Liberation theology emerged in Latin America in the 1960s, in the midst of poverty, inequality, political oppression, and economic injustice. It asked a very important question:
What does the Gospel mean when people are suffering?
It is an essential Christian question.
The movement insisted that Christian faith must have concrete consequences for the poor and oppressed. It drew heavily on the Exodus story, the prophets, Jesus’ proclamation of good news to the poor, and the biblical concern for justice. It also emphasized what became known as the “preferential option for the poor.”
As the movement grew, it made a positive difference through so-called Christian base communities. Small groups of ordinary Catholics met to read Scripture together, discuss their circumstances, identify injustices, and organize practical responses.
At the same time, there was a debate within the Church, and it became particularly sharp in the 1980s. The Vatican warned against forms of liberation theology that uncritically adopted Marxist ideology or reduced salvation to political and economic liberation. At the same time, Catholic teaching continued to affirm human dignity, solidarity, justice, freedom and the Church’s responsibility toward the poor.
At a deeper level, it was a debate about Christ, salvation and the Kingdom of God.
A surprising voice from within
In 2025, Brazilian friar Clodovis Boff—once himself one of the important philosophers of liberation theology—wrote an open letter to the Latin American bishops.
His criticism was remarkably direct.
He complained that the bishops continued to speak about “social issues, social issues, and social issues,” while giving insufficient attention to God, Christ, grace, salvation, conversion, prayer, and the Word.
Boff also argues that the lack of a Christ-centered focus has contributed to people leaving the Catholic Church, because their spiritual needs were not adequately addressed.
His point is not: Stop caring about the poor.
It is: Don’t replace Christ with the cause.
That is a challenging word—not only for the Catholic Church, but also for those of us involved in Business as Mission and other marketplace initiatives.
Are we just continuing to talk about addressing global issues and the world’s greatest problems while overlooking God, Christ, grace, salvation, conversion, prayer, and the Word?
What if we make the same mistake?
We have rightly emphasized holistic transformation in and through business. We talk about poverty alleviation, human flourishing, job creation, justice, community transformation, ethical business, impact investing, wealth creation, and caring for creation.
All of this matters. But there is a danger.
What if faith-motivated entrepreneurship becomes primarily another development strategy? Another impact-investing framework? Another poverty-alleviation program? Another ethical-business movement?
What makes it distinctly Christian?
Boff’s challenge to the Church can be translated into an important question:
Where is Christ?
A problem with some forms of liberation theology was the embrace of Marxist ideology. We, on the other hand, must not use unfiltered capitalist models to analyze today’s economic problems, or apply a naïve Wall Street mentality to our proposed solutions.
Where is Christ in our strategy, pricing, hiring, firing, investment, governance, innovation, treatment of suppliers, wages, competition, succession, and profit? Where is Christ when doing the right thing costs us something? That is where Sunday talk becomes Monday walk.
We are not about applying Christian ethics without Christ, or seeking Kingdom impact without the King.
We begin with Christ. And he sends us into the real world. Into businesses, markets, farms and factories. Into investment committees and boardrooms, communities and cities. Into places where people work, create, buy, sell, invest and build. And we are also sent to make Christ known among all nations.
Keeping the dots connected
So, what can we learn? We can learn from both sides of the liberation-theology debate.
We must not separate faith from the suffering and injustice of the world. But neither should we make problem-solving or social transformation a primary purpose of the Gospel.
We begin with Christ, not with the world’s greatest problems. And Christ must remain our focus as we engage those problems. This means keeping the dots connected: Christ, people, creation, work, wealth, justice and flourishing.
Perhaps this is why an adapted prayer of St Francis speaks so powerfully to business life. It invites Christ’s presence into every aspect of daily work and business—into planning, reviewing and conducting business; into rest and activity; into our relationships with colleagues, customers, suppliers and competitors.
It reminds us that Christ is not merely the inspiration for what we do on Sunday. He is Lord of what we do on Monday.
Christ with me,
as I do business for Him and people
Christ before me,
as I plan my business
Christ behind me,
as I review my business
Christ in me;
my guiding light in business
Christ beneath me;
He is the foundation
Christ above me;
He is the owner of my business
Christ on my right, Christ on my left;
He is the Lord of the marketplace
Christ when I lie down,
and rest from my work
Christ when I sit down,
in my office chair
Christ when I arise,
enthusiastic or weary
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
and my business
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
and my business
Christ in every eye that sees me,
my staff, customers, suppliers, and competitors
Christ in every ear that hears me
speak about my products and services.
Let’s keep the dots connected! We do not seek transformation instead of Christ. We seek transformation because of Christ, with Christ, and for Christ.
