Revista Fé Cristão interview

I recently had the privilege of engaging in an online conversation with Natanael Pedro Castoldi, a graduate student in clinical psychology at Universidade do Vale do Taquari (Univates) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The resulting interview has been posted at Revista Fé Cristão: Conversando com… David Koyzis – em inglês e português (BR). As the title indicates, it is in both Portuguese and English. Here is an excerpt in English:

I think two things are needed for those claiming to follow Jesus Christ. First, we should keep our eyes on him and on his will for our lives, both as individuals and as members of various communities. Second, we should keep our feet firmly on the ground, aware of the realities of the world as God has created it. With respect to our social and political life, this entails an awareness of the multiplicity of communities in which we are embedded and of which we are part. The several political ideologies attempt in their own ways to undermine what I call societal pluriformity. Liberal individualism attempts to reshape every community into a voluntary association, downplaying legitimate obligations to which we have not freely consented. The various forms of collectivism would have us believe that all individuals and communities derive their respective authorities from an all-encompassing community of some sort, whether that be the state, the nation, the democratic people, or the economic class.

What we need to do is to tell our own stories that make it clear that this pluriformity is a good thing and that we need to respect it.

But let me mention another element that is especially relevant to Brazil. As the gospel spreads in your country, Christians need to develop traditions supportive of the rule of law and constitutional government. They need to live lives that are upright and respectful of the interests of their neighbours. Corruption is a fact of life in so many countries in the world, and, sad to say, Brazil is no exception. I hope and pray that Christians can help to nurture a political culture of honesty and just relations with each other in the context of their political institutions. No country is perfect, of course, but Brazil has so much potential, and its people deserve better than they have had thus far.

Read the entire interview here.