We discovered on our venture that Apartheid was a system of laws that segregated people according to their skin color. People were required by the government to stay with their own race. White people could come and go as they pleased and had the greatest access to land, wealth, and power. The rest of the people were assigned to specific townships. There were areas set aside for Indian (or Asian) people, colored people (people of mixed race), and black people. We met and stayed with men and women of all backgrounds and heard their stories and the general story of Apartheid itself. We learned how the Europeans had arrived and conquered the native people in the name of manifest destiny. We also found out that leaders in the church had participated in and even led the construction of the inherently evil system of segregation and oppression.
There were two experiences in particular, however, that revealed me to me. One occurred as we met with the elders of a relatively good size white Afrikaner, Dutch Reformed church. They were nice folks who sat down with us in their handsomely decorated sanctuary. Someone on our team asked them how they felt about the conditions that people in the local black township suffered. The elders responded by describing how the church had sent the youth on mission trips to the townships to help people.
The other experience occurred in the city of Durban. Actually it occurred just outside the city. In Durbin, you’ll find world class hotels lined up along the Indian Ocean. It’s the kind of place I would like to go for a vacation. Just outside Durban, however, lived 2 million people of color in squatter camps. They were only a few miles from the fancy hotels, but their tin shacks and lack of every conceivable resource caused them to be worlds away.
I saw myself in the church leaders whose stand against injustice amounted to a once or twice a year youth program, and I saw myself as one of the people who could easily drive past the suffering of millions in order to catch a little “R” and “R” in a high rise hotel. In both situations I didn’t like what I saw.
I caught an unsettling glimpse of myself again last night at General Assembly. The commissioners were voting on a motion to establish various relations with the Muslim community. One of the motions that was approved, states:
though we hold differing understandings of how God has been revealed to humankind, the PC(USA) affirms that, as children of this loving God, we share the commandments of love for God and neighbor, the requirement to care for the poor; and acknowledge Abraham as an expression of our common
commitment to one God. (GA218-07-01)
I couldn’t believe what happened. I’m not even sure the commissioners know what they approved. The statement passed with a vote of 547 to 149. Didn’t they know that the God we worship and the god the Muslims worship are not the same? The Christian God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Islam specifically states that God has no son. The Christian God is the God of grace. The Muslim god is a god of works. It’s not a matter of God being revealed differently, as if a god chose to show up as two different gods.
I felt depressed. How could this be? The commissioners should have known better—a notion that got me thinking about me. I began to wonder how many people in my own congregation could articulate the differences between the God of the Bible and the god of the Karan. I thought back on what we’ve been teaching and how we’ve been teaching it. I’d like to think that the majority of ZPC’ers could explain to anyone inside or outside the church who their God is and how he differs from the claimed deities of other religions. I’m sure a number of our flock can, but how many? It would be one thing if Christians only had to know what separates their God from all would be gods if and only if they attended one of the biannual meetings of our denomination’s General Assembly. We could then pick a couple really informed ZPC’ers and send them. However, the people who live all around us—including at least 547 people in our denomination—desperately need each of us to know why our God is the only God. The world awaits followers of Christ to reveal with amazing clarity the identity and nature of the one, true God.
This morning, it happened again. This time it was at a breakfast full of people interested in Evangelism. A friend of mine gave a very nice talk on the subject to the 100 or so gathered conventioneers, and we enjoyed some discussion around our tables. However, it was clear that there is a poverty of faith sharing in the PC(USA). That’s when my V8 moment happened. How can I hold our denomination accountable for faith sharing if we’re not holding ourselves accountable on the same subject at home? It’s like I have these platitudes and values that I hold up for others, but assume for myself.
If you’re a ZPC’er, let’s get to work. Let’s make sure each of us knows the difference between the God of Abraham and the god of Mohammad. Let’s equip each other to speak effectively about Jesus with our friends, coworkers, fellow students, and even those in our own denomination who do not know who he is. Then let’s share our God with everyone and anyone who will listen.
If you’re not a ZPC’er, please pray for us. Don’t let us speak one way and act another. Demand of us that we know our God and that we also know who isn’t. Insist that we talk about Jesus with you in ways that you welcome and allow you to hear.
Things are broken at GA, but things are also broken at home. The God of Abraham and Moses—the God who is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, our God—is capable of working wonders in both places. With the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, I look forward to seeing a new me in and through the ministry of the new us.
