Revolution: Jesus Call to Change the World

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This view is supported by an examination of Calvin's interest in the welfare of the poor. Calvin's concern for the poor resulted in his attempt to transform his society, especially in Geneva. He concerned himself with the issues of commerce and economic justice Olson His theology was not disembodied, divorced from the realities of life where labourers and employers are often at odds over economic matters. Calvin realised that because of the nature of humanity and the sinfulness all of our institutions, our endeavours are to some extent motivated by self-interest, pride and greed.

Yet his is a 'world-affirming theology' in the sense that he sought to apply the gospel to all of life. For him, that meant seeking the guidance of scripture for the problems besetting humanity, particularly those besetting the citizens of Geneva. Thus Calvin as a theologian and pastor became involved in everyday matters as diverse as the high cost of dying, hospitals, sumptuary laws and the regulation of business and industry and the question of wages Olson Calvin and Farel instituted the first free public education for both sexes.

Beyond the welfare system and education the work of Calvin and the pastors reached out to suggestions for railings to protect children on stairs and balconies. Fires and chimneys were regulated and efforts were made to clean the town and for street repair. Regulation of prices for the necessities of life was an accepted principle of the early reformation in Geneva McKim At the heart of the reformation was the intent to reform, revive and renew the church. In their minds the church was not standing up to the realities of its time in confronting financial corruption, sexual immorality and political power.

Reformers such as Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and others called for the 'reawakening' of the Church to address these issues. In so doing they did not hesitate to point out the inadequacies and corruption of the church which impacted on its life, work, witness and theology. Thus the 16th century Protestant Reformation was an attempt to reform and transform both church and society. The Reformation embraced a number of quite distinct, yet overlapping, areas of human activity: The Reformers generally advocated an involvement with the world though not all of them, for example, the Anabaptist.

However, unlike the Middle Ages, they went a step further in the attempt to transform society. And this they engaged as they influenced social and economic policies of the government of the day Stivers It is thus not surprising that some 'secular interpretations' tend to discount the importance of the religious element in the Reformation. They simply state that Luther, Calvin, Knox, Zwingli and others are products of their socio-economic and political backgrounds and circumstances Van Der Walt Further, the school of social history that views the religious motives behind the Reformation as marginal phenomena specific to the period has, not surprisingly, found the thesis that the Reformation failed to be very attractive Oberman As Gerald Strauss argues, the 'official Christianity' throughout the centuries was able to capture only a very narrow elite layer of the population, not the 'underground' constituted by popular culture Strauss It can be said of Luther and Calvin, for example, that they did have a vision of the 'common man' and wanted to remodel faith in a practical and lasting way.

However, did they want or attempt to realise Reformation in the terms of transformation? Steven Ozment offers a significant affirmative comment in response to this question: There can be no doubt that other factors played a role but the religious one cannot be ignored. The Reformation movement did not only renew and change the church leaving the world uninvolved.

Purchase the book

This movement intervened dramatically in the lives of all and brought about radical changes in the social, political and economic aspects of a new developing world. It gave rise to a new epoch in the history of humankind. And all through this time there were small groups of Christians who kept to the task of transforming the lives of the poor. It is thus not surprising that one of the theological miracles of the late 20th century is the rediscovery of the biblical witness to God's particular concern for the poor and oppressed. We shall now show this by focusing on the church in South Africa.

The church as transformation and change agency in South Africa. The early missionaries, especially in the 19th century, are to be commended for sowing the seed from which the black churches of the 20th century grew. They did extensive evangelistic work and built churches, schools and hospitals. John de Gruchy points out that Black Theology has its foundations in the work of the early missionaries: The church has been involved in the establishment of society, though its contributions were not at all times positive. In South Africa the Dutch Reformed Church, in particular, used its economic and political power to secure the rights of the white minority, seriously impoverishing the majority black people in South Africa, and even providing theological justification for such economic and political policies by misinterpreting Calvin's theology.

This was evident in the policy of separate development which led to the rich white getting richer and the poor black getting poorer. This is a classic example of how Reformed theology was [ ab ]used to perpetuate racial and economic injustice. Duchrow points out that we need to today understand and judge the theological positions of the Reformation and the resultant churches on the double criteria: This is precisely what Allan Boesak did in his academic contributions, preaching, church leadership and in his brief stint in politics.

Particularly outstanding is his theological contributions and his pioneering efforts to interpret Reformed theology in the South African and African context. Given the devastating misinterpretation of Reformed theology and tradition in the justification of apartheid, Boesak managed to recapture the true essence of what Reformed theology is all about. His books Farewell to Innocence and Black and Reformed , among others, are incredible attempts to cast a new light on Reformed theology while seriously engaging the black experience and context.

This is further explored in his endeavour to connect the concept and quest for an African renaissance with Christian theology and faith which he does so well in his book The Tenderness of Conscience In essence, living under apartheid the ecumenical church had no real choice but to fight for the majority of people who were poor and oppressed. In living out the gospel it attempted to transform society and enhance the quality of life of the poor and oppressed. In this sense the church has a history of being a transformation and change agent in South Africa. This can be seen by some of the things we will now mention.

In October a circular was sent to heads of churches and superintendents of missions to investigate their attitude towards the Bantu Education Act. The Committee believed that the Act would violate certain principles of education. This greatly stirred the Sharpeville incident in , and the subsequent banning of black organisations. The result was the Cottesloe Consultation, led mainly by dissatisfied Reformed Christians reacting to racism, in December which attempted to address 'Christian race relations and social problems in South Africa'.

Clearly, one can see from this that the CCSA was working towards the transformation of the human person and community, free from discrimination, racism, exploitation and oppression. Assisted by the World Council of Churches, a Department of Inter-Church Aid was started in , to collect and distribute funds for disaster relief and community development projects. The SACC became more and more a place where the Churches could witness together on the problems which faced them in South Africa - above all, the social and political problems produced by the government's apartheid policy.

Further, the evil of apartheid was clearly exposed in two documents that attempted to express a Christian and theological understanding of South African society: The message was a serious attempt to interpret what the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ means and implies within our complex and difficult situation Balia The key question concerning the message was: Who does my first loyalty go to - a human being; an ethnic group; a tradition; a political ideology or to Christ?

The document called on Christians to be truthful to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be aware of the false gospel apartheid. The message stated that apartheid by its very nature is both divisive and antithetical of a just social order and reconciliation. Hence, it established that the struggle for justice is for the sake of overcoming the alienation of our social order and enabling reconciliation between the conflicting parties to become a reality De Gruchy The most significant fact that emerges here is that the 'message' drew the church into addressing the socio-economic and political injustices of the time.

This was to be further enhanced by the formulation of the Kairos Document much later. The Kairos Document is a Christian, biblical and theological commentary on the political crisis in the country that took seriously the experiences of black people. The document spoke of the crisis in the church, which was born out of the divisions in the church. Consequently three trends developed from these divisions, that is, state, church and prophetic theology.

The document challenged the state on its ideologies and condemned apartheid as a heresy. Firstly, it pointed out that church theology lacked social analysis and that the analysis of apartheid that underpins its theology is simply inadequate. Secondly, this theology lacked an adequate understanding of politics and political strategy.

Red Letter Revolution | New Book by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo

Changing the structures of a society is fundamentally a matter of politics. It requires a political strategy based upon a clear social or political analysis. The Church has to address itself to these strategies and to the analyses upon which they are based. It is into this political situation that the Church has to bring the gospel.

Hence there is no way of bypassing politics and political strategies. Thirdly, it challenged the type of faith and spirituality that has dominated church life for centuries. Spirituality has tended to be an other-world affair that has very little, if anything at all, to do with the affairs of this world.

Social and political matters were seen as worldly affairs that have nothing to do with the spiritual concerns of the church. The Kairos Document rejected this notion. It asserted that the Bible does not separate the human person from the world, in which he or she lives; it does not separate the individual from the social, or one's private life from one's public life. God redeems the whole person as part of God's whole creation.

Hence a truly biblical spirituality would penetrate into every aspect of human existence and would exclude nothing from God's redemptive will. We see in this document a new theological orientation in South Africa that directed itself to a radical social involvement. The document did not give a blueprint for an alternative political future, but challenged the church to side with God by deliberately supporting the oppressed and poor.

The ecumenical movement in South Africa identified itself with the poor as it joined forces with the exploited working class. Embracing liberation theology, it insisted that God is on the side of the poor and it therefore joined with the poor to fight for justice and human rights.

The Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment | World History | Khan Academy

In seeking the liberation of the oppressed it radically opposed the structures that dehumanised the masses. It encouraged the participation of the poor in the processes of enabling them to become more human and took up the struggle for justice. For Allan Boesak, who comes from the Reformed tradition, the issue of justice is crucial; it is part and parcel to the Christian Gospel. In fact, it is the declaration of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Whenever Christians speak out and act against injustice, inequality and the dehumanisation of the human being, they serve as the ambassadors and servants of Christ.

Boesak singles out the Belhar Confession in this respect where it states: Boesak points out that this Confession helps us to, firstly, stand up and be counted for the poor and the destitute, and secondly, to stand where God stands. Not just in front of, in protection, but alongside, in solidarity of struggle.

Not in mere sympathy but in identification with. The church must do that not because it is obsessed with the poor, but as the possession of God, in Whom its grounds of being, its identity is found Boesak It actively resisted the apartheid laws that were imposed on the majority people in South Africa by calling for disinvestments and international sanctions on South Africa.

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The World Alliance of Reformed Churches played a vital role in this regard by suspending the membership of the Dutch Reformed Church and supporting the call for disinvestments in South Africa. The SACC played a very vital role in the demise of apartheid, and it continued to play a role in the reconstruction and transformation of South Africa since then. It is not possible to cover these details in this study but the point I wish to make here is that the ecumenical church in South Africa has always served in the role of bringing about transformation and change.

Originally the whole phenomenon of African Independent Christianity was interpreted as a protest against the Westernisation of the Christian mission in South Africa. More recent research has shown that the complex phenomenon of the AICs cannot be attributed simplistically to a single protest factor Saayman It can be established that the rise of the AICs was an attempt to preserve, develop and transform the African community and way of life.

The AICs, especially the Zionists, attempted to develop and give expression to the African way of life. This quest was further realised in the rise of African Christian Theology. African Christian Theology is a deliberate attempt to strip Christianity of non-essential additions. African Christian Theology is a decision by Africans to worship God as Africans and to look at and interpret the Bible from an African perspective.

It attempts to build on the existing African religious tradition Pobee It tries to tap the resources of the entire African community in arts, literature, sculpture and all human and academic disciplines. The concern of African Theology is to attempt to use African concepts and African ethos as vehicles for the communication of the Gospel in an African context. This, undoubtedly, is a further indication of the role the church played and continues to play in the transformation of society and community. This ecumenical impact on missional thinking can be seen in South Africa today.

Many are of the opinion that ecumenism in South Africa is dying, and this view is largely associated with the struggles of the SACC to survive, mainly financially. In my opinion, ecumenism is not dying; instead, it is morphing into something new. This new development is not driven by ecclesiology, doctrine, tradition and denominationalism but by a missional focus. The essential question is: How can we exercise a prophetic voice together? How can we journey with the poor? The evangelical churches, in particular, are at the forefront seeking to influence government and business with the gospel.

Sometimes one wonders whether their goal in mission is Christianisation or transformation. Whatever the intentions, one thing is sure that we are experiencing what I call a missional revolution with the intention of inspiring, motivating, equipping and nurturing Christian disciples.

We are realising that the goal is not to get people to church but to get the church into the world - to transform the world with the justice and peace of God so that all may experience the 'fullness of life' on the earth. In this endeavour the church has to work with government, business and labour and other religious bodies to create a better life for all people.

In a recent meeting The World Communion of Reformed Churches had with Pope Francis 10th June in the Vatican to discuss Reformed-Catholic relationships, he pointed out that 'our faith in Jesus impels us to live charity through concrete gestures capable of affecting our way of life, our relationships and the world around us' p. In this context he heightened the role of the church as an 'Agent for Justice'.

He went further to state: It is the latter that is of significant interest today. The world is not so much interested in what we believe today but in what the church is doing to transform society and the world so that justice and peace may prevail. In this article, we have shown that the Christian church has always been involved in the transformation of society, especially as it took sides with the poor and oppressed. At times it seemed to have lost this focus, but somehow, throughout the ages, it has managed to sustain this mission responsibility.

Today, more than ever, given the increasing poverty, violence and injustices in the world, the Christian church is called upon to embrace, engage and continue with its task of being an agent for transformation and change. It has to fulfil the gospel imperative of making the world a better place for all to live with justice, peace and harmony. The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article.

Belhar Confession, , Belhar Confession English translation , viewed 28 September , from http: A social-ethical study of black theology and power , Ravan, Sandton, South Africa. Paradigm shifts in theology of missions , Orbis Books, New York. De Santa Ana, J. The challenge of the poor in the history of the church , WCC, Geneva.

The monastic tradition as source for unity and renewal today', The Ecumenical Review 39, Kairos Document, , 'The Kairos document', in W. Achievements, failures and the future', in M. Towards a theology of social change, contemporary issues in social ethics , vol. Van Der Walt, B. Christians as benefactors and citizens. The noun transformation then refers to the action of bringing about such a change. The Greek-derived synonym of this Latin-based word is metamorphosis. Such movements, more often than not, attempted to transform their own societies, or at least to focus on both evangelisation and service to the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed.

Thus, it is natural that the missions coming out of such movements took the same concerns for the poor and oppressed to their fields of labour. Others feel they were a product of cumulative changes in social welfare in the late medieval era. Still others have attributed changes in social welfare to the Renaissance and particularly to interested humanists or to better business practices during the Renaissance.

Some also attribute the changes in social welfare to the Protestant Reformation Olson Luther's distinction between Law and Gospel pointed out that humans are set free from sin by God's grace. This freedom enables humans to do good to fellow human beings. This encouraged the church to reform its actions towards the poor and oppressed. They show that Jesus' example is relevant and revolutionary and call us back to a Christianity that looks like Him again.

In this ambitious project, they mine the words of Jesus—the "red letters" of Scripture—asking the simple question, "What if we lived out the stuff He said? From the power in Washington to the poverty in rural towns to the broken systems everywhere else, the world is looking for salvation. But this salvation is not just for people's souls—it's for schools, governments, churches, and families. Red Letter Revolution is about politics, but it's fresh. It's about theology, but it's real. It's about economics, but it's interesting. It's about Jesus, who longs to transform the world despite the embarrassing things His followers have done in His name.

For conservatives and progressives, skeptics and believers, Red Letter Revolution undertakes the world-shaping mission to understand how Jesus' words could change everything—if we'd only give them a chance. Shane Claiborne is a best-selling author, Christian activist, speaker, and recovering sinner. Shane writes and speaks extensively about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus and is the author of several books including The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus for President.

Each year he speaks in a dozen countries and nearly every state in the US. Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University, a best-selling author, a former faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, and the founder and president of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education. Tony speaks about times a year in the United States and around the globe.

He has been a media commentator for a wide variety of outlets, has written more than thirty-five books the latest of which is Red Letter Revolution , and blogs regularly at redletterchristians. The Good News of the Gospels is that Jesus guides us with lessons that are abundantly clear; there are no ambiguities, no rationalization of war, oppression, wealth, or of the disgraceful economic divide that threatens to consume us.

In Red Letter Revolution the uncompromised truth of Jesus' teachings are given voice by two modern-day Christian leaders who do more than preach this Good News. They walk the talk and lead the way. I read it as a book of spiritual guidance, and urge others to do the same. Thank you, Tony and Shane. Thank you for this book. He thus condemned the rich and powerful who exploited their material edge to increase the poverty of the poor. He insisted on personal morality, righteousness and hard work.

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He seriously attacked the lazy who did not contribute towards a working society. His stress on hard labour led to a distorted view that linked hard labour with salvation. However, Calvin certainly did not intend this. He rather assumes hard work, but he wanted it clearly understood that hard labour did not give wealth.

Only God provides wealth. No one will be advanced unless God advances him or her. Calvin's stress on hard labour was to be taken and used by the capitalists to justify their personal ego, greed and selfish-acquisitiveness see, for example, Weber Preston points out, 'Calvinism did crystallise its ethic round the new commercial society, and in a more confused way Catholic moral theologians were to follow' Preston Tawney rightly points out that in an age of impersonal finance, world markets and capitalist organisations, the church tried to moralise economic relations by treating every transaction as a law of personal conduct in Preston This is to say that in its individualism it failed to comprehend the new structures of economic life and the power relations that went with them.

Traditional Christian thought on social issues became increasingly irrelevant, and in the end capitulated uncritically to the laissez faire view of the state and the economic order. The latter, however, was not intended. This view is supported by an examination of Calvin's interest in the welfare of the poor. Calvin's concern for the poor resulted in his attempt to transform his society, especially in Geneva. He concerned himself with the issues of commerce and economic justice Olson His theology was not disembodied, divorced from the realities of life where labourers and employers are often at odds over economic matters.

Calvin realised that because of the nature of humanity and the sinfulness all of our institutions, our endeavours are to some extent motivated by self-interest, pride and greed. Yet his is a 'world-affirming theology' in the sense that he sought to apply the gospel to all of life. For him, that meant seeking the guidance of scripture for the problems besetting humanity, particularly those besetting the citizens of Geneva.

Thus Calvin as a theologian and pastor became involved in everyday matters as diverse as the high cost of dying, hospitals, sumptuary laws and the regulation of business and industry and the question of wages Olson Calvin and Farel instituted the first free public education for both sexes.

Beyond the welfare system and education the work of Calvin and the pastors reached out to suggestions for railings to protect children on stairs and balconies. Fires and chimneys were regulated and efforts were made to clean the town and for street repair. Regulation of prices for the necessities of life was an accepted principle of the early reformation in Geneva McKim At the heart of the reformation was the intent to reform, revive and renew the church. In their minds the church was not standing up to the realities of its time in confronting financial corruption, sexual immorality and political power.

Reformers such as Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and others called for the 'reawakening' of the Church to address these issues. In so doing they did not hesitate to point out the inadequacies and corruption of the church which impacted on its life, work, witness and theology. Thus the 16th century Protestant Reformation was an attempt to reform and transform both church and society. The Reformation embraced a number of quite distinct, yet overlapping, areas of human activity: The Reformers generally advocated an involvement with the world though not all of them, for example, the Anabaptist.

However, unlike the Middle Ages, they went a step further in the attempt to transform society. And this they engaged as they influenced social and economic policies of the government of the day Stivers It is thus not surprising that some 'secular interpretations' tend to discount the importance of the religious element in the Reformation. They simply state that Luther, Calvin, Knox, Zwingli and others are products of their socio-economic and political backgrounds and circumstances Van Der Walt Further, the school of social history that views the religious motives behind the Reformation as marginal phenomena specific to the period has, not surprisingly, found the thesis that the Reformation failed to be very attractive Oberman As Gerald Strauss argues, the 'official Christianity' throughout the centuries was able to capture only a very narrow elite layer of the population, not the 'underground' constituted by popular culture Strauss It can be said of Luther and Calvin, for example, that they did have a vision of the 'common man' and wanted to remodel faith in a practical and lasting way.

However, did they want or attempt to realise Reformation in the terms of transformation? Steven Ozment offers a significant affirmative comment in response to this question: There can be no doubt that other factors played a role but the religious one cannot be ignored. The Reformation movement did not only renew and change the church leaving the world uninvolved.

This movement intervened dramatically in the lives of all and brought about radical changes in the social, political and economic aspects of a new developing world. It gave rise to a new epoch in the history of humankind. And all through this time there were small groups of Christians who kept to the task of transforming the lives of the poor.

It is thus not surprising that one of the theological miracles of the late 20th century is the rediscovery of the biblical witness to God's particular concern for the poor and oppressed. We shall now show this by focusing on the church in South Africa. The church as transformation and change agency in South Africa. The early missionaries, especially in the 19th century, are to be commended for sowing the seed from which the black churches of the 20th century grew. They did extensive evangelistic work and built churches, schools and hospitals. John de Gruchy points out that Black Theology has its foundations in the work of the early missionaries: The church has been involved in the establishment of society, though its contributions were not at all times positive.

In South Africa the Dutch Reformed Church, in particular, used its economic and political power to secure the rights of the white minority, seriously impoverishing the majority black people in South Africa, and even providing theological justification for such economic and political policies by misinterpreting Calvin's theology. This was evident in the policy of separate development which led to the rich white getting richer and the poor black getting poorer.

This is a classic example of how Reformed theology was [ ab ]used to perpetuate racial and economic injustice. Duchrow points out that we need to today understand and judge the theological positions of the Reformation and the resultant churches on the double criteria: This is precisely what Allan Boesak did in his academic contributions, preaching, church leadership and in his brief stint in politics. Particularly outstanding is his theological contributions and his pioneering efforts to interpret Reformed theology in the South African and African context.

Given the devastating misinterpretation of Reformed theology and tradition in the justification of apartheid, Boesak managed to recapture the true essence of what Reformed theology is all about. His books Farewell to Innocence and Black and Reformed , among others, are incredible attempts to cast a new light on Reformed theology while seriously engaging the black experience and context. This is further explored in his endeavour to connect the concept and quest for an African renaissance with Christian theology and faith which he does so well in his book The Tenderness of Conscience In essence, living under apartheid the ecumenical church had no real choice but to fight for the majority of people who were poor and oppressed.

In living out the gospel it attempted to transform society and enhance the quality of life of the poor and oppressed. In this sense the church has a history of being a transformation and change agent in South Africa. This can be seen by some of the things we will now mention. In October a circular was sent to heads of churches and superintendents of missions to investigate their attitude towards the Bantu Education Act. The Committee believed that the Act would violate certain principles of education.

This greatly stirred the Sharpeville incident in , and the subsequent banning of black organisations. The result was the Cottesloe Consultation, led mainly by dissatisfied Reformed Christians reacting to racism, in December which attempted to address 'Christian race relations and social problems in South Africa'.

Clearly, one can see from this that the CCSA was working towards the transformation of the human person and community, free from discrimination, racism, exploitation and oppression. Assisted by the World Council of Churches, a Department of Inter-Church Aid was started in , to collect and distribute funds for disaster relief and community development projects. The SACC became more and more a place where the Churches could witness together on the problems which faced them in South Africa - above all, the social and political problems produced by the government's apartheid policy.

Further, the evil of apartheid was clearly exposed in two documents that attempted to express a Christian and theological understanding of South African society: The message was a serious attempt to interpret what the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ means and implies within our complex and difficult situation Balia The key question concerning the message was: Who does my first loyalty go to - a human being; an ethnic group; a tradition; a political ideology or to Christ?

The document called on Christians to be truthful to the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be aware of the false gospel apartheid. The message stated that apartheid by its very nature is both divisive and antithetical of a just social order and reconciliation. Hence, it established that the struggle for justice is for the sake of overcoming the alienation of our social order and enabling reconciliation between the conflicting parties to become a reality De Gruchy The most significant fact that emerges here is that the 'message' drew the church into addressing the socio-economic and political injustices of the time.

This was to be further enhanced by the formulation of the Kairos Document much later. The Kairos Document is a Christian, biblical and theological commentary on the political crisis in the country that took seriously the experiences of black people. The document spoke of the crisis in the church, which was born out of the divisions in the church. Consequently three trends developed from these divisions, that is, state, church and prophetic theology.

The document challenged the state on its ideologies and condemned apartheid as a heresy. Firstly, it pointed out that church theology lacked social analysis and that the analysis of apartheid that underpins its theology is simply inadequate. Secondly, this theology lacked an adequate understanding of politics and political strategy. Changing the structures of a society is fundamentally a matter of politics. It requires a political strategy based upon a clear social or political analysis.

The Church has to address itself to these strategies and to the analyses upon which they are based. It is into this political situation that the Church has to bring the gospel. Hence there is no way of bypassing politics and political strategies.

Thirdly, it challenged the type of faith and spirituality that has dominated church life for centuries. Spirituality has tended to be an other-world affair that has very little, if anything at all, to do with the affairs of this world. Social and political matters were seen as worldly affairs that have nothing to do with the spiritual concerns of the church. The Kairos Document rejected this notion. It asserted that the Bible does not separate the human person from the world, in which he or she lives; it does not separate the individual from the social, or one's private life from one's public life.

God redeems the whole person as part of God's whole creation. Hence a truly biblical spirituality would penetrate into every aspect of human existence and would exclude nothing from God's redemptive will. We see in this document a new theological orientation in South Africa that directed itself to a radical social involvement. The document did not give a blueprint for an alternative political future, but challenged the church to side with God by deliberately supporting the oppressed and poor.

The ecumenical movement in South Africa identified itself with the poor as it joined forces with the exploited working class. Embracing liberation theology, it insisted that God is on the side of the poor and it therefore joined with the poor to fight for justice and human rights. In seeking the liberation of the oppressed it radically opposed the structures that dehumanised the masses. It encouraged the participation of the poor in the processes of enabling them to become more human and took up the struggle for justice.

For Allan Boesak, who comes from the Reformed tradition, the issue of justice is crucial; it is part and parcel to the Christian Gospel. In fact, it is the declaration of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Whenever Christians speak out and act against injustice, inequality and the dehumanisation of the human being, they serve as the ambassadors and servants of Christ.

Boesak singles out the Belhar Confession in this respect where it states: Boesak points out that this Confession helps us to, firstly, stand up and be counted for the poor and the destitute, and secondly, to stand where God stands. Not just in front of, in protection, but alongside, in solidarity of struggle. Not in mere sympathy but in identification with. The church must do that not because it is obsessed with the poor, but as the possession of God, in Whom its grounds of being, its identity is found Boesak It actively resisted the apartheid laws that were imposed on the majority people in South Africa by calling for disinvestments and international sanctions on South Africa.

The World Alliance of Reformed Churches played a vital role in this regard by suspending the membership of the Dutch Reformed Church and supporting the call for disinvestments in South Africa. The SACC played a very vital role in the demise of apartheid, and it continued to play a role in the reconstruction and transformation of South Africa since then. It is not possible to cover these details in this study but the point I wish to make here is that the ecumenical church in South Africa has always served in the role of bringing about transformation and change.

Originally the whole phenomenon of African Independent Christianity was interpreted as a protest against the Westernisation of the Christian mission in South Africa. More recent research has shown that the complex phenomenon of the AICs cannot be attributed simplistically to a single protest factor Saayman It can be established that the rise of the AICs was an attempt to preserve, develop and transform the African community and way of life. The AICs, especially the Zionists, attempted to develop and give expression to the African way of life.

This quest was further realised in the rise of African Christian Theology. African Christian Theology is a deliberate attempt to strip Christianity of non-essential additions. African Christian Theology is a decision by Africans to worship God as Africans and to look at and interpret the Bible from an African perspective.

It attempts to build on the existing African religious tradition Pobee It tries to tap the resources of the entire African community in arts, literature, sculpture and all human and academic disciplines. The concern of African Theology is to attempt to use African concepts and African ethos as vehicles for the communication of the Gospel in an African context.

This, undoubtedly, is a further indication of the role the church played and continues to play in the transformation of society and community. This ecumenical impact on missional thinking can be seen in South Africa today. Many are of the opinion that ecumenism in South Africa is dying, and this view is largely associated with the struggles of the SACC to survive, mainly financially. In my opinion, ecumenism is not dying; instead, it is morphing into something new. This new development is not driven by ecclesiology, doctrine, tradition and denominationalism but by a missional focus.

The essential question is: How can we exercise a prophetic voice together? How can we journey with the poor? The evangelical churches, in particular, are at the forefront seeking to influence government and business with the gospel. Sometimes one wonders whether their goal in mission is Christianisation or transformation. Whatever the intentions, one thing is sure that we are experiencing what I call a missional revolution with the intention of inspiring, motivating, equipping and nurturing Christian disciples.

We are realising that the goal is not to get people to church but to get the church into the world - to transform the world with the justice and peace of God so that all may experience the 'fullness of life' on the earth. In this endeavour the church has to work with government, business and labour and other religious bodies to create a better life for all people.

In a recent meeting The World Communion of Reformed Churches had with Pope Francis 10th June in the Vatican to discuss Reformed-Catholic relationships, he pointed out that 'our faith in Jesus impels us to live charity through concrete gestures capable of affecting our way of life, our relationships and the world around us' p. In this context he heightened the role of the church as an 'Agent for Justice'. He went further to state: It is the latter that is of significant interest today. The world is not so much interested in what we believe today but in what the church is doing to transform society and the world so that justice and peace may prevail.

In this article, we have shown that the Christian church has always been involved in the transformation of society, especially as it took sides with the poor and oppressed. At times it seemed to have lost this focus, but somehow, throughout the ages, it has managed to sustain this mission responsibility. Today, more than ever, given the increasing poverty, violence and injustices in the world, the Christian church is called upon to embrace, engage and continue with its task of being an agent for transformation and change.

It has to fulfil the gospel imperative of making the world a better place for all to live with justice, peace and harmony. The author declares that he has no financial or personal relationships which may have inappropriately influenced him in writing this article. Belhar Confession, , Belhar Confession English translation , viewed 28 September , from http: A social-ethical study of black theology and power , Ravan, Sandton, South Africa. Paradigm shifts in theology of missions , Orbis Books, New York. De Santa Ana, J. The challenge of the poor in the history of the church , WCC, Geneva.

The monastic tradition as source for unity and renewal today', The Ecumenical Review 39, Kairos Document, , 'The Kairos document', in W.

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