I have a confession to make. It's not that I have done anything illegal or even grossly immoral. It's just that sometimes I question my role.
You see, I work as a psychologist down in the East End of London. That place where the soap opera comes from - except there aren't any cameras. It is not a lack of work that is my problem, there has always been plenty of that. Nor do I question the effectiveness of psychology in helping many of the people I meet.
It is more the notion that my role is made necessary not just by the psychological make-up of my clients but by the society in which they live.
Marriage and crime
Take marriage counselling for example. (I do quite a lot of that.) As a Christian, I believe in marriage. I want to help people hold their marriages together. But the factors that put stress on a marriage are not necessarily of a couple's choosing. There is unemployment. Very few people choose to be unemployed, but it can place all sorts of stresses and strains on a marriage. If the unemployed person also has a lack of education or training they may also have to face up to the depressing prospect of joining the 'long-term unemployed'. Knowing that your children are also receiving an inadequate education and may face a future similar to your own doesn't help either. So what am I to do? I firmly believe that counselling does help many couples, but often what is really needed is a job. Unfortunately job creation was not part of my training as a psychologist.
Or take crime as another example. I often see people who have been the victims of assault or robbery. Again psychological intervention can and does help as they slowly try to rebuild their lives. But if I ask myself what the community really needs, the answer is not more therapy but less crime. OK, so I don't actually commit robberies or assaults myself but what can I do to prevent others from doing so? Psychologists are not police officers and we are not politicians either. Then there are the problems of homelessness, alcohol and drug dependency, domestic violence - the list goes on. In each case, I am convinced that we need a solution that is wider than my profession alone can provide. And so, my sense of frustration.
Sharing the gospel
Of course for me, my commitment to psychology is only part of my commitment to Christ. I became a psychologist as a way of serving Christ. But there should be more to my Christian life than my profession. So is there anything else that I can do as a Christian to help address these issues? Sharing the gospel is an obvious answer. Christians are less likely to commit crime (although there are no guarantees!) but Christian marriages can still come under strain from unemployment. Perhaps when we consider matters of evangelism and social action, what we need is not an 'either or' debate but a plan of action which incorporates both.
So what should our social action be trying to achieve? More employment would certainly help. A job can not only affect a person's financial situation but how they think of themselves and how they relate to others. Every time a new job is created, a whole network of relationships is altered. It has been fashionable in the past to see a link between poverty and crime. That may be so. The poor do seem to commit more crime (although it may be that the rich just get away with it more often!). What is more likely to be the case is that where there is a large disparity between the richest and poorest citizens, there is more crime. By creating, or at least preserving, meaningful employment, we help to narrow that gap. And we do a lot for human dignity. What can we as Christians do to achieve this?
Allow me to offer a few suggestions:
1. Prayer. I do believe that whatever we may consider doing, be it evangelism or social action, we need to start by acknowledging God's sovereignty and asking for his wisdom and protection.
2. Start your own programme of job creation. This may not be as difficult as it sounds! Take shopping for example. Generally speaking, small shops are more labour intensive than large supermarkets. Yes, I know they charge more but they do preserve jobs. And, being small, they are places where relationships can develop and relationships, as we know, can be a basis for evangelism. For some of us, it might also be useful to ask how many of the jobs we currently do around the house ourselves (or ought to do but don't!) could provide useful paid employment for others.
3. Consider a graduated tithe. I believe that all Christians should tithe, but if those of us who earn more than the average gave more than the usual 10% (say 20% or 30% or more), it would have some interesting results. First, it would make us materially poorer than we are now. That may not sound like a very exciting suggestion, but it would help reduce the disparity between the richest and the poorest in the community. Second, it would provide more resources for Christian mission, and third, it would help create jobs - at least in the 'Christian' sector of the economy.
4. Adopt a church. For those who are giving more than the 'normal' tithe, ever thought of giving the extra money to a church poorer than yours? Again, it would help address the gap between the rich and poor and its effect on Christian mission could be good as well.
So, there is my confession. As well as some of my thoughts and ideas and ramblings. But it is time to stop all this talk about social justice and the disparity between rich and poor. It's time for my Bible study. Now, where am I up to? The latter half of Luke 16 I think ...
John Steley is a psychologist in East London and a member of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate.
