By Dr Masimba Mavaza | Zimbabwe has been awash with the spiritual events where President Mnangagwa attended church at Prophet Makandiwa’s Chitungwiza temple over the Easter. The messages which were sent by mainly the opposition mouth piece Hopewell Chin’ono and some hangers ons made me get thinking. All of a sudden the opposition are now a Christian outfit who pride themselves in bible truth. They believe that they are the remnant and Chin’ono is one of the People who believe that they are the only ones who must go to church and that they are right truth bearers and everybody is wrong. They now chose who must go to church and who must not. They have given themselves to judge church leaders who accommodate political leaders.
This self righteousness and arrogance is manifestly present in most Self righteous opposition leaders and apologists. The only thing which makes them arrogant is their genuine belief in ignorance.
In his below the belt reunion note to the Twitter fans Hopewell lamented Makandiwa’s political involvement. He called Makandiwa lost and a false prophet. He appointed himself the judge and labelled the christians in politics as lost and beyond redemption. He was so adamant stubborn and aggressively headstrong in his belief that politics takes christians to hell. He was so brutal and unChristian in his Christian belief.
World wide President’s call upon God during their tenure of service. Americans everyday finish their day by saying God bless United States of America.
In England the queen is the head of church and head of state. Mugabe attended Jahanne Marange Church so did MNANGAGWA and even Tsvangirai.
Politics is often seen as a dirty business. In recent times there have been many scandals that have made the general public apathetic towards the political system.
It’s an interesting and important topic, as politics is a subject that affects all believers, but not one that all believers feel they should be involved in.
In the past the Church and the state had been very much linked, with the Church in charge of issues such as education and healthcare. In the current day this is no longer the case. The rise of the welfare state in the last few centuries has meant that state’s influence has grown and the Church’s impact on these issues has deteriorated. Many secularists would argue that this is the way it should be and that the Church has no place in politics but is this really the case?
Many secularists would argue that the Church has no place in politics.
Are Christian values a form of congenial public discourse and avoid decorating our politics with congenial Bible verses.
The Bible is itself a potential weapon of mass destruction, prone to use, abuse, and misuse. The idolatrous and blasphemous use of the Bible in contemporary politics is immensely destructive to Christianity. Hiding behind “the Bible says it:’ those who employ simplistic citations from the Bible in public discourse are often wrong and disingenuous. The notion of Christian values often works in a similar fashion: a loss of the overreaching Christian narrative leads to a corruption of Christian witness.
But does all this exclude Christians from politics?
Andy Flannagan, a director at Christians in Politics, stated that if “we look at the Bible we see that God has liked to have an input in the governance of a nation. “The books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus are dedicated to a plethora of laws that God passed onto Moses for the people of Israel to abide by. Going back further, in Genesis we are given the example of Joseph, who through his gifts became, in effect, the Prime Minister of Egypt. This is a good example for us, as Egypt was clearly not a nation that revered God, but God allowed Joseph to rise in prominence which made Pharaoh acknowledge ‘the spirit of God’. The same can be applied to today. Whilst we may not be living in a ‘Christian nation’, Christians being involved in politics can still be used to bring godly influence.
Believer’s should join politics so that they may bring Righteous public service governance because righteousness exalt a Nation Sin is a reproach for to all people and territory.
Christians must be in politics to correct some wicked evil errors that politics is a dirty game.
Politics is governance that every believer should involve him or her self to inspire and encourage other Christians to get involved in politics and public life.
The opposition and many of their mind must realise that decisions are made by those who show up.
The leaders of the world in the world swear by the bible or a Holly Koran during swearing in ceremony. This is done so that Church and politics become one. President MNANGAGWA has visited several churches and this is what leaders must always do. The National leaders must unite the nation and the unifying factor is the bible.
The relationship between Christianity and politics is a historically complex subject and a frequent source of disagreement throughout the history of Christianity, as well as in modern politics between the Christian right and Christian left. There have been a wide variety of ways in which thinkers have conceived of the relationship between Christianity and politics, with many arguing that Christianity directly supports a particular political ideology or philosophy. Along these lines, various thinkers have argued for Christian communism, Christian socialism, Christian anarchism, Christian libertarianism, or Christian democracy.
A more extreme view would even been that no good can come from politics, and it is best to avoid it altogether. It turns out that this view is not at all consistent with what the Bible has to teach about politics and governance. Far from urging us to flee from this arena, Scripture shows us that governance can be a force for good, and that it is important for Christians to make their voice heard and counted in the public square.
Right at the very start of the Bible, God gives the creation mandate to Adam and Eve: to go forth into the world, to be fruitful and increase in number, and to have dominion over creation.In God’s good creation it was intended that mankind, created in the image of God, should be the stewards of this creation and give glory to God through increasing the fruitfulness of the planet. To put it another way, good governance was always intended to be a part of creation, whereby the will of mankind and the will of God would not be in opposition to each other, but rather mankind’s will and efforts would reflect God’s own will for the earth to be fruitful. Tragically, it is not very long before this perfect model falls.
Maybe to put Chin’ono’s mind to rest I am not saying that all Christians need to run to be local councillors or MPs. There are some who are called to do this, but others who are called to other activities that you may not even regard as political.
If then opposition is to give to or help their local foodbank in any way, one can argue that they are politically active. Foodbanks are a massive issue for the government at the moment, and by aiding one, you are showing the government that there is a need to help some members of the public further. This form of social activism is very much deep-rooted within politics, and requires Christians to be active to bring about change.
If there is a lot of crime in your area, you shouldn’t be afraid to speak up and ask your local MP what can be done about it. Some may quote the passage – ‘Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord”‘ (Romans 12:19). But there is very much a difference between vengeance and justice, and God is very much concerned with the latter. ‘God tells us we should be concerned with justice remember the apostle Paul pleading his case all the way up to Caesar’. This suggests that being politically active to achieve justice is not wrong, and is not something we should be afraid to do. Hopewell and all those like him must know that praying for those in governance is a form of political activity. Paul urges that – ‘supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.’ (1 Timothy 2:1-2). I would say that this is the absolute minimum. If any form of other political activity is not possible, praying that political leaders would make correct decisions is the one thing that we all have the obligation to do.
Whilst the government may not always do what we believe is best, they have been put in place by God for his purposes. Paul affirms this stating – ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.’ If that is the case, it will be our prayers and involvement in politics that will influence the people that God has put in place, so it is important that we as Christians are active in politics in some form or another.
The key point is to realise that we are involved in politics anyway; we have no choice about being political because if we choose not to engage then it is a vote for the status quo – the way things are. We must remember that all Christians are politically active whether they realise it or not. But especially when they don’t realise it.
Christians need to be involved because we believe in a God who cares passionately about his world and his creation, and consequently how it is run. The Bible is hugely political – in that it is about how God wants people to behave and act towards him, and towards each other. This involves economics and law because these are tools that need to be used to build justice. So often it is injustice which dominates God’s world and this grieves him.
As believers in God we have much to bring to politics – a deeper commitment to justice and compassion which throughout history has made a difference in the political sphere.
Christians are urged to be involved in their local community –
We must know that our faith is political to the core.
We will no longer say “Christianity is not political.” When we say “Christianity is not political” we are only demonstrating that we are disciples of modern liberalism instead of disciples of Jesus. The primary task of the Christian community is not to be a so-called religious gathering concerned with souls floating off into the afterlife, nor is it to be a sort of spiritualized yoga class helping individuals find existential peace with themselves. The primary task of the church is to embody and bear witness to the end of history, an all-compassing reality that has already broken into the world. The primary task of the church is to be an alternative politic. Jesus was clearly a political figure, calling his followers to a particular politic. His politic was a public claim and a public matter.
President MNANGAGWA is a Christian and a leader. So he can worship his God wherever he wishes. Churches must never close their doors to politicians. Churches are are like hospitals any one who needs deliverance must come in.
Prophet MAKANDIWA and any other church leader must not discriminate congregants because of politics.
We must all know that politics is not evil and Christians in politics must be encouraged. God is the omnipresent and as much as people try to kick him out of politics they fail. God is God and his way of being God is politics.
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