Dear Editor,

It is undeniable that many nations are stifled by unprecedented social challenges that pose a threat to the church’s spirituality and its mission of national transformation through preaching the Gospel. This threat has to do with a shift in people’s focus from spiritual matters to socio-economic concerns. When people within a nation become more concerned about their socio-economic survival, conventional one-dimensional spiritual and discipleship issues become less palatable and attractive to them.

Abraham Maslow has articulated a theory of human survival based on the fulfilment of core needs on different levels. In his hierarchy of needs, Maslow demonstrates that whenever people’s basic requirements are not met, they are unable to focus on other essentials on the ladder of needs. In his hierarchy, physiological needs form the foundation of human existence and of the other requirements. When these basic needs are met, then people begin to focus on their safety needs.

The next level of needs has to do with love and belongingness. At this level, with all their lower-level safety needs met, humans are able to zero in on and explore being loved and belonging to a community. Maslow explains further that self-esteem is brought into sharp focus after love and belongingness needs are met. When the need for esteem is fulfilled, the final level of needs is realised. This is called self-actualisation, which incorporates issues of spirituality. It seems, therefore, that many will not be able to give much thought to spirituality if their foundational needs are not met.

Jesus demonstrated in the Gospels that spirituality should be emphasised and discipleship done in a situation of socio-economic provision. In many of the accounts of Jesus’s attempts at raising the spiritual awareness of his followers, we read about his concern for and steps to deal with their physiological needs.

The Gospel accounts of the feeding of the 4000 and the 5000 are indicative of this socio-economic element of transformative discipleship and Christian spirituality. This speaks to the significance of planning for and addressing the socio-economic needs of people within and without the church with a view to facilitating a holistic spiritualty and a discipleship of mind, spirit, and body.

Rev Earlmont Williams

earlmontwilliams@gmail.com