Changing History
Jubilee Centre November 16th, 2009
Has the declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation actually accomplished its intended purpose? If for all our noise and engagement of political and government leaders at the highest level, the only thing Zambian Christians can be credited with is keeping the Christian Nation declaration in the preamble of our Republican Constitution, then we have not done much. And I put to us that we have not done much. If we were to conduct polls on how evangelical Christians vote it will most likely have nothing to do with a pro-Christian ethical agenda. The key to elections does not rest in the hands of over 80% Zambians who claim to be Christians. Because if it did our politicians would know that the 80% Christians would not vote for them if they were inconsistent with their stand on moral issues.
Take for example the culture of insults taking root among our political leaders. This serious blunder on the part of politicians should provide a momentum for church leaders to push for character and moral values in politics. Church leaders throughout the country should be pointing out from scripture the conduct of a good leader: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor … Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up … Get rid of all bitterness … brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” (Eph. 4:25-32).
Church leaders can have a profound effect on changing the history of how politics are done in Zambia. To do this we need to change with the times. Since December 1991, when Zambia was declared a Christian Nation, we have become satisfied and let down our guard while becoming content. We did not ask “Now that we are a Christian nation what next?” We lacked another goal, we did not change our mind-set, and ever since then we have been facing transitional problem. The moment of victory in 1991 required that church leaders start preparing Christians to look for integrity and reverence when selecting political leaders. Leaders of integrity who fear God can be expected to carry out their work and can be expected to do so in line with God’s priorities. Other leadership qualities are also important but integrity and reverence pass the test of time.
As we reflect on the moral decay among our political leaders, we must ask ourselves the tough question: Is the Christian Nation declaration the primary objective we wanted to achieve? The book of Esther ends with this statement, “Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, because he worked for the good of his people and spoke up for the welfare of all Jews.” I believe Zambian Christians have an agenda beyond the declaration. We have a vision where we see God at work in the lives of our individual political leaders and in the affairs of our nation. Let us disciple our members to become our 21st Century Mordecai.
Lawrence Temfwe
