On 25 April at the House of Lords in Westminster, Baroness Sherlock introduced Home for Good’s new ‘God is Stranger’ initiative, based on a book authored by the founder of Home for Good, Krish Kandiah.
In 2015 a photograph went viral, trampling all other news in its wake, challenging us to question our perspectives and causing controversy. The highly disputed Amazon dress (was it blue and black or was it white and gold? – people saw it very differently) beautifully illustrates the internal influence of the Holy Spirit within human beings.
Intimate connections
Krish used this as an example to introduce his audience to the intimate connection between God and strangers. We were all stood there looking at the same picture, but because of something internal to us, we were processing it differently to our neighbour. ‘That’s what the gospel means; that’s what theology means, that’s what the Holy Spirit does, that’s what the renewing of the mind means… You’re looking at the same reality as everybody else on the planet, and yet because of something internal to you, you see something different.’
Syrian boy’s body
In the same year, another photograph was released. It was an image that struck and sobered the world. The image of Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy whose body was found washed up on a Mediterranean beach. Prior to the image’s release, the UK had declared that its borders would remain up and that the country would not be taking in any refugees. However, this image changed things. The country and its leaders could no longer dismiss these people as a ‘plague’ or a ‘swarm’, because this supposed ‘threat’ was humanised; the image made the crisis personal.
Biblical accountability
Krish challenged and explored our perspectives in the light of Scripture. The gathering held at the House of Lords was presented with an uncompromising, honest understanding of some of the difficult parts of biblical accountability – mainly referring to Matthew 25.31-46, wherein there is a theo-logically and personally difficult aspect to be grasped. That is, that these verses do not sound like salvation by faith. However, in discerning between correlation and causation Krish put it this way: ‘We are not saved by our good works (Ephesians 8 & 10). You were saved for your good works; God rescued you so that you’d become more like Jesus.’ Krish aims to ‘replace a simplistic, domesticated, anaemic, fridge-magnet understanding of God with a more fierce, awe-inspiring and majestic God that is true to the Bible and big enough for the whole of our lives.’
Choose love over fear
‘God is Stranger’ invites its audience to choose love over fear and is a frighteningly relevant book with a message that stretches beyond the Christian audience; it deals with a subject that everybody is talking about on a daily basis. It seeks to encourage a deeper level of personal and corporate engagement with vulnerable children and the refugee crisis.
Thousands wait to be adopted
The UK church is well positioned to fulfil its role in modelling the kind of care and support networks necessary for these young, vulnerable children. There are currently thousands waiting for an adoptive family. Those over the age of four, sibling groups, children with additional needs and those from minority ethnic backgrounds are among those who wait the longest for forever families.
There is also a growing need for new fos-terers to care for the increasing number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children entering the UK. Home for Good believes ‘the UK church is ideally placed to respond to meet this need’. The foundational values upon which Christendom is established can be modelled by the united church’s activity in these issues. As individuals and families are opening their hearts and their homes, the united church can echo God’s heart of love, care and compassion for those most vulnerable by being a community of support.
