Maravi

Christian politicians

Christian politicians
By The Post
Mon 02 May 2011, 04:00 CAT

CHRISTIANS must be conscious of their specific and proper role in the political community.

As Bishop George Lungu has aptly put it, Christians who are in politics should be apostles of the others and they should help enlighten each other in their calling. For Christians, political involvement and demanding expression of the Christian commitment of service to others is cardinal. Politics needs people with credibility. Their presence in the political arena should bring gospel values to the political process.

The participation of Christians in political life should be guided by the gospel values of respect for human dignity, human rights, common good, social justice, solidarity, integral development, special concern for the poor and non-violence in resolving conflicts. For Christians, politics is not a dirty game but is a genuine way of being at the service of others for the integral development of the country.

What we are seeing today in our politics is disheartening, disgusting and discouraging. Politicians who are supposed to be exemplary in their conduct because they are Christians and occupy high positions in the Christian church are proving to be the worst in terms of gospel values. They are corrupt when they should be leading in providing an honest service to our people; when they should be leading the way in the honest discharge of a public trust. They are leading the way in telling lies when they should be showing the way in truthful politics. They are leading the way when it comes to intolerance and disrespect for others when they should be leading the way in humbly accepting their wrongdoings and asking for forgiveness for the times they may have dominated others. They are leading the way when it comes to hatred of political opponents when they should be showing the way on how to love one’s neighbour, one’s fellow citizen and one’s political adversaries. They are leading the way in the abuse of power and public resources when they should be leading the way in thriftiness and in ensuring that the poor get the maximum benefit from the proper and prudent use of the limited resources of their country.

Instead of leading the way to dialogue, listening to others and sharing their own views with others, they are leading the way in trying to assert their hegemony over others and in not listening to the views and feelings of others. And instead of being exemplary in respecting human life as a precious gift from God the source of all life, they are leading in dehumanising others, in degrading real and perceived political opponents and in the killing of those who are seen to be standing in the way of their political interests. Instead of fighting corruption and showing our people that corruption is not good, they are the defenders, perpetrators and promoters of corruption and of the corrupt.

Without being personal, we would like to give the example of Reverend Ronnie Shikapwasha. This man occupies a senior position in the church and in the government, and indeed in the politics of our country. But we ask the question: what gospel values has Ronnie brought to our government and our national politics? Ronnie leads in intolerance. Ronnie is a shameless liar who never hesitates to lie in order to please his political bosses and keep his job. What is Christian about Ronnie’s politics and conduct?

We had Frederick Chiluba, a man who decreed this nation a Christian one and after that went on rampage engaging in all sorts of unChristian things – adultery, corruption, stealing, plunder, intolerance, hypocrisy, lies and so on and so forth. Chiluba tried very hard, in word, to portray himself and his government as Christian. But we should ask ourselves: what kind of Christian society did Chiluba try to build in this country? Is corruption Christian?

Again, we are reminded by Jesus: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Thus, spirituality is a way of living life according to the spirit. Proclaiming oneself Christian and decreeing one’s country a Christian nation without Christian deeds is worthless; as James stated, “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead,” (James 2:14 – 17).

Justice begins at home and Christian politicians must be the first to give witness and they are expected to respect themselves and to be exemplary in their daily lives and political practices. They cannot call others to virtues which they themselves do not make an effort to practice.

There is no way politicians like Shikapwasha can go to church on Sunday, take a stand in the pulpit and preach Christian faith and expect people to follow them when every day they see them doing the opposite. They certainly cannot preach Christian or gospel values to others if they do not practice them themselves. They cannot go out preaching the gospel and claim to uphold the sanctity of life and then go out to defend the slaughter of defenseless, unarmed and innocent citizens by the police they command.

For Christians, political power must have as its aim the achievement of the common good. And for them, the whole existence of civil authorities should be the realisation of the common good based on “… You shall love your neighbour as you love yourself” (Mark 12:31).

And for a Christian politician, the best way to “love your neighbour as yourself” is to contribute to the common good.

We remind our Christian politicians that to be a Christian means to be like Christ, to be a follower of Christ. We know that Christ was humble, most pure, poor, meek: how can his disciple and imitator be proud, dishonest, greedy, corrupt, intolerant, violent angry, a liar?

Alexander the Great once said to a soldier who also had the same name but was sluggish, mean and cowardly: “Either change your name or change your behaviour.”
How many of our Christian politicians are there who have no more than the name and the baptism of Jesus Christ, while they live like pagans! What shame, what remorse! In a word, we can rightly conclude that he who does not imitate Christ does not love Christ. We say this because love is imitation. The persons who really love Jesus are those who follow him to Calvary, in his private life of obedience, in his humility. Imitation is the infallible character to distinguish the lovers of Jesus. There is no middle path.

Labels: CHRISTIANITY, GEORGE LUNGU

posted by MrK @ 11:58 AM