The grace of god: illusion or reality? A testimony from Latin America

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2004 by Hector Mendez

The process of choosing the assembly theme began with the WCC staff drawing up a list of all previous assembly themes, not only of the WCC, but also of the many confessional families and regional and world ecumenical organizations. That enabled us to have" an historical overview of the importance that themes have had in many international events because of their inspirational character and, at the same time, because of the challenge they have presented to theological thinking in various places.

It is instructive to note how each historical period has had its distinctive emphasis and left its mark on ecumenical organizations, which cannot be immune to what is happening around them. Taking, for example, the first assembly of the WCC in 1948, its theme "Man's Disorder and God's Design" was an invitation to reflection in a world having just emerged from the second world war. The fourth assembly, at Uppsala in 1968, with its theme "Behold, I Make All Things New", invited us to reflect on a changing world--witness the extraordinary events in Paris, Germany and elsewhere in May 1968, the civil-rights movement in the United States, and the death of Martin Luther King who had been invited to be the speaker at the opening session.

All that pointed to the need to produce a theme that would be provocative and challenging, in this case for the WCC and particularly for its member churches worldwide. The Council as an institution cannot be considered in isolation from its constituent bodies, the churches, with their cultural, linguistic and particularly doctrinal differences. The theme must, therefore, be of interest for all sectors and countries, with a clear, precise message appropriate to the times.

A Latin American contribution

In the assembly planning committee we received at our first meeting a specific suggestion for the theme from Latin America: the grace of God. Since the WCC's ninth assembly will take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2006, it was necessary to take that suggestion from Latin America and the Caribbean seriously. However, seeing that the WCC has member churches in all continents, we were open to any other suggestions and spent much time examining different criteria and opinions.

Later, at the central committee, the task was entrusted to a committee that devoted much time and energy to working on the theme. Finally, various possibilities remained. Some of them were very popular but could have been the theme for any NGO, since they contained no specifically Christian reference nor did they reflect the doctrine of the Trinity that unites us in the WCC. At that point, the need arose to reaffirm our identity in the present-day world and, above all, our dependence on the Holy Trinity, praying for God's grace to transform the world.

The grace of God--some considerations

For today's church, to speak of the grace of God involves making a contextual examination beginning with the biblical foundation of grace in the Old Testament, where it is linked with "finding favour in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6:8; Exod. 33:12-13, 16-17 and 34:9). At the same time there is an insistence on divine grace as a characteristic of the Supreme Being in relationship with human beings (Exod. 33:19).

In the New Testament reference must inevitably be made to St Paul's "theology of grace" as found especially in his letter to the Romans (Rom. 3-6). Paul stresses that the grace of God appears as a gift from the Creator and that it strengthens him to conquer sin (Rom. 5:1-11 and 6:14; 2 Cor. 6:1; Gal. 1:6 and 5:4; Phil. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:4-9). The theme of grace is also to be found in the other New Testament letters. Similarly, St Luke speaks of "the gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24, 32) and mentions grace several times, both in his gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles (Luke 1:30, 2:40,52, 4:22; Acts 4:33, 7:46, 11:23, 14:3,26, 15:40, 20:24,32). Similarly in St John's gospel two important concepts, grace and truth, are linked (John 1:14-18).

In the early centuries of the church, both in the East and West, there were debates about grace. Nor did the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century avoid debates about grace, either. Later, in the 20th century, there was a rediscovery of grace by many distinguished theologians.

Where does the amazing mystery of divine grace lie, resulting in its being the object of attention at different periods of history by the Christian churches? Today, the ecumenical community is directing its gaze anew at the grace of God, at this moment in history when human effort appears powerless before injustice and sin.

A vision from Latin America and the Caribbean

Speaking of the grace of God in a Latin American context can lead to confusion if the actual nature of grace is not clarified.

Is it possible to speak of the grace of God in Latin America without falling into an "escapist theology"? That is perhaps our greatest challenge.

Latin America and the Caribbean confront a situation that is similar to that of the third world as a whole: the present conflict between development and underdevelopment, which is providing the agenda for political ideologies. We are a continent subjected to neo-liberal globalization, with consequent unemployment and widespread poverty, which has been destroying the middle classes and creating a growing gap between the small rich minority and the large impoverished masses who have few expectations and face terrible frustration because foreign capital has replaced small- and medium-sized businesses with large international monopolies. The same names and the same products are evident in shopping centres in different countries, resulting in greater uniformity and at the same time generalized poverty.