Samuel Escobar begins his presentation by appealing to the decision made by the organizers of the gathering to choose as a motto the words of Jesus in the synagogue, found in Luke 4:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
He then urges his listeners to take these words seriously, which is to say, not to overly spiritualize the message. In a world with millions suffering from literal poverty, captivity, blindness and oppression, these words aren’t just about spiritual poverty or captivity to sin. There are a lot of Christians in the world, Escobar says, who take these words seriously, and they find themselves in far flung corners of the world and near centers of power, following Christ accordingly. But many of them face strong pressure from other Christians, of all people, to change course:
Some of them have been criticized and told that they should abandon their efforts for the pursuit only of numerical growth of congregations. I hope they will not believe that such is the official position of the [Lausanne] Congress.
As we saw last week, Padilla also critiqued the pursuit of numerical growth as an end in itself, represented most clearly in the church growth movement that has given rise to many of the megachurches across the country and around the world. Escobar was warning against numerical growth at the expense of discipleship, creating a “consumer class” of Christians who were uninterested in the personal and social implications of submitting to the Lordship of Christ. He saw discipleship as essential, and he saw churches as the indispensable communities where discipleship happens:
I think that the first and powerful answer to the social and political needs of men, to the search for freedom, justice, and fulfillment, is given by Jesus in his own work and in the church... [In the church] Jesus creates a new people, a new community where these problems are dealt with under the Lordship of Christ.
What he was calling for may have cut across the grain of many at that time, but it was really nothing new for evangelicals. He pointed to John Wesley, the well-known evangelist who authored a book called Thoughts upon Slavery, calling for abolition long before it became reality, and long before it was a popular idea. For Wesley, evangelism and social issues like slavery belonged hand in hand:
In today’s language, we could say that for Wesley, development without social justice was unacceptable. I pray that God will raise in this Congress evangelists like Wesley, who also care about social evils enough as to do research and write about them and throw the weight of their moral and spiritual authority on the side of the correction of injustices. Wesley, however, did more than writing. He encouraged the political action that eventually was going to abolish slavery in England.
Shortly before he died, Wesley wrote to William Wilberforce, urging him to use his political position to push for the abolition of slavery, something Wilberforce eventually succeeded in doing, giving us a powerful example to follow. But while evangelicals have every reason to stand with the oppressed, we must remember that political liberation and the freedom offered in the gospel are two distinct things, Escobar says:
Simple liberation from human masters is not the freedom of which the Gospel speaks. Freedom in Christian terms means subjection to Jesus Christ as Lord, deliverance from bondage to sin and Satan... However, the heart which has been made free with the freedom of Christ cannot be indifferent to the human longings for deliverance from economic, political, or social oppression.
Escobar points also to a contemporary evangelical leader who recognized this connection:world-famous evangelist Billy Graham, who made it his policy to refuse to speak to segregated audiences. As you can imagine, this was quite an unpopular move with many in his “target market” at the time:
He did not downgrade the demands of the Gospel in order to have access to a greater number of hearers or in order to have the blessing of racists that would consider themselves ‘fundamental Christians.’ A stance like this is already communicating something about the nature of the Gospel that gives credibility to the Gospel itself when it is announced... To perpetuate segregation for the sake of numerical growth, arguing that segregated churches grow faster, is for me yielding to the sinfulness or society, refusing to show a new and unique way of life.
Escobar has a lot more to say than what I've mentioned here, and just like Padilla's message, it's all as timely as ever. He finishes on an eschatological high note:
We reaffirm our hope that the Kingdom may come soon in fullness. But as an evidence of that hope we should also reaffirm our willingness to be the community of disciples of Christ which tries to demonstrate in the context of development or underdevelopment, affluence or poverty, democracy or dictatorship, that there is a different way for men to live together dealing with passions, power, relations, inequality, and privilege; that we are not only able to proclaim that ‘the end is at hand’ but also to encourage one another in the search to make this world a bit less unjust and cruel, as an evidence of our expectation of a new creation.
I join Escobar in asking: Do we stand with the rich or with the poor? Do we usually stand with oppressors or with the oppressed? Where do we stand when we preach the gospel?
[Photo credit: keywordpicture.com - Escobar speaking at Urbana 03, which I attended, though it was before I realized what a rock star he is.]
What Dylan has experienced, then, is not exactly a comeback, but something more akin to Johnny Cash’s nearly simultaneous resurgence: it’s a reawakening, a redefinition of how a legendary figure can age and grow and become more human without sacrificing quality or mystery. How has Dylan been able to reach this comfortable point in his career, when he remains relevant enough to play with younger bands at the Grammys and feisty enough to leave them in his wake?
At any rate, contrary to what Putnam and Campbell claim, it has been my experience that Americans want faith-formed values to play a role in discussions about domestic and foreign policies. And they want a leader with a strong sense of faith and convicted humility. They do not want, as Putnam and Campbell themselves confirm, to adhere to religious ideologies with political checklists about how to think, act, and vote. Toward this end, the United States needs to reclaim and strengthen that safe space in which those of opposite, but not necessarily opposing, theological and political views can work together. Americans are a faithful and respectful people. Our capacity to listen to each other's narratives and cooperate without rancor is what made us great. More than ever, such capacity is the key to future greatness in a globalized world.
3. Common good, sphere sovereignty and virtue
Clay Cooke, a PhD candidate in ethics at Fuller Seminary, writes for Capital Commentary that for those who pursue public justice, the cultivation of virtue is essential:
If we take the symphony as a metaphor for our public lives, and the musically trained individual as a metaphor for the cruci-formed Christian, then it becomes evident why cruciformity is indispensable for seeking justice. For although we inhabit the same world as everyone else, when we imitate Christ our inhabitation of the world becomes exceedingly different. We see political hot topics such as tax rates, immigration, and educational reform not through the polarized lens of conservative or liberal ideologies, but through the lens of creating space for others in the pursuit of public justice. Thus, the point of moral formation in the Way of the Cross is ultimately about creating this space for others. It is about counter-formation away from the dominant ideologies that surround us, and formation toward the cruciform restoration of creation. As we imagine what this restoration might look like as we go about each day, we can remember Micah’s call to action—do justice and love mercy.
4. Race and the Christian
If you missed the recent livestream of the discussion on Christianity and race featuring John Piper, Tim Keller and Anthony Bradley, the video of each of the three presentations and another with the Q&A that followed has been posted at Desiring God. It’s an important conversation.
5. Comparing possibilities for change in Guatemala and Honduras Duncan Green, head of research for Oxfam GB, recently traveled in Central America, and compares the prospects for positive change in neighboring Guatemala and Honduras on his From Poverty to Power blog, including what’s better in Guatemala, what’s worse, and what’s similar. Here’s some of the (comparatively) good news from Guatemala:
Compared to Honduras, the legal and institutional panorama feels much more promising – the Peace Accords of 1996 that brought an end to Guatemala’s bloody civil war have left a legacy of institutions such as local ‘development committees’ bringing together civil society and local government, with some access to (or at least influence over) spending decisions.
6. The IMF’s mission to Judea
NYU development economist Bill Easterly often pokes fun at the World Bank, IMF and others, as he does here, imagining what an IMF report would look like around Easter, two thousand years ago:
Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!
1. Latino roundtable with President Obama
The president hosted a roundtable the other day where he fielded questions from Latino journalists and citizens about the issues that matter most to their communities. He tackles questions about illegal immigration on a national level, relations with Cuba, the 11% unemployment rate among Latinos, and the ongoing investigation into Arizona’s treatment of immigrants. The White House website has the full video, which is almost an hour.
4. A word to hymn writers from Fernando Ortega
Last Friday evening I went with Katie and my parents to a Keith & Kristyn Getty concert in Lancaster. The Gettys have been writing and composing songs for the Church for only a decade but they have already contributed so many songs that really transcend the so-called worship wars (and I suspect many of these songs will stand the test of time). Here, Fernando Ortega, a New Mexico-based singer/songwriter and worship leader, has a word to those who would write songs for worship in churches:
Be specific when you write songs about God. Avoid cliché. Avoid convenience. Avoid an obsession with the consumer. Avoid the temptation to make commercial success your central goal. Write with intelligence, employing all the craft, skill, and experience with which God has endowed you.
5. Gospel or justice, which?
Russell Moore from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary writes that despite assumptions to the contrary within evangelicalism, evangelism and public justice are not mutually exclusive:
The short answer to how churches should “balance” such things is simple: follow Jesus. We are Christians. This means that as we grow in Christlikeness, we are concerned about the things that concern him. Jesus is the king of his kingdom, and he loves whole persons, bodies as well as souls.
6. Know Shelter
The Two Futures Project is a movement to abolish nuclear weapons. I know some people love their nukes, but I’m generally agreeable to the abolition idea. Here’s a video on preparing for a nuclear attack, which will hopefully never happen, but unfortunately isn’t outside the realm of possibility.
Repaso: The reawakening of Bob Dylan; politics of evangelicalism; common good & virtue; religion & race; IMF in 33 A.D.
1. The reawakening of Bob Dylan
Stephen Deusner writes for American Songwriter about Bob Dylan’s “reawakening”:
2. The politics of evangelicalism
Chris Seiple, president of the Institute for Global Engagement, has a piece in Foreign Affairs in response to an earlier article titled “God and Caesar in America,” in which the authors suggest that mixing religion and politics is unavoidably bad for both. Seiple disagrees, writing,
3. Common good, sphere sovereignty and virtue
Clay Cooke, a PhD candidate in ethics at Fuller Seminary, writes for Capital Commentary that for those who pursue public justice, the cultivation of virtue is essential:
4. Race and the Christian
If you missed the recent livestream of the discussion on Christianity and race featuring John Piper, Tim Keller and Anthony Bradley, the video of each of the three presentations and another with the Q&A that followed has been posted at Desiring God. It’s an important conversation.
5. Comparing possibilities for change in Guatemala and Honduras
Duncan Green, head of research for Oxfam GB, recently traveled in Central America, and compares the prospects for positive change in neighboring Guatemala and Honduras on his From Poverty to Power blog, including what’s better in Guatemala, what’s worse, and what’s similar. Here’s some of the (comparatively) good news from Guatemala:
6. The IMF’s mission to Judea
NYU development economist Bill Easterly often pokes fun at the World Bank, IMF and others, as he does here, imagining what an IMF report would look like around Easter, two thousand years ago:
Repaso is intended as a thought-provoking compilation of news and commentary from the past week related to the intersections of faith, development, justice and peace. As always, I welcome your thoughts on any of the links and ideas in this roundup!
[Photo credit: americansongwriter.com]