Time:
3:00pm Central Europe & Central Africa (2:00pm UK & Western Africa, 4:00pm East Africa, Arabia, and Eastern Europe, 9:00am USA Eastern, 6:30pm India Time)
Meeting Theme:
Many Christians long to follow Jesus faithfully in a fractured world. Yet we face a glaring and uncomfortable contradiction: a faith centered on enemy-love, humility, and sacrifice is frequently weaponized to secure political control, marginalize others, and justify structural violence. Whether historically through colonialism, or currently through nationalistic and partisan movements, the search for collective security consistently transforms the church from a community of reconciliation into an instrument of division. In this session, we will explore how the desire to protect our own interests—subtly and sometimes overtly—subverts the servant way of Jesus.
In this session, Bryan Carey will draw on theology, history, social sciences, and peacebuilding practice to explore how Christianity’s historic and ongoing relationship with societal power has shaped our collective imagination. Rather than viewing this history through a lens of simple critique, the conversation will examine the complex ways that proximity to political and cultural dominance molds our deeper instincts, institutional assumptions, and cultural narratives.
Instead of isolating a single theological doctrine, this session will look at broader systemic patterns. We will explore how core concepts—such as peace, mission, identity, authority, and salvation—are radically redefined depending on whether a community operates from the margins of society or from centers of power and legacy. Together, we will consider what it means to cultivate robust forms of Christian formation that remain resilient, self-critical, and deeply aligned with the instincts of Jesus.
Questions to reflect on as you come to the meeting:
The Historical Legacy: In what ways has Christianity’s historical role in shaping social and political institutions subtly influenced our current definitions of "faithfulness" and "success"?
Navigating Power and Protection: How do valid desires to protect our communities, seek justice, or preserve truth easily transition into the co-opting of tools of control, dominance, or exclusion?
Identifying Institutional Blindspots: How do the survival instincts of our institutions and systemic narratives dictate our daily practices, even when our stated theology explicitly emphasizes the cross and the way of Jesus?
Forming the Imagination: If lasting transformation happens at the level of narrative and subconscious instincts—not just intellectual belief—what specific counter-cultural habits and practices of formation do our global communities need today?
Facilitators:
