An Evangelical Theology of Human Liberation

This is the first of a two-part series. Next month’s article will sketch the social and ethical implications of the fall and the powers of the old age, as well as the new creation made possible in the cross, the resurrection, the coming of the Spirit and the creation of the church.

This is an outline of a systematic theology for public discipleship. Its purpose is to organize familiar theological concepts into a systematic framework which will display forcefully the strength of the biblical witness to social justice and human liberation.

It is termed an “evangelical theology of human liberation” because it seeks faithfully to proclaim the biblical gospel in the context of a world of suffering, injustice, and inequality.

It is written in reaction first to a “privatizing” of the biblical message by biblical orthodoxy. Somehow large numbers of believers have allowed as forceful a theme as God’s concern for social justice to elude them. But if we object to a reduction of biblical doctrines to private existential concerns, we ought to feel the same revulsion when biblical ethics are suppressed through neglect and the gospel interiorized. We have minimized the social implications of the gospel and need to repent and take a new path. Secondly, we want to separate ourselves from the liberal theological method common in political theology today. According to this method, a motif is selected out of scripture and then driven through it so that major elements of biblical teaching drop out and a fundamental distortion occurs. Our approach consists in interrogating the whole of the Bible with the question: What do the major biblical themes tell us about political discipleship? In deliberately searching for ethical themes we are by no means suggesting there are no others. For us biblical ethics make sense in the context of biblical theology and redemption.

There is a need at the present time for much work in biblical political theology. The Bible does not confine its interest to the individual’s search for salvation, but addresses all the public issues of community life and its political and social structures. Because biblical revelation turns toward the social and political realm, we must turn our thoughts there also under its guidance and direction.

REVELATION AND INSPIRATION

Christianity is a religion of divine revelation. God has, we believe, revealed himself and his will to us in Jesus Christ and in holy scripture. However others wish to go about it, the only way biblical people are prepared to decide what our public discipleship should be is to inquire of the scriptural witness. We wish to take our cues from divine revelation, not from the culture we are part of, or even from the political ideology that suits us. Our ethics strive to be confessional and structurally nonconformist to the norms of this age. We oppose all efforts to dilute revelation criteria by undermining the authority of scripture, and refuse to allow them to be swallowed up in the sinful and relative human situation. Whatever our commitments ideologically to a given social or economic system, we do not confuse these convictions with the word of God, nor seek to dignify them with the label “Christian.” Our analysis of society, however respected, never constitutes a second source of revelation to us.

We do have to take into account the political and human situation of our hearers just as the ancient prophets did. Once we have recognized the finite and relative character of our ideologies, we must still proceed with fear and trembling to try and determine what the word may mean for this generation. We cannot very well expound on the meaning of the scripture for our day unless we give some thought to our day and relate the gospel to it. This will require us to make ideological decisions, not against scripture, but in response to its demands. Thus, for example, we do not criticize the theology of liberation for taking seriously the situation of Christians in Latin America. On the contrary, we admire them for doing so.

Furthermore, because there is in scripture a progressiveness of revelation, a gradual unfolding of the ethical command, there is a responsibility on us not only to give heed to the letter but also the spirit and note carefully the direction of the scriptural principles. The task of fully implementing gospel principles was not complete even in the biblical era, and we may need to go beyond scripture in carrying out its own intentions. The obvious example is slavery: the Bible assumes it as a social institution and offers legislation designed to soften and humanize it. It does not, however, call for its abolition, even though all of us believe that abolition alone is a satisfactory answer to it, and an adequate implementation of the Christian gospel in this matter. Affirming the authority of scripture does not remove us from tension and ambiguity, or relieve us from the arduous task of responsible interpretation and application.

THE TRIUNE GOD

The doctrine of God is crucial for political theology. What we call “practical” decisions flow out of “religious” commitments. The way we regard ultimate reality colors and affects our under standing of finite reality and action as well.

God the Father

The God of the Bible is the living, personal Lord, the source of our life and of all being, sovereign and free. Just because God is Lord, possessing ultimate authority and power over us, all finite claims are relativized. Transcendence is therefore subversive. God is Lord, Caesar is not, and we will not give to Caesar, whether in the person of the ruling tyrant or in the subtler form of the cultural givens, what does not belong to him. The chief temptation of the church has always been to worship other gods, to violate the first commandment. In our day we must resist worshiping extreme nationalism, the consumptive mentality, the will to power, distorted sexuality, and place our allegiance unmistakably in God. In doing so we will find ourselves liberated from the tyranny of these gods, free from the anxiety that accompanies their service, and opened up to the service of others with hope and joy. Furthermore, just because God is sovereign Lord, we can count on him to create fresh alternatives in the ethical situation, vindicate the faithfulness of his children, causing resurrection to follow crucifixion, and so arrange things that his good ends will arise out of our very fallible means.

The God who is Lord also loves his human creatures and seeks for their well-being. Here is no transcendence that alienates us and works against our freedom and humanness. This view of God enables us to view the entire human situation in the light of the grace and compassion of God. More specifically scripture teaches that God is particularly concerned about the poor and needy. Jesus concentrated his attention on the outcasts of society. Since God’s people are meant to resemble him, we who are blessed with abundance in a world which is largely poor have a heavy responsibility on us and should be trembling. A story like that of Dives and Lazarus ought to explode in our hands when we read it sitting at our well-covered tables while the third world stands outside. God’s concern for the needy suggests that our nations will be judged according to the way in which they have treated the poor and needy. Because God cares for us as his beloved children and watches over our lives, we are free to care for those other than ourselves. It was because they trusted God that the poor Macedonian Christians were enabled to give so generously to saints more needy than they. Perhaps the chief impediment to a more costly sharing of our own resources with those in need is not selfishness but rather an anxiety for the future which reflects a lack of trust in God the Father.

The lordship of God is also qualified by justice. He has a passionate hatred of all injustice. To know Yahweh is to do justice and plead the cause of the needy. The inaccessibility of God to many in our time may have little to do with intellectual problems, since he wishes to be known by those who respond as he does to the needy neighbor. It is difficult to do biblical teaching on this subject. Yahweh, according to the Old Testament, is a warrior, bent on a campaign against oppression and injustice. It is a constant source of wonder how biblical Christians who acknowledge scripture have managed so frequently to stand aloof from issues of injustice when the Bible speaks so sharply on them. According to scripture, God loves the downtrodden, not simply out of his mercy and care, but because he is just and fair. And the prevailing attitude towards them is not, as it is in our countries, that they are needy because of their own laziness and sin, but because powerful forces have made them and kept them so. God is judge of all the earth, and if we belong to him we need to stand with him on the subject of human justice.

God the Son

At the heart of the gospel is the claim that God himself was present in Jesus Christ. This monumental fact makes him normative as the defining revelation of God. He is indeed the light of the world, and we follow him so that we might not walk in darkness. In him, we confess, are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Because he is Lord, we take our cues from him and not from anyone or anywhere else. We do not demand that his way for us be manageable in terms of the expectations of the old age. He is the Lord and we would hear him only.

As the point in history where God himself is present, Jesus is normative humanity, the second Adam. The quality of his humanity according to the New Testament can be characterized as obedient servanthood, obedient to the will of his Father, and radically open to the needs of people. As he himself said, “I am among you as one who serves.” This is a startling assertion. First, because, when coupled with the incarnation claim, Jesus’ commitment to obedient servanthood is unexpected and paradoxical. Second, because this life pattern was then and is now completely contrary to life as it is actually lived out in the old age, and is in the broadest sense radically countercultural. Nevertheless to this paradigm of servanthood we have all been summoned that we might be like him, and point our lives in this new direction.

In addition Jesus is also normative prophet and teacher. We are committed both to his person and to his words, and have been told to teach the nations all that he commanded us. It is perfectly astonishing how the church over the years has managed to relativize or sidestep these demands. Many of its members have never thought to confront their lives in the secular world with the stringent demands of Jesus. The cry to “keep the church out of politics’ is very often a cover to permit individual Christian involvement in the world with out having that involvement criticized by Christian standards. It means, for example, hearing the testimonies of business men and generals in church meetings, and not expecting them to give an account of their behavior in the world, as if to profit from inflation or to kill for the homeland are not thought to be ethical commitments over which Jesus’ teachings have any authority or real relevance. How is it, in the light of Jesus’ teaching about money, that church members do not have more of a conscience about materialism, and how is it in view of Jesus’ teaching about non-violence, that the churches have not included instruction in nonviolent action on the educational agenda? Even in Christian ethical theory it has often seemed as if the norms of Jesus are all of them negotiable to the reasonable demands of our own judgment.

The foolish man, according to Jesus, is the one who hears his words and does not do them. To such a one he says, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” The church that makes no effort to implement the principles of Jesus will certainly not escape the judgment of God. Christendom may achieve apparent success by worldly standards by ignoring the precepts of its founder, but that “success” will be very bitter in the end.

God the Spirit

Jesus has given us his Spirit to be with us in every situation and circumstance. He represents the only possibility of our obedience to an agenda which is, frankly, unworkable in the power of the flesh and by the standards of the old age. We must rely on the grace of God working in us. God is the power behind human liberation. He delivers from the house of bondage. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” We rely on the power of God working in history and experienced in our own lives to bring about a measure of humanization.

The Spirit is present also as we make decisions and choices in our lives, leading the believer and the community in selecting its options. As those led by the Spirit, we must cultivate a close attentiveness to God and companionship with his Spirit. The Spirit resides within as an internal moral guide and directs us in implementing the ethical guidelines in the gospel.

One of the most serious problems to overcome in the area of social concern is indifference to injustice, insensitive hearts and frozen wills. The Spirit convicts of sin. Only he can gain access to the secret recesses of the heart and turn people around. Indifference to injustice is a spiritual problem. It was after the Spirit fell that the early church became motivated to eliminate poverty from its midst. We depend on the Holy Spirit to convict us of complacency and hardheadedness, and to lead us into costly obedience.

In addition to his ever-present empowering, the Spirit is the author of socially relevant charismatic gifts: gifts of service, mercy, liberality, helping, voluntary poverty, martyrdom. The Christian community that has been convicted by the Spirit to be socially concerned should move in the direction of becoming charismatically renewed as well so that its mission of servanthood in the world might be in the power and under the direction of the Spirit.

One’s concept of ultimate reality, whatever it is, is tremendously influential in the realm of action. The Christian doctrine of God in our age of revolution is able to stimulate in us a deep passion for human justice and welfare which should result in a profound and lasting commitment on our part to every aspect of human liberation.

THE FLOW OF HISTORY

History is regarded in the biblical worldview as the product of divine creation and the sphere of the progressive outworking of divine purposes. It is important to have an understanding of the nature, direction, forces and goals of history in considering how one’s own life and actions fit into the ongoing processes.

Creation

In essence the doctrine of creation says that God is the source and ground of all finite being. It is dependent on him, but is not a part of him, having a reality of its own. Creation is the inception of history, and therefore of the outworking of God’s purposes for human life. All work in God’s world is therefore sacred and religious. The sacred/secular dichotomy is invalid. All activity including everyday acts and routine tasks is service in God’s world. The entirety of human life and action stands under the command and grace of God. The earth which is the Lord’s is given to us for a stewardship, something to be appreciated and respected, not destroyed or defaced.

Ecology therefore is a Christian concern. The world ought not to be regarded as a disposable object intended for our selfish purposes. If we continue on the course on which we have embarked in the West, the world is very likely doomed. The collision between our desire for economic growth and the stern realities of limited resources and a destructible environment is imminent and will be fatal. The need for a steady state economy and scaled-down lifestyles is apparent. Furthermore, we need to scrutinize again the right of private property, differentiating between the ownership of management and administration, and the right to use and even destroy possessions without any concern for the good of all. God’s judgment stands over those situations where large amounts of the public good have been obtained because of an unjust economic order, and where they are held for the benefit of the few. By a system of legal injustice the people are permanently robbed year after year by these unequal patterns of ownership.

Providence

According to the mystery revealed in Jesus, history is the sphere of the purposeful activity of a gracious God, who energizes all things after the counsel of his will. His kingdom is coming despite all obstacles and seeming setbacks. He works all things together for good to them that love him.

In the historical situation in which God is working, the new age exists alongside and in tension with the old, and hence the divine activity is twofold: liberating and judging.

It is of course no simple matter to discern where in the concrete course of events the presence and power of God is at work liberating and judging human life and society. We dare not assume that, because a given movement claims to favor human liberation, it actually does so. Prior to the end of history the significance and meaning of events must remain somewhat ambiguous to us. Nevertheless, the word of God has been given to us that we might become wise in God’s ways with us, and the Spirit of God has been out poured so that we might discern God’s will and hear the word within our own specific situation.

Because we are confident that God is acting to direct history, we can feel free to respond to God’s will in faithfulness, knowing that however foolish such actions may appear to the people of the old age, the ends are in his hands. Like Israel of old, we are not to go to Egypt for help, or trust in chariots because they are many, but look to the Holy One who is God, not man, and consult the Lord who is Spirit, not flesh. Doing God’s will in the midst of the old age may seem likely to fail according to the estimates of unbelief, but as pilgrims more concerned to be faithful to him than to be effective, we persevere in obedience, keeping our hope ever before us.

Eschatology

Despite the serious abuses of it today, eschatology is the critically important doctrine of the ultimate consummation of God’s purposes for history, a hope that sustains us and influences all that we do.

There is, of course, an unhealthy preoccupation in our day with chart-making and date-setting in the name of biblical eschatology. Not only does scripture warn us against such activity, but we should view the phenomenon as yet another idle pastime used by complacent Western people as a substitute for serving Jesus in the world. Furthermore, this manner of handling eschatology presupposes a deterministic model of history which must necessarily paralyze action in the social area. Famine, war, and injustice are all seen as inevitable and fated, and any moves against them seem futile and mistaken. Eschatology does not mean knowing the future in detail before it happens, but rejoicing in the promises of the future acts of God who will redeem the human race in his own way and time.

Taken in the proper way, eschatology is a powerful incentive for radical obedience. “Keep justice and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.” Inspired with hope, and recognizing that the night is far spent, we live now as in the Day, walking faithfully before our God. From an ethical viewpoint, this is an unbeatable posture. Despite any and all obstacles, our labor cannot be in vain because it is in the Lord. We do not even have to succeed to go on hoping, because we confess Jesus is King, the firstborn from the dead.

Furthermore eschatology urges on us a perspective which views reality now in the light of the new creation and the coming age. Because the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ, we strive to direct our lives according to the new definition of human existence found in the gospel, and as such be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Because our actions in this age are meant to signal the age which is to come, we may expect to find ourselves out of step with the old age approach to things. We are committed to acting in ways which Jesus assures us are “relevant” (e g. servanthood) but which will not be likely to appeal to those who do not yet call Jesus Lord. We are more concerned with actions congenial with the new age which is coming than with those best calculated to work in the estimation of old age thinking. To die on the cross seemed foolish to the rulers of this age, but it was in the light of Christian faith the most relevant act of all. Because we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and take our cue from him, we walk by faith and not by sight, taking his example and precepts to be more relevant than anything else we know.

As providence is judging as well as liberating, so eschatology is darkness as well as light. As Amos felt constrained to warn the complacent people that the day of the Lord would mean disaster to them in their present state of social unconcern and indifference, even so we today must raise a question over all the extensive discussion of prophecy today whether Jesus coming to us in the North American church will be gracious and comforting, or will his coming be with condemnation and flaming fire. Similarly we must question in this context a cheap version of “eternal security” so widespread in conservative circles.

When this article appeared, Clark Pinnock was a contributing editor and professor of theology at Regent College. This article was first given as an address at the 1975 Evangelicals For Social Action Workshop.