Marson Sharpley
3 October 2008
opinion
The aim of this article is to define each of the entities under discussion as well as to articulate their intertwined and inter-dependent existence in a twenty first century African setting.
The Gospel is said to be "good news", the Church is supposed to be those who respond to the Gospel and become disciples of Jesus Christ although within sociological contexts as per man's societal organization of himself, while the Church is defined as a man-made and man-run institution which works collaboratively with the State.
The State on the other hand is the governmental organization and activities of a nation through commerce, politics and religion.
The Gospel then is what I would call 'spoken word'.
It is the spreading of the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. In other words it is in hearing the gospel being preached and taught that people's lives are changed and not simply by attending what is commonly called 'church'.
The aim of the gospel is to transform the lives of the hearers through the renewal of their minds. The aim therefore is also to change the hearer's world-view by influencing them to make a mental paradigm shift where 'paradigm' refers to the way we view the world.
People
In my opinion the 'church' refers to people instead of to an organization that owns property and competes with other organizations in the society for members, recognition, resources and dominion.
The organization that is generally referred to, as the 'church' is necessary as a vehicle or institution that organizes protects and provides for its members.
It is an organization that serves to marry people in the society as well as to conduct funerals. The church also acts as a centre of education and medical care. The organization called the church also concentrates on caring for the poor by providing them with food, clothing, and medical and spiritual care.
The church also takes care of orphans and strangers as well as the widows.
The caring for orphans is of course accentuated through the epidemiological status of TB and HIV/AIDS.
The institution known as the church also acts as the moral voice of the society as well as a conscience of the government.
The institution known as the 'church' is therefore a really very busy organization according to the tasks listed above. This is therefore a highly active entity characterized by a lot of movement because of its mandate.
However, being active through a lot of movement does not necessarily mean that the church is advancing the role that god wants it to advance.
The church as an organization is supposed to serve the interests of its members and not the other way around.
The Bible in Genesis 1:26 states that the Lord God gave man dominion over the earth. The church therefore as an institution is supposed to facilitate man's taking of dominion.
Whether we admit it or not, the church is a politically active organization, it is an economically active organization (the church has huge buying power) as well as being an agent of change through health, education and spiritual nourishment.
I have heard some people, especially some of my own friends who have made politics or business their careers strongly expressing their dissatisfaction with churches and church leaders who engage in politics and business. Whilst there might be valid moral and spiritual reasons for caution in these areas by the church, I beg to disagree.
What is 'politics'? Politics entails the pursuance of a meaningful life by individuals and communities for the sole purpose of ensuring sustainable protection and provision of those individuals and communities.
Politics therefore is aimed at setting up institutions and systems that can serve the present and future generations of specific societies.
This to me is so similar to the 'church' that the roles of the two actually compliment each other.
As a church leader I have many politicians, business people, educationists, bureaucrats, technocrats and career civil servants in the congregations.
This then means that church-goers are politicians and some politicians are church-goers. Preachers on the other hand are members of the constituencies that the politicians represent at local, regional and national level.
So then, sociologically speaking, all strata of society are intertwined for the common good of the collective through the institutionalization of working systems.
This in itself becomes a conduit for competition between the very institutions created to serve the common good of the society. The push by such organizations and/or institutions is to 'command and control' the masses of the people that they were meant to serve. This command and control is resident in the economic, social, political and religious spheres. Once you control the stomachs of people then it is easy to impact and control their world-view.
This is exactly what happens between the State and the Church.
Once again here I am referring to the Church as an institution and not the actual people whom I actually prefer to refer to as the 'Church'.
In contemporary twenty first century times, the democratization of national governments has also seen the advent of what are termed 'secular' states. In a secular state the church is not above the state.
This, like any other system has its strengths and weaknesses.
Free Speech
One of the advantages of this system is that it allows free speech as well as the freedom of association and also the tolerance and accommodation of different philosophical and ideological thinking.
This kind of system also encourages the cultivation, nurturing and growth of a heterogeneous society instead of a homogeneous one.
I see the State as having to advance the establishment of a society's order that sometimes requires force, whether subliminal or identifiable.
The Church on the other hand is supposed to be the moral conscience of the State institutions so that the order brought through the State is respected and upheld with the aim of sustaining the society.
The Church is there to ensure that there are set norms and values that the society needs to uphold if it is to be termed a modern society.
Sometimes one of the challenges of all man-made institutions is breaking with tradition. I am sure that tradition for the strengthening of fundamental foundational truths is important, but for advancing change, it just does not work.
In the past, it was traditionally accepted that the clergy concern themselves with church liturgy and theological matters. The clergy were therefore solely dependant upon the offerings and gifts from the church members.
I believe that to be part of the clergy is a divine calling for the purpose of using your God-given gift for the advancement of the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
Saint Paul was a member of the clergy in his time and yet he made tents to take care of him financially. Wise men came from the East with gifts of wealth for the baby Jesus. The gifts they carried were for the financing of His early ministry as well as his exile into Egypt because of Herod's decree to kill all first-born babies in the hope that one of them was Jesus about whom it was prophesied in the past.
Dies on Cross
When Jesus Christ dies on the cross at Calvary, it is a rich man who takes down His body and buries it. As a pastor, a prophet, an apostle and a leader, I believe that in order for me to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ, I need finances. I need money. Now, having been called and chosen into ministry from a past that gave me a wealth of experience, I am not convinced that I am supposed to rubbish that experience because of being 'holy'.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
