Harold Segura C. | Chronicles and Reflections from Lausanne IV (6) Seoul, September 27, 2024

 Harold Segura C. | Chronicles and Reflections from Lausanne IV (6)

Seoul, September 27, 2024

Mola, traditional fabric of the Kuna indigenous community of Panama

The last two Bible studies, like those throughout the week, explored different aspects of the book of Acts. Yesterday’s study addressed the day’s theme, which was Christian witness in the workplace, and today focused on what this Second Testament book says about leadership marked by service and humility.

Julia Garschagen, from Germany, co-director of a Christian organization specializing in the new generations, presented the theme of the workplace, taking us through Jerusalem, Philippi, Corinth, and Rome, finding in each of these cities characters who, according to Luke (the author of Acts), demonstrated that the spread of the Gospel was not the result of the work of specialized missionaries, but of people who, immersed in their daily activities, spoke of Jesus and bore witness to His kingdom. Among them were Jesus, a lay carpenter; Paul, a tentmaker by trade (Acts 18:3), and Priscilla and Aquila, a Jewish couple who shared the same work as the apostle, among others.

Dr. Garschagen highlighted the fact that today, only 1% of evangelical churches are made up of specialized ministers (pastors and other leaders), while the remaining 99% consists of people involved in professions and trades outside the ecclesial world. Therefore, it would be illusory to think that this 1% is solely responsible for fulfilling God’s mission. In God’s kingdom, there are no second-class citizens, she said.

Another Bible study, today’s (the penultimate day of the congress), was led by Dr. Philip Ryken, the eighth president of the renowned Wheaton College and author of nearly fifty Bible commentaries. His theme was leadership in the book of Acts, where, according to him, we find leaders whose work style is characterized by service, in the manner of Jesus, the servant of all. At my conversation table, in light of this last Bible study, Carlos Fumero from Spain noted something I now highlight: servant leadership is not something to do (a task), but something to be (character). Enough said!

Jocabed Solano. PHOTO: reformes.ch

Each day’s program includes an interview. Today’s guest was Jocabed Solano Miseli, a Panamanian indigenous woman from the Kuna community, and one of the few Latin Americans invited to the platform (but with her, Ruth Padilla DeBorst, and Allan Matamoros, I feel well-represented). Jocabed used the figure of the “mola,” a multicolored, handwoven fabric used in the women’s attire of her Kuna people. From this variety of colors, Jocabed, a dear friend whom I admire and appreciate, spoke about the need for a polychromatic theology, of a God who loves cultural diversity, making the Gospel more original and, indeed, more credible to new generations.

The panel’s theme was Mission through intergenerational disciples (and, as Jocabed would say, intercultural as well). And I believe so too. Neither the Eurocentric Gospel inherited from the Protestant Reformation nor the Anglocentric Gospel from evangelicalism answers the spiritual questions of the new generations. Evangelization must rethink not just its methodologies (how do we do it?) but also its theologies (what does it mean today?). And intercultural dialogue is an indispensable tool to answer this latter question. This was the case in the blessed book of Acts. For evangelizing means moving, guided by the wind of the Spirit, into God’s vast world, which changes from culture to culture and from generation to generation. And theology, instead of being a dull monochromatic fabric, is a beautiful multicolored mola.

Lord, deliver Lausanne, and all of us, from the limiting achromatopsia (seeing everything in black and white). May we open ourselves to the grace of your multifaceted and varied grace. Amen.

 

About the author:

Pastor and theologian Harold Segura is Colombian, currently residing in Costa Rica. He is the Director of Faith and Development for World Vision in Latin America and the Caribbean and the author of several books. Previously, he served as Rector of the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Colombia.