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YQUCanHelp
Liberate theWorld
)(
by
Jeff
Calkins
"Proclalm 1/berty throughout 1111
the land unto 1111 the lnh11bltants
thereof."
-Le.-ftlcus 25:10
lnez is a Roman Catholic nun work–
ing in the shantytowns surrounding a
major city in Chile. She is also a com–
munist, dedicated ro the violent over–
throw of tbe existing government -
ready to tal<e up anns, éven die in a
bloody confrontation
if
oecessary
in or–
der to overhaul hcr society.
Inez has made a long joumey regard–
ing ber personal loyallies: from os–
tensibly servingChrist, wbo said, "Resist
not evü" aod "Love your enemies, bless
them that cuiSe you" to serving the gos–
pel of Karl Marx, wbo called the work–
ing class to violen! revolution: "Workers
of the world unite, you have nothing
to
lose but your chains."
lnez is only one of many. ln Lalin
America particularly, revolutionary
groups and guerrilla terrorists such as
lhe infamous Tupamaros are supported
by local missionaries sent from va.rious
Protestan! denominations in lhe United
~,_..$tates,
and.
W~tem.~urope.
And many
of lhe Roman Calholic priests and nuns
bave also taken up tbe communist cause
- even thoug!t it means being at odds
with the official stance of tbeir church.
Revolutiooary "'uistiaos"
The spectacle of professing Cbristians
forsaking tbe siroplest and clearest prin–
cipies ofChrist - basic beoevolence and
nonviolence toward
ali
of bumanity -
and taking up aims in sorne uliberation*'
movement contaios some vital lessons
about the sorry state of the world and
wbat can be done to change it
Simply put, for mucb of humanity,
conditions are wretched. An emotional
desire for an end
to
such misery causes
some religionists to disregard aU logic,
knowledge .of economics, or the Bible
and take up communism.
For example, F. Reid Bucldey, an
American novelist, describes the squalor
witb wbicb lnez carne in cootact wbile
working among Cbile's poor:
". .. lnfants deformed by hunger and
disease, and wilh nothing to be done for
them ... families
pf
eigbt and ten people
crammed into a single room cabin, the
rain sluicing in, lhe muele of lhe sod
Ooor anide deep, the frigid Andean
winds whistling through cracks and
knotboles inetreclively stutfed wilb rags.
There was no work. There was no hope.
Brothers slept with sisters for warmth,
and sometimes lay witb tbem. In–
ebriated falhers (wine, cheaper Iban
food, narcotizes bunger) !ay with daugb–
ters.
lt
is hard
to
speak of depravity with
sucb oonditions, but there were incest
and resulling Mongolism and terrible
debasemeot ... ."
Tbis
is wbat lnez saw in lhe bovels
that
ting
Cbile's cities. Bucldey notes:
"The only hope sbe and her cbarges can
FEBRUARY 1976
bave is for a chaoge, a very radical
cbange . . . ." That's wby lnez and her
frieods bave become Marxists.
A typical pattem emerges: A priest or
nun goes into lhe slums bonestly boping
to "do somethiog" for the poor people
Living there. But the situation is a bopc·
less mess, aud the govemment is usuaUy
seen
as a
cruel oppressor. Since tbe oon–
ventional means of helping the. poor
seem to begetting nowhere, tbe priest or
nun, in frustratioo, turns to commun.ism.
lmpatient with the .genuinely wretched
conditions in wbich more than two
thirds of the world Uve, many religious
workers tum
to
Marxism because at
least it promises the poor a victory in an
al!-out "class struggle."
True Uber.ation
Tbe priests and nuns wbo take up
arms ro figbt alongside the communists
in Lalin America are rigbt about one
thiog:
lf
the terrible problems of the
poor are going to
be
solved.
i1
will mean
a total upbeaval - an institulional and
structural cbange.
They are also right that someone is
going
!O
ba'le to use
(o~
and violence
in' order to effect' Ibis cliange. The
"power strucll!re" (the apostle Paol osed
lhe pbrase, "the powers lhat be") simply
isn' t going to tic down and play dead.
Paul made it elear, in Romans 13,
bowever, that Cbristians are not
to
try to
oyertum the status quo
now.,
But they
are going to get tbe chaoce.
Christians will have the opportunity
to
help Cbrist iostitute divine govern·
ment, wbich will overtbrow tbe existing
powers that be. Revelatioo 19:11 de–
scribes Cbrist's returo to earth in tenns
of "malóng war." And Revelatioo 11: 15
describes the
transfer of power
from
human fallible govemmeot
to
super–
natural, infallible government.
This is wby Cbrist iostructs bis dis–
ciples to pray: '"''hy lóngdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in beaven."
Oon't Just Stand Tbere
In the u.ltimate spiritual sense, Chris–
tians are long-term activists wbo advo–
cate tbe
radical
solution of a
S1tpernatural coup d'etat.
But there are a
number of things you can do now - as
an individual - lo prómote tbis divine
"change of administration."
Pray
-
Thy kingdom come:
God him–
self will eventually make tbe decisioo to
send Cbrist back to earth. Requests to
birn
that he do so can have the etrect of
hastening the decision.
Do what you can now for people.
Just
because the rest of the world is intent on
making life miserable for itself doesn't
mean you bave to belp it aloog. Ooe
oould assume lhe posture of an am–
bassador of tbe govemment of Ood -
acting within one's lirnited soope to
sbare with others the benefits of that
govemment. Consider the interests of
others.
In
many cases, whatever
smali
thing you oould do would be probably
more Iban lheir preseot physical human
governments do for them.
Work! Lay the foundation for Christ's
relurn.
The Old Testameot states that
tbe world will have to be prepare<!
be- .
fore the Messiab
will
oome. "Behold, 1
wiU send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before
me ..."
(Mal.
3:1). '"''he voiceofhim tbatcrieth in the
wildemess, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord ..."
(Isa. 40:3).
The bibl.ical prescription for ending
lb
e borrors of oppressive governmeot is
not
to engage in violent revolution - or
even write "congress persons." lt is to
actively work in
laying the groundwork
for the time wben Cbrist's owo power
structure
will
take over. That means the
preacbingof lhe gospel.
The principie of leverage is involved.
Every etfort you make toward furthering
the gospel furthers the day wben the
myriad evils wbich seemingly can't' be
solved will be solved. The Cburcb of
God is dedieated to the purpose of pre–
paring the world for that day. Your sup–
port ofthe Church ofGod aod the Work
ti
is
doing does more
10
change tbe na-
ture of govemment on Ibis weary planet
than aU lhe world's foam-tlecked revolu–
tionaries running around espousing
"class contlagration" oould ever do.
The revolution wbich will solve the
problems of Satan, sin, and human oa–
ture has yet to occur. Mao Tse-tung has
tríed in vain
lo
remold man into the
communist.
irnage -
witness the contin–
ua! agony in
lb
e Chinese press over
"materialism." The Chinese oommunists
don't bave etemallife to otrer, and they
still have rrouble providing tbeir people
with anythiog otber Iban an incredibly
dreary, material existence.
Cbrist, on the other
baod,
promises
both eterna! life and material abun–
daoce wbeo
bis
"revolution" comes to
pass. :•. .. Tbe plowman sball overtake
the reaper, and the treader of grapes
bim
that soweth seed; and the moun·
tains sball drop sweet wine, and aU lhe
bilis shall melt" (Amos
9:
13).
The description is tbat of
a
world of
pleoty for all, including Chile's urban
poor, wbose pl.igbt religious workers
such as lnez find so despairing. Such a
world
is
coming.
11
is bei.ng hastened by
tbe Worlc ofGod.
·
o
What ls
real
good news, anyway? ls
it
good news when delegates
froth around the world gather to dlscuss the food crisis, but do
nothing about it? ls it good news when men talk of peace but pre–
pare feverlshly for war?
Good news,ls not really good unless it faces squarely the monstrous,
onrushing trends that threaten to sweep mankind lnto oblivlon and
tells us
how
these problems are going to besolved. There
ls
a source
of such news. You can read about it every month in a publication
approprlately titled
Good News.
lt's yours for the asking. Just retum
the coupon.
r-------------
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tluth
•
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