The Kairos Has Come

February 17, 2012

On Sunday morning I flew to New York for two days of meetings with other Christians who are involved in peacemaking. I had been to this retreat center in Stony Point once before, about a year ago, for a gathering of leaders of various denominational peace fellowships. Now, one year later I was here again, representing the Adventist Peace Fellowship which I help lead, drafting a document called Kairos USA.

Kairos is a Greek word which is typically translated to the English word, “time.” But kairos differs from the other Greek word for time, chronos. As you might imagine, chronos is the typical word for chronological time (it even forms the root, as you can see). Kairos, on the other hand, refers to a moment pregnant with opportunity. When we say, “this is an idea whose time has come,” we invoke the kairos type of time.

Kairos documents have a fairly long and rich history. Beginning with the first such document drafted by Christians in South Africa calling for the end of apartheid, Kairos documents have emerged to call the church to act at a particularly crucial moment. These are moments which, if missed, might have devastating results for large groups of people.

In 2009 the most recent Kairos document was drafted by Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This document is prophetic in nature, describing in vivid detail the dire situation of Palestinians and calling upon the church to act to end the suffering caused by the occupation.

On Monday and Tuesday approximately 40 Christians from a wide variety of denominations (I and one other man represented the Adventist Church) began the process of drafting a Kairos USA document in direct response to the Kairos Palestine document of 2009. This is more than a document. It is a call to action in direct response to our Palestinian brothers and sisters, crying out in their moment of need. I look forward to sharing this document with you when we are finished writing it. It was a moving experience to be part of and I hope our church and the wider Adventist community will heed all of this and engage in this defining struggle of our time.

—RYAN

 

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