2 of 4

It sounds like you found—or were born into—a stream of evangelicalism that was pressing those questions of Christ's lordship.

Some 50 years ago, it was young, newly converted evangelical leaders from Latin America, many of whom had opportunity to study in the U.S. or Europe, who became committed to exploring what the gospel meant for their context. They were biblically conservative yet socially active. They took many of the questions that liberation theologians from the Catholic church were asking and said, We need to address these questions. These are the questions of our people. If the gospel doesn't have anything to say to questions of justice and oppression, then where is God in history?

Today, there are far more evangelicals in Latin America. In many countries—like Guatemala and El Salvador—the evangelical population is perhaps 25 to 30 percent. We've acquired political power, which used to be only in the hands of Catholics. But without a depth of discipleship or a depth of understanding of the social and ethical implications of the gospel, the evangelical record has been disastrous. In Guatemala, two evangelical Christian presidents hold the worst records on human rights. So we're back to the questions Mackay raised: Who is our Christ? Is he really alive? And is he still the Lord? Or is he just dead and obsolete in some corner?

How do you think evangelical politicians understand faith's role in their leadership?

My husband was part of a group from Calvin College that personally interviewed many of these political leaders. They sat with Ríos Montt, who had been president of Guatemala in the early 1980s, in his office in 1987. He welcomed them effusively and gave an impassioned speech about brotherhood in Christ and about how blessed he was in receiving these guests from North America. He knelt in front of them and led them in prayer for his nation, with great passion. And then they started interviewing him.

They asked about the condition of the people in his country and how he viewed the statistics on malnutrition and poverty. They asked, "How do you see your government bringing light to these situations?" When they began pressing these questions, he worked himself into an absolute fury and threw them out of his office. They were afraid for their lives. They had to get out of Guatemala in a hurry.

He had the jargon. He was the founder of a church. Only God knows what was in his heart. But there did not seem to be any connection between his faith and his political leadership. Some of this is simply symptomatic of a young church—Christians who have had very little exposure to public policy and administration of public affairs.

That's why the core of our proposal in the FTL is that Christian mission is, or must be, "integral mission." God is Lord over every last corner of the world. And that has to do with interpersonal relations and with our relationships with him, but it also has implications for the way society is organized—who gets favored and how.

next page... |  2 of 4

share this page

August 2007, Vol. 51, No. 8