Tag: corruption

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Corona Relief and Corruption

Off-loading my heavy heart as lamenting to God before our nation in the Hebrew prophetic tradition:

Responding to this article, I believe Ace Magashule is beyond embarrassment, incapable of shame. He should start with himself and his sons – all accused of gross corruption – before talking about corruption in the ANC (African National Congress, the ruling party in South Africa).

What an utter disaster: The corruption of the ANC knows no end. It is truly endemic. Seemingly beyond cure. Worse than the corona pandemic itself, which officials exploit (the billions set aside for corona relief for the needy) in their own corrupt greed, further bleeding the nation to death.

Not even our President, Cyril Ramaphosa, seems to be able to stem the tide of corruption. He seems lame. We all had hoped and prayed for something decisively different, something better after the seriously corrupt Zuma rule that brought our country to its knees. I still pray for that decisive difference.

After millions spent on the Zondo commission to uncover and account for state capture, for the missing billions, no significant high profile arrests, no convictions, no judgment, no imprisonment. Eskom paid over R38 bn in inflated contracts. ONLY NOW is Eskom and SIU (Special Investigating Unity) seeking to find out how it can possibly recover R3.8 bn from former executives and the Guptas.

ANC and other officials have systemically stolen from the poor & needy, let alone raped the economy. And it continues under corona, when our nation/economy is at its absolute weakest. Utter and total shame on them. God sees it all, every little last deed of corruption. God will judge. On that day, God help the corrupt.

And God help us all, because the not-corrupt will suffer (are already suffering) under the coming judgement: Look at the long darkening road of corruption, human rights violations, bloodshed, dictatorship, that has destroyed our northern neighbour, Zimbabwe. That nation is at its absolute worst right now under Mnangagwa, after he was joyfully welcomed as a liberation hero in November 2017 liberating the nation in a ‘quiet coup’ from the liberation hero, dictator Robert Mugabe.

How can a man, Mugabe’s young general, who presided over the massacre of 20 000 Ndebele a fews years after independence, liberate and lead the nation into a new era of restored justice, peace & prosperity? Those Zimbabweans who naively danced in the streets in November 2017 soon returned to weeping and wailing when Mnangagwa proved true to character – though he claimed a ‘Christian conversion’ – evidently fake by its distinct lack of righteous fruit (no ‘coming clean’ as in publicly confessing his part in the Gukurahundi of the mid 1980s, and offering himself for trial before a court of law – means nothing changed in the man). Zimbabwe is a prophetic warning to us, to South Africa, in our shameless corruption, of what God’s judgement looks like through such corrupt leaders, who reduced the (supposed) bread basket of Africa to the basket case of Africa. The prophetic warning is LOUD & CLEAR, it’s on our doorstep. Let those who have ears to hear, hear and repent, pray and act to eradicate corruption in all its forms.

In your judgements, O Lord, remember mercy! (Habakkuk 3:2)

There’s a video clip doing the rounds of Utata Mandela speaking during the transition in 1993, saying that “the corruption of the Apartheid Nationalist government was endemic”, and the ANC would “stop THAT GRAVY TRAIN”. The ANC government would be very different, would “change the culture to live within the means of their community”, taking salary cuts to help the poor & needy. Utata Mandela is now spinning at high speed in his grave at the ANC gravy train taking our nation to destruction.

All the public promises of Ramaphosa on national TV, of Mboweni and others, are empty and meaningless until we see action, arrests, prosecutions, imprisonments, recovery of (at least some of) the stolen millions & billions of rands. Is there the moral political will and strength of ethical conviction to fearlessly confront and prosecute and defeat this corruption? I pray that there is, or that it comes to those who wield the power. God knows, I pray for our President in this regard. With God all things are possible! BUT we all have to pray up, stand up, speak up, and act up against this evil, to empower the will of the few good leaders that are there, that can make the decisive different we so desperately need in our nation at this kairos moment.

The ANC has deployed, and continues to deploy officials and leaders who have little or no CHARACTER… known bullies, arrogant liars, corrupt cheaters, blatant stealers, record criminals, etc. Management and leadership at any level in society, in business, in government, is about CHARACTER, CHARACTER, CHARACTER.

Leadership is about TRUSTWORTHINESS, HONESTY, TRUTHFULNESS, INTEGRITY, DILIGENCE, DELIVERY, RELIABILITY, etc. Don’t vote for, or support, any leaders who have corrupt character. Pray and vote them out of power. Confront, expose and report their corrupt dealings. Resist them with truth and integrity, with everything in you, with God’s help. It is a life and death battle in our country.

May God give us leaders of moral character who have the ethical conviction to courageously act for the good of the nation.
May God root out leaders and officials of corrupt character at all levels of management and leadership.
May God have mercy on the poor & needy.
Please Lord, we cry out to you, hear our prayer.

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TRUTH OR LIES – WHAT’S THE COST?

I watched the Chernobyl series of 5 episodes and was deeply struck by the words of the  courageous Russian nuclear scientist Valery Legasov,

“As scientists we are naive.  We are so focused on our search for truth we fail to consider how few actually want us to find it.  Truth is always there whether we seek it or not, whether we choose to see it or not, whether we care for it or not.  Truth doesn’t care about our needs or wants.  It doesn’t care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions.  It will lie in wait for all time. It will hold us accountable.  This at last is the gift of Chernobyl.  Though I once would fear the cost of truth, now I only ask:  WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES?”

Chernobyl: The Cost

Valery Legasov was assigned by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to lead the resolving of the Chernobyl disaster of 26 April 1986.  The cause was human error and negligence, but more importantly, the design flaws of the RBMK nuclear reactor.  Unthinkable in Russia. Viciously denied and suppressed by the USSR Politburo and KGB. 

Legasov told the truth and paid for it dearly. He committed suicide two years after the nuclear reactor exploded. However, the cost of the lies of the political leaders was paid for by thousands of people who died over the years – to this day the official death toll in Russia is 31; unofficially it’s between 4500 and 90000. And nature itself paid the price:  the 2600 square km exclusion zone of radioactive death.  

In 2006 Mikhail Gorbachev wrote that Chernobyl was probably the true cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union, not perestroika and glasnost.  WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES?

Post-Truth World: Lying Leaders

“That’s Russia! The West is different!” Another lie!  We are in a life and death battle of truth and untruth, of honesty and lies, of moral integrity and amoral corruption, of ethical character and ‘fake it till you make it’ performance.  We live in a post-truth world where lies are the norm. They are seen as the truth and truth is seen as lies. It’s the perverse form of the ‘politics of truth’. Power games for personal and national gain. Spiritual and political leaders are especially culpable in this regard, and the people suffer for it. 

Presidents who routinely lie with predictable ease give permission and power to their leaders, to the entire nation, to lie. It’s a spiritual reality: an evil ‘principality and power’ takes over and thousands and millions of people follow such leaders with gullible worship in ideological blindness, thinking they are heroes.

A sure sign of a spiritual power, of ideological capture, is the irrational emotional defensiveness – even violent threats – when confronted. There is no ability to reason with rational and psycho-emotional objectivity. These leaders use their power, by lies and coverups (propaganda), to make truth the enemy of the people. The nation picks up the tab and pays the price.  WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES? 

South Africa: National & Personal

The price we have paid in South African for the decade of lies from Jacob Zuma and his network of patronage has been like a nuclear fallout. It will take years to recover. Now under pressure from the Zondo Commission on State Capture Zuma has agreed to come in July to answer questions. The spider of the national web of corruption is appearing. Pray for his deception to be defeated and for the truth to prevail.

It’s a serious spiritual battle. It’s not just Zuma and political and spiritual leaders – it’s each and every one of us. “The human heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things – who can know it?  I, the LORD, examine and know the heart…” and will hold it accountable (Jeremiah 17:9). Indeed, God “hates… a lying tongue” because of the destruction it brings (Proverbs 6:16-17).

Legasov once feared the cost of truth, but now asks: WHAT IS THE COST OF LIES? Or we can ask: What is the cost of NOT standing up for the truth?  What is the cost of keeping quiet? Do we love the truth enough – and the victims who pay the price of untruth – to confront and unmask the politics of truth? Do we call out people around us when they lie? Do we call out the lies of leaders? Do we drive back the suffocating darkness of lies by a relentless shining of the light of truth – not matter what it may cost us.

Some of our investigative journalists in South Africa are courageous heroes in this regard, such as Jacques Pauw in The President’s Keepers (on Zuma’s corruption) and Pieter-Louis Myburgh in Gangster State (on Ace Magashule’s corruption).

Defeating the Evil of Untruth

However, let me be clear: we cannot defeat the evil behind this darkness unless we are ruthless with ourselves. Unless you are radically self-honest and forsake any and every temptation to lie – even a ‘white lie’ to spin the truth, exaggerate, give half the truth, cover up – you have little or no power to defeat the power of untruth that is covering the land, the globe, like a suffocating blanket. You cannot challenge others if you yourself lie. 

Whether we know it or not, like it or not, THE TRUTH will always eventually triumph.  It will hold us accountable personally and nationally, sooner or later, in this life and/or in the life to come. If we are always utterly truthful, even to our own hurt, God will stand by us and will vindicate us in this life and/or in the life to come.

Then darkness will be driven back and light will rule in human society. The reign of the ‘politics of truth and love’ (love of the truth). The economy will prosper and nature itself will explode with fruitful life.

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Living the Life God Intended – Talk 5 – Being Salt & Light

To listen to the audio teaching of this fifth talk on Living the Life God Intended, click on:
http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/living-the-life-that-god-intended-talk-5/

Being The Salt and Light, Matt 5:13-16

To recap: Jesus began a revolution of the Kingdom of Heaven (KOH). Matthew shows Jesus giving his inaugural teaching in Matt 5 – 7: Living life in the KOH, God’s new covenant with his people. His “blessed be’s” describe those receiving the KOH (those blessed with comfort, fulfillment, inheritance, mercy, seeing God, declared God’s children, etc) rather than prescribing virtues to be attained in order to be God’s Kingdom people. Jesus ends the beatitudes with those who suffer persecution as the prophets did (Matt 5:11-12); i.e. he saw his KOH movement as fulfilling the prophetic tradition, being the “salt & light” to Israel and the nations.

The repeated “you” in v13 and v14 is emphatic: YOU and only YOU are the salt and light! But, Jesus’ main point in this text is simple: if we do NOT actually live like disciples of the KOH (true followers and apprentices of Jesus), if we do NOT live like the true Israel God intended, then we are worth about as much as tasteless salt and hidden light.

Salt was used to flavor food. It was also a preservative and purifying agent – to stop meat from decaying, to cleanse a wound. When impure salt, taken from the Dead Sea for example, lost its saltiness, then it was added to soil as manure. Real salt did not lose its properties – it’s flavor and sting. But what did Jesus mean by “being the salt” in society?

In teaching the new covenant, the Messianic Torah, rabbi Jesus probably alluded to salt as the sign of the covenant as referred to in Lev 2:13, Num 18:19, 2Chron 13:5. If so, Jesus saw his followers as the salt of the new covenant promised by Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34, God’s word is written on our hearts and minds by the Holy Spirit, enabling us to do God’s will). This means that our presence in society, as followers of Jesus, positively flavors it, making the nation acceptable and palatable to God. Godly convictions, values and behavior, restrain and prevent the rot from taking over – “the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2Pet 1:4). I.e. we stand for God’s Rule of truth, righteousness, justice, mercy. THAT stings the conscience of society and ‘the powers’ that be – as did the Hebrew prophets, and Jesus, who all suffered and died for their witness to God’s government. We model the future KOH now, showing society and earthly and spiritual powers God’s intended way of living, challenging wrongdoing, speaking truth to power.

However, Jesus’ point is that real salt does not lose its saltiness, otherwise it is spurious! BUT, if we don’t live out our true nature and calling as Jesus’ disciples, we’re “thrown out and trodden under foot.” Is Jesus saying we become ‘manure’? No! More likely, as a typical Rabbi, he is quoting Isaiah 5:5, 10:6, 26:6, 28:3,18, 63:3, warning of judgement. I.e. the godly remnant in Israel made the nation palatable to God. But as they lost their sting and the stench of Israel’s sin rose to heaven, God judged Israel. She was overrun by warfare, trodden under foot and exiled. Jesus is saying: if WE don’t fulfill our prophetic role and witness, corruption spreads to the point where society is no longer palatable to God (even Jesus speaks of spitting out a church! Rev 3:16). Then the nation comes under God’s judgement, the church included, suffering civil unrest and even violent revolution under “the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor” (Isaiah 26:6).

Jesus saw himself and his community of followers as fulfilling Israel’s call to be “the light of the world” (Isaiah 42:6, 49:6 cf. Matt 4:16, Jn 8:12, Eph 5:8-9). Like salt, it has a positive and negative role: God’s light of life and truth shows society the way to live under God’s government, the KOH. At the same time the light exposes and drives back the moral darkness of evil deception and corruption. His point is simple: the light is NOT to be hidden! It must shine for all to see! If we don’t live out our true nature and calling as the light of God’s saving rule and reign – by hiding it, keeping it to ourselves – we lose our reason for existence and live in the dark.

The light is our “good deeds” in society: living God’s love in actual works of mercy, righteousness, justice, peace-making. Therefore, “let your light shine…!” Jesus’ reference to the light as “a city on a hill” was readily understood, because most towns were built on hills and could be seen at night from far away. This was especially true of Jerusalem, God’s city of peace & justice, where he was understood to reside and to rule from his Holy Temple. The light of Jerusalem was thus not only literal – the biggest and brightest city in Israel – but was meant to be the light of God’s government over Israel, for all the nations of the world to see. If Jesus was alluding to this, then he saw his disciples as the new Jerusalem in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies in this regard; see Isaiah 2:2-5 cf. Isaiah 42:6, 49:6.

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South African Crisis: Open Letter to my Church

“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
The Lord is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne.”
(Psalm 11:3-4)

“Cry the beloved country” – AGAIN – our nation is in crisis! A serious moral, political and socio-economic crisis. As your pastor it would be sinful if I did not speak out in this hour, speaking truth to power, and giving guidance to our congregation: What must the Church do?

Last night at midnight, under the cloak of darkness, President Jacob Zuma announced a cabinet reshuffle. He fired Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, and kept poor performing and corrupt ministers – clearly ‘Zupta Supporters’ in his system of patronage. He has made Malusi Gigaga, a corrupt Zupta supporter, the new Finance Minister. Gigaba is known to frequent the Gupta residence in Saxonwald, infamously called ‘Saxonwald Shabeen’. This is the most shameless blatant ‘state capture’ to control the national treasury and further rape the country’s resources. Pravin Gordhan’s response to this extreme act of state capture is simple: The nation must rise up for truth and justice, and organize and mobilize to resist – get on the streets and stop this evil taking over – else we will suffer the consequences.

Those who support Zuma in the name of “remove Gordhan because he protects ‘white monopoly capital’ and works against the radical transformation of the economy”, are blinded and captivated by the ideological defenses of Zupta corruption. Even Julius Malema, the most radical proponent of decolonization and justice for the poor (rightly so), does NOT buy this ideological deception – he fully supports Gordhan and Jonas’ integrity and competent work.

Our nation right now teeters on the edge. This can snowball into serious destruction, or be a turning point for good. How do we think Biblically, and not ideologically, about this situation? (Ideology means a system of thought and argument that justifies certain group interests over against another group – the ‘lenses’ through which we see, interpret and react to reality)

The Biblical idea of crisis is captured in the word kairos: a moment in time in the history of the nation that is a turning point one way or another, depending on our corporate choice. Kairos is both judgement/disaster, and opportunity of God’s merciful intervention, at the same time. We lived through a kairos in 1994 and chose a miracle of peaceful change in SA, defeating evil powers that threatened civil war. We are at the same place again as a nation. What will you choose? Truth or corruption? Good or evil? Action or passivity?

When the foundations of our nation, of our lives, are being shaken, what can the righteous do? King David’s answer is clear: See Yahweh, the Creator-God of the nations, on his throne, still in charge of his universe. Compare Psalm 11 with Psalm 2 and see what the Church must do:

  1. Not to panic, not be intimidated, not be psycho-emotionally defeated, not get all negative and depressed, and talk ourselves and our nation into a hole, into the hands of the devil.
  2. But this does not mean that we cannot, and must not, call it for what it is: pure evil. Some Christians bury their head in the sands of ‘positive confession’ believing that to say anything negative (to name, describe, unmask and rebuke evil) is wrong – that is Gnostic belief.
  3. It means, while we face reality full on, without denial and ideological blindness, at the same time we continually look up to see God on his throne. God is ultimately in charge, though he has delegated spiritual powers to rule over nations. These ‘powers’ become corrupt, as seen or ‘manifested’ in national leaders and governments. God can judge and discipline them.
  4. It means seeing things from God’s point of view: “Yahweh observes everyone on earth, his eyes examine them, the righteous and the wicked – who love lies, cheating, stealing, violence – which God hates with a passion” (11:4-5) God sees and knows it all. We can pray with his passion, that he exposes and judges and defeats that evil, as David says in 11:6.
  5. But it also means, we not only reactively pray for the downfall of evil, but we proactively love justice (11:7). We must model and do justice in our circles of influence, in our nation. We must show a different way of being the new South Africa that we all want. What this looks like practically must be discussed and implemented and lived. THIS is collaboration with Messiah to advance his rule of righteousness in the face of ‘the powers’, as in Psalm 2 (God laughs at presidents who chuckle while doing evil, thinking they will get away with it, 2:4).
  6. Why the above five points on prayer? Because we have direct access to God, the Ultimate Power over nations! To pray is to trust God and live in peace. If we pray for principled leadership, good godly government, as in 1 Tim 2:1f, God will give it to us.
  1. What more can Christians do? We must live our prayers daily by speaking up and standing up for truth. STOP lying, stop cheating, stop stealing, stop all corruption – expose and challenge it. Confront injustice; shout it out from the roof-tops.
  1. We can pour out into the streets to besiege parliament in the hundreds of thousand, NOT in the name of a political party, but in the name of Jesus, justice, righteousness, truth. The Koreans and Brazilians recently dethroned their corrupt presidents by occupying the streets with a million people. Mass non-violent resistance and public protest has great power for change in national histories, where injustice gained the upper hand.
  1. Vote the ANC out of power. It’s not about Zuma per se, it’s about the ANC that has allowed the Zuptas to capture the state for self-enrichment. The ANC, from Cyril Ramaphosa and Gwede Mantashe and all them, must take responsibility. They have lost the right to rule this country. Their credibility is down the drain. Vote them out of power! Don’t vote ANC!

I trust this gives perspective as to a Christian response.

Here is my FaceBook post:

“I call on all people of truth and integrity in South Africa, who love righteousness and justice, who believe God still controls the destiny of nations – the God who can bring either judgement or blessing through wicked or righteous leaders – to pray up, speak up, stand up, march up, and shout from the rooftops, against the firing of Gordhan and his deputy, against Zuma’s shameless blatant ‘treasuary capture’ to further pillage and rape the nation’s resources for his own ends of security and power. The conspiring of evil to hold onto power has played its card, may righteousness and truth defeat it.

If the leaders and people of principle, of truth, of justice (including the Christians) WITHIN THE ANC, WITHIN THE CABINET, WITHIN THE ANC ELDERS & STALWARTS, WITHIN LUTHULI HOUSE, do not stand up right now and confront and discipline and recall Zuma, they will have lost all credibility. NOW is the time, NOW is the hour for them to be counted, to intervene, to put their bodies on the line for the sake of the nation, to stop this naked shameless corruption of power. Pray for the leaders who now step to the fore over the next few days to confront this madness of Zuma, because they could lead us to a better place over the next few years. Above all PRAY, and speak up, and engage in whatever non-violent resistance that can confront the corrupt powers of Zuma and his cronies, his whole system of patronage that he’s built up… MAY IT FALL FLAT IN THE NAME OF JESUS!”

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Gospel Mandate of Reconciliation & Transformation (continued)

For the audio teaching click on the following link:

http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/implications-of-the-gospel-mandate-of-reconciliation-part-6/

Last week I taught on The Gospel Mandate of Reconciliation. The key is transformed identity through faith in Jesus and water baptism. We’re God’s Beloved Child in his ‘one new humanity’. This is found in the Early Church baptismal liturgy/confession of Gal 3:28 – what we call The Gospel Mandate of Reconciliation through transformed identity:

  • “Neither Jew nor Gentile” – Racial/Cultural mandate: healing racism
  • “Neither slave nor free” – Social/Economic mandate: healing classism
  • “Neither male nor female – Gender/Sexual mandate: healing sexism

Jesus’ followers chose this confession to confront, reverse and transform, the dominant mindset of the day, seen in the daily prayer of Greek men: “Thanks God that I was born a human being and not a beast, a man and not a woman, a Greek and not a barbarian”, and the daily Berakot prayed by Jewish men: “Blessed be the Lord God that he did not make me a Gentile (dog), nor a boor (a slave/peasant), nor a woman.” Faith in Jesus transforms our identity, healing us of racist/class/sexist prejudice, making us reconcilers in society.

Both Personal and Structural

Prejudice is the power behind every societal barrier. Prejudice is emotional-based, closed-minded, false-fixed beliefs and attitudes (“don’t confuse me with the facts, my mind is already made up”). This leads to pain-filled words and actions against ‘the other’ who is different to us. Our perceptions about ‘the other’ (race, culture, class, age, gender, sexual orientation, education-level, political party, religion, denomination) are often unreasoned, irrational, untested half-truths and misbeliefs. We subconsciously imbibe them from birth via our parents. And from our peers and teachers, those like us, as we grow up. Unresolved hurt, painful life experiences, also leads to prejudicial beliefs and actions: we ‘blindly’ act out pain on others. Generalizations (“all women are…” “the poor are…”,”whites are…” “Gays are…”) reinforce social stereotypes and labels, damaging ‘the other’ and ourselves. Prejudice blinds us to new information, screening out objective truth. How blind are those who refuse to see… read John 9:13-34, 40-41. Continue reading Gospel Mandate of Reconciliation & Transformation (continued)

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State of the Nation (South Africa): A Pastor’s Response

To listen to the audio teaching click on  http://followingjesus.org.za/sermons/state-of-the-nation-a-pastors-response/

Since January 2015 I’ve had a growing number of people expressing serious concern over the state of our nation, asking: how must we respond as Christians? The chaotic Opening of Parliament on 12 February has increased the volume of concern. Some want to emigrate. As a pastor I feel pressed to respond by giving our local church some (biblical) perspective and guidance. This is a big issue to address in one talk; hence this headline overview.

I’m a pale-male middle-class South African, fully aware of the (historical) baggage that it represents. But that doesn’t disqualify me from addressing this issue. Besides, to do a little ‘foolish boasting’ as Paul did (2Cor 12:1f), I spent 12 years involved in Soweto working in the name of Jesus for justice and reconciliation (1983–1995), repenting from my racist conditioning and putting my body on the line, taking a strong stand against Apartheid. My book Doing Reconciliation tells the story, with the biblical theology and praxis, of those years. Since 1994 I’ve continued to take a consistent prophetic stance for reconciliation and righteousness in society, in our body politic, without fear or favour.  Continue reading State of the Nation (South Africa): A Pastor’s Response

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2014 SA Elections: Biblical Guidance on Voting

This year we celebrate 20 years of South Africa’s (SA) democracy. Remember the miracle of the 1994 elections? We go to the polls again on 8 May 2014. How should the church relate to the government – the ruling ANC party – at this time? How should we vote?

Historically there have been three general approaches to the Church/State relationship:

  1. Kingdom of God approach: Separation of Church and State; a critical partnership meaning constructive support on matters for the good of society and critical resistance on matters harmful to society (when Kingdom values and ethics are violated).
  2. Constantinian approach: Union of Church and State, called Christendom, from when Emporer Constantine (311AD) became a Christian. It’s an activist involvement either for the State (a State Church), or against the State (a Subversive Church). Traditional Churches still operate in this paradigm. The Anabaptists (in 1500s) were the first to break away from State-Church control, called Free Churches.
  3. Pietistic approach: Church withdrawal from the State – being a-political, meaning “don’t meddle with politics… it’s not the concern of the Church”. This “remain silent” approach is found in Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches (especially during the Apartheid years). In reality it means support for the status quo. Continue reading 2014 SA Elections: Biblical Guidance on Voting
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Update on Repentance Paper re SA situation

I’m reminded that I did not comment further on the repentance paper that my colleague and I wrote for a possible process in regard to the South African situation. We drafted the paper (see below), but it’s still in process of discussion and decision making with a group of church leaders. However, they have agreed that we publicize what we have written so far. Any later changes or papers will come online as and when they’re finalized.

A Kairos Moment: A Call to Confession & Repentance

“You have planted wickedness and have reaped evil,

You have eaten the fruit of deception and corruption.

Plough up your fallow ground,

Sow righteousness and reap mercy,

For it is time to seek the Lord

Until he comes and rains righteousness on you”

The words of the prophet Hosea (10:12-13) ring true in our ears in South Africa today. We have sown greed and reaped lies. We have said, “It is our time to eat!” But we are eating the fruit of deception and corruption. Where is righteousness and mercy? Where is justice for all? We have reached a kairos moment: It is time to face what is happening and turn to God by ploughing up our hard hearts with confession, repentance and action, to save our nation. God may then come and rain righteousness – the reign of justice – on our land.

Greek kairos means “a time” of impending disaster and/or opportunity for God’s intervention – a miraculous turn around for good. It can go either way depending on how we respond. Carry on as normal? Or intervene? We have reached a “tipping point” of decay due to the corruption of character in leadership and in ordinary South Africans. The way of the leaders is the way of people. We are indeed a corrupt nation! Unless we repent – intervene for a radical turn around – we will come under God’s judgement. Violent social unrest will overtake us all.

The Signs of The Times

Archbishop Desmond Tutu held a press conference on 4th October 2011 in regard to the Dalai Lama visa debacle. With prophetic fury he rebuked the ruling party as “arrogant and disgraceful… worse than the Apartheid government.” It marked a symbolic turning point in the Church–State relationship in particular, and in South Africa in general. As concerned Christian pastors and leaders we stand with Tutu and say, “Watch out! Watch out! I warn you, watch out!”

This prophetic outburst was not the isolated ranting of an old man as some have said. It came after a sustained period of constant revelations of corruption at high levels in government and all sectors of society – with deceptive cover-ups and arrogant denials. This has all but broken the good faith and morale of ordinary citizens. So much good has been done in our new democracy, but it’s fast unraveling. The miracle of 1994, built on the high moral ground and sacrifice of the Nelson Mandelas and Desmond Tutus and others, seems like a distant dream. How have we become so sinfully arrogant and corrupt so quickly?

Jesus said, “interpret the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:1-4). Beside the culture of entitlement – now unbridled greed and brazen corruption – other dark clouds are coming together, threatening a storm that can destroy our young democracy. Crime and violent-power have become endemic. Every twenty-six seconds a so-called man rapes a woman or child. Sexual trafficking is rife. Moral values and social ethics are in serious crisis. Our liberal laws have empowered a holocaust of abortions. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is overwhelming – surely God weeps? Unresolved issues of race face us on many fronts, the result of a superficial reconciliation. Political reconciliation without meaningful social and economic reconciliation has not worked; e.g. restorative justice, reparations, land restitution, poverty and unemployment, still define themselves along racial lines.

Polarization is once again taking place. Most whites are perceived as having opted out of the project of redressing the past and building a common future, becoming critics from the sideline. Black Economic Empowerment with affirmative action, employment equity, housing for the poor, etc, has not reversed past inequalities. In many instances it has fed nepotism and greed. The poor are not empowered. They cry out for justice. The lack of service delivery because of corrupt and incompetent government officials – local and national – is leading to violent protests. The call of the ANC Youth League to appropriate land without compensation and nationalize the mines, further fuels the fires of unrealistic expectations, white fears, and social unrest.

These are some of the signs… how do we respond to this?

A Call to The Church – Especially its Leaders

As concerned Christian pastors and leaders we believe it must start with us: “It is time for judgment to begin at the house of God” (1Peter 4:17). If we take on symbols of judgment – like wearing black armbands or black clothes, even sackcloth and ashes – and mourn and weep before we come under God’s judgment, then we might avert it. We are in God’s hands; we are not at the mercy of evil. Therefore we should take up the “lament” of Jeremiah… ‘Why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn again in repentance to the LORD. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us”’  (Lamentations 3:39-42).

How can we pray for our nation, for our government, when we have not confessed and repented from our own sin? What moral authority do we have as the Church in South Africa to speak to the government and the nation? We are compromised by our own sin, by our pride and arrogance, power and lies, anger and violence, lust and immorality, greed and corruption. We mirror society. Our churches are more a copy of our nation than a model of God’s kingdom. Are we, as spiritual leaders, any better than the socio-political leaders? If we confess and repent, God will have mercy and forgive. He will come and rain righteousness on us – the reign of godly and competent leadership, of ethical and good governance as in 1Timothy 2:1-8 (and see Romans 13).

Our focus on spiritual leaders, and then on our churches, does not mean we do not share this vision of intervening in our nation with a broader forum. It’s a matter of reality and priority – the ultimate power and battle is spiritual – God is our savior and no one else, no political party or ideology, or nothing else. Having said that, we do want this kairos call with the attached document to go out to all sectors of society: religious, political, business, labour, educational, community organizations, etc, for awareness, discussion and action.

Proposed Action

If we take up one major sin with confession and repentance, it will overflow to other issues by the conviction and work of the Holy Spirit.

We call on all Church leaders and congregations of Jesus Christ to confess and turn from deception and corruption in our personal lives, in our families, in our local churches, in our places of work and in society in general.

We call on all Church leaders and members to be radical about this matter: To disclose any form of corruption they have knowingly participated in; to disclose anything they have acquired through unethical means, no matter what this may entail. We call on them to make restitution as much as it is possible – to go and confess and return what has been taken, or to bring it to the Church (that will be identified) that it may be handed over to the relevant person or authorities.

To enact this, we call on all Church leaders to gather their people for specific public services of confession, repentance, restitution and prayer. We call on the leaders and people to put on symbols of repentance as mentioned above, to mourn and weep for the sins of leadership, of the Church and the nation. We take Daniel as our model – see Daniel chapter 9. The worship service is the place to disclose any form deception and/or corruption we have participated in, and to receive God’s forgiveness and cleansing.

We further call on all leaders and members to courageously confront and/or report any and every act of corruption in the family, in the local church, in the work place, in government and in society in general.

In this manner we are calling on the Church – all its leaders and members – to come clean and recover our integrity in the name of Jesus Christ. Perhaps God may use that in some way to intervene and save our nation.

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“Black Tuesday” – Pray for South Africa!

Opposition parties and other organizations who opposed the ANC’s proposed “Protection of Information Bill” asked everyone to wear black clothes yesterday, and called it “Black Tuesday”. And rightly so! 22 November 2011 will go down in history in South Africa as Black Tuesday.

I want to register my sadness and mourning, and my outrage and protest, at the ANC vote that passed the “Information Bill” into law in parliament yesterday. This is a major step toward unaccountable and autocratic rule. It’s a major step back to what the Apartheid government did to control information, to detain and imprison people, all in the name of “state security”. In reality it’s about increasing lack of transparency with constant cover-ups of growing corruption and abuse of power.

Personally, I have no idea how ANC members of parliament who are born again Christians can live with their conscience after voting the party line. The ANC Chief Whip Dr. Motshekga told his MPs they have to vote what the ANC wants. Shame on them!

In summary, the “Protection of Information Bill”…

  • Is a draconian law that puts a shroud over government and undermines South Africa’s hard won freedoms for an open and just democratic society.

Continue reading “Black Tuesday” – Pray for South Africa!

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Pray! Writing Repentance Paper re South Africa

Can you please pray for my colleague (Trevor Ntlhola) and myself as we draft a call to confession and repentance for the Church in South Africa?

Archbishop Desmond Tutu recently had a much publicised press conference at which he challenged and rebuked the ANC government, calling it arrogant and disgraceful (regarding the debacle of Dalai Lama’s visa. See it on YouTube Video ). Tutu’s ‘prophetic outburst’ has been a catalyst to draw together a number of pastors in Johannesburg who have – for a considerable time now – been deeply concerned for the way our nation is going. TEASA (The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa) hosted a meeting of these concerned Christian leaders last week to plan some kind of response.

Trevor poured out his heart, saying that we (the Church, and particularly its leaders) must publicly take up a lament for the sins of deception, corruption and arrogance, etc. The meeting mandated Trevor and I to draft a short paper, a kind of clarion call to confession and repentance, which will be used as a basis for public meetings and action – to intervene is some way in the growing corruption and polarisation in the nation.

South Africa is indeed coming to another cross-roads, another kairos moment, and the Church must rise up by kneeling before God in confession and repentance, and make its presence felt by some actions for righteousness and justice. What shape or form this will take, is in God’s hands. All we know is that some of us are fed-up, like Desmond Tutu, and we want to do something… so please pray for us as we draft this paper and for this initiative that has been started. Thanks so much!

Alexander