BiAS 7 – The Bible and Politics in Africa
According to Julius Mwalimu Nyerere, the late former president of Tan-
zania,
“unless the church participate actively in the rebellion against those social
(and political) structures and economic organisations which condemn men
to poverty, humiliation, and degradation, then the church will be irrelevant
to man and the church will degenerate into a set of superstitions accepted
only by the fearful.” (Parrat 1992:111).
He reiterates that, unless the church, its members and its organisations,
express God’s love for man by involvement and leadership in construc-
tive protest against the present conditions of man, then it will die and,
humanly speaking deserves to die because it will then have no purpose
comprehensible to modern man.
These words were uttered by a politician but with a great deal of truth.
Nyerere’s assertions must ring warning bells to the church in Zimbabwe
if she is to continue to be relevant and compliant with the 21st century
society. In Bonhoeffer’s (1959:35) words, the church must envy to offer
costly grace as opposed to cheap grace. She must teach her members the
rudiments of selfless-sacrificial service, which entails cost of disciple-
ship. It must be emphasised that the church is there to serve the world
and not vice versa. This must be key Christian virtue that must be im-
parted among every Christian adherent. If that objective is realised then
the prophetic role of the church will be achieved, that is, being the voice
of the voiceless, emancipate the poor and the oppressed, and advocating
for democracy, justice and gender equality.
When faced with tyranny, dictatorship and totalitarianism, the church
must come up with effective ways of harnessing such practices. At times
when things go out of hand, peaceful demonstrations may be options
such as the ones that were spearheaded by heroic figures like R Gadhi,
Martin Luther King Junior and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in their
respective countries. In serious cases the church may need to support
revolutions in order to deliver the masses from alienation, oppression
and exploitation. This stance may appear to be highly controversial but
thus part of sacrificial leadership and cost of discipleship. In the Zim-
babwean context some churches supported the liberation struggle prior
to 1980. For example, bishop Donal Lamont of the diocese of Umtali was
accused by the Smith regime for allegedly supporting the liberation war
cadres. (The Truth Will Make You Free 2005:69) Moreover, other clergy
members such as the late Rev Canaan Banana, Rev Ndabaningi Sithole
and Bishop Abel Tendekai Muzorewa were instrumental in imparting