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World Alliance of Reformed Churches |
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World Alliance of Reformed Churches calls for resistance to
"oppressive empire" of economic and political domination
[9-23-04]
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) issued a
statement on August 12, 2004, at the close of its 24th
General Council in Accra, Ghana, in which it reflected on the failure of
Christians to resist the trading in human beings as slaves, which went on
for two centuries through the "castles" on the coast of Ghana. They move
from that to a call for resistance to the global economic oppression of our
own time, in the name of the Christ who is the "Lord over all."
We perceive that the world today lives under the shadow
of an oppressive empire. By this we mean the gathered power of pervasive
economic and political forces throughout the globe that reinforce the
division between the rich and the poor. Millions of those in our
congregations live daily in the midst of these realities. The economies of
many of our countries are trapped in international debt and imposed
financial demands that worsen the lives of the poorest. So many suffer!
Each day, 24,000 people die because of hunger and malnutrition, and global
trends show that wealth grows for the few while poverty increases for the
many. Meanwhile, millions of others in our congregations live lives as
inattentive to this suffering as those who worshipped God on the floor
above slave dungeons.
In our discussions in Accra -- indeed in the past seven
years of reflection since we last met in General Council at Debrecen,
Hungary -- we have come to realize that this is not just another "issue"
to be "addressed". Rather, it goes to the heart of our confession of
faith. How can we say that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord over
all life, and not stand against all that denies the promise of fullness of
life to the world?
...
If Jesus Christ is not Lord over all, he is not Lord at all. That is why
we find in the Bible a constant criticism of idolatry, emphasized in our
Reformed tradition. To declare faith in the one true God is to reject
divided loyalties between God and Mammon, dethrone the false gods of
wealth and power, and turn from false promises to the true God of life.
We know that this does not come easily for any of us.
Yet our hope lies in confessing that the power of the resurrected Christ
can overturn the idols and the modern gods that hold the world captive to
injustice and ecological destruction.
Therefore, we invite you, in Reformed churches
throughout the world, to take this stance of faith, standing against all
that denies life and hope for millions, as a concrete expression of our
allegiance to Jesus Christ.
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An index of
our reports
from
BECOMING NEIGHBORS:
An Invitation
to Global Discipleship
A Witherspoon conference
on global mission and justice
September 16 - 19, 2007
Louisville, Kentucky |
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