TRUE PATRIOTS
Mark 12:13-17
"Give to the emperor the things that
are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."
I
received an e-mail last week from a friend in Johannesburg. A chartered accountant, he has spent much of
his life helping churches and other groups manage their financial affairs, and
has raised funds for many community projects.
In his letter he wrote: "I
am very frustrated at the moment. I love SA but hate living under the rule of a
President who is such a flawed individual. I am sure that I am only one of many
Christians in SA who are battling to know how to respond to the forthcoming
elections." Many would
probably say the same, as did my American friends before their Presidential
elections last year!
There
are many things wrong about South Africa
that cause concern. I need not catalogue
everything that comes to mind, for you know about them as much as I do. At the same time, we can be thankful that
South Africa did not end up in a civil war like Syria, a real possibility in
the late 1980's. We can be thankful that
our diverse religious communities are not engaged in fostering conflict, that
we live in a secular democracy, and that so far we have escaped terror attacks
such as have occurred in the United States, Britain, Spain, France not to
mention the Middle East, Asia and north Africa.
We can be thankful that whatever its faults, we have a reasonably stable
government, and that the democratic process is working despite problems We can be thankful that there are processes
at work to combat corruption, nepotism, and the squandering of resources . We can be thankful that we
have a good civil society, and many committed, courageous and compassionate
people in our country who are doing so much.
We can be thankful that most of us live reasonably comfortable lives,
more so than in some other countries and more so than many of our
compatriots. We can also be thankful
that, whatever his faults, our president is not a tyrant like some others in
the world with weapons of mass destruction on hand. He reminds me more of one Shakespeare's tragic
kings, trapped in the mire of past mistakes, beholden to those who have bailed
him out, and in danger of being ousted by the same crude tactics used by those who put him in power by others who won't hesitate to ditch
him if it serves their interests. But he does keep on calling us to be good
patriots, so let us take him at his word.
To be
a good patriot is to acknowledge all that we can be grateful for as I have done
already. But equally true patriots are
sad and often angry when things go wrong, when hard fought for victories over
racism are squandered, when money that should go to help the poor ends up in
the pockets of politicians, the powerful and rich. True patriots are angry not because they hate
their country; but because they love our country. To love South Africa
truly means to be committed to its welfare, and therefore disturbed when things
are not as they should be. My
Johannesburg friend is a true patriot, someone who loves his country so much
that he is not prepared to accept things uncritically as they are, not given to
uttering the slogan "my country right or wrong," but also not
prepared to sit back and do nothing to make it a better country for all who
live in it. True patriots like him do
not wash their hands of the situation when it is bad; they are prepared to get
their hands dirty when needed to make things better. There are, I believe, many such true South
African patriots, and I like to think that we are numbered amongst them.
Christians
are called to be good patriots, to look
for ways in which we can
contribute to the welfare and common good of town and country. So we come to the question posed by my
friend: "I am sure that I am only
one of many Christians in SA who are battling to know how to respond to the
forthcoming elections." So should the
churches tell their members who to vote for, and what party to support? There may be situations in which this is
necessary, when the churches say quite firmly that we should not vote for some
party or person. But I don't think that
is appropriate at this time in South Africa.
In any case, there are Christians in all parties, and the churches would
disagree on who to vote for. So does the
Bible tells us what to do? St. Paul
taught the first Christians to obey the authorities because God had appointed
them to govern (Romans 13). This is
important, he said, if there is to be good order in society, however flawed those
in authority may be. And keep in mind
the situation Paul faced was the might of the Roman Empire which he often
experienced by being thrown into prison!
But, as we see in the book of Revelation, the state can also become
tyrannical, the enemy of law and order, an instrument of evil (Revelation 13), which
has led some Christians in extreme situations to resist tyranny and pray for
its ending, as we did during the apartheid era.
In either case, Christians were called on to endure faithfully in their
testimony to Christ as Lord above Caesar.
But now
we live in a democratic country, the country for which many of us struggled,
which is very unlike that faced by Christians in the NT or in many other times
and places, and even today. This
significantly changes the game plan. So
we should at least we glad we can vote, and do so responsibly, rather than wash our hands in a Pilate-like
gesture of indifference. To vote
responsibly requires that we first think critically about policies and issues; that we do not vote in terms of self-interest
but the common good; not in terms of past loyalties to parties or privilege,
but on the basis of present realities; that we support that which is just
rather than expedient, that which will contribute to the common good. Only in this way will we be able to follow Jesus'
counsel "give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God
the things that are God's," knowing full well that all things are God's
and the emperor had better recognise that for his own good. But acting responsibly as good citizens does
not begin or end with our vote; our vote be backed up by a commitment to work
responsibly in whatever way we can for that for which we voted. We certainly cannot leave everything in the
hand of the politicians we elect! In
short, to be a good patriot and a good Christian one at that, is to take our
place in civil society as responsible citizens.
Yes,
we do get sad when those we love behave badly, and we do feel let down when our
country is not what we know it should and can be, just as we despair when the
Bafana Bafana, the Springboks or Proteas lose.
But that does not mean we give up on them, though we might fire the
coach or ditch the president! We work
hopefully and responsibly for good, we pray regularly for those who rule, and
we exercise our critical faculties when we decide about who should get our
vote. May election year 2014 be a good
one! May God grant us that for which we
pray. May the voices of those who suffer
daily from bad government be heard loud and clear, but not lead to violence. May those who govern be given wisdom. May those in opposition fulfil their task
with conviction, May the elections be
peaceful, free and fair. And may we be true patriots who take our
responsibility as citizens seriously.
Let's make that our prayer and the guide to action.
John
de Gruchy
Volmoed,
9th January 2014
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