293 Theology of Disclosure for Christian Citizenship Formation 9 the more distant goal of the educational mission—to contribute to peace and justice in society. In becoming acquainted with the shalom idea, it is important for Christian teachers to realise that this peace and justice have everything to do with each other and that they begin, at their deepest levels, with the righteousness and peace of Christ, which reconciles man with God and, from there, with others. Western European and North American societies cannot be described as homogeneously Christian anymore, not even a little. This can lead to a feeling of alienation or an experience of loss or threat among Christians. It is important to take this feeling (among students and the families from which they come) seriously but also to realise that the survival of the Christian church and Christian education does not depend on the human ability to hold on to what is left of the structures from the history of Christianity. In addition, in countries and cultures outside of Christian Europe, Christian communities have had recruiting power precisely because of their citizenship attitudes stamped by the love of God and neighbour. A fragmented society needs this. This citizenship does not imply an escape from the world; rather, it places both feet on the ground of society in order to be present in it, out of communion with and desire for heavenly justice. It does so not as a political ideology but as a form of service in a broken world. Christian teachers may live and transmit this attitude to their students through their teaching practice.’ 9.3 A PERSONAL NOTE As the main researcher, I inevitably had an influence on both the process and the outcome of the TAR that was presented in the previous chapters. In the members of the conversational community, however, I found the strength, the willingness and the experience to correct my personal influences where necessary, to achieve a really shared process. During this process, over time, we found a joint language and vision. The ongoing conversation among our operant, espoused, formal and normative theological voices led to a theology of disclosure that reflects not only my own, personally gained new theological insight but also an insight that, over time, emerged from our deliberations, was analysed by me and, finally, was phrased into the text above in close coordination with the whole conversational community. This renders the text our text, which is based on our joint experiences and findings. In the conversational community’s last meeting all participants, both from the insider and from the outsider group, evaluated the TAR process we went through
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