“Every activity Jesus performed he did in a socio-political context. Jesus could have simply sought to transform society at the macrolevel, but instead he created a microsociety to transform the culture. This 24/7 community addressed all of life. As a new type of family, they practiced alternative politics, economics, and social structure. The Sermon on the Mount served as their founding charter. ” 2

- Re-examine the role and the responsibilities of the pastor. In churches that proclaim the Prosperity Theology it is not rare for the pastor to be the poster-boy of prosperity. He (and he is often a ‘he’) is the proof that it is possible to hit the Jackpot. This way, the pastor becomes a star in a suit, a super Minister. The spoken messages and non-verbal images point toward the prominent place of the pastor. On the contrary, the pastor should personify humility. He/she should be capable of translating the Word of God into daily stuff (without trivializing it), showing it in practice. He/she should encourage people and not coerce, nor subdue, nor control them. He/she should make alternative communities viable. There is also the challenge of the pastor not being a financial roadblock that hinders the church from living the values of the Kingdom. Alternatives include tent-making pastors (where the ministry is not the only occupation), for instance.

- Act politically. I know that the church committed serious mistakes throughout history with the combination of politics and religion. But let us try to see this through a new angle. Politics make reference to inter-personal relationships. Therefore, there is no way a person or group can be a-political; all our actions have political consequences, we being conscious or not about it. Politics can be continuous, with the constant exercise of citizenship. To vote is only one of many possible political actions. The message and the model of the Kingdom of Christ do not promote powerful and controlling figures. On the contrary, when asked who was the most important one in the Kingdom, Jesus answered that "whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18.4) On the one hand Jesus does not bear arms to participate in the nationalist cause (Simon was his disciple). Jesus also pays the taxes to Cesar. Jesus frustrates the Judaic hope of a political Messiah. On the other hand, the humility, the love and the model of the simple community of Jesus threaten the establishment in its core. When I suggest for communities to act politically I am not suggesting individuals and communities to "play the game" of politics, but rather that they be fully conscious of the value of the other in the Kingdom, that they become infuriated with the commerce of grace (John 2.15), that they get involved in the advocacy of basic human rights and that they demonstrate in their communities the love that transforms and restores. As Jim Wallis said, it is not enough to keep pulling bodies from the river; we must go upstream to see who is throwing them in.3

Gustavo "K-fé" Frederico 

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