"God, in your grace, transform the world": an orthodox approach

Christianity today is living in a rapidly changing world. We are facing all kinds of changes--there are still wars, there are acts of terrorism everywhere, poverty and famine still reign, infractions of human rights and injustice still exist, and all the ills that human beings have known in every age and time. But we also face changes that are more far-reaching and at times portentous. The future may well be very different from what we can imagine in our churches, and it certainly will be very different from what past generations have imagined. However, we already have some experience of such changes in our everyday life as a host of new words and expressions have entered our daily life in the past few years: internet, cyberspace, "virtual community", genetic engineering, globalization, New Age and many more. Meanwhile, the European Union has been enlarged by ten new countries, and other candidates are thinking of joining. Discussions are taking place at the constitutional level in Europe on Christian roots and values. These changes affect our ecumenical life and challenge the ecumenical movement in particular.

Since the Harare assembly in 1998, the World Council of Churches has faced numerous changes, and the report of the Special Commission on Orthodox Participation in the WCC has led to proposals for further constitutional changes. The churches--and the Orthodox in particular--are expecting and hoping that something "spectacular" may happen at the next WCC assembly. However, we are living with the hope which is "dying at last". How are we envisioning the future? What are we looking for? For a new, transformed world? Or a transfigured world based upon Christian and human values? Is this the reality or merely a human utopia? As we approach the next WCC assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, under the theme "God, in Your Grace, Transform the World", the Christian churches once again are invited to reflect, react and respond to the theme. The following reflections are a contribution from a theological point of view and from an Orthodox perspective. It is obvious that in this short paper these reflections cannot cover all the aspects, perspectives and expectations of the proposed theme.

A witness to the world

How is Orthodoxy to respond to this changing world and to the challenges facing the ecumenical movement in general and the WCC in particular? A first and most obvious answer is how God's grace is acting and might transform the existing world through our faith and belief, and how our churches might respond to the need for the world to be transformed as the ultimate goal of the fulfilment of God's plan for our salvation. How is it possible to reconfirm once more that "the faith once delivered to us", expressed by Jesus Christ, remains "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb. 13:8) that we remain steadfast in the Tradition which has sustained us and our Christian churches through the ages? But we should not let our love of the past and our nostalgia for the past cause us to forget another obvious and important truth: that Christ sent his followers into the world to "make disciples of all nations" and to proclaim the word in each new cultural context. Orthodox teaching addresses a host of questions that would have been unimaginable generations ago. It must faithfully proclaim the Word of God, but in ways that will embrace all the new words--and the realities behind them--that we encounter and use in our life today, our sense of values, our attitude towards our fellow human beings and our relationship with God. How is Orthodoxy to respond to this new historical, social and cultural situation? Do we have a timely theological word to offer?

The world needs the full richness of Christian and Orthodox theology in all its aspects and manifestations, not simply routine repetition of verbal formulas, however laudible these may be. Our various theologies often speak about the dignity of the human person, made in the image and likeness of God. But how often we forget about this when we are debating theological issues! We must be courageous enough to speak the truth, but we must do so in love.

Let us follow the example of the apostle Paul, who in dealing with the Corinthians was determined "to know nothing ... except Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). The message of "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" is scandal enough, foolishness enough, without our own contribution. But we also are reminded that in the cross lies victory--the victory not of passing empires but of God's kingdom, whose power is meant to extend to every corner of the world. Today our churches have to witness "Jesus Christ, and him crucified" and to share in the hidden power of God's grace which is expressed in the energy of the Holy Spirit in all ecclesial life.

The understanding of "grace"

The Orthodox Church, in its broad teaching about "grace" (1) or about "divine grace", as it is expressed literally in its confessional statements of faith and in its dogmatic texts, places grace in the context of its teaching about the Holy Trinity. Thus, in its teaching about God the Father, all that God provided man (anthropas) from the creation of the first Adam until the coming of his incarnate Son and Word in the world is placed within the broad grace of God the Father.