ANALYZING POWER IN LATIN AMERICA THROUGH THE CHRISTIAN METANARRATIVE

by

Lisa Marie Anderson-UmañaB.S., Penn State University, 1982

M.A. Wheaton College Graduate School, 1993

COMPREHENSIVE EXAM

Submitted to Dr. Donald Guthriein partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the course ES 9975Comprehensive Examination

at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Deerfield, IllinoisJuly 2014

2014 Copyright Lisa Anderson-Umaña All rights reserved.

APPROVAL PAGE

Accepted:

______________________________First Reader

______________________________Second Reader

______________________________Program Director

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how power is understood in Latin America, what a

Biblical understanding of power is, and how power could be redeemed in leadership. Power

in Latin America is primarily understood as personal power, localized around and exercised

by a single person or an elite group. Power is mostly exercised top down (hierarchical), and

is considered a limited good. Power is also related to one’s ascribed status in society and is

shared conditionally, in other words, it is brokered. Although understood in this manner, by

examining power within the Christian metanarrative it can be redeemed for God’s glory and

for the fulfillment of God’s intentions for his image-bearers. Power is good. Power is a gift

from God. Power grows as it is shared with others. When power is distorted by sin, one sees

injustice (domination, violence) and idolatry (playing god). Power is redeemed, along with

the entire cosmos, by Jesus Christ. We become his co-laborers by affirming power’s

creational goodness, recognizing its fallenness (i.e. naming its distortions), and participating

with Christ in restoring it and being good stewards of the gift of power.

Keywords: In Latin America: power, authority, power distance, status by ascription, limited good, personal power, biblical understanding of power, Reformed timeline, Christian metanarrative, Christian worldview, clientelism, hierarchical power, brokering of power, redemption of power.

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To my pastors, Isaac and Peggy Vilorio, who provide for us all a

redeemed view of power, power that is shared, horizontal,

unbounded because it proceeds from the hand

of God, and is dedicated to the

Bride of Christ, his church

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The Cultural Fabric of Power in Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Power in Latin America is Embodied in a Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Power in Latin America is Hierarchical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Power in Latin America is a Limited Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Power is Related to One’s Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Power is Brokered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2. A BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING OF POWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Let There Be …. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Let Us Make… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Be Fruitful and Multiply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Redemption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Christ’s Second Coming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3. ANALYZING LATIN AMERICA’S PERSPECTIVES ON POWER . . . . . . 21

Power is Embodied in a Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Power is Hierarchical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Power is a Limited Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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Power is Brokered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Power is Related to One’s Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Further explanation needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

REFERENCE LIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Figure Page

1. Figure 1 Reformed worldview (drawn by author). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

2. Figure 2: Nature of power derived from Genesis 1-3 (Crouch 2013) . . . . . . . . 11

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ANALYZING POWER IN LATIN AMERICA THROUGH THE CHRISTIAN METANARRATIVE

Introduction

I arrived as an outsider to Latin America at the age of twenty-two and over

the last thirty-one years have progressively become an insider. Cognizant of my Anglo-

Saxon roots (Swedish and Irish), I have nonetheless accepted the invitation from Latin

Americans to become part of their community and have experienced their warm embrace.

Marrying a Honduran certainly accelerated and sealed this process of adoption. I have not

given up my family of origin but I do self-identify with Latin America. I am writing this

paper to my adopted family of Latin America (it will be translated into Spanish and

published). So for now, I gladly invite English speakers like expatriates to eavesdrop.

Many who call Latin America home or who just drop in for a visit might find this paper

written by an “insider-outsider” to be beneficial in their journeys.

While perhaps unnamed, underlying many conversations in Latin America

about leadership is a concern for power. Voiced with a tone of ojalá (if only…) are

questions like: Ojalá as he himself gets rich in government; he helps the country as well.

… Ojalá he doesn’t steal too much and leave us bankrupt, … Ojalá he’s a good leader,

it’s about time we get a good leader in place, … Ojalá the power does not go to her head.

On and on the conversations go. What really is at stake?

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Whether the context is government, church, or the family, the questions hang

unanswered in the air. This state of perplexity about leadership and almost wishful thinking

prompted me to ask how power is understood in Latin America. What is a biblical understanding

of power? How can power be redeemed in leadership? This paper represents my initial efforts to

inquire about this perplexity and move from wishful thinking to practical redemptive measures.

Although power in Latin America is primarily understood as personal power, localized around

and exercised by a single person or an elite group, it is mostly exercised top down, and is

considered a limited good. Understanding power within the Christian metanarrative can redeem

its use for God’s glory and for the fulfillment of God’s intentions for his image-bearers. Power is

good. Power is a gift from God. Power grows as it is shared with others. Power has been

distorted by sin and now one sees injustice (domination, violence) and idolatry (playing god).

Power is redeemed, along with the entire cosmos, by Jesus Christ. We become his co-laborers by

affirming power’s creational goodness, recognizing its fallenness (i.e. naming its distortions),

and participating with Christ in restoring it and being good stewards of the gift of power.

This paper has three sections. Section One describes how power is commonly

understood in Latin America from various socio-cultural perspectives. Section Two outlines a

biblical understanding of power as seen through the lenses of the Christian metanarrative,

primarily referencing Andy Crouch’s (2013) book: Playing God: Redeeming the gift of power

and others (Austin 2010; Plantinga 1995). Section Three analyzes Latin America’s perspectives

on power through the lenses provided by Wolters (2005) in Creation regained, providing some

practical implications as to how power can be used for God’s glory and for human flourishing.

SECTION ONE

The Cultural Fabric of Power in Latin America

Given the broad nature of the subject of power in Latin America, I offer these

perspectives. Admittedly, they merit far deeper treatment than I could provide in a paper of

this nature. But Latin American intellectuals, cultural anthropologists, and political scientists

inform them, as does my own personal experience.

Power in Latin America is Embodied in a Person

When the renowned historian of Mexico, Enrique Krauze (2012; 1997), writes

about power he lists the names of powerful individuals, men (and one woman, Eva Perón)

who have shaped the ideological landscape and politics of all Latin America. One of the most

well-known prototypes of power in Latin America since its independence from Spain in the

early 1800’s is a caudillo, a strongman, whose charismatic personality emanates power and

whose word is law (Hamill 1992; Lynch 1993). “In the life and literary works of Gabriel

Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa throbs the age-old theme of power, power

incarnated in the person of the caudillo” (Krauze 2012, 15).

Castro Martinez (2008) describes the worst of caudillo leadership as

personalistic, authoritarian, and populist (empathizing with the underprivileged masses in an

effort to win their support).

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Personal rule has been the dominant note in the political life of those nations that had broken their bonds with Spain and Portugal and become independent. Certainly nowhere else is the pattern of history richer in strong personalities. The power of fascination exercised over the masses by individual rulers was on occasion so great that a kind of popular complicity in the practice of violence was assured. This strange mixture of despotism and cheap popularity justifies the name given to that type of government… democratic Caesarism. (Alvarez del Vayo 1941, 177–178)

Power in Latin America is Hierarchical

Long before the Spanish conquest of the early 1500’s, the Aztec, Mayan, and

Incan empires ruled the lands in a strict vertical fashion with the king at the top of the

pyramid, followed by nobility who occupied the important positions in government, military,

and religious institutions. These were followed by the farmers and craftsmen and at the very

bottom of the social ladder were the slaves, those people conquered through military

expansion (Seaman 2013). This pyramid of power is “caudillismo” institutionalized and still

exists today since it is a strong native trait of society.

The well-documented gruesome nature of Spain and Portugal’s conquest of

Latin America and the utter devastation of its diverse cultural patrimony had to have seared

into the minds of its native inhabitants that power equals violence, domination, and

destruction (Galeano 2009). “What distinguished Spain from other colonial powers was the

concentrated effort to impose their culture on their colonial subjects by force; to transform

the Indians into shorter, darker versions of Spaniards” (Gussinyer 2000, 443). The

establishment of the Spaniards as colonizers further enforced the sovereignty theory of

power, a belief that power rests at the peak of the pyramid, “the powerful few exercising

power upon, and dominating, the powerless many” (Pasewark 1993, 8). “If one looks into

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the Latin American past one fact emerges: Latin Americans have consistently favored some

form of political monism including "strong man" leadership (Dealy 1974, 627).

Due to the monolithic nature of Catholicism in Latin America (Dealy 1974),

hierarchical structure of rule has been impressed upon the peoples of Latin America for eons,

inequality in status, power, position, wealth, and privilege is an accepted part of life here.

The term used to describe the degree to which subordinates accept or reject

inequality is called power distance. Hofstede and Hofstede (2005), as well as House et al.

(2004), have developed an index cataloguing dozens and dozens of countries around the

world on a scale of high to low power distance. Those countries with higher scores indicate

society’s greater acceptance of inequality. Again, power distance is the “extent to which the

less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept

that power is distributed unequally” (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005a, 46). The GLOBE Study

(Ogliastri et al. 1999) shows that as a region, Latin America has high power distance.

Woven into the fabric of society’s interaction are the use of titles in addressing one another

(Engineer, Architect, Licenciado), the acceptance of privileges like favorable seating or

parking arrangements, special favors or perks for those higher on the social scale, and the

right of the leader to make unilateral decisions and expect unquestioned obedience. In

addition, once a leader gets to power, he or she will often use tactics to protect their position,

removing others deemed as threats, often simply closing the door for any upward movement.

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Power in Latin America is a Limited Good

Foster (1965a) was among the first to describe the concept of limited good in

his observations of the working class (campesinos) in Mexico. Pasewark (1993) describes

this perspective on power as a zero sum game: “The quantity of power is assumed to be

finite, such that if one person or group has ‘more’ power, its counterpart must have ‘less’”

(Pasewark 1993, 10). Many writers like Galeano (2009) assert that imperialist countries have

gotten rich off of Latin America and that is why Latin America is poor. Underlying this

assertion would appear to be the concept of limited good on a macro scale, i.e. that the goods

of this world are thought to be like a big pie, therefore, those nations that have a bigger slice

of the goods do so at the expense of the other nations who have a smaller slice. It should be

noted that other Latin Americans writers take issue with Galeano’s claim and vigorously

dispute it (Montaner, Mendoza, and Vargas Llosa 1996; Mendoza 2007). These three authors

wrote two books (2007; 1996) showing how Leftist-leaning authors like Galeano were using

as scapegoats imperialism, the CIA, transnationals, Pentagon, etc. even as they hide their

heads in the sand, play the victim, and ignore the real causes of poverty, unemployment,

corrupt institutions, preferring to blame others for Latin America’s problems.

Anthropologist Paul Hiebert, citing Foster (1965b) noted the perspective of

limited good in the majority world.

Basic resources—land, wealth, health, friendships, power, status, and security—are limited and in short supply. There is not enough for everyone. Consequently, people must compete for them. The result is a suspicion of other and the belief that if one person is getting ahead the other must be losing out. People in such societies are not encouraged to work hard to advance, and those who do are often boycotted by the group. Rather, they are encouraged to keep their place and fit into society as it already exists. (Hiebert 1986, 117)

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Power is Related to One’s Status

One is ascribed more power by society according to one’s status or rank.

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998, 105) describe an “ascribed status” culture, like

Latin America, where status is ascribed by virtue of wealth, family name, class, gender,

versus a culture where status is achieved by doing, training, competencies, accomplishments,

and professional qualifications. There is a dialectic tension felt within a collectivistic society

that pressures its members to keep their place, yet at the same time there is a contest to make

him or herself stand out among the rest. (Dealy 1992, 100). Brusco (1995, 103) calls this

dynamic “social ascendency, an all-engrossing struggle for status” and lists characteristics

and behavior patterns that affect status in Latin America.

1. Style of dress

2. Titles (how one is addressed)

3. Cleanliness and state of repair of dress

4. Level and kind of education

5. Where an individual lives (place and type of residence)

6. How one carries him or herself

7. Whether he or she appears anxious or self-confident

8. Whether he or she is alone or accompanied

9. Whether he or she refrains from engaging in any manual labor

10. Physical characteristics like height or skin color

11. Family name and background

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Power is Brokered

Power is negotiated, shared conditionally, in exchange for something. At

times, power is not shared since it is personalistic (attached to a person or an elite group) but

when power is shared, it would appear to run along the lines of compadrazgo (patronage,

clientage, kinship or connections). There are many shades of patronage. Compadrazgo in the

formal sense was required by the Roman Catholic Church in that parent must choose a

godparent to sponsor their child upon their baptism, first communion, or marriage. Parents

typically choose a sponsor with a higher status and “in exchange for sponsorship the

godparent is given obedience and deference. Informally, material exchanges (for example,

presents) also may be added to the godparent-godchild relationship” (Strickon and Greenfield

1972, 3).

Heath (1972) noted that paternalism seemed to be an inherent part of the

campesino—working class—toward those in authority and vice versa even after sweeping

changes in societal structures, meaning that the sense of those in authority being accepted to

take care of their subordinates seems to be part of the fabric of society.

When power is shared it is done so based on a system of exchange. This

modus operandi means that someone in power will hand out material goods, jobs or favors in

exchange for votes, paybacks, turning a blind eye, or compliance. This exchange works both

ways since even the apparently “less powerful” keep the relationship in place by their

demands. Clientelism has been amply studied and mostly been given a negative review (as

noted by Auyero 1999) but nevertheless continues to form an integral part life’s daily

interactions. From the top to the bottom of the social pyramid, not much gets done in Latin

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America without “connections,” (conectes, palanca, cuello, amigos). One author (Kling

1956) astutely observed that since social positions were mostly fixed at birth, the only sure

way to obtain upward mobility was to get a government position. It did not matter if the

government leaned right or left.

In very broad strokes we have observed power in Latin America to be

embodied in a person, hierarchical, a limited good, related to one’s ascribed status, and

brokered through patron-client relationships, patronage, or “friends.” An argument could be

made that this description might very well be applied to other regions of the world, with

different backgrounds and history. The next section will provide a biblical understanding of

power as seen through the Christian metanarrative. The last section will provide the reader

with ways that power can be redeemed in Latin America, to be used for God’s glory and the

fulfillment of God’s intentions for his image-bearers.

SECTION TWO

A Biblical Understanding of Power

“Power is best understood in the context of the Christian metanarrative”

(Crouch 2013, 9). Numerous are the authors who would object to the use of metanarratives to

describe reality, e.g. Michel Foucault, Jean-François Lyotard (Kelly 2011). Nevertheless, as

Kelly (2011) said: “I have no way of understanding the historic Christian faith but as a

metanarrative; it is the truth-full story of the Creator God’s redeeming work through Israel

and the person and work of Jesus Christ” (italics original) (2011, 133). I have drawn a

timeline based on the descriptions of the Reformed worldview by Wolters (2005) and Austin

(2010). When I speak of worldview I am using the definition created by James Sire (2004):

“A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed

as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions, that may be true, partially true or false)

which we hold (consciously or subconsciously) about the basic constitution of reality, and

that provides that foundation on which we live and move and have our being” (2004, 17).

Sire recognizes that a worldview is not just expressed as set of presuppositions, but also can

be expressed in a story or metanarrative. He also identifies that your worldview is not just

cognitive but it is how your heart is oriented and committed. We all have a worldview, true

or untrue, whether we can articulate it or not. As a Christ-follower, my worldview should

spring from Scripture, the final authority for the Christian.

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Power is best understood in line with the biblical metanarrative, which can be

diagramed in this manner: See Figure 1: Christian worldview (drawn by author).

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“Power can be

defined as capacity to act or influence. Authority is formal or relational exercise of power

that has been legitimized by social structures and/or one’s community. So, power is capacity

and authority is that exercised capacity. They’re related and close but not the same thing”

(Burns, Chapman, and Guthrie 2013, 211–212). The use of the Greek word, “dynamis,

tended to focus on the spiritual dimension of power in its capacity to determine terrestrial

existence for weal or for woe ‘from above’” (Wink 1984, 17) or the capacity to act or

influence. The concept of authority, found in the New Testament (e.g. Matt 28:18; Luke

21:11), uses the Greek word: “exousia, which most of the time meant the impersonal capacity

for action which is bestowed by an office, …referring to a structural dimension of existence,

that permission or authorization provided by some legitimate authorizing person or body”

(Wink 1984, 15–16) (italics in original).

Austin (2010) makes a number of observations pertinent to authority. The

pre-existence of the Godhead shows how group pre-exists the individual. “Authority is not

constructed, it was already there before Creation” (2010, 9). …At Creation, human beings

Figure 1: Christian worldview (drawn by author)

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were made in the image of God and with the Fall, we “fell” from our original state of

perfection into sin…. At Redemption, “God did not desire to leave humans in sin, so he

introduced means for them to rise above sin and be restored to a fullness of being. …This

redemption was accomplished by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection…Christ’s return will

bring a final restoration of all things in God’s ultimate judgment” (Austin 2010, 1).

If one placed the entrance of power into the world as post-Fall this would

indicate their assumption that with no sinful inclinations, human beings would not need

authority. “That power/authority is only needed to compensate for our fallenness, for some

human defect” (Austin 2010, 15), which would imply that power is evil at its core, alien to

God’s plan and foreign to his original purposes. This paper operates on the opposite

assumption, that power was part of God’s plan from the very beginning (pre-Creation) and is

necessary for God to be glorified and human beings to flourish and fulfill God’s intentions.

Power is inescapable and natural, and can be wielded/used well or poorly.

By zooming in on the timeline between Creation and the Fall we can better

understand power within God’s history of Genesis. See Figure 2: Nature of power derived

from Genesis 1-3 (Crouch 2013).

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There is a progression of power visible in the first two chapters of the Bible,

“Power is rooted in creation, the calling of something out of nothing and the fruitful,

multiplying abundance of our astonishing world. It is intimately tied to image-bearing: the

unique role that human beings play in representing the cosmos’s Creator in the midst of

creation” (Crouch 2013, 12).

Let There Be…

God’s words were not “Make it so” but rather “let there be something rather

than nothing. Let reality expand to include this possibility” (Crouch 2013, 34). Power

creates; it is creative. It makes stuff. After each creative act—Let there be—God said: It is

good. God’s design for power is for it to be a resource that multiplies itself. The Bible

describes the life that God created as teeming, which conveys a sense of abundance, variety

and flourishing (Crouch 2013).

Figure 2: Nature of power derived from Genesis 1-3 (Crouch 2013)

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God’s most powerful act of Creation shows us that power is the ability to

make something of the world. Crouch (2013) calls “power the ability to participate in ‘stuff-

making’ and ‘sense-making,’ a process that is the most distinctive thing that human beings

do” (2013, 17).

Let Us Make…

When God created human beings, he said: “Let us make man in our own

image” (Gen 1:26). Power grows when it is shared. It is not meant to be hoarded; it is not a

limited good, but as power is shared, more is created, not less.

If even divine creativity requires a community, then any human creativity involves more than just an individual fiat—we gather with a circle of partners to define, refine and in many cases greatly improve the original vision. Just as the climax of creation, the introduction of God’s own image bearers into the world only happens in the context of divine community, so we often find our own creative vision does not reach its full potential until we bring others into the process. (Crouch 2013, 34)

The pattern of creation is that what God has made is good. And when God’s

image bearers are present in creation, then the world becomes “very good.” For example,

eggs are good. But when humans take eggs and make an omelet, it is very good. Trees are

good. But when human beings take trees, fashioning the wood into a beautiful piece of

furniture, it is very good (Crouch 2013).

Human beings are made in the image of God; we are his “image-bearers.”

“Power is all about image-bearing—reflecting and refracting the creative power of the

world’s Maker into the very good creation. Image bearing is for flourishing” (Crouch 2013,

54).We are made for a purpose beyond ourselves, we are made for God’s glory and to be in

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relationship with him as the Westminster Shorter Catechism so eloquently reads: “What is

the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever” (Carson and Hall 1994). In all

of creation, no other created being bears God’s image. Only human beings can adequately

reflect a personal, loving, creative God.

Be Fruitful and Multiply

The pattern of creation again is visible, continuing with the examples above,

we point out that grapes are good. But when human beings take grapes, ferment its juice and

create wine, it is very good. For connoisseurs, the sight, the smell, the texture, the color of

the best wine is glorious. When wood from the good gift of trees is fashioned by human

beings into instruments, music is composed, and an orchestra plays, that can truly be

glorious.

“True power reveals glory, unfolding the abundant possibilities and realities

of created things….Glory is the magnificence of true being, the captivating beauty of

something that is so rich in realization that it leaves us in awe and close to worship. …The

best of culture has this quality of transcendent excellence, the ability to be utterly itself and to

speak of something far greater than itself” (Crouch 2013, 110, 104–105). What would that

type of power look like if we employed it with those with whom we work?

Mostly we will say “Be fruitful and multiply” to the people we employ and empower for the work. Fill the space created by our early vision with your own creativity. If we have done our job well, at this stage we will have surprisingly little to do because others will be taking up their own creative task. And if they do their task well, the creation will be enriched, more useful, more beautiful and more capacious for further creativity. This is power as it is meant to be. (Crouch 2013, 35)

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We have an active, vital role in stewarding the power God gave us with this

creation mandate to “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28). Thus

far in our metanarrative, power, before the Fall, can be understood as a gift from God, a good

gift, fundamentally fruitful when shared, meant for flourishing. When we use power well,

God is glorified and the entire world and its inhabitants teem with life and become more what

God made us to be. Heartbreakingly, history took a drastic turn when human beings used

their free will to make evil choices and we now suffer the tragic consequences.

The Fall

Following our metanarrative, when the created being, Satan, deceived Eve and

Adam into believing his lies, sin entered into the world (Genesis 3). God’s shalom was

vandalized and every good thing became tainted by sin. The Fall did not create anything new,

it only distorted the inherent goodness of what God had made (Plantinga 1995). Wolters

(2005) points out that while God’s creation, its structure, still retains some of its original

creational goodness, its direction has been distorted, mis-directed, by sin.

Unless you understand power from within the Christian metanarrative,

recognizing that power is a good gift, to be used to make something of the world for God’s

glory and to fulfill God’s intentions for human beings, one is left calling sin’s distortions of

power as natural, “the way the world operates.” But sin created the way it is not supposed to

be, “from the beginning it was not so…” says Jesus (Matt 19:8) harkening back to Genesis to

reveal God’s original purposes. “Power, so present and visible in the very good creation, now

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hides and seeks invisibility. It goes underground and underfoot, and when it resurfaces, it

takes the form of coercion and violence” (Crouch 2013, 12).

French and Raven (1959; Raven 1965; 2008) defined power as the potential

for an influencing agent to bring about a change in belief, attitude, or behavior of a person,

using resources available to him. They categorized numerous bases of social power

(informational, reward, coercion, legitimate, expertise and referent), describing their

relationships and caveats. While no doubt they accurately observed patterns of social power,

without the framework of the Christian metanarrative, power is mostly understood as

utilitarian, getting your own way. Influential thinkers like Max Weber, Friedrich Nietzsche,

Wright Mills, and Michel Foucault have written extensively on power, domination and

violence. Crouch (2013) notes that what they may share in common, is perhaps, a “post-Fall”

view of power, its abuses and distortions. They may think that the true face of power is

control and exploitation, while horrible, but they are only symptoms of deeper issues. The

biblical terms for these deeper sin issues are idolatry and injustice. Idolatry takes our good

human capacity for creative power to make something of the world and to give voice to the

meaning of creation (i.e. its good creational structure) and misdirects it.

What has gone wrong with the gift of power is the story of how the image bearers misused their gift of creativity…. They replaced the true image of the invisible God with all too tangible substitute images, false gods who bring nothing but diminishment and disappointment. The misuse and rejection of God’s gift of image bearing takes the form of idolatry and injustice, the two things God most hates. (Crouch 2013, 12)

Due to sin, human beings, instead of using power to create, make things, in

community with others, began to use power to dominate, control, oppress others, seeking to

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fulfill their own will and ways with others. Worse yet, human being used their power to set

themselves up as idols, playing god in the lives of others.

Redemption

Following the timeline, comes Redemption. The climatic act of the

redemption story was Christ’s birth, life, and death on the cross. What gives us human beings

the power to restore God’s goodness to his creation is Christ himself who lives within us

through his Holy Spirit. Paul describes how God’s plan of redemption lives in us, thereby

giving to us the message and ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21.

“God wants Shalom and will pay any price to get it back. Human sin is

stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready

to suffer to win its way” (Plantinga 1995, 199). Christ suffered on Golgotha and we are

called to share in his suffering as “we participate in the ongoing creational work of God, to

be God’s helper in executing to the end the blueprint for his masterpiece” (Wolters 2005,

44).

Downs (2011) explains how the cross is the climax of the biblical drama of

redemption, where Jesus offers himself as the final sacrifice to bring about God’s

redemption. Just as the implications of the fall were cosmic, so the results of the death of the

Lord Jesus Christ are cosmic. The Apostle Paul writes, “For God was pleased to have all his

fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on

earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians

1:19-20). While God’s redemptive work includes the redemption of human beings, it is much

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larger than that. It extends to the full results of the fall, redeeming all that had been impacted

by sin.

Christ’s Second Coming

One must recognize that full redemption and restoration of God’s original

purposes will happen completely only when Jesus Christ returns (the last point on the

timeline). His Second Coming is the entry into the last chapter of history as described in

Revelation chapters 21-22. This New Creation is where we will live what God had originally

planned and laid out in chapters 1-2 of Genesis.

Until then, we live in the period of the Kingdom of God of the “now but not

yet.” This period is one of victories, defeats, and struggles since we still battle against the

trinity of evil (Satan, ungodly worldly influences, and our own sinful inclinations). There are

many passages that speak of the “not yet” aspect of God’s Kingdom, like in Romans 8:30

when Paul writes that “those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified;

those he justified, he also glorified.” We anticipate that glorification in the end times. Jesus,

when he administered the Last Supper to his disciples, speaks about the Kingdom of God in a

future sense (Mark 14:25; Luke 22:16-18). The final episode of the now and not yet Kingdom

of God promises to be a grand finale that “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what no

human mind has conceived—the things God has prepared for those who love him” (1

Corinthians 2:9). We can only imagine what the new heavens and new earth will be like if we

contemplate the very best that this life has to offer and then multiply it countless times.

Power is redeemed, along with the entire cosmos, by Jesus Christ. We become his co-

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laborers by affirming power’s creational goodness, recognizing (naming) its fallenness

(distortions), and participating with Christ in restoring the damage done by sin and being

good stewards of the gift of personal power we have been given.

In summary, “redemption, then, is the recovery of creational goodness

through the annulment of sin and the effort toward the progressive removal of its effects

everywhere” (Wolters 2005, 83). In the next section I will seek to identify residual aspects of

Latin America’s perspectives on power that are good and at the same time I will recognize

the stain of sin. Finally I will pinpoint some ways, big or small, how power can be redeemed,

restored, and God’s good creative power recovered.

SECTION THREE

Analyzing Latin America’s Perspectives on Power

It is easy to criticize. It is a challenge to discern God’s creational goodness in

the use of power and affirm it. It brings hope to name the sin and then point towards how

Christ’s redemptive power can be restored to good use. This analysis will follow the

Christian timeline—Creation, Fall, Redemption—presented in Section Two by asking, the

same three questions regarding every Latin American perspective on power.

Power is Embodied in a Person

How does Latin America’s perception of power as localized or embodied in a

person, evidence God’s creational goodness? Because power is personal, it conveys a

relational sense of caring for others and being cared for. In the collective fabric of Latin

America resides a sense of being taken care of by others with whom you are surrounded, it is

not “every man for himself.” You belong to a family group, a collective unit made up not just

of nuclear and extended family members but of godparents (compadres) and those endeared

individuals whom the children affectionately call: tios/tias (uncles and aunts). Within this

circle, and within certain types of jobs, resides the figure of patrón. He (sometimes she) is

like a benevolent father figure, caring for and protecting the interests of the group. I avoid the

use of the word paternalism because it is mostly used pejoratively, omitting its positive

aspects in a communitarian setting (Martinez 2005).

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How has the image of power as personal been warped by sin? Caudillos can

play God in the lives of others, making idols of themselves. History books are filled with

atrocities committed by those who play God. Injustice reigns undaunted and unchallenged

and worst yet, “the image of the One True God is lost, and not just lost but replaced by an

idol, by something that purports, often very persuasively, to represent the ultimate truth about

reality” (Crouch 2013, 71). God has placed human beings in this world to bear witness to him

as the ultimate reality, to declare his character and voice his praise, not to make idols of

ourselves, not to be worshiped and praised as all-powerful leaders.

I have often wondered what belief underlies this longing for benevolent

dictators that pops up in endless political discussions. It is a form of waiting for Superman, a

Savior. “All one has to believe is that might is the only hope for the right, and place one’s

hope in someone sufficiently strong to conquer on behalf of the truth” (Crouch 2013, 50).

The history of Latin America, since its independence from Spain and Portugal is replete with

leaders, from both the Left and Right, who truly believed that if they only acquired enough

power for themselves, they could thrust back all that resisted them and achieve the

domination they believed was necessary to triumph. Sometimes ideas were used but more

often than not, violence. The storyline of benevolent dictators repeats itself, only the names

and countries change: They seem to work well initially, but then they fail, usually sooner

than later. “Idols always disappoint their worshippers, and the injustice that flows from

idolatry ultimately ruins not just its victims but its perpetrators” (Crouch 2013, 52).

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Through Christ, how can we re-direct this yearning for Superman to a

redemptive vision for power? By opening our minds and hearts to understand that God made

us as beings to delight in sharing space, to use our power not to dominate but to create the

environments where many more beings could exist and thrive and live in community

together. “Cooperation mysteriously creates more power than there was before, so that the

more we work together the more power we discover is available to us” (Crouch 2013, 52).

Latin America is filled with positive examples of well-used personal power by

bosses who have benevolent management practices that provide for employees’ welfare; who

show concern and consideration for their workers (Martinez 2005; Pellegrini and Scandura

2008). In church settings, I have observed senior pastors self-impose limits to their power by

sharing decision-making amongst a group of elders, inciting others to innovate and create,

refusing to handle money by delegating those responsibilities to a group of trusted, capable

men and women, and submitting themselves to be accountable to other spiritual authorities.

Power is Hierarchical

Authority is given by God and we are called to respect those in authority

(Rom 13:1; 1 Pet 5:5). For years I have directed team building activities at camps all over

Latin America. As we debrief their experiences, countless discussions occur on leadership

and without exception, submission to authority is mentioned and affirmed. It would appear

that Latin America has a strong grasp and practice of submission to authority thus giving

some evidence as a culture of this biblical concept. Plueddemann (2009, 100–102) points out

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how one can find passages in the Bible that affirm and decry both high and low power

distance cultures.

Sin has distorted the concept of power in ways too numerous to name, but one

consistent finding in studies on cultures with high power distance is the high frequency of

corruption (Hofstede and Hofstede 2005b; House et al. 2004). It should be acknowledged

that in today’s fallen world, the hierarchical rule of law is still very much needed. Crouch

(2013) notes: “coercion is needed to protect the possibility of creation. The legitimate role of

coercion is to make room for flourishing especially by restraining whatever fundamentally

threatens creative image-bearers” (Crouch 2013, 140).

Liberation theologists in Latin America perceive the hierarchical nature of

power in society, pointing to the existence of the oligarchy or ruling elite over the popular

masses. “While it is true that the majority have historically submitted to the dehumanizing

orders and demands of the few, it not due to innate conformism or lack of aspirations, but

because this minority has had and continues to have power over the rest, be that legal

authority or because they possess the necessary resources as well as coercive measures to

‘maintain order’ (weapons)” (Martin-Baró 1989, 91). This perception of what ails society

drives them to look for redemption through making changes in the structures of power. This

naturally has led them into the arena of politics. “Liberation therefore has to begin with

awareness of the causes of oppression, which are taken to be primarily political and

structural” (Levine 1995, 160).

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Liberation theologists have brought to the world’s attention a “preferential

option of the poor” (Gutierrez 1972) and while Rene Padilla agrees with identifying with the

masses (who in Latin America are the majority and are poor in material goods), he believes

the local church is to be an agent of transformation. He promotes a holistic perspective of the

church being a community where Christ can be found, where the church lives in solidarity

with sinful humanity, and seeks to bring the power of the gospel to bear on all aspects of life

in what he calls: Mision Integral (Padilla, Yamamori, and Voth 2004).

The use of scripture is a redemptive means of refreshing peoples’

understanding of power. A hierarchical view of power can convey superiority to those

holding official power and inferiority to those under their power. But when reminded of

Paul’s use of the metaphor of the body in 1 Cor 12:12-31, it neutralizes the view of

superiority-inferiority by stipulating that every single part of the body is equally important

and necessary for the body to properly function (Plueddemann 2009). Participating with

Christ’s redemption can mean that instead of using one’s power for self-advancement, the

leader opens up possibilities for growth and advancement for others who are under his or her

authority. “What motivates a leader is not power for power’s sake, it’s the possibility of

channeling its potential for the good of others” (Delgado Torres and Delgado Torres 2003,

82).

Power is a Limited Good

Hiebert (1985, 117) noted that people in societies of “limited good” are not

encouraged to work hard to advance, and those who do are often boycotted by the group.

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Rather, they are encouraged to keep their place and fit into society as it already exists. Where

is the creational goodness evident in this perception? Maybe not always striving to produce

more, to get bigger and better, to accomplish greater and greater things, has a silver lining:

contentment. There is joy in moment, even in the midst of limitations. Citizens of materially

rich societies often exhibit a sense of entitlement that is strangely absent in Latin America.

Maybe many identify with St. Paul: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to

have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether

well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Phil 4:12).

In what ways does this perception reflect the distortion of sin? This perception

is detrimental both for those elites who assume godlike characteristics in their domination of

others, but it also reinforces a lie for those who perceive themselves to have little or no

power. This belief ignores the ubiquitous nature of power; the truth is that we all have power.

But, by ignoring our power, it remains concealed, unrealized.

Where is Christ’s redemption evident? There are numerous examples of

redemptive work being done by believers and non-believers, Christian and secular

organizations. Brusco’s (1995) study in Colombia documents how Evangelical conversion

reduces machismo in the family. Villacorta's (2010) study with pastors in Peru shows how

the gospel can help pastors manage machismo and become more malleable.

Due to common grace (Mouw 2001) we can, through discernment, identify

traces of the Spirit’s work in the larger creation and in all people. It is worth remembering

that because of God’s common grace and the fact that we all bear God’s image (Imago Dei)

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redemption is not just the work of the “redeemed.” Crouch (2013) notes that it is the vocation

for every human being, however imperfectly and incompletely, to perform works of justice,

whether they name the name of Jesus Christ or not.

Paulo Freire (2000; 1984) is such a man. His work in Brazil amongst the poor

teaching them to read gave evidence of his awareness of this dilemma of powerlessness in

Latin America, and around the world. His philosophy of education and work in literacy

programs centered around concientizacion, a process whereby an individual progressively

becomes aware or conscious of his or her state of oppression and then gradually moves

towards liberation, appropriating his or her personal power. There are strong overtones of

redemption in Freire’s work. What is missing in Freire’s perspective, I believe, is an

understanding of the pernicious nature of sin in each individual, and the need for an external

agent (i.e. God) to redeem us. We cannot be freed or liberated by our own efforts or those of

others.

In addition, there are a number of European NGOs (non-governmental

organizations) that are working in the majority world to encourage citizenship, which means

choosing to participate in their society, by voting, by becoming aware of their rights and

obligations, and respecting the rights of their co-citizens (responsabilidad ciudana).

Citizenship involves empowering the common citizen to be “monitors” of those in power

(Esteves and United Nations Development Programme 2004).

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Power is Brokered

Power is brokered because many believe power is a limited good. So, if power

is a finite quantity, it can only be re-distributed and all relationships become characterized by

competition or at best negotiated (Crouch 2013, 129). While this may be true, invisible to this

discussion is the close-knit network of friendships that typify a collectivistic culture like

Latin America. For many, one’s greatest wealth is not money but friends. There is an

unmatched joy in being surrounded by family and loved ones. This ethos resonates with

numerous passages in the Bible that affirm community and friendship (Proverbs 18:24; John

15:15).

On the other hand, this network with whom one brokers power is often very

small, an exclusive inner circle, leaving the great majority of others powerless and destitute.

Much has been written about the oligarchy of Latin America and how it uses resources to

benefit their own, or reward those loyal to their cause (Strickon and Greenfield 1972).

Although the discourse of the communists and socialists of Latin America differs greatly

from the discourse of the right winged oligarchy, in practice, after initial reforms are made,

the power shifts back into the hands of the small group of elite leading the movement and

power is rarely shared (prime examples being Cuba under Castro and Venezuela under

Chavez) (Krauze 2012; Montaner, Mendoza, and Vargas Llosa 1996).

An image of redeemed sharing of one’s power is the practice Sanders (2002)

advocates in his book, Love is the killer app. He discovered in the world of technology the

fruitfulness of freely sharing one’s inventions and expertise—without expecting anything in

return. In Latin America a picture of redeemed power-sharing is “how the conversion

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experience has led women to revalue themselves in relation to God and others that increase

women’s autonomy and undermines traditional machismo” (Loreto Mariz and Campos

Machado 1997). This type of conversion results in power being shared with women, allowing

them to serve in key positions of leadership in the church, and exercise greater power in the

traditionally male public sphere, particularly in the Pentecostal churches. “Pentecostalism

certainly offers women new roles, including leadership roles. …Women are crucial to the

maintenance and expansion of Pentecostal churches” (Drogus 1997, 61).

Another example of the redemption of power is parenthood. One of the most

famous dictums on power has been Lord Acton’s: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute

power corrupts absolutely (Figgis and Laurence 1907). “Taken as gospel truth by many, it

merits a closer look. Is it always true that absolute power corrupts absolutely? Absolutely

not. Crouch (2013) uses the analogy of a parent with his newborn child, surely at this stage of

a child’s life, his parents hold absolute power over him or her, yet instead of being corrupted

by that absolute power, in the majority of cases, “many parents find themselves awakening to

new capacities for resilience, sacrifice and servanthood that they did not know they had

before…. Why? Because they are overtaken by love. Love transforms power. Absolute love

transfigures absolute power. Power transfigured by love is the power that made and saves the

world” (Crouch 2013, 45).

Power is Related to One’s Status

What evidence can one see of God’s creational goodness in power being

ascribed according to one’s status? There is a place for recognizing achievements and the

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benefits we acquire due to the efforts of others. For example, an inheritance that is passed

down from generation to generation is to be celebrated, or benefits from inventions like

running water, computers, cellphones, etc. Those are privileges shared by all. “Privilege is

the ongoing or accumulated benefits of past successful exercises of power” (Crouch 2013,

152).

How has the Fall impacted this aspect of power? Instead of celebrating our

“status” as sons and daughters of God, or having value because we are made in the image of

God, we have turned to celebrating status based on rank or achievements, on “where you

stand— your place in line. It is about the sinful human drive to be ranked above another, to

be counted more worthy than another. …Status is about counting, numbering, ranking and

ultimately about excluding” (Crouch 2013, 156). With status comes privilege and privilege

can be alluring. Achieved or ascribed status and the accompanying privileges it brings lure us

into making status an idol. “The quest for status rarely stays within the bounds of a limited

domain. We begin to chase status itself. But because status is an implacable idol, we can

never feed it enough nor can it give us enough status in return to be fully satisfied” (Crouch

2013, 157). Wrongful privilege is like the government official who uses his position to take

bribes, to extort payments for services that should be rendered free of charge; the list could

go on and on.

Status brings privilege and privilege brings personal power. How can we use

our personal power in redemptive ways? In short, by following Christ’s example. Jesus spent

his privilege—he did not conserve it, he gave his power away. He did not grasp onto it. He

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emptied himself, taking the form of a lowly servant (Phil 2:5-11). “Jesus does not renounce

his power, he uses it to perform miracles, forgive, heal, proclaim and teach, feed thousands

and calm storms. What he is not only diffident about, but positively averse to, is reaping the

privilege that would so naturally be offered in the wake of these acts of power” (Crouch

2013, 165). Jesus never stuck around to receive praise for his works.

In Latin America, examples of redemptive power being awarded according to

one’s worth and not one’s rank or achievements can be found in many Pentecostal churches.

Pentecostalism’s greatest theological achievement in Latin America is freedom of expression and the affirmation of the individual’s worth within the community. …In sharp contrast to what takes place in traditional Catholic or Protestant worship, almost anyone accepted by the Pentecostal community is allowed to interpret Scripture during worship, to moralize about the conditions of life, to preach about the changes needed in personal conduct, to pray spontaneously, to offer suggestions for the community’s response to an evil world, and to vote on questions of importance such as large expenditures of community assets. All this is rooted in Protestant traditions such as interpretation of Scriptures by ordinary Christians, the priesthood of all believers, and the priority of practice over dogma. (Cleary and Stewart-Gambino 1997, 7)

Conclusion

We have studied some ways of how power is understood in Latin America

and have used the Christian metanarrative or worldview to understand power from a biblical

and theological perspective. We have brought these two understandings together in an

attempt to outline how, through the power of Jesus Christ, power can be used for God’s glory

and for human flourishing. But I would like to close with a personal challenge to the reader

to make a map of his or her personal power in an effort to enable us to become better

stewards of the power God has given us. Making sense of power requires another set of eyes

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to help us discern its presence, because for expatriates who serve in Latin America, we have

privileges—status ascribed to us—and maybe do not even realize it. I myself have been

moved up in long lines or offered better seating just because my skin is whiter than those

around me. My opinion may have been given more weight because I am a foreigner. My US

passport awards me a certain status for travel, it gives me options to escape from dangerous

situations should I choose to appeal for help. Once you have noted where you have power

and privilege, I encourage you to ask loved ones for additional insights.

Remember, in general “the powerful have a hard time seeing their own power

and its effects…we have an absurdly low estimation of the power we have and how many

opportunities we have to use it” (Crouch 2013, 123). Likewise, the poor in material

possessions also have a very low estimation of the power they possess. Unknown or

unmapped power cannot be tapped into and utilized for the good of others, like the teacher

who because she does not realize she has the power to stop ridicule in her class allows it to

flourish, working its destructive power on the students while she sits idly by.

In my own ministry experience, I am learning to prayerfully identify where

my actions and attitudes may be cutting off life and possibilities for others’ growth. For

instance, while working on a team of Sunday school teachers, I decided to follow the

example of Boaz with Ruth (Ruth 2:15-18) and intentionally leave “unfinished” several tasks

which I knew others would enjoy doing and were capable of. I am learning to share the

power to create.

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Crouch (2013) notes: “The classical spiritual disciplines, along with

disciplines as small as doing the dishes, humble us and open us to grace. They are capable of

making us people who can truly bear the weight of the glory of the image of God, a life of

true power. There is a way beyond power’s grip, through the practice of Sabbath and worship

that bring power to its proper end. …The spiritual disciplines are a means to help bring us

back under the lordship of the One before whom every knee will eventually bow ” (Crouch

2013, 13). I have discovered that practicing the classic spiritual disciplines of silence and

solitude (Barton 2004) help remind me that life is not all about completing a long list of TO

DOs or being productive but depending on God for fruitfulness in ministry. Power comes

through letting God do ministry through me and not me striving to do ministry.

Further exploration needed

More exploration is needed to understand the proper use of coercion in a

sinful world, especially for those who have to use force or threaten to use force (Police

officers for example), even lethal force (Armed Services) as a part of their work. The same

could be said for those people who have to make decisions about using coercion and force,

like those who serve in the executive, legislative or judicial branches of government.

Present in Crouch’s (2012) and Heclo's (2008) books is a deep treatment of

the pivotal role institutions play in issues of power. Exploration into this subject as viewed

from a redemptive perspective would serve to challenge the pervasive abuse of power so

often found in institutions.

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Lastly, an enriching perspective would ensue if prominent Latin American

writers gathered around the table to discuss power from several different angles, like

liberation theologists (Gutierrez 1972), Evangelicals concerned about the integral mission of

the church (Padilla, Yamamori, and Voth 2004; Escobar 2003), thought leaders (Galeano

2009; Montaner, Mendoza, and Vargas Llosa 1996) and historians (Krauze 2012).

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