Vista 41: Borders are back
A friend of Jim Memory’s recently got stuck at a border because he didn’t have a visa. For Jim the border barely existed, yet for his friend it was real and immutable. His pleading fell on deaf ears, and he had to change his flight.
For many years, mission has benefitted from a “borderless Europe”, a Common Travel Area that has permitted frictionless movement between many countries. Yet the 2015 refugee crisis, Brexit, Covid19, and now the Ukraine War, show that borders are back. This issue of Vista reflects on that reality.
Evert van de Poll reviews the fundamental concepts of borders in Europe today and our differing attitudes to them, how they divide yet also protect, and provide places of encounter. Harvey Kwiyani considers the importance of the Jewish diaspora for the mission of the early church to the nations and reflecting on the war in Ukraine, Johannes Reimer challenges the church to live up to its calling to peace and reconciliation. Eddie Arthur writes about the challenge of linguistic borders, and Sally Mann considers the concept of “shibboleth” in Judges 12 and observes how we too use cultural and linguistic markers to politicise difference and establish borders between “us” and “others” in Europe today, and how the gospel can overcome it.
“For God’s word is not chained” (2 Tim. 2:9) and no border can stop the Good News of Jesus.