harvey kwiyani writes a weekly substack reflecting on mission and migration. i always enjoy reading it. do subscribe. he has a book coming out in august called decolonising mission that i am looking forward to. harvey leads the african christianity route through our ma.

he is currently writing a series on mission and the empire of the usa and how evangelicals alignment with MAGA will affect the world of missions. it kicked off with a post we have a new constantine how will mission change? which caused a splash and generated a response from ted esler (i should add i am not in the loop on american evangelicals and mission so have no idea who he is). I found it mind boggling because it presents a view that us foreign policy is taking a peace first approach and is not a new form of imperialism. well harvey politely takes that argument apart and sums it up rather nicely –

if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck then it probably is a duck!

he is inviting a different awareness and conversation, which is a very important one in my view. in his second response he explores the relationship between imperial violence and mission. this of course happened with the british empire. i work for a mission organisation so this interrogation is extremely close to home and significant. harvey says

I am interested in the intersection between mission and imperialism because empires have always achieved their peace by means of violence or, where possible, a threat thereof, while the peace of Christ often leads people to resist empires and their powers.

it this point that the way of christ resists empire that i have always understood to be at the heart of the matter, harvey concludes by saying beware the gospel of empire – indeed. it reminded me of bruce cockburn’s song gospel of bondage.

harvey’s third response is wonderful – either jesus or caeser never both. he suggests that

the gospel of Christ is good news because it sets people free from the yokes of empires, like Rome

i was reminded by harvey in a student newsletter that the chief priests declare ‘we have no king but caesar’ (john 19:15) when jesus is on trial and they want him killed. so the notion of collusion with the powers that be is nothing new. where all of this is headed is to say mission has to be different, freed from its western captivity and set free. of course! we have been talking about this for some time now. and of course there are theological traditions that are very much on this page, but what interested me about harvey’s pieces were him engaging evangelicals in the usa in this conversation around missions.

anyway do go read for yourself. it’s good stuff and important. thank you harvey!