It is undeniable that many nations on earth today are stifled by unprecedented social challenges that pose a threat to the Church’s spirituality and its mission of disciple-making with the aim of national transformation. This threat has to do with a shift in people’s focus from spiritual matters to socio-economic concerns. When persons 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 needs are not met they are unable to focus on other needs on the ladder of needs. In his hierarchy, physiological needs form the foundation of human existence and of the other needs. 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 realized. This is called self-actualization, 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 emphasized and discipleship done in a situation of socio-economic provision. In many of the accounts of Jesus’ attempts at discipling others and raising their spiritual awareness, we read about his concern for and steps to deal with their physiological needs. The Gospel accounts of the feeding of the four thousand and the five thousand 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 persons within and without the Church with a view to facilitating a wholistic spiritualty and a discipleship of mind, spirit, and body.
