:: Lifestream - Rebecca Ng'ang'a's devotional

I have noticed a buildup of, not so easy to describe, tension whenever the time of national political elections get near. This is because some of the challenges are not so easy to figure out what is the right attitude. Think of a Christian who takes time to honestly and earnestly thank God for answers to so many of the prayers that had been offered, an improved public transport system, health, judiciary, education and so on. While in that thankful mode, decides to join other Christians in a prayer meeting, where the leader is viewing the political arena from a different paradigm, a very different angle. The leader’s message is based on the assumption that the government has not created the promised opportunities and nothing good has happened. How do we explain the two differing views of two believers in the same prayer meeting? Could the differing interpretations of God’s goodness in the governance of their country be a result of different ethnic background?

How Christians, whose fundamental cognitive orientation is rooted in different cultural beliefs, are to exhort one another should not be taken for granted. The danger of hidden or unacknowledged biases is that they conceal themselves within the power structure and unconsciously manifest as people talk. More specifically the Christians, whose placements entitle them to use the microphone or pulpit or other power structures and titles unaware that they cannot be culture free, select words, and expressions that favor a given political inclination. That constrains the other believers whose view may be different. How then do Christians unite in prayer?

ACKNOWLEDGE THAT NO ONE IS CULTURE FREE

Acknowledge you are prone to bias - Since we are all born into existing cultural systems, we may not realize how our views are influenced by our backgrounds. As social science qualitative researchers acknowledge that ‘there is no single unitary reality apart from every individual’s assumptions’. That means every individual experiences reality differently which means there is no research that is not biased by the researcher’s individual perceptions. Think of it, it is the researcher who selects the area of investigation, the method to use and what data to consider as worth highlight. In the same way every Christian has political bias, and to fail to acknowledge that makes one ensnarled in petty partisan politics, that block God’s glory from being revealed. Human beings are ethnocentric and tend to evaluate the actions of others from their own perspective. The ethnocentrism or cultural pride is an important base for healthy self concept and esteem. To lack pride or appreciation of who one is, opens him or her up for insecurity brought about by low self image which sabotages many a people of God. A talk, write up or prayer is good if it agrees with what you value or agree with. Often those warning others of the perceived dangers of ethnicity may not be aware of their own cultural inclinations and could use their ‘power’ positions to tamper with other people’s sense of identity. When it comes to political choices, and shared public gatherings, people can have built up tensions that make genuine friendly relations very difficult. What happens, particularly in Christian gatherings, the messages become like mockery to others who do not share in one’s cultural bias or preconceived notions. Are you able to acknowledge and appreciate that you can have genuine different political predispositions and still be committed to the cause of Christ?

AVOID BUILDING OF CHRISTIAN GHETTOES

Examine the fundamental beliefs that unconsciously guide you -Every Christian needs to take time to take a long, hard look at our fundamental beliefs because they could be like the rock that is not penetratable by spiritual roots. What thoughts have become habits, things that you do without really thinking too much about them. We must heed prophet’s message that, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Sometimes, it is the illusion created by the imagination of the heart that convinces Christians that they are moving closer to their desired political goals when the truth is that they have become blinded to their ineffectiveness. As a result they short circuit their core vision, settle for far less than what God knows and expects his children to achieve. The social bias error that inclines one to minimize the weaknesses of those one loves, (love covers a multitude of sins [1 Peter 4:8]) while easily identifying the faults of others is real even in the church.

Be sure that your world is more than church gatherings - Jesus Christ disciples are in the world but should not be of the world. We need to be aware of the dangers of Christian programmed culture and be salt and light to our world in an emotive election year. There is need to deliberately and intentionally reflect on the beliefs that become like walls blocking the Christian from seeing the world and allowing the world to see the Christian. Dealing with the Christian who wants to impact the world for Christ, Bob Briner in his book ‘Roaring Lambs’ (2000), firmly but lovingly condemns the ‘ghetto’ that many Christians have created for themselves by withdrawing into their own subculture :’We feel we are making a difference because we are so important to ourselves. We have created a phenomenal subculture with our own media, entertainment, educational system, and political hierarchy so that we have a sense that we're doing a lot. But what we've really done is create a ghetto that is easily dismissed by the rest of society’. Some signals that could indicators of how firmly set Christians are in their ghetto are such exhortation as ‘God is on our side and He is not on their side’ which begs for the question who are ‘we’ and who are ‘they’? The assumption that cursing of darkness that seems to be in the political arena and can only be thawed if Christians sent some people from their community into the governance is not just shallow but deceptive. We need to be sharing of our experiences in the various sectors where God is using us as Christians because our call is to ‘go to the world’ . Might we, Christians, be losing opportunities while convinced that we are doing the best? In the cozy, protective Christian sub-culture, an alternative to the world is unlikely to come from a group not active in the mainstream where everyone is impacted. What would you have done if you were in a position of Prophet Elisha whom God showed that the king yet to take office was a cruel man (2 Kings8:8-15)?

Be willing for God’s will on earth as it is in heaven – That calls for breaking free from the fear of change. The God we worship, if he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is interested in what happens in our everyday lives, including political choices. Reading through the book of first and second Kings, God was so involved in the governance of the people that He selected who the prophet was to anoint as king of Israel and yet many of them followed the evil ways of Jeroboam. What may look like the best choice, as we see it from our available knowledge, may not necessarily be God’s will. The issue is whether we can trust God to know what is best for us in regard to politics or we would want to make him see things from our perspective. Allow God, who knew our nation even before the ‘scramble’ for Africa, allowed the diverse ethnic communities be under one umbrella, called nation, be the Lord even in the political arena. He is aware of the ethnic differences and he loves the people. God may allow governance that allows us be more on our knees as we come to terms that our security is in him not in our systems however well organized. It is wise to stay open to His fresh directives, and expect Him to stretch our faith. Do your prayers as you gather together reflect that God is not just an awesome God but is also adventurous?

Be willing to defy tradition – If your prayers are shaped by the knowledge you have you may need to realize that ‘People who are married to the past cannot embrace the future. Sacred cows do not belong in the pulpit; they must be sacrificed on the altar’. Fear based prayer dishonors God and is actually choosing comfortable nostalgia of the past. God asks his people to take courage as they depend on him in blazing new path into unreached territory.

Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal His new strategies – Someone has said that copying spiritual trends is a form of carnality. The word of leading our nations beyond constitution change, and changing of political leaders should be totally led by the inspiration from God otherwise our light will be darkness (Matthew 6:22-24) and our impact will be pitiful

As Jesus Christ prayed for the disciples ‘My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one’ (John 17:15). The basis of our walking together is agreement in having Christ as Lord and living in obedience to his command. To be a Christian who is light and salt of the world is to not to just speak, but also live God’s truth in the world. Ethnicity is not a problem; it is lack of teaching and commitment to Christ that make people irrelevant. What should worry the body of believers is whether each is growing into Christ likeness and is teaching others to obey (Matthew 28; 19-20). That is why the genuineness of our love should be keenly examined in dynamic and diverse political changes. It is clean hearts that are able to bring out clean agendas, clean priorities and programs that honor God and leave his people rejoicing. The Lord wants to unleash a gushing river of new wine into the church today, but He is directing us to prepare our wineskins. What is old must be renewed by the Spirit, what is outdated must be remodeled, and what is ineffective must be replaced. God wants to do a new thing not just a superficial upgrade. Are your fundamental beliefs being shaped by the love and word of God?

‘Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?’ (Galatians 4:16)