Primer on Liberation
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What is Liberation?
Liberation is “accepting the freedom and power God gives us to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves” (UMC baptismal vows).
Liberation is living out Isaiah’s prophetic message as embodied in Jesus’ Gospel: “The Spirit of our God is upon us, because the Most High has anointed us to bring Good News to those who are poor...to proclaim release to those held captive...to cast vision for those who want to perceive God’s new thing ...to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Liberator’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Jesus preached the Gospel of Liberation, and as a result the Gospel is Liberation.
Liberation is experiencing the “free grace” that John Wesley preached: “The grace of love of God, whence cometh our salvation, is FREE IN ALL, and FREE FOR ALL” (emphasis in original).
Liberation is anti-oppression, human flourishing, empowerment of the marginalized.
Liberation a spiritual and social way of living — a posture toward the future, grounded in past struggle and present resilience that proclaims: we are loved into freedom.
Why does liberation matter in the conversation about UMC today?
The turn to liberation redirects from the LGBTQIA+ “issue” to the real reason why LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, people with disabilities, and poor people suffer — oppression.
Liberation Methodism necessarily invokes the liberation movements of blacks people in the USA and South Africa, of brown people in Latin America, of women and LGBTQIA+ people worldwide.
What does it mean to be a “liberationist?
“Being a liberationist” is a Christian commitment to anti-oppression and to human flourishing.
Is Liberation a radical political ideology?
Liberation is salvation in Christ Jesus of Nazareth. Liberation is concerned with the entirety of life and cannot be viewed merely as a sociopolitical enterprise.