Alternative Globalization Addressing Peoples and Earth

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race against race, and country against country. Its concern with material
wealth above human dignity de-humanizes the human being and sacrifices
life for greed. It is an economy of death.
Confronted with such massive concentration of economic, political,
military and ideological power, we are encouraged not to lose hope. We
must not give up the struggle for an economy of life. This is God’s challenge
to us. Our faithfulness to God and to God’s free gift of life compels us to
confront idolatrous assumptions, unjust systems, the politics of domination
and exploitation in the current world economic order. Economics and
economic justice are always matters of faith as they touch the very core of
God’s will for creation.
An economy of life reminds us of the main characteristics of God’s
household of life:
• The bounty of the gracious economy of God (oikonomia tou theou) offers
and sustains abundance for all;
• God’s gracious economy requires that we manage the abundance of
life in a just, participatory and sustainable manner;
• The economy of God is an economy of life that promotes sharing,
globalized solidarity, the dignity of persons, and love and care for the
integrity of creation;
• God’s economy is an economy for the whole oikoumene - the whole
earth community;
• God’s justice and preferential option for the poor are the marks of
God’s economy. 7
1.3 A call to the churches to become transformative
communities
Paul describes the world system of his time (the Roman Empire) as
characterized by “idolatry and injustice” (Romans 1:18). All people and
peoples are locked in this prison of greed (Romans 1:24ff.) under the power
of sin leading to death and decay of the whole creation. Even if they wish
to get out, they cannot (Romans 7:14ff.). But God’s grace creates a new
humanity out of all peoples (Romans 5:18), through the spirit of Christ
(Romans 8). The whole creation groans to enter this freedom (Romans
8:19). No powers and rulers of any empire can separate those communities
in the spirit from God’s agape (Romans 8:31-39).
7
Four of these five characteristics reflect the “Criteria towards economic policy-making”
presented in the WCC study document on Christian faith and the world economy today,
Geneva: WCC, 1992, p. 29 ff. This document was an important step in understanding
that economic matters are indeed matters of faith.