Become global citizens
2006-2007 Theological Lectureship
“The evangelization of the world, including the West, is inseparable from the rediscovery of the gospel as ‘good news to the poor.’” This core message in the Theological Lectureship at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary came from C. René Padilla, Ph.D., who sees the U.S. and its economic and political policies from a perspective in the Two-thirds World.
Padilla lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and works with organizations that help Christians meet the physical, social and spiritual needs of poor communities. He is the son of a tailor/evangelist and after coming to faith in Christ at the age of 15, became an evangelist in jail ministry and street preaching.
In his series of three lectures at AMBS, February 14 and 15, he outlined first the impact that the West, and particularly the United States, has in controlling resources and power throughout the entire world. This domination is imperial globalization, he explained at the beginning of his presentations titled, Imperial Globalization and Christian Mission.
Padilla pointed out numerous effects of this domination through the last 500 years, including the growing disparity between rich and poor, between the countries, companies and individuals who are becoming wealthier and and the 1.3 billion people who live on less than one dollar per day. “Characterized by greed, ethnocentrism and religious justification, imperial globalization has become the greatest threat to life on the planet Earth and, as such, the greatest challenge to the Christian mission around the world.”
Padilla is president of the Micah Network, a worldwide group of organizations aimed at mobilizing Christians against poverty. From that experience and perspective, his lectures challenged the seminary community of mostly Western Christians to counter the influence of wealth and greed in our culture and government.
“The task of securing justice for the poor through political action may well be the primary responsibility for Christians in the wealthy countries,” he said. “This presupposes a real effort to become aware of international issues and especially of the way in which U.S. foreign policies affect the poor countries.” This awareness requires a conscious effort to gather information and perspectives in alternative ways, , he argued, not relying on the mass media which supports and serves the current culture of dominance.
Padilla outlined three responses he suggests for the church: global citizenship, global community and global mission. Christians must see themselves as members of the body of Christ, people whose identity is not dependent on race or nationality, social or economic position, status or gender. We must “implement a partnership in mission entirely coherent with global Christianity rooted in the good news of the Kingdom of God,” he said.
“Today’s challenge for all Christians everywhere, in the East and in the West, in the North and in the South, is to rediscover the transforming power of the Kingdom of God’s justice in the midst of the kingdoms of this world,” he said.
Padilla, who holds a Ph.D. in New Testament from the University of Manchester, has written extensively on mission, evangelism and social ethics. His books include Mission Between the Times: Essays on the Kingdom (Eerdmans), and New Face of Evangelism: An International Symposium on the Lausanne Covenant (InterVarsity). He has been general secretary for Latin America of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and of the Latin American Theological Fraternity.