Trust in the social logic of the gospel.

Robra, Martin

The gospel promises life in all its fullness for all people and the whole creation (John 10:10). This promise was incarnated in Jesus Christ. Nobody is excluded from God's household of life. The Christian community reflects this vision, for the sake of the whole world. Guided by this vision, we strive for an economy in the service of life. Markets and money should enable the exchange of goods in order to satisfy human needs and contribute to the upbuilding of human community.

Today, however, we see a growing domination of real life by private financial and corporate interests. Economic globalization is guided by a logic, which gives priority to accumulating capital, unbridled competition and the securing of profit in narrowing markets. Political and military power are used as instruments to secure safe access to resources and to protect investment and trade.

>From the letter to churches in Western Europe, "Economy in the Service of Life" conference, Soesterberg, 2002

Hattingen 1987--being involved

The year is 1987. Konrad Raiser has been teaching ecumenical theology at Bochum University in Germany since he left the World Council of Churches' staff in Geneva shortly after the Vancouver assembly in 1983. The pressure of a globalizing economy is increasingly felt in the Ruhr region, the highly industrialized and densely populated area between the rivers Rhein, Ruhr and Lippe to which Bochum belongs. Steel factories, coal mines, a huge car production plant, coal- and oil-fired power plants, etc., can be easily spotted from the rooms of the theological faculty on top of one of the huge concrete blocks, housing the university.

The region is exposed to an accelerated process of structural change, away from the old industrial structures towards an uncertain future. Jobless growth, tripling and quadrupling unemployment rates, the closure of coal mines, steel plants and other industries, big mergers of corporations and increasing global activities by the most powerful of them dominate the headlines of economy sections in the newspapers. A company like Siemens makes more profits with speculation in the financial markets than income from products it sells.

The economic theory of Friedrich A. Hayek that was further shaped by Milton Friedman and the so-called "Chicago-boys" had already transformed post-second world war capitalism in the USA and the UK in the decade before. The economic theory of "monetarism"--or "neo-liberalism" as it is often called today--became a powerful tool in the hands of small corporate and financial elites. "Reaganomics" and "Thatcherism" radically transformed the societies of the USA and UK. The Mexico crisis in 1984 and the decline of the role of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) are just two of the alarming signals of the changing reality worldwide immediately after the G7 adopted at their 1983 meeting in Cancun, Mexico, the neo-liberal policy mix, with "privatization, liberalization and deregulation" replacing the old values of "liberty, fraternity and solidarity" that continue to disappear into history books and studies of political theory.

Soon these changes show results in the Ruhr region, the old fortress of German coal mining and the steel industry. The Thyssen Steel Corporation increasingly invests in the USA, in Brazil and other parts of the world including apartheid South Africa, where Thyssen steel is used for armoured cars by the army and police, for submarines etc. In 1987, the steel giants Krupp and Thyssen announce the closure of two plants in the Rubr region. One of them, the Henrichshiitte in Hattingen, is located just across the river from Bochum. The decisions threaten to wipe out more than a century of steel production in these two places, causing the dismissal of thousands of steelworkers with a disastrous ripple effect for many professionals and families in the region, and devaluing public investments of millions of Deutschmarks in the public infrastructure supporting the steel plants.

The workers, their families and the people in the cities begin to protest, organizing marches, occupying the production facilities, blocking main roads in the area. They develop many creative initiatives to show the public the devastating effect of the closures on life in community in their cities. The local and national media are surprised about this wave of solidarity and report favourably about the workers who are fighting for their future. Workers, ministers of the church, representatives of social movements and other citizens form joint committees to organize the protest movement. Congregations become open spaces for workers and their families to share their experiences and to sustain each other in the protest. They closely collaborate in an ecumenical spirit. At this moment, it does not matter whether they are Roman Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox or belong to another faith community.

While the congregations get involved, other levels of the church are reluctant to take sides. The strong media attention moves church leadership from the headquarters to the front lines. They demonstrate their concern for the people, but their public statements remain at the level of abstract appeals to social responsibility without naming the actors or raising pertinent questions regarding the decisions taken.

Confronted with this situation, the regional synod invites Konrad Raiser to act as an adviser and speaker. He shares reflections on ecumenical social thought and action, pointing to the critique of the prevailing economic paradigm by the WCC's Advisory Group on Economic Matters (AGEM) that met for the first time in 1978 in Zurich, and refers to the study on transnational corporations undertaken by the Commission on the Churches' Participation in Development (CCPD). (1) In Germany, the Starnberg Institute, led by Raiser's father-in-law, Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker, has just completed a groundbreaking study on how global strategies for distributing capital cause an upheaval of the world's economy: global sourcing and global division of labour are creating a new globalized economy. (2)

All this is invaluable information for the synod members. Raiser also guides them to re-read the Bible in the context of this struggle for social justice. After more than thirty years in a growing and prospering economy, they are not used to responding to conflict in their society. They represent a cross-section of the society with contradicting points of view and interests. It is very hard for them to see that this conflict disturbs and questions their assumptions about the quality of relationships within the church. Raiser invites them to look at the way in which Jesus relates to the prophets when he quotes Isaiah 61 in the synagogue of Capernaum (Luke 4). The reinterpretation of the jubilee theme offers a fruitful entry-point to engage theologically with growing inequalities and changing power distribution in German society.

Raiser's advice helps the synod to come up with a set of questions that responds to the situation and asks for common action to address the root causes. "Are we ready to call unemployment and its impact on people a violation of human rights?"--this is the first question raised. The answer to this question determines the direction for reflection and action. The set of questions ends with an ecumenical affirmation:

 The crisis in the Ruhr region cannot be disconnected from the
 context of the European and world economy. Under the conditions of
 international competition, human labour is seen more and more simply
 as a cost factor. What is the meaning of international solidarity in
 this situation? We must listen to the voices of those who are bound
 together with us in the world economy. What do we learn for the
 evaluation of the crisis in our region through our participation in
 the conciliar process of mutual commitment for Justice, Peace and
 the Integrity of Creation? (3)

The set of questions moves the debate forward and enables the regional synod to accompany the congregations hit by the closure of the steel plant in a meaningful way and to support their actions. But other levels of the church hardly participate in this process that for those involved leads to greater clarity and a theologically reflective critique of the situation.

Mobilization at the local and regional level cannot stop closures, but the number of people losing their jobs is considerably lower than originally planned. The corporation has to make a contribution to the creation of new job opportunities. The state accepts responsibility and takes additional action to ease the direct effects of the closures and to assist transition to other functions of the city for the region. People know that none of that would have happened if they had not acted.

Regarding the role of the churches, some important lessons are learned. The local congregation has a vital role to play. Presence of the church in the lives and struggles of the people proves to be the key for a credible mission of the church that responds to God's call for justice. Taking up the challenge, the churches in Hattingen renew themselves and their sense of purpose and mission in an ecumenical spirit. The strong local engagement, however, exposes even more the weaknesses and contradictions at other levels of church structures. Reflecting on the churches' response to the challenge, a minister writes in 1988:

 The Protestant churches saw their concerns taken on board by the
 concept of the social market economy, which represented a
 compromise between liberalism, humanism and solidarity in the
 post-second world war Germany. The growing gap between concept and
 reality was obscured by the concentration on the plight of the
 unemployed as a special group that need our diaconal support. The
 situation now leads the churches deeper into the conflicts of
 society. The rift that is opening up has to be addressed as a rift
 affecting the churches, their very being and the quality of their
 mission in society--this challenge is qualitatively new for us,
 although it has been on the agenda of the ecumenical movement for
 decades:

--the wish to nurture a national consensus across different sections and sectors of the society,

--the reality of the folk-church that is tied up in power relationships within society,

--the still unrecognized loss of plausibility in the term "social market economy",

--the asymmetry of the power distribution in society that manifests itself in mass unemployment and new poverty,

--the rather weak cooperation with those concerned and their organizations,

--the lack of trust in the justifying and liberating God, who liberates us to recognize the rift in society as a rift dividing the church, to confess our failure to address this situation and to work for reconciliation and healing in solidarity with those marginalized.

 All these are problems that made it difficult for. our church
 to address the situation in Hattingen and to respond to it in an
 adequate way. (4)

Soesterberg 2002--conflicting perspectives

Fifteen years later, in 2002, representatives of Western European churches and some delegates from other regions meet for a consultation on economic globalization in Soesterberg, Netherlands. "Economy in the Service of Life" is the title of the consultation that focuses on the role of the international financial system in the process of economic globalization. It also provides an opportunity to respond to letters and messages sent to the churches in Western Europe and North America by participants in regional consultations in Bangkok, Budapest and Fiji. The consultations mark different steps in a process that is jointly organized by the WCC, the LWF and the WARC together with Regional Ecumenical Organizations. Churches from different regions are invited to respond together to the challenges' of economic globalization and to identify options for common action. The series of consultations contributes to:

--clarity about the nature of economic globalization and its consequences for peoples and creation;

--a critique of the guiding logic of economic globalization;

--the identification of alternatives that encourage people to overcome exclusion and the prevailing feelings of powerlessness and paralysis in the face of global economic and political forces; and a visionary economic and political framework to further life in dignity in just and sustainable communities.

Raiser is preaching at the opening service in the cathedral of Utrecht, emphasizing equity and mutual solidarity as central values for the social dimension of life which are rooted in the logic of God's transforming grace in the midst of a competitive and merciless economic environment. Trust in the social logic of the gospel and, indeed, of all life, which reflects the loving relationships of the holy Trinity, motivates the call for a social-political framework of economic activities and a nurturing culture of life and solidarity. Raiser's critique of the prevailing development paradigm is based on the conviction that social justice and sustainability can never be achieved by means that deny the relational aspects of life. (5) The functioning of the economic system relies on the social fabric of communities while it erodes and destroys the undergirding values, attitudes and motivations because of its own reductionist view of the human being and creation.

That same evening in Soesterberg, the consultation begins with a contribution by the former Dutch minister for development, dan Pronk, and a response by Raiser. Pronk underlines that the last decade was dominated by the facilitation of globalization through the IME WTO and many international and regional agreements. The liberalization of capital has indeed become more important than anything else in the world economy. What can be done? He lists a variety of options to retard, to correct and to reform the process, among them the cancellation of unsustainable debts, introduction of the concept of global common goods, the control of the volatility of financial flows by taxes and the creation of a global society in order to bring the process back to the public realm, with democratic legitimization. But to stop globalization seems impossible, since "nobody is in charge".

Raiser, in contrast, asks if it is really true that "there is no alternative" as it is often said by those who benefit from the process and who are responsible for many of the decisions taken. Is it a process that just follows its own logic, like natural law? Or is it an historic process that requires intellectual and political interpretation? It is possible to respond to such causes in different ways and it is also possible to change them. (6) Raiser reminds Pronk of his own involvement in the ecumenical debate. Pronk declared in 1974 at a CCPD conference in Montreux,

 We need theories and policies which are relevant, which are based on
 an analysis of underdevelopment as a result of an unequal
 distribution of economic and political power ... Crisis or not, we
 have to go further. We have to set new policy goals and we have to
 formulate new ways and means to realize them. (7)

Pronk also played a key role in the AGEM which produced a clear critique of dominant economic theories and practices, building on decades of ecumenical critiques of the unrestrained market. Being exposed to growing inequality, social exclusion and environmental destruction, people call for alternatives. Raiser concludes his presentation with the reminder that the crisis over legitimization of global actors who shape the process of globalization is precisely the reason why they now contact leaders of faith communities. Churches, however, should he cautious not to be used to provide moral legitimacy. Instead, they should return to their ecumenical vision of God's world and articulate it in ways that can indeed challenge the present situation.

This first evening is continued with variations on the introductory themes during the ensuing clays of the consultation. Very clearly identifiable are the different social locations and contextual conditions of churches, in Western Europe and from other parts of the world. They shape in their own ways the perception and analysis of the consequences of economic globalization. The different histories and relationships between individual churches, their societies and states continue to play a role. They are reflected in the choices of different frameworks of analysis and ethical discernment.

Representatives of churches from the South, for example, often refer to the continuity of the history of five hundred years of colonial oppression in the present global distribution and use of economic, political, cultural and military power that result in growing inequality and exclusion. Representatives from the Western European context tend to emphasize discontinuity, pointing to the end of the bipolar world system. They favour solutions for the new economic reality that are modelled on institutional frameworks of the social compromise that marked their own societies during the cold-war period. Despite their own critique of the present economic system and the values that govern it, they generally do not see realistic alternatives to the work for changes within the system, although they recognize the "democracy deficit" and inadequacy of existing global institutions. Underlying such different intellectual and political positions are deeply existential and spiritual dimensions of peoples' lives, their fears and hopes for themselves and for the witness of their churches in their societies. It is striking how much this configuration of the discourse resembles the different perspectives that surfaced within one of the German churches in the struggle against the closure of the steel plant in 1987.

The reactions to the situation in Argentina provide a clear example of how these different perspectives inform the choice of priorities and policy recommendations. While much of the discussion in Western Europe focuses on proposals for debt arbitration that would ease the burden for Argentina within the given institutional frameworks, the churches in Argentina themselves look for deeper changes within their society, an end to impunity, cancellation of debts, and new patterns of relationships at the international level.

Pressed by the urgency of the matter, Christians from the South call for tangible changes and visible support in response to God's call for justice as a real expression of the common calling as Christians in this world. They see the very being of the churches at stake in matters of injustice and the destruction of God's creation. The Bangkok letter to the churches in the North reflects this situation. Indeed, it poses a difficult and highly conflicting challenge to European churches whose members belong to all strata in their societies and count for a large proportion of the population that benefits from the economic power of German society.

Sam Kobia, who would become WCC general secretary in 2004, shares in his Contribution to the consultation some helpful observations and suggestions concerning the different perspectives and asymmetries in the relationship between societies in South and North in the present context that shed some light on the relationship between the churches and church-related partners:

 The Bangkok letter to the churches in the North is based on the
 conviction that the ethical question we are confronted with is
 basically an ecclesiological question and a question of our
 confession to the God of life. The questions raised in the Bangkok
 letter become even more urgent after 11 September and in the context
 of the war on terror, which is also a war for resources and military
 security for globalization. This has serious implications for
 countries in the South, especially in a situation where the UN is
 being marginalized. Europe has a vital role to play in this
 situation and has to be clear about the choices made, e.g.
 concerning NATO strategies. What does this actually mean for
 European churches that want to be in solidarity with the churches of
 the South? Europe is also affected by globallzation, e.g. regarding
 the shrinking role of the public sector, shift to the right,
 increasing fragmentation and violence. Understanding this would be a
 prerequisite for a new form of solidarity, i.e. acknowledging
 vulnerability and the need to stand together with the people in the
 South. Referring to the theologian of the German Confessing Church,
 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Sam Kobia underlined: as long as the churches
 do not know about their place in society, they will not be able to
 preach the gospel. (8)

Geneva 2003--spirituality of resistance

Konrad Raiser moves this debate further with a thought-provoking paper on a spirituality of resistance that he presents during an internal encounter of churches, agencies and other partners on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in September 2003 in Geneva. The paper takes account of different stages of the WCC's approach to spirituality and earlier attempts to articulate a more comprehensive, holistic and community-based understanding of spirituality that does not lend itself to move away from the concrete challenges Christians face in their lives:

 Spirituality stands for the active presence of the power of God in
 human life which aims at enhancing life for all and defends those
 who are being excluded, the poor, the strangers and those who have
 been declared outcasts. Therefore, spirituality will have to
 challenge prophetically any form of power which sets itself as
 absolute and is not legitimized by serving the common good. It will
 have to unmask false claims of authority and must seek ways of
 resisting policies and practices which serve to increase the power
 and wealth of the few while neglecting the basic needs and the right
 to life of the many.

Resistance to "all forms of exercising power which refuse to acknowledge their accountability before God and the human community is inevitable". The spirituality of resistance is the other side of the affirmation of life and human dignity rooted in faith in the triune God of life.

The joint ecumenical process on the churches' response to economic globalization mentioned above includes a component of three consultations with the involvement of representatives of different world communions. This series of consultations is aiming at the integration of different ecclesial entry points to address the role of churches as moral communities, the affirmation of life and human dignity, and resistance to growing inequality, misuse of power and the destruction of the earth. The goals are to overcome the widespread sense of helplessness and paralysis, to contribute to spiritual discernment, and to empower people in their search for alternatives. Raiser's paper on the spirituality of resistance is an important resource for this process.

Participants in the first of these consultations in November 2002 in Cartigny, Switzerland, stated that the different ways to speak about the church and its calling have at their heart "a common focus on the quality of relationships that human beings and communities have with each other and with the earth" because they are centred on the relationship with the triune God of life. Processes of economic globalization that distort those relationships need to be challenged systematically:

 The church's preaching and the celebration of the sacraments can be
 compromised when we are complicit in systemic injustices and the
 exploitation of life. But they also underline how the eucharist,
 rightly understood and practised, embodies and enacts reconciled and
 just relationships and a foretaste of fulfilled life for all in
 community.

The second consultation that took place in November 2003 in Bossey, Switzerland, could build on these insights? Participants in this consultation clearly opt for a focus on life in community. They share the conviction that God incarnate and God as the three-in-one (the holy Trinity) heals and reconciles distorted relationships and restores the web of life. God's gift of life is a comprehensive gift, encompassing the multitude of creation and creatures. This has consequences for the proposed ecclesiological and ethical framework.

Made in the image of God, individual human beings recognize the human dignity of the other; they affirm their mutual vulnerability and dependence on others, the earth and God. They all belong to God's household of life (oikos--the earth community), which is marked by God's solidarity with those pushed to the margins of the networks of life, and to God's compassionate will for a life that overcomes the various faces of death.

Current trends of the globalized economy have led to the exclusion of many from the common household of life and often result in forms of individualism that are driven by greed and the attraction of power rather than by the desire for mutuality, justice and solidarity. God's household of life is threatened in various ways. Many feel numb, helpless and powerless in facing the massive misuse of unjustly distributed economic and political power. The Bible speaks of Mammon and the Empire when these powers force people and nature to conform to their own spirit and logic, when they sacrifice life in order to sustain themselves. People have different experiences of this same reality in different places and social locations, but they all have in common the experience that powers meant to serve life degenerate into structures of sin that imprison and enslave people as if there were no alternative.

Amidst and against that experience of feelings of helplessness, the gospel message of God's liberating grace and God's primary option for the poor empowers and motivates us to look for alternatives. It is life-affirming to recognize again that all human beings and all life belong to God. Led by the life-giving and life-sustaining gospel of God, it is particularly the churches that are called to resist the logic, spirit and practice of:

--greed justified by a reductionist anthropology and world-view;

--social exclusion justified by the ideology of the market;

--hegemonic and imperial power and oppression justified by a sense of superiority or special providence.

The draft summary statement of the November 2003 consultation concludes with an invitation to the member churches of the WCC, WARC and LWE as well as other churches, faith communities and people of good will, to join in such resistance and to embark together on a continuing journey towards an alternative vision and practice.

(1) Cf. Catherine Mulholland, Ecumenical Reflections on Political Economy, Geneva, 1988, and CCPD ed., Churches Report on Transnational Corporations, CCPD Documents no. 7, Geneva, 1986.

(2) Cf. Folker Frobel, Jurgen Heinrichs and Otto Kreye, Die neue iternationale Arbeitsteiling Reinbeck, rororo 1977, and Folker Frobel, Jurgen Heinrichs and Otto Kreye, Umbruch in der Welwirtschaft, Reinbeck, rororo, 1986.

(3) Cf. Martin Robra, "Suche nach Orientierungen", in Harry W. Jablonowski ed., Betriebsschliessungen in Ruhrgebiet, Bochum, Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland, Bochum, 1988, p.92.

(4) Cf. ibid., pp.91f.

(5) A masterpiece in making this point very clear was his speech at the Copenhagen World Social Summit in 1995.

(6) For Raiser's reflections on globalization cf. his For a Culture of Life: Transforming Globalization and Violence, WCC 2002--for the distinction between globalization as historic process and political-economic project cf. p.6f.

(7) Jan Pronk, "Development in the '70s: Seven Proposals", The Ecumenical Review vol. 27, p.17--cf. the excellent dissertation on ecumenical reflections on the economy by Wolfram Stierle, which is, unfortunately, only available in German: Chancen einer okumeniskechen Wirtschaftsethik. Kirche und Okonomie vor den Herausrderungen der Globalisierung, Frankfurt am Main, Lembeck, 2001.

(8) From the Soesterberg analytical report, WCC/JPC team.

(9) The following paragraphs quote from a draft summary paper of the consultation that is not yet fully authorized by the participants--therefore, the author takes full responsibility for the text that was produced by a drafting group

Martin Robra, one of Konrad Raiser's graduate students, now serves on the WCC staff in the area of Justice, Peace and Creation. In 2003-04, he is visiting professor at the Ecumenical Institute Institute in Bossey, Switzerland.