A Case for Followers of Christ Engaging the SDGs

by Dwight J. Friesen

I want to suggest that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are not a political experiment or a secular distraction—they are a faithful, tangible way to live out the Kin-dom of G-d here and now.

I know that phrases like “UN agenda” or “global goals” can raise red flags for some. Yet if we look through the lens of Jesus’ teaching, the SDGs echo our deepest commitments as followers of Christ: to love G-d, care for our neighbors, steward creation, and bear witness to G-d’s reign in our world.

Engaging these goals is not compromise—it is faithful action, a way the Spirit invites us to make G-d’s justice, mercy, and shalom real in our time.

The King-om of G-d Is Holistic

When Jesus preached, Jesus rarely spoke of souls going to heaven; rather Jesus spoke of the blind seeing, the lame walking, the good news proclaimed to the poor, release for the captives, and restoration for all (Luke 4:18–19).

The early church lived this reality: “There was no needy person among them” (Acts 4:34–35). G-d’s Shalom touches every part of life—physical, social, economic, ecological—so can our spiritual practice of following Jesus.

The SDGs capture a broad vision: ending poverty, ensuring health, protecting creation, advancing education, promoting justice, and fostering peace. If the G-d’s reign is more than “church-only,” more than saving souls, then we need practical tools and frameworks that help us participate in that Kingdom work. The SDGs provide one.

We Are Invited to Stewardship & Neighbor-Love

Scripture anchors our mission in two great commands: Love G-d and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–40). G-d entrusts the earth and its resources to our care (Genesis 1:26–30; Psalm 24:1) and calls us to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly (Micah 6:8).

“Stewardship” and “neighbor-love” are not separate tasks; they are woven together in the fabric of our faith. The SDGs—though framed in global policy terms—embody that same commitment: ending poverty, hunger, and inequality; ensuring clean water and sanitation; protecting life on land and in the seas.

For followers of Jesus who care deeply about justice, human dignity, and creation care, these goals align with our vocation—not as ends in themselves, but as expressions of G-d’s Shalom in a world longing for renewal.

Hope & Redemption: Where the SDGs Meet G-d’s Shalom

Some religious people worry that the SDGs represent a “secular agenda” that might replace Christ. That’s a valid caution. But many Christian leaders already see the SDGs through the lens of the Kingdom.

The World Evangelical Alliance’s Sustainability Center released The Bible and the SDGs, which observes that the goals “suggest a shalom-kingdom vision, while ignoring the King.”

No one should uncritically embrace a global government agenda. But we are wise to search for any and all pathways for joining G-d’s work in the world and partnering where our mission and the world’s aspirations overlap—human flourishing, justice, dignity, and peace.

Engaging the SDGs Reinforces, Not Dilutes, Gospel Identity

Does engaging the SDGs mean endorsing the UN, the world’s system, or a one-world government? No.

For those seeking to follow in the Way of Jesus our imaginations are rooted in the good news for all and everything as seen in Jesus Christ. Seeking first Christ and Christ’s kin-dom suggests that any and all other agenda must be asseesed through the degree to which they help one love G-d, and love their neighbr as themselves. The SDGs simply offer a framework for faithful action in our neighborhoods and nations.

Faith communities already contribute profoundly to justice, care, solidarity, healing, and dignity. Rather than inventing a new agenda, we can join what God is already doing—with eyes open, gospel-centered, and Christ-oriented.

Engagement as Witness & WITHness

When Christians feed the hungry, defend the oppressed, care for creation, and pursue peace, we don’t just display good ethics—we bear witness to our Triune God and we find ourselves in transformational relationship with the people Jesus was with.

For missionally minded followers of Jesus, the SDGs are a tool: not to dominate, but to serve. Addressing hunger (SDG 2) or education (SDG 4) declares that the world matters—and God’s grace matters for the world. Caring for creation (SDGs 14–15) proclaims that redemption is cosmic, not merely individual.

And when we forge partnerships (SDG 17)—with churches, other faith communities, or public agencies—we embody Christ’s reconciling mission in the world. And we feel in our community, and in our bodies the suffering others… After all we follow a G-d who revealed G-dself as “Immanuel” (God is with us).

Faithful Presence

Let’s be clear: engaging the SDGs does not replace the gospel. It’s not salvation through policy, nor discipleship through bureaucracy.

As one Christian thinker cautions, “If we forget that the SDGs are only means, they will become a cruel joke.” Our first loyalty remains to Jesus Christ, Scripture, and the mission of forming disciples in the Way.

The SDGs are tools—useful but limited. We must discern the Spirit’s invitation in community, filtering, critiquing, and aligning these goals with G-d’s dream revealed in Jesus and through Scripture. Christ is Leader of all—including development and justice.

Why It Matters Now

We live in a time of systemic change. The Western church wrestles with decline, dislocation, and shifting cultural ground. Followers of the Way of Jesus are invited to respond with courage, creativity, and compassion.

The world faces poverty, displacement, environmental strain, and injustice. The SDGs—crafted in 2015 as an international blueprint for peace and prosperity—offer a shared language for addressing these realities.

To ignore them is to retreat from one sphere of influence. To engage them as disciples is to declare that the Kin-dom of G-d is not passive—it acts, intervenes, suffers with, and restores.

A Dare to Faithful Participation

Let us not retreat into isolation, nor adopt any program uncritically. Let us engage the SDGs from within our faith convictions—wise, loving, and anchored in Christ, and led by the Spirit to love as the Shalom of G-d.

Ask yourself:

• Which goals might our church or community be uniquely gifted to address?
• Where can we pursue no poverty (SDG 1), zero hunger (SDG 2), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), or life on land (SDG 15) in ways that reflect Divine grace and transformation?

Let us measure success not merely in statistics, but in lives changed, dignity restored, creation honored, and Christ glorified.

And so…

The Sustainable Development Goals may have emerged from a secular policy arena—but as disciples of Jesus, we can reclaim them as a useful articulation of G-d’s Shalom for all and everything.

We can enter this space as faithful Christ-followers, embodying neighbor-love, stewardship, justice, and hope. Let us join in G-d’s renewing work, not by abandoning our convictions but by deepening them; not by conforming to the world, but by transforming it in Jesus’ name.

The Kin-dom is at hand—and the SDGs offer one practical, hopeful framework for living it out.

May our loving Creator grant us wisdom, courage, and compassion to engage boldly, faithfully, and humbly—for G-d’s glory and the good of the world.

Peace, dwight

BTW . In the new year I will release a Bible Study series engaging the SDGs as a vital practice for followers of the Way of Jesus.