Charles Finney, probably the greatest American revivalist
ever, once said, “the great business of the church is to
reform the world. The Church of Christ was originally
organized to be a body of reformers. The very profession of
Christianity implies the profession and virtually an oath to
do all that can be done for the universal reformation of the
world.” Not surprisingly, his converts became troops to
bring reform to his age and greatly contributed to the
anti-slavery movement.
Even recently former South African President, Nelson
Mandela, during a critical period of escalating violence in
South Africa prior to provincial elections in 1996 said,
“You in the Church do not realize the power and influence
you have. You must understand that the politicians have not
succeeded in bringing peace. That’s why we need the church
so much right now, we need you to help bring
reconciliation.” He called on Michael Cassidy of African
Enterprise and two senior
church leaders to call on the Church to help bring peace to
a situation where 20 people were being murdered daily.
Project Ukuthula (Zulu for “peace”) was initiated and within
six weeks the murder rate had dropped to zero. The elections
were also carried out peacefully.
Regional peace was only possible through reconciliation
mediated by the Church. Yet for this to happen,
reconciliation has to start within the Church. Only in
seeing this will the world, in large measure, believe that
it is speaking with the authority of God. Jesus prayed earnestly for believers to
“continue to have unity in the way that you, Father, are in
me and I am in you. I pray that they may be united with us
so that the world will believe that you have sent me.” (Gospel
of John
17:21).
Unfortunately many within the Church can be silent
over the need for reconciliation while evil flourishes.
We see this prior to the Rwandan genocide of 1994. One
Rwandan church leader pointedly
said, “there was a spiritual genocide in Rwanda before the
human holocaust.” Yet we also see this problem, to varying
degrees, in most communities across world today. A
lack of love and affirmation from Christians, particularly
toward other believers, is doing untold damage to the growth
and extension of the Kingdom of God. Doctrinal, moral
and political issues are some of the reasons given to
validate our unloving actions and attitudes. Indeed, as
Michael Cassidy writes, the
“church can be active in a supposedly spiritual or
socio-political arena, but so lack the style and fruit of
Christian grace and spirituality that it becomes a travesty
of the gospel and a source of utter confusion to a watching
world.”
Furthermore just as the Ancient Israelites rejected God by
wanting a King for protection and justice, we too can look
to our structures and political systems for protection and
justice. How frequently we can forget to live our
lives under the leadership, protection and guidance of the
Lord. Yet when we do, usually when all else has failed
or we are in a desperate situation, we witness the
incredible power, direct intervention and grace of God.
Testimonies attesting to this fact are not just found in
biblical history but are being repeated around the world
today. When and where the Church truly repents, turns
from its wicked ways and seeks the face of the Lord, we
witness remarkable healing of the land and salvation from
desperate circumstances (2 Chronicles 7:14).
Jesus died so
that the world might be saved. In order for the World
to believe in Him He has placed an enormous responsibility
on His Church to love each other and those around them.
For this to practically occur, serious attention must be
given to the way we relate to others and how Christians can
live, with all of our diversity, in His Kingdom together.
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