In (Christ) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness of life in him, who is the head of all rule and authority (Col. 2:9-10).

5. We confess our faith in the triune God, the giver, redeemer and sanctifier of life. This is why, as Christians and churches, we hope, pray and search for signs of God's kingdom in God's creation. Since Nairobi we have struggled towards the vision of a just, participatory and sustainable society.

1. We confess Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and was resurrected, in whom the whole universe was created, as Lord over all principalities and powers (Eph. 1:9-19). We anticipate the victory of the Lamb (Rev. 12:1 1) who inspires suffering and gives courage to martyrs everywhere.
2. The machine of the prevailing economic order starves millions of people, and increases the number of unemployed every year. Science and technology are misused to oppress the people and to destroy the earth in an insane arms race. More and more people are detained and "disappear", are tortured, deprived of religious liberty, forcibly displaced or exiled.
3. We interpret this development as idolatry, stemming from human sin, a product of satanic forces. We are in a situation where we must go beyond the normal prophetic and intercessory actions of the churches.
4. God created human beings in God's own image. The power God shared with human beings involved the sharing of responsibility for the world with them (Gen. 1:26-28). But human beings failed to exercise their responsibility creatively (Gen. 3:5). In contemporary terms, the powers of dominion over "nature" (earth, native peoples, manual labour, women) and limitless possessions have become idols. This culture of violence has engendered international security systems designed to assert possession at any cost. It has become an obsession with industrialized nations and spreads to others as well.

6. Some fundamentalist sects and church people, political parties and governments would legitimize this development as "Christian". These groups are against the identification of the churches with the poor in their witness to God's kingdom.

1. The Church is thus challenged not only in what it does, but in its very faith and being. Many are alert to the danger, implicit, for example, in the heresy of apartheid. However, there are also those who provide so-called "Christian" arguments to defend exploitative transnational systems, the uncritical applications of science and technology, and the production of mass nuclear weapons. In confessing Jesus Christ, churches must also confess their sins; they should recognize their complicity in or tolerance of the processes of death, and be prepared to confront the dangers inherent in exorcizing such evils.

7. The spiritual struggle of the Church must involve it in the struggles of the poor, the oppressed, the alienated, and the exiled. The Spirit is among struggling people. The Spirit kindles love and fills us with courage. The Spirit imparts creative vision. Christ's Church celebrates the eucharist as the manifestation of God's love and as the source of spiritual strength among God's people (Ez. 37:10; Rev. 11:11).

1. Christians are called to resist any power that demands complicity in sin. People are constantly tempted to misuse power. Therefore, justified by faith, the people struggle to affirm life as a sign of the coming kingdom. The widow argued persistently and stubbornly with the judge (Luke 18:2-5), strongly suggesting to Christians the attitude and persistence required to achieve justice and human dignity. The Lord of the Church gives a transcending vision and the patience of martyrs to resist structural support of a sinful system, when he promises "I will be with you always, to the end of the age" (Mat. 28:20).

next