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The Kindness of God: Christian witness in our troubled world

Reviewed by Terry Hinks.

This is an impressive and courageous book on many different levels. It arose out of a series of lectures David Smith gave at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria in Jos, a place where the tensions and divisions between Christians and Muslims run deep and have had violent consequences. Simply giving the lectures was a courageous act, but their tone is more courageous too, with their recognition of past mistakes and tragedies in Christian mission among Muslim communities. 

Drawing on the work of Leslie Newbigin, David Smith identifies the three great factors competing for human allegiance as the gospel, the free market and Islam. He goes on to echo Newbigin by regarding the ideology of the free market as the greatest missionary challenge of our times. This is “no neutral economic theory, but a world view which defines people in term of what they possess and consume” as well as resulting in huge injustices and inequalities. Christianity too easily sold out to this picture of Western civilisation and needs to reconnect with its radical biblical roots.

He notes that the mission of the Church has been hampered by the identification of the Christian faith with this free market ‘Western’ ideology, with insensitive and arrogant missionary work often carrying so much cultural baggage that it became in effect the advance guard of Western ‘globalization’. The key to good missionary work is to recognise that the gospel is not about imposing one culture on another, but allowing the gospel to speak to all cultures. Drawing on the story of Acts and the writing of Paul, he notes how the gospel needs to be translated for the sake of clarity and contextualised to enable it to be lived out in each different culture. Christianity is “not tied to a single culture or language, nor does it depend on one, sacred geographical centre”. One of the biggest challenges for the whole Church he notes is, “how can we contextualise the gospel in relation to the culture of globalisation?”

As he explores this he draws on some fascinating examples of sensitive Christian work among Muslims and at the end of the book from conversations with Christians from South Africa and Nigeria. He also provides a powerful reading of Paul’s letter to the Romans, recognising the oppressive urban context of first century Rome. Within this, he takes up Paul’s phrase about “the kindness and sternness of God” (11:22) recognising that kindness is the abiding heart of God. He sees the letter as “a profound challenge to the existing order” (the huge injustices and idolatries of the empire) arising from the vision of God and the gospel of the crucified Christ as Lord and Saviour – as such it can speak to our situation and times. I wholeheartedly recommend this book, as we reflect on our witness in our troubled world.