Jim Punton   -   his life and influence

Some quotes from Jim's writings and talks

Institutional sin
...we consistently refuse to look seriously at the relationship between personal sin and environmental and institutional sin...we have to work...to change society and to eradicate the measure of sin within it.
Grassroots magazine 1982

Injustice
As Christians, are we prepared, by non-violent means, to find ways of challenging the system and make it more just?
There is injustice in out economic policies, whereby certain sections of our society become poorer, while others become richer.
Grassroots magazine 1982

The system
We've lost the understanding that to take up the cross was something that was only done by those who were seen as social subversives who must be put to death before they destroyed the system.
Greenbelt 1979 "The Kingdom and the System"

Shalom
  a word used again and again in the Bible of God’s intention for a neighbourhood, a community, a society, where each matters, is treasured, belongs and is valued.

"The Messiah People", Hot Iron Press, published 1993

Shalom
  There is no shalom in a society of injustice. There is no shalom in a society where racism prevails. There is no shalom in a society of elitism and privilege and of the kind of unequal distribution of wealth that means that some people are living in dire poverty. while others live it up on beds of ivory. And this is a message that we are not proclaiming today. The prophets did, Jesus did, the apostles did, but we have fallen silent because we as God's people today are implicated in injustice. ... We are the beneficiaries of injustice and we tolerate that situation.

"The Messiah People", Hot Iron Press, published 1993

Empowerment
.. Jesus offered hope. There was significance in his presence for people who had no hope and no power. With him they felt empowered; they sensed hope; they sensed possibility for themselves.
"The Base Church" Talk given in Paisley in late 1984 or early 1985



With the victims in society
Jesus created the kingdom people among those who were the victims in society. Those who were powerful and wealthy, if they wanted to identify with Jesus, had to identify with him there. That's the challenge he is constantly putting to those who are wealthy and powerful.
"The Base Church" Talk given in Paisley in late 1984 or early 1985

The poor
What message to the rich Christian does the Bible have? Has it bearing on mission to the urban poor? Would you agree that the only God the Bible speaks of as providing salvation for the wealthy is Himself in solidarity with the poor and can be served only from that vantage point?
'REACHING THE URBAN POOR, Agenda Guidelines for Study Groups'

Mission
There have been those who have seen mission simply as the changing of social structures, and have ignored the predicament inherent in Man himself: there have been others who have interpreted mission as the rescuing of individuals from society and are unaware of any concern of God for the community of Man. Both views are inadequate and unbiblical. There is only one gospel: it raises personal issues demanding personal change; it raises social issues demanding social change.
Youth work & Community iv) An Urban Ghetto - New York

Sharing God's Anger
I went back [from New York] understanding for the first time that discipleship to Jesus Christ involves being angry at the things that anger Him, and that to share God's love one must share God's anger. If we are to speak in terms of God's wholeness, we must be prepared to expose and oppose those things which thwart, destroy and make wholeness impossible. Therefore a gospel which is not a political threat to a political status quo is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Interview in On Being magazine, 1977