Chitando, “If My People...” A Critical Analysis of the Deployment of 2 Chron 7:14 ...was wrong with Zimbabwe, as well as a therapy by way of promising a
prosperous future. In a real sense, the passage sought to empower Zim-
babwean Christians to survive the crisis by anticipating a prosperous
future wherein God would heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 during the Zimbabwean Crisis:
The Positive Dimension
Earlier writings on the appropriation of the bible during the Zimbab-
wean crisis have brought out the extent to which contesting political
positions could deploy the bible in their favour. For example, Togarasei
(2009) has shown how the call to respect authorities elicited different
responses. Similarly, Gunda (2010) has demonstrated how the bible has
been used to oppose and to defend homosexuality in Zimbabwe. In this
section, I focus on the positive aspects that emerged from the reading of
2 Chron 7:14. I am principally informed by the standpoint that no read-
ing of scripture is neutral. One always reads from a specific place. I shall
return to this theme below.
There are a number of positive outcomes from the reading of 2 Chron
7:14 during the Zimbabwean crisis. First, the text reminds Christians of
their civic duties and responsibilities. People who are called by God’s
name are not distant onlookers. They are deeply implicated in the crisis.
This was critical as a passive, pacifist and other-worldly strand of Chris-
tianity threatened to have an upper hand. In the face of an increasingly
intolerant and brutal state that thrived on violence, some Christians
sought to retreat from the struggle. They justified such a stance by argu-
ing that it was “neither by might nor by power, but by God’s Spirit”
(Zecharia 4: 6) that the situation would improve. Such a theology placed
emphasis on Christians not being of this world and concentrated on
getting people to heaven.
When Zimbabwean Christians sought to uphold their civic responsibili-
ties, they brought about change in the socio-political context. They chal-
lenged corruption, opposed violent state programmes such as Operation
Murambatsvina/Restore Order that led to the loss of livelihoods in 2005
and they also promoted political literacy (Chitando and Manyonganise
2011). Activist Christian organisations such as Christian Alliance and
Churches in Manicaland appealed to 2 Chron 7:14 to mobilise Christians
to participate in political activities. The passage was read as suggesting