Kairos is a Greek word that means decisive time. It is a ripe time, filled with danger and opportunity, a time that requires both discernment and bold action. The good news of Jesus Christ is inevitably linked to kairos as a time of conflict, danger, opportunity, and discipleship.
By way of example, the word "kairos" is first used in Mark's gospel immediately after the arrest of John the Baptist and immediately before Jesus calls the disciples to follow: "The kairos is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas, adds urgency to the need for discernment and creative action (see "1992: Rediscovering America," October 1991). Celebrating Columbus Day, as George Tinker reminds us, is part of America's "foundational mythology," a delusion that isn't healthy for white America, indigenous peoples, or other communities of color. 1992, therefore, is part of the context in which we discern the kairos, a time ripe for relearning, repentance, and new vision.
Kairos entered my vocabulary because of the faithful witness of Christians in South Africa, who issued their own kairos document in 1985. The South African document named the crisis and opportunity of faith in the context of church practices and theologies that either embraced or subverted apartheid. The essence of kairos was not apartheid itself or the depth of injustice; it was the degree to which people of faith, churches, and "Christian" theologies encouraged, participated in, or remained silent in the face of massive injustice. The South African Kairos Document called people of faith to repentance and bold action to dismantle apartheid.
THE KAIROS THEOLOGICAL process now underway within the United States is not unrelated to examples from South Africa and Central America. Third World kairos documents challenged us not only because of their powerful indictment of distorted Christianity and their embodiment of a life-giving alternative, but because they raised serious questions about the destructive role of the United States and the complicity of U.S. Christians. They forcefully implied that our failure to discern and respond to our kairos as Christians living in the United States was literally killing them as well as undermining our own society and the integrity of our faith.
The decision of the 1992/Kairos USA coalition to issue a call for small groups to discern the kairos came out of our own discernment. The coalition--a partnership movement of local and national groups and churches committed to an alternative celebration of the quincentenary--believes this is a ripe time, one filled with danger and opportunity, a time in which God's Spirit is calling forth something new among God's people. The revelations from the recent environmental summit, deepening racism, and the implications of events surrounding the Rodney King verdict only serve to deepen our sense of God's calling.
In our view the process of discernment is itself vital, and the process will determine the integrity of whatever "product" emerges. We didn't want a handful of people, professional theologians or others, to write a Kairos USA document. We wanted people of faith at the grassroots gathering together to discern and to act, to build relationships of trust, and to open up new possibilities for vision and hope.
An authentic kairos statement depends on grassroots input that is geographically, demographically, and ethnically diverse. To encourage and build on our diversity and to help guide the theological process, we circulated to grassroots groups a one-page sheet titled "Diverse Communities, Common Questions" (October 1992).
WE UNDERSTAND kairos to be a fundamental challenge to each of us and to our diverse constituencies and not simply a challenge to others. Kairos may have much to say to the "moral majority," but it takes dead aim at our own priorities.
For example, kairos challenges primarily white, faith-based peace groups to look beyond the necessary solidarity with people in Central America or elsewhere to the need for creative action to address injustices in our own neighborhoods and country. For this reason 1992 and the quincentenary have become a critical grounding for theological reflection and political action.
Where are we in the kairos theological process? Perhaps as many as 500 groups are participating in this grassroots theological process. Many of these groups have been instrumental in debunking the "Columbus myth" and acting in solidarity with native peoples.
Ironically, while many participating groups are finding the reflection process exciting and helpful, many are so busy dealing with the kairos that we are finding it difficult to take time to name it. It is urgent that we do so.
Discerning our kairos is not only healthy for us, it is vital for our common future that we collectively name the times in which we live, the movements of the Spirit, and our hope and direction for the future.
Sidebar: Diverse Communities, Common Questions
THE KAIROS PROCESS is precisely that, a process. You can still participate. This fall we will be summarizing and analyzing the input we have received from grassroots groups. This summary will be made available to all participating groups.
If you are part of a reflection group but haven't sent in your responses to the "common questions," do so now. If you need a copy of these questions and want to get started, it's not too late. Your group will likely find the process helpful and your input is still needed and welcome.
Distribution of our initial summary will likely be followed by local and regional gatherings to help put people in touch with each other and to receive further input toward a kairos statement. Sometime this winter or early spring, a draft kairos document will be available and a strategy developed for further outreach and action.
Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer was a member of the 1992/Kairos USA steering committee, a member of the Community of St. Martin's in Minneapolis, and the author of Brave New World Order: Must We Pledge Allegiance? (Orbis Books, 1992) when this article appeared.
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