Page 224 - tesis
P. 224

can be deduced is that Christians have the right to govern their nations. Another pastor said that what needs to be done is to teach the membership the right to elect and be elected, and cover, help, counsel and remember those who are involved in whatever aspects of the political scene (A5ICV).\u000AThe ESH pastors also believe that politics are a part of the Christian\u2019s responsibility. They note that politics are part of being Evangelical. To reach this end the ESH co-pastor underlines that the church has to \u2018be transformed\u2019 so that it can later, \u2018transform societies\u2019. For him, this task implies accomplishing two critical standards, firstly, Evangelical piety, which means living a holy, humble, integral, and devotional life and secondly a life in accord with the demands of this present world. There should be \u2018prepared people, thinkers, sociologists, pastors who can penetrate the public opinion of their countries and cities; inventors, innovators, authors, educators, politicians, diplomats, scientists; all of these Evangelicals in their own professions\u2019. He points out that the idea is to \u2018affect and transform our communities, beyond a mere physical cosmetic change\u2019 guided by historic models such as those of apostle Paul, Luther, Calvin, and more recently as the South Korean models (A8ESH).\u000AThis perspective contemplates politics as part of the mission of Christians in the world. This interest in politics of the ESH pastors is not new as they gave their support to the candidacy and government of the former president Serrano El\u00EDas. As is generally known, he had to abandon power through the decisions of the Supreme Constitutional Court for breaking the country\u2019s constitutional order. The senior ESH pastor says that politics is a means to initiate change in the country, and that Christians should participate openly in this process. Since 2003 he has organized some dialogues and encounters between Evangelicals and Evangelical politicians to try to find ways to serve the country.\u000AAt the end of 2006 pastor Caballeros surprised the Evangelical community announcing that he was going to retire from the pastorate to dedicate his time to politics. In his declaration to the journalists he said, \u2018Two years ago I began to study the subject of\u000A211\u000A


































































































   222   223   224   225   226