Sins of the church

le they lead. They commit heinous crimes and to keep themselves safe they hire men and women highly trained to protect them. Whenever I listen to the sirens that often herald the arrival of an African leader I hear in the background a silent voice saying ‘here comes a dangerous man, take heed!’ The intimidating noise they make is a constant reminder of their brutality.
The reconciliation President Robert Mugabe extended in 1980 to those he had fought was superficial. It lacked counseling both to the forgiver and the forgiven. The result was that did not last. The Church is to blame because it was there when this kind of reconciliation was declared and we did not advise the president, then prime minister, as to what proper reconciliation entails.
Over the years, we have watched him back-tracking, culminating in the land grab and then Operation Murambatsvina.
We are not instructed to follow governments which disobey God neither should we respect leaders who fight their own people. The Biblical text used by many to submit to authorities is often misinterpreted. God is talking about good governments which have people at heart (Romans 13). Verses 1 and 2 of the same chapter talk of submission but 3 to 7 describe a type of government to submit to.
A government should care for its subjects. In Zimbabwe, if you belong to the opposition you automatically become an enemy.
What we need to ask ourselves as a Church is why we have allowed the head of state to continue to use intimidating language when he addresses political rallies or state- sponsored funerals. Language like ‘pasi na’ meaning down with so and so. Several young boys and girls have been trained at Border Gezi centers where they have been taught to use such language. Hate speech has become the order of the day from most of our officials. They use this bad intimidating language with impunity.
The Herald too is full of hate language. There are propagandist columns by Caesar Zvayi during the week and those by the pseudo Nathaniel Manheru on Saturdays. To crown it all, MIC chairman Tafataona Mahoso churns out his vitriol on Sundays.
We have become a nation of people who have been taught to hate others. The language on all radio stations is military. Everything bad that happens in this country is blamed on the opposition, Blair, Bush and the West.
The other thing for which the Church should take the blame is the wanton takeover of farms. Our culture forbids a person from either destroying someone’s home or taking it over without his permission. We have committed crimes of appropriation. To make matters worse one would wait for the farmer to have his crops almost ready and then pounce on the farm with an offer letter. We have sinned by taking property from the farming community of this nation.
The Church was there watching and what did we say to the president who encouraged the grabbing?
Operation Murambatsvina was the most brutal act of all. The Church was also absent by its silence. Surely we have sinned by not reprimanding the government.
Since we continue to see emptiness in the ideas that are being thrown around the Church should advise the president to do the honorable thing and pave the way for a new administration. Where is the Church, the voice of God? Prophets should arise in Zimbabwe and tell the authorities the truth. There is no peace in the land. People are afraid even to talk. How shall this all end?
This is the time the Church has to “Arise, and shine; for her light has come,” (Isaiah 60 vs 1.) Darkness is all over and the Church is commanded to show light. The scriptures are very clear that the Church should arise and warn the rulers of this world, AS Esther testifies, “For if you keep silent at such time as this, relief and deliverance will rise…from another quarter, but you and your family will perish” (Esther 4 vs 14.) Then Esther called everyone to fast for the deliverance of the people. This is the time for the Church to take action or we become irrelevant. We the Church are to blame and not God. – Bishop Dr Levee Kadenge is the convenor of the Christian Alliance