A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (Jas. 1:27). Wherever in the world there are orphans and widows multiplying, often because of man’s own warring madness, the church needs to be there. That is part of true worship and true obedience. The Rev. Joe Reed is our church’s representative in war-torn Central America and the article that follows challenges us in the midst of all the complexities to keep prayerful and to keep faithful. &ndash& Calvin Brown, Workshop Editor. Articles intended for Worship Workshop should be sent to Rev. Calvin Brown, First Presbyterian Church, 602 Kootenay St., Nelson, B.C. V1L 1L0
So faith, hope, solidarity abide, these three; but the greatest of these is solidarity. (1 Corinthians 13:13)
As evangelicals enter new relationships with Third World Christians, God through them challenges how we look at the world, shaking both the content and the vocabulary of those relationships.
Consider the rephrasing of Paul’s well-loved verse above, and our own disquiet at the translation — a translation proposed, by the way, by the Latin America Biblical Seminary in San Jose, Costa Rica.
We North American and European Christians are now a minority in Christ’s church and we no longer set the theological, liturgical, or spiritual agenda. And a word like “solidarity” shakes our familiar assumptions.
Partly, of course, the problem is one of what the word connotes. Third World Christians react very differently to many words which trigger strong feelings. Words like “solidarity”, “revolution”, “liberation” and “democracy” provoke these different reactions not so much because of what they mean as because of what they suggest.
Nicaraguan Christians have even asked for help in knowing what words to use when they speak with North American evangelicals. This sensitivity reflects their passionate desire not to alienate for senseless reasons, to be clear, to communicate. As Third World Christians take increasing responsibility for interpreting God’s word in our world, we in the North have to learn not to be offended or marginalized by emotional responses to their vocabulary.
When Latin Americans speak of “solidarity”, for example, they mean a standing with, a presence, a mutual sharing of the costs of discipleship. Paul’s use of the word agape in 1 Corinthians clearly talks of our relationships with other women and men as reflections of our primary love for God. While we may wish to discuss the use of the word, we cannot be so put off that we cannot hear what our fellows are saying.
And some use our reactions for their own purposes. For example, in a recent article in the evangelical publication Pastoral Renewal, Humberto Belli discusses liberation theology and revolutionary Christians in Nicaragua. He suggests that evangelicals in that country are pressured to accept the Revolution as the primary focus of their allegiances and to denigrate their commitment to Jesus Christ. Belli says that Nicaraguans are encouraged to divide the world into “oppressors” and “oppressed” and thus to deal with flesh and blood human beings as cardboards cutouts and stereotypes. Interestingly, he himself divides Christians into “evangelicals” and “liberationists” in much the same fashion.
Now one needs to know that Belli edited the opposition newspaper La Prensa at a time when it openly called for the funding of the Contras. It also received financial help, it is claimed in Managua, from the US embassy. In any case, Belli left Nicaragua to found the Puebla Institute, which itself discusses political events in Nicaragua in religious language. Nobody, including I would think the Puebla Institute itself, could characterize its positions as impartial or independent. Mr. Belli’s own political views are a matter of public record and is entitled to them. But he is not non-biased. None of us is.
And anybody can doubt that the churches play a much more important and direct role in the political life of Central American countries than they do in our own. My very personal opinion is that they should be commended for doing so.
The US embassy in Managua maintains a religious affairs officer. I believe that she is the only such officer in the US diplomatic service and she often takes part in public religious manifestations in the country. Again, nobody claims that she is non-biased or impartial. She is paid to be the opposite!
Compassionate evangelicals in North America indeed have been targeted by one side in the Nicaraguan debate. We are bombarded with material which plays upon our sensitivities and our rightful concern for the welfare of our brothers and sisters in Central America. But we need to walk very carefully, lest we wind up hurting the very people whom we are trying to support.
Again, I use the debate about Nicaragua as an example of discussions about a number of Third World countries. Certainly, the evangelical community has received many appeals from and on behalf of that country. And Belli’s article provides a useful example of a general problem.
In his article, Belli attacks a wide variety of Nicaraguan church agencies and organizations as Marxist “liberationists.”Included in his list are such groups as the Jesuit-sponsored Central American Historical Institute, the evangelical development agency, CEPAD (the Spanish acronym for “the Evangelical Committee for Aid to Development”), the Roman Catholic agency, CONFER, and the ecumenical Valdivieso study centre. The very number of agencies which he attacks should give us pause!
Faced with such a sophistical cam- _ paign having to do with just one tiny country, many Canadian evangelicals throw up their hands in frustration. Is not the right place for our evangelistic efforts right here in Canada, after all, as we confront a secular age? How can even the most thoughtful and committed among us hope to sort all of this out?
I work in Central America and I know the people who are the innocent victims of the war there: children who have been mutilated by the land mines; housewives who stand in line for their families basic needs, women whose husbands have disappeared at the hands of the death squads in El Salvador, and pastors who have been tortured by the Contras in Nicaragua. So I too am biased, and I hope passionate. I cannot imagine turning our collective backs on these courageous people.
But I believe too that among the gifts of God of which we Canadian Christians are stewards is our very freedom. I believe that he has given it to use for the purpose of his Kingdom and his children. And that we will one day be called to account for how we have used it. We may welcome the responsibility or we may resist it, but the fact is that we have no choice but to be involved with these people.
And to walk away from them is also to abandon them to those who would achieve their own ends by manipulating us. Being manipulated makes me angry! Especially when other evangelicals have to pay the price for my own unwillingness to sort through all the information which comes from the Third World.
There is of course, the very real problem of how to come to know so many countries and how to offer intelligent support. I think to be responsible, all us need to select a few issues: Canadian native rights, Central America, South Africa, Lebanon, Afgan- istan, or Koreans in Japan. Other areas abound, of course, but I list these since they represent very different political regimes and because they are peoples with whom we Canadian Presbyterians are working directly through a missionary presence. But we need, obviously, to be self-conscious about the number of issues which we can tackle effectively.
And we need to listen carefully to the voices of Christians in the various countries where we are working. Our national church partners are outspoken in telling us what their needs are and how we can really support and stand with them.
Many of these partners have suffered virulent attacks in the North American press. In the case of Nicaragua, CEPAD and its courageous staff have been frequent object of attacks. Its founder and president, Dr. Gustavo Parajon, pastor of First Baptist Church in Managua has been called a communist, a “liberationist”, and worse. Recently he was the object of a special half-hour attack on the Voice of America. Many North American evangelicals have not taken the time to look beyond these characterizations and attacks.
But consider the following appeal received recently from CEPAD General Assembly. I challenge any Canadian evangelical to take offence at its content or at its tone. Since it was received, the US Congress has voted to suspend funding to the Contras, US troops invaded Honduras briefly, Contra funding was again approved, and the Nicaraguan government has entered peace talks. Events move quickly in Central America and those who act in solidarity with her people have to run to keep up!
Pastoral Letter to the Churches of the World from the General Assembly of CEPAD (Scripture references: Romans 14:17; Psalm 85:8, 10-11)
“Grace and peace to our sisters and brothers in the faith of Jesus Christ, in the name of the God who defends the weak and who is the giver of every good. We hope that everyone who reads this letter will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit and experience the power of the Resurrection.
“The General Assembly of CEPAD expresses its gratitude to God for the developments begun in Guatemala on August 7, 1987 which have opened a path towards peace for all of Central America. We consider this peace process to be an expression of the grace of God and a concrete response to the prayers of so many Christians in Central America and around the world.
“We also express our gratitude to God for the responsible action taken by the Central American presidents, meeting January 15-16, 1988 in San Jose, Costa Rica, to continue the progress towards peace begun in August. We believe their action expresses the profound desire for peace in the region, and confirms that the people of Central America strongly believe that the route to peace is found in reconciliation, dialogue, and justice, and not in war.
“We call upon our brothers and sisters around the world, and particularly those in the United States, to continue, with us, interceding before God for peace in Central America during these critical moments when the historic vote in the U.S. Congress draws near. This vote will profoundly affect the lives of all the peoples of Central America.
“We need to pray that God will strengthen each of the Central American presidents so that they will comply with the accords. We give thanks to the Lord that, in Nicaragua, we evangelicals — through the participation of pastors in the majority of local reconciliation commissions and in the National Reconciliation Commission — have a concrete way of participating in the peace process.
“We also entreat you to pray for President Reagan, his advisors, and for the Congress of the United States, that they will be illuminated by Almighty God to help the peace process and thus save so many lives and avoid so much suffering, pain, and destruction. The vote in the U.S. Congress at the beginning of February, 1988 will be decisive in promoting peace or promoting war in Central America. To grant more assistance to armed groups is to choose war.
“From Nicaragua, a land bathed in blood and tears which longs for peace, we share with you our hope in Jesus the Saviour. He desires death for no one, rather that every person understand the truth. Believers of the world, we beg you to join your prayers to ours in order that we can all struggle for peace, justice, and life.
“Signed,
The General Assembly of the Evangelical Committee for Aid to Development,
Gustavo Parajon, President;
Nicanor Mairena, Secretary
Managua, Nicaragua
21 January, 1988
“Note to the agencies: The CEPAD General Assembly is composed of delegates of Nicaraguan evangelical denominations, representing over 80% of Nicaragua’s half million evangelicals. The above letter was approved almost unanimously during the regular monthly meeting in Managua. We believe this document is important, and urge you to promulgate it, with your own supportive statements, as soon as possible.”
Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come.