Sunday, August 12, 2007

‘Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing’

“Apart from me, you can do nothing,” Jesus said. I’ve proved the truth of that statement over and over, and if you’re honest, I think you’ll admit the same. I’ve always thought of this statement in regard to individuals, but it occurs to me that this statement is as true of cultures, societies and nations as it is of individuals.

Reading today about the widespread slavery in Mauritania, I couldn’t help but think that if only the people of that country knew Christ, things would be so different. As it is, the country seems about as messed up as I can imagine, and it has been so for hundreds of years.

Sociologist Kevin Bales, in his book “Disposable People,” describes all kinds of characteristics of Mauritania, some of which might even be humorous if they weren’t so sad. Examples: The country has only two paved roads, both of which were constructed by other states in an attempt at foreign aid. The country’s second-largest city and center for iron ore export has no roads connecting it to anywhere. To reach it, one must drive up the beach along the Atlantic ocean for 250 miles, waiting for the proper tides, etc. And slavery has been officially abolished in Mauritania, yet slaves are seen everywhere.

It should come as no surprise that European colonization played a role in messing up this country. Today, both the United States and France continue to help prop up a government that has no interest in actually ending slavery; the members of the ruling class are the slaveholders. The U.S. supports the government because it sees it as a hedge against Islamic fundamentalism.

Religion, however, does play a part in the slavery. “Slaves are taught that only if they obey their masters will they go to heaven,” Bales writes. “Deeply believing that God wants and expects them to be loyal to their masters, they reject freedom as wrong, even traitorous. To struggle for liberty, in their view, is to upset God’s natural order and put one’s very soul at risk (pages 106, 108).

Anyway, it seems as if just about everyone has had a hand in the mess that is Mauritania, and I just wonder how different things might be if the values of Jesus had been known by the Mauritanians or practiced by the Americans and Europeans who have dealt with the country. “If a man remains in me and I in him,” Jesus said, “he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5, NIV).

Nothing except to create despair and hopelessness.

No comments: