing happened. The kingdom didn't arrive immediately as they might have expected. For a while we don't know what happened to the followers of Jesus. They apparently scattered, but not too long thereafter it seems that they came to the conviction that something had happened. Something that did change their perspective on who Jesus was and what he would mean for the future of the movement, and this is what we know as the resurrection. Now it's not clear what happened in the resurrection.

We don't know exactly how it occurred but what we do know that the followers of Jesus were absolutely convinced that he had been raised from the dead and had been taken away into heaven as a vindication of his messianic identity. He was the crucified and risen Lord.... The resurrection story brings a different perspective to the understanding of Jesus.

If he thought of himself as a prophet, as a messenger of God, that changes when he himself is raised by God from the dead. He is now someone vindicated, and it's really the belief in the resurrection experience that leads the disciples to come to think of Jesus as somehow more than just a prophet. As the Messiah himself. He is the one who has been vindicated by God by being exalted into heaven as son of God.

It's probably in these early days after the death of Jesus that the movement really starts to reorganize around his memory... it's probably very much dependent upon this growing understanding that he had been raised from the dead. It seems to have circulated very quickly among his followers, but the earliest form of the movement is still thoroughly a sect within Judaism. He is a Jewish Messiah. They are followers of a Jewish apocalyptic tradition. They are expecting the coming of the kingdom of God on earth.

It's a Jewish movement. The earliest forms of the Jesus movement then are probably small, sectarian groups. At least one of them seems to be based in Jerusalem but there may be others as well spread throughout the countryside. In all probability there's at least one or more in the Galilee as well. So we have to think of the earliest days of the Jesus movement as really small pockets of sectarian activity all focused on this identity of Jesus as the Messiah.

Now who were the members of these earliest groups? It's hard to know in all the cases. We know a few names largely from the New Testament itself. At Jerusalem it seems to be James, the brother of Jesus, who was the leader of the group for a whole generation thereafter. We hear of other people. There's a woman by the name of Mary. There are others in the Jerusalem congregation as well including Peter and some of the other original disciples of Jesus, but beyond that we know very few names and they have to be very small convacles of people still holding on tightly to their beliefs and expectations while at the same time continuing in their Jewish tradition.

One of the earliest indications that we have of the Jesus movement is what we tend to call "wandering charismatics," traveling preachers and prophets, who go on saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand, continuing the legacy of Jesus' own preaching, apparently. They travel around with no money and no extra clothes. So, they are supposed to perform miracles and heal the sick for free but they apparently begged for food. This is a different picture of the earliest form of the Jesus movement than what we've come to expect from the pages of the New Testament and yet, it's within the tradition, itself.

The works in the Jesus Movement comes with a picture of healing the sick, helping the widow, orphans, ministry with the prostitutes and people with deathly deseases, the downtrodden, liberating the captives, fighting the corrupted system of the local government, seeing the needs of the local communities. Today we need a social reconstruction like that of the Jesus community, even though in the present context it is only of the secular sphere coinciding with war, conflicts, working for the rape victims, HIV/AIDS infected people, orphanage, children and widow home, organisation involved for the prostitutes, ecology, fighting for the displaced and marginalised groups of people, climate change and war refugees etc which the present days social movements and people's movement are fighting for which is reflected through Jesus movement of the Early Christianity.

We also face the ruthless state power and devastating international policies and we need to face each other and ourselves. Social movement has to be seen through the theory of relative deprivation, for it highlights their change-orientation and conflictual nature. Conflictual nature refers to both objective of a group of people in the terms of rights and privileges, values and norms, and the perception of the leaders about their ability to remedy the situation through collective mobilization.

It also be noted that deprivation in the religious sphere are as important as those in the sphere of economics, education, and politics. Social movements have their inception in a condition of unrest, and derive their motive power on the one hand from dissatisfaction with the current form of life, and on the other hand from wishes and hopes for a new scheme or system of living.

Similarly social movements mobilize people against deprivation and for survival and identity. Their motivation and driving force is a deep sense of justice/injustice it does carry a strong moral component. Today Indian context provides a green ground for mission and ministry through social movement.

Factors like economic, ecological, political and cultural factors cannot be separated from their reciprocal interaction. The function of religion can contribute in varieties of ways towards fulfilling the aims of a society, namely in achieving the integration of its members and overcoming conflicts through change. Religion can be social cement and an impulse towards renewal.

To be continued...