Confession is a 4-Letter Word

 Confession is a 4-letter word. I know some of you will start counting the letters to see if I am correct. Well, I know it is a 10-letter word. But for many Christians it may just as well be a four-letter word, that is, a swear word or an insult. Christians are supposed to be without sin, so they have nothing to confess, right? Most Christians seem to think this way. They hardly practice the spiritual discipline of confession. Sometimes it is simply because it is uncomfortable to confess. It is like undressing in public. For most of us undressing in public is a no-no, and if others undressed you in public, it is one of the worst embarrassment in life.

Unfortunately that is the nature of sin. When you have sinned, and people know about it, you feel naked. You just want to hide away. That is exactly what Adam and Eve did after they sinned. They felt naked, and they hid away in the bushes. In order to cover their nakedness, "they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." (Genesis 3:7 NIV)

Many Christians still think they can hide their sins from God. Jesus told a story of the Pharisee and tax collector who went to pray. The Pharisee did not know how to confess his sins. He told God about all his good works. The tax collector on the other hand confessed his sinfulness. 

Confession of sins is hardly understood. Why should we confess our sins? Doesn't God know everything? If I committed a sin, he already knows about it, right? Why do I have to confess it? When Adam and Eve sinned, God knew what they did before they told him. One of the most puzzling verses in scripture is 1 John 1:9. It says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9 NIV).

This verse seems to suggest that if we don't confess, God will not forgive us. The question that arises is: IF we are forgiven IF and only IF we confess our sins, why did Jesus have to die? Surely if we just confess our sins, God would forgive us? Was Jesus' sacrifice necessary? To answer those questions, we need to understand what is happening when we confess our sins.

The classic illustration of confession of sins is found in the Old Testament. God gave the people of Israel this ritual to perform every day, and once a year, on a special day. This Special Day was called the Day of Atonement. The Jews call it Yom Kippur. In 2013, the Day of Atonement will come early on 14 September. The 14th of September is the earliest that the Day of Atonement can be on our calendar. The last time this day came so early was 114 years ago in 1899. So this year is somewhat special when it comes to the Day of Atonement. What does this Day have to do with Confession, though? Well, everything!

The first kind of confession happened everyday. Every time a person sinned, they were supposed to confess their sin and bring a lamb or goat to the priest to offer it as a sacrifice. If you could not afford a lamb or goat, you were allowed to bring two doves or young pigeons. If you could not afford two doves, you were allowed to bring 3.6 litres of fine flour. All these sacrifices were preceded by confession. Once this was done, "they will be forgiven.” (Leviticus 5:13 NIV) See also Leviticus 5 as a whole.

On the Day of Atonement, there was a more elaborate ritual, which was performed by the High Priest. This is described in more detail in Leviticus 16. For the purposes of this article see what it says about confession of sins: 

"He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness." Leviticus 16:21, 22 NIV)

This ritual foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who is the ultimate sacrifice, offered by Himself as the High Priest. "...When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:11, 12 NIV)

The ritual in Leviticus 16 on the Day of Atonement foreshadowed Jesus, who was represented by both the live goat on whose head the sins of ALL the people were confessed, and was led to  Golgotha, and was crucified there in the wilderness, outside the city, and the goat that was killed as a scarifice. That means that when Jesus was crucified, all the sins of humanity were on his head. But how did they get onto his head? They were confessed onto his head. Who confessed them onto his head? Christ himself as the High Priest. You do not have to confess them yourself. Jesus did that for you 2000 years ago. When you confess you share in his confession.

However, as you read in Leviticus 5 above, there was another daily ritual of confession of sin and sacrifice which happened everyday as people sinned. This confession was done by the priest. The priests foreshadowed all Christians, all believers. As Peter puts it, we are "a royal priesthood" which serves under the High Priest, Jesus Christ. (1Pet. 2:9).  Each day as we commit sin, we are to confess our sins onto the head of our perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. However, this confession is also a participation in the perfect confession of Jesus Christ, our High Priest. It is the Christ in us who leads us to this confession. By ourselves, we would rather hide in the bushes like Adam and Eve did, instead of confessing.

If we do not confess, we choose to continue carrying our sins ourselves. Therefore, to confess is a way of saying "I have sinned. I deserve to die. I am naked. I need to be covered up." In response, God the Father says you do not need to carry those sins anymore. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."(2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). You do not need to die for your sins, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17 NIV).

You don't need to feel naked, Jesus has been stripped naked on your behalf at Golgotha, but he covers you with his righteousness. You do not need to walk around with the load of sin. Jesus calls on all who are burdened by the weight of sin to come to him, so that he can take it away as symbolized by the Azazel goat on the Day of Atonement.

Confession is a means of receiving grace, just like Holy Communion and baptism. They are a way of sharing in Jesus' death, thereby receiving the grace of God. To confess is to put down your load of sins at the foot of the cross. If you do not confess your sins, you are refusing to put them on the head of Jesus the Lamb of God. You are effectively saying I will carry my own sins, I will die for my own sins. God cannot forgive you in that case. Forgiveness is in and through Jesus Christ only. As you confess your sins each day, each week, each month, each year, you declare the sufficiency of Jesus' sacrifice over your sins. When you confess your sins, you accept the sacrifice of Jesus. When you do that, God "...is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9 NIV)

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God....” (Luke 18:13, 14 NIV)

Please note that John says that not only will God forgive us when we confess our sins, but he will also purify us from all unrighteousness. The Greek word for purify is katharizo, from which we get the English word catharsis. Catharsis is a psychological term used for emotional healing that comes from talking about one's painful secrets. For example, if you have murdered somebody, and the guilt is killing you, a Psychologist will help you talk about the murder, and most people find healing from that. Even victims of rape and incest find healing from talking about their experiences. Confession, however, is about accepting and acknowledging your sin, your guilt, and by so doing passing it on to the head of one who can take it away from you and make things right.

Confession is like a coupon of grace. Christians have limitless supply of these coupons. Each day they can hand them in for God's grace, freely given, to be freely received. It is unthinkable that anybody will starve, when they have a bag full of coupons, which they can hand in at their local supermarket to receive groceries for free. By not practicing this discipline of confession, many Christians are living lives starved of God's grace. 

Some may ask: are you saying we must just keep sinning and confessing so that grace may abound? Well of course not! John seems to have anticipated this question. See what he says next as he continues in chapter 2 "My dear children, I write this to you SO THAT YOU WILL NOT SIN. BUT IF ANYBODY DOES SIN,  WE HAVE an advocate with the Father—JESUS CHRIST, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1, 2 NIV). John is saying that when you confess, it is like pleading guilty in a court of law. The good news is that you will not be condemned, because you have an advocate in Jesus Christ, who has already atoned for your sins. That's great news! That's the gospel.

As you start practicing this discipline of Confession of Sins, may you "...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen." (2 Peter 3:18 NIV). Confession need not be a four-letter word!

Who is Azazel?

The Jews will be observing the Day of Atonement on 14 September this year. The last time this day came so early in September was in 1899, 114 years ago. This year the Day of Atonement will therefore be one of those once in a blue moon events.

If you do not know what the Day of Atonement is, please read Leviticus 16 before you proceed with this article. In brief, the Day of Atonement is the one day in a Jewish Calendar that the High Priest was allowed to enter the so called Holy of Holies in the temple. Before he entered the Holy of Holies, the High Priest needed to perform some rituals.

In brief, the following are the main rituals that happened on the Day:

"Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat. “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness." (Leviticus 16:7-10, 20-22 NIV)

The High Priest was to take two goats and cast lots on them. One lot was for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat. The Hebrew word for scapegoat is Azazel. This is a strange name that has confounded many biblical scholars over the centuries. It's clear meaning is not known, but is thought to mean "who God strengthens" or "the strong one against/for God". Some have said Azazel is a name of a demon. What is Azazel, and what was it about?

Firstly, to understand what Azazel means, we do not need to go anywhere else except the very passage where it is found. This word is only found here in Leviticus 16 in the whole Bible. The first clue about what Azazel represents is in Leviticus 16:10: "But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat." (Leviticus 16:10 NIV)

As you see this goat was presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness. If Azazel is a name of a demon it means that a demon is being used for making atonement. That can't be! Jesus is the one who makes atonement for our sins, not a demon or the devil. See what John says: "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2 NIV). Whatever Azazel means it cannot refer to a demon or the devil.

Secondly, we have further clues about Azazel in other verses in Leviticus 16: "“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness." (Leviticus 16:20-22 NIV)

See that the sins are confessed over the Azazel goat so that the goat can carry their sins into the wilderness. In Leviticus, when sacrifices were made, the sinner confessed their sin over the lamb or the goat so that the sacrifice carries the penalty of death on behalf of the sinner. The one who carries the sins of humanity is Jesus Christ. John the Baptist said Jesus is  the lamb of God "who takes away the sin of the world! (John1:29 NIV). The Orthodox Jewish Bible says that Jesus is the Azazel who takes away the sins if the world. 

"On the next day, Yochanan sees Yehoshua coming to him, and Yochanan says, Hinei! The Seh HaElohim (Gn 22:8; Ex 12:5-13; Isa 53:7), the one carrying away the avonot HaOlam Hazeh (sins of this world i.e., as the sa'ir l'Azazel kapporah, Isa 53:6 7,12; Lv 16:22). (Yochanan 1:29 OJB)

 

"As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26 NIV) Jesus was led away to the wilderness Golgotha by the Roman soldiers with the sins of the world on his head, just as the Azazel goat symbolized by being led away into the wilderness.

"After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him." (Matthew 27:31 NIV). The live Azazel goat represented the leading of Jesus to Golgotha to be crucified. The goat that was killed represented the death of Christ on the cross. Therefore, the Day of Atonement represented events that took place at the crucifixion of Jesus, not a future event. Both the two goats represented the atonement work of Christ, both in his life and death.

Azazel points to Jesus' atonement work. It means "the one who God strengthened"' or "the strong one for God". Jesus is the one who God strengthened as he was led away to Golgotha carrying that heavy cross. He is the Azazel! He is the scapegoat for our sins. Amen!

Why is Good Friday called Good Friday?

Have you ever wondered why Good Friday is called Good Friday? For me, every Friday is Good Friday. Judging by Facebook and Twitter on Friday mornings, for most people all Fridays are Good Friday. So why is this "Good"?

It is not clear why this day is called Good Friday. It is primarily in English speaking countries that this day is called Good Friday. Others call it Holy Friday, Great Friday, or Suffering Friday. There is no consensus why it is called Good Friday in the English language. 

My view is that it should actually be called Good News Friday, or Gospel Friday. Gospel is an old archaic word, so I prefer Good. It is a Friday that kicks off the conclusion of the Gospel story, the Good News story. Gospel means Good News. But what is this good news?

Well the story goes like this....Thousands of years ago, God, who is Father Son and Spirit decided to create humans in his image. So, in the image of the Son, he created humans. His objective was to adopt humans into the triune life of the Father Son and Holy Spirit. This life between Father, Son and Spirit is characterized by love, sharing, glorifying one another and mutual sharing of all that they have. "Jesus said "what is yours is mine, and what is mine is yours"

After being created, humans were given a paradise to live in. A garden which was full of food. However, God wanted humans to be free moral agents. You see, love cannot be coerced. It cannot be demanded.  So God did not want to tell humans to love him by force. So he placed the symbolic tree of knowledge of good and evil, which if eaten, is like a drug or a poison. It kills whoever eats it eventually. So the first two humans, a husband and wife, called Adam and Eve (not Steve) ate the forbidden fruit, and introduced death amongst humans. Death is absence of life. Life is found in God. His essence is life. Apart from him there is no life.

With humans having sinned and become corrupted, diseased, and started decaying, what was God to do? It would not be in his nature to simply say, "Well, I tried, let them perish." No, that would be unlike God, and God cannot be untrue to himself. He is also truth in his essence. What do you do when something that you made out of love and is highly prized gets damaged? Do you through it in the dustbin? Of course, not! You do everything in your power to fix it and return it to its original condition. That is what God did. For he loved the world so much, that he gave his only son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus in whose image humans were made became a human. So, in his becoming a son of man, he was making sons of man sons of God. He needed to become flesh and blood like us, in our death prone condition, so that he could heal us of death.

Jesus was then born of a Virgin Mary by the power of the Spirit. He lived and grew to be a man. He was arrested, tried for treason and blasphemy even though he was God. He was executed like a criminal with two other criminals. Good Friday is the day many Christians celebrate and remember that execution.

He was executed together with two criminals. One on his right, and one on his left. The two criminals represented two types of humans. One that believes that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and the other that does not believe he is the son of God. Which one are you? Do you believe, or don't you believe? This Good Friday you can join the one criminal who believed, and you too can join Christ in paradise.

God bless you!

Christians, Medicine, and Faith Healing

Should Christians take medicine, or simply rely on faith healing?

Many Christians have died throughout the ages because they were waiting for their faith healing. They refused to receive medical help. Recently, many have died, and are indeed dying of HIV/AIDS because they were told that they must just believe, and God will heal them of their HIV.

What do you believe? Is it okay for Christians to receive medical help? Is it lack of faith to take medication when you are sick? Is it lack of trust in God as our healer?

Let me start by saying that the idea that because we are children of God, God will heal us, is a demonic idea! It is the devil's idea. It is the trick that the devil has always used. When the son of God himself, Jesus Christ, was being tempted by the devil, the devil used this very idea. He said to Jesus "If you are the Son of God...." Many Christians are being sold the same old devilish idea that "If you are the son of God, God will heal you of whatever disease you have". Nothing can be further from the truth. To decide not to take antiretrovirals (ARVs) because God will heal us is testing God. Testing God is something that Jesus said we must not do.

“... ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:7 NIV)

We should never be tempted to think we are righteous to the point that God owes us healing, wealth, happiness or whatever it is we desire, or that we have enough faith to receive all these things.

One of the wisest men who ever lived, at least according to the Bible, was Solomon. Even in his day, there were men who destroyed themselves because they believed this demonic lie. See what he says:

"Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes." (Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 NIV)

There are many who are dying before their time whilst they are waiting for their healing. Take Dineo (not her real name). She was diagnosed with cancer. She went to her doctor, and he decided to start her on chemotherapy treatment. She was admitted into hospital. I went to visit her whilst she was in hospital. She was doing well with the treatment. But a friend of hers came to visit her. She told Dineo that she knows a place where they can pray for her and she will be healed of her cancer.

Dineo was now bed ridden. At this point, she would do anything to get healed. The pain, the side effects of the chemotherapy, the fear of death, she wanted it all to stop. So she decided she will try this prayer thing. She asked the doctor to discharge her. Her mother went to the hospital and they signed the papers that she be discharged even though it was against the doctor's advice. They carried her into the car as she could not walk.

From the hospital, her friend took them straight to the "Healing House". She spent two weeks there. I don't know what they do in that two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, it was time for healing. They prayed for her. And then the "miracle" happened! She jumped up from her bed and ran around the hall. She was "healed", or so they thought. From the "Healing House"' they went straight to her sister to show her the miracle. It was all joy. Dineo and her mother slept at her sister's place that day.

The following morning Dineo was sick again. She asked her mother to take her to the hospital. They washed her and put her in the car. She could not walk again. She was admitted again into hospital. A day later she passed away from the cancer that she was supposedly healed of. Her mother was devastated when I went to see her. The healing pastor was not there at the funeral to bury her. Whatever happened at the "Healing House" was not healing.

Dineo did not need to die. I believe this confusion also comes from ignorance about what medicine is. Let me explain. Naturally, when we eat food, our bodies extract all the nutrients the body needs to be healthy, that is the vitamins, proteins, iron, etc. However, because our bodies are no longer in the state that God created them in, sometimes the body cannot absorb these nutrients. After a while, the body becomes sick because it is not getting the nutrients. Or the body gets infected with a virus, and the body cannot destroy the virus because it does not have the vitamins it requires to kill the virus.

It is at this point when the body can no longer naturally get its vitamins and proteins from food that the medicine becomes necessary. Medicine is simply highly concentrated nutrients which are extracted from plants. So when the sick person takes a tablet for flu, they are actually supplementing their diet with what the body needs at that time, in this case vitamin C. This is one of the reasons the doctor will advise that you take your medication with meals. There are other reasons. Therefore, medicine is nothing else but food with a high concentration of a specific nutrient.

The same way we eat food to stay healthy, we "eat" medication to stay healthy or get healthy. We don't say, "Because I am the child of God, and I have faith, I will not eat food because God will sustain me. After all, Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." That would be ludicrous. Those that believe christians should not take medication are using the same erroneous logic. In some cases when you have flu, and it is not so serious, the doctor may advise you to eat oranges because they have vitamin C. In that case, the oranges are medication. The truth, though, is that all food we eat IS medication. It is what makes us well and keep us well.

When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, he said they must pray to God to "Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11 NIV). Why? Because we need food to stay healthy. "Bread" here means that which sustains us, whether bread, rice, pap, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, etc. It is food. And in this food, God has hidden all the nutrients your body needs.

Paul, one of the greatest apostles of the church, the one whose shadow healed people who touched it, did not pray for Timothy to be healed of his illnesses. Instead, this is the advice he gave Timothy: "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses."  (1 Timothy 5:23 NIV) In another incident, he actually left his friend sick without getting him healed with prayer. "Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila; also, the family of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed behind in Corinth. I had to leave Trophimus sick in Miletus." (2 Timothy 4:19, 20 MSG). What? Paul leaves somebody sick without praying for their healing? What is going on? Well, what is going on is that God has purposed that we eat our broccoli and veggies. They keep us healthy. And if we fall sick, we must eat our veggies, failing which we must take our medication, which is a concentrated form of veggies.

Does it mean God does not intervene in a supernatural, miraculous way to give healing? No, it doesn't mean that. He does intervene supernaturally, but he prefers the natural way. The natural way is also a miracle of God. For a heart to keep pumping from the day the baby is still in the womb until 100 years later non-stop is a miracle we cannot explain. I know sometimes good diet is not enough. If your parents died of cancer, chances are high that you will have it too, despite eating your veggies. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus became a man like us, to take our body of flesh and blood, so that he could heal it. When he returns, we will get a body like his, with no more pain and sorrow, no more cancer, HIV, diabetes, or any other disease that afflicts us. However, in this body we share in his suffering, even suffering that leads to death.

In expressing this hope of the future without disease, John gave this encouraging imagery in the book of Revelation:

"Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,  with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him." (Revelation 22:1-3 NLT)

We look forward to that day when "there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.” (Revelation 21:4 NLT) Today when we pray for food, we are praying for healing, when we pray for forgiveness, we are praying for healing, when we pray for his kingdom to come, we are praying for healing, when we pray for his will to be done on earth, we are praying for healing, when we pray to be kept from temptation, we are praying for healing.

Whatever you may be sick of today, I pray that God the Father, by the grace of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Spirit, may give you the healing, whether naturally or supernaturally! Amen.

Confessions of a Xenophobic Pastor

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South Africa’s past is synonymous with Apartheid. However, a new tag may soon overtake the apartheid tag – Xenophobia, crudely defined as discrimination against foreigners.

My wife traveled to one of the African countries earlier this year (no, it was not Zimbabwe – not that I don’t like Zimbabwe. I love it, and was there for a week recently myself). Her host, who was driving her to the airport was stopped by a traffic policeman. The policeman spoke to the driver in a local language she could not understand. The policeman asked the driver where he was going. He mentioned that he was taking his South African passenger to the airport for a flight home. On hearing that she was South African, he remarked: “Oh, she is South African? Let her come out so that I can show her what Xenophobia is.” (Of course he was joking. He immediately released them so that she did not miss her flight.)

“Are you xenophobic?” I often ask my friends and acquaintances. Of course, their responses are not different to when you ask somebody: “Are you racist?” The answer is often: “Me? No. No way! I like Zimbabweans/Mozambicans/Blacks/etc.”

People have come up with all kinds of reasons why xenophobic attacks took place in South Africa recently. The most common reason given is that it is because of poor service delivery. Of course the government did not buy this explanation. They commissioned their own fact-finding team into the trouble spots to establish the causes of these attacks. Their conclusion was that this was a work of criminals and a “third force”, whoever that is.

As a South African, I had to engage with the issue as well. “Am I xenophobic?” I decided to unpack the whole concept, and not simply tell myself that I am not xenophobic. As usual, my starting point when it comes to the condition of our society and human behaviour in general, is to begin in the Christian Holy Bible. Although I am a Psychology graduate, I have since found that psychology; sociology; anthropology and other related social sciences have a big weakness in their theoretical make up.

My first quest was to understand why humans fight each other in the first place. I found out that James, a Jewish believer from the first century, gave an answer about the causes of fights and wars almost 2000 years ago:

“²What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.” (James 4:1-2 NLT)

Of course this was not James’ wisdom. It was inspiration from the Triune God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Christian Holy Scriptures are inspired by God: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.” (2 Tim. 3:16 NLT)

The root cause of human conflict is resources/opportunities. Those who live in war-torn DRC, or in Angola during the 1980s, or in Sudan, Palestine, Iraq or any other conflict-ridden country, will tell you that their oil, diamonds or gold has turned out to be their curse instead of a blessing. As you can see, those who said xenophobia was due to poor service delivery were partly correct. People were fighting over limited houses and jobs. The government was not completely wrong either. As it turned out, in most of these xenophobic attacks people looted the shacks of foreigners for their possessions, and even their small shops.

One social networker on Twitter lamented the problem on Twitter: “…the brutality of an African on another baffles me. Colonialists and slave traders I can understand. But our own kind?”

Once again, I find that the Christian Holy Scriptures are the best place to start. In the Genesis creation account, we read that God created creatures according to their own kind. However, there was another creature he created according to its own kind. This creature was called human. Human is translated from the Hebrew word adam, the name of the first human. Of all the creatures, God created humans one of a kind. He only created a male, and created the female out of the male. Therefore, there is no difference between male and female humans, except their genitalia. God even said the male and female humans will marry and become one, because they were originally one of a kind (but this is a topic for another day).

When we don’t see ourselves as humans, of one kind, we start inventing our own identities. When we see foreigners as of another kind, and not our own kind, we start discriminating against them, because they are not one of us. For example, I used to see myself as a Muvenda, but I don’t see myself that way anymore (if you are Muvenda, please read to the end before you stone me).

Humans are social creatures. They don’t like getting lost in the sea of other billions of humans. Therefore, they create new identities. Several hundred years ago, some humans developed a slang ( slang is jargon/words used by a group of humans to understand each other). This slang is now called Tshivenda language. Those that spoke and understood this slang called Tshivenda started calling themselves Vhavenda. All other language groups came about this way since the time of Babel (Genesis 11).

You see, Tshivenda and Vhavenda did not exist a thousand years ago. Neither did the English, the Afrikaners, the Zulus, the Basothos, and many other nationalities. It is the same with cultures. They are social inventions by humans, driven by location, time and circumstance.

When humans identify themselves by their language, culture or their GPS location on the earth, they misrepresent their own identity. Three years ago, I met one of Africa’s greatest minds in Oxford, England. His name is Eddie Obeng. By original location of his parents, he is originally from Ghana. As we were having tea, somebody asked him a question: “So, Eddie, where are you from?”

Eddie responded in a way that stayed with me since then. He said: “Do you mean where am I from this morning, last week, last year, ten years ago, thirty years ago, hundred years ago, a thousand years ago, or six thousand years ago?” Of course Eddie knew what the person who asked the question meant. He was just making a point. If he said he was from London, he did not know what we thought of Londoners. If he said he was from Africa, or Ghana, or Kumasi, or that he is Ashanti, he did not know what our attitudes are to those identities. We would put him in a box, and he did not like that.

If I call myself a Muvenda, I define my origins as being less than a thousand years old. If I define myself as a South African, my origins are less than five hundred years old. If I define myself as a Guatenger (somebody from the Gauteng province of South Africa), I define my origins as less than ten years old. As you can see, my identity is what I see my origins to be.

As a converted xenophobic pastor, I had to redefine my origins. Now I see myself as a human, a descendant of Adam, the first human. I am not a Muvenda, but you may call me that if calling me human leaves you feeling short-changed.

When God started the Christian church two thousand years ago (church is simply a group of Christian believers), he started by breaking down the main human symbol of identity in human society, namely, language, because he wanted the church to be comprised of humans, and not Jews, not Greeks, not Romans, not males, not females, nor rich, nor the poor from the other side of the tracks. This is what happened on the Day of Pentecost, the day the church started in its current form.

^“4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability… ⁶ When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. ⁷ They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, ⁸ and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! ⁹ Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”(Acts 2: 4-11 NLT)

Paul having gotten the point of what the church was, changed his view of believers and people in general. He made this point repeatedly in his writings:

^“26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus... ²⁸ There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal. 3:26,28 NLT, see also Rom. 3:9; 3:30; 10:12; 1 Cor. 10:32; 12:13; Col. 3:11).

Jesus became a human, and died for humans, so that humans can become humans again, as God created them to be. He removed the wall that divided humans, namely, language, culture, location, gender and social status. “¹⁴ For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.” (Eph. 2:14 NLT)

So, are you xenophobic? It is a matter of how you see or define yourself, or what your assumed identity is. If you are anything other than human, you will be surprised at what humans may become when an opportunity arises. Ask the Rwandans. Ask the South Africans. Ask the Germans. Ask the Americans and British slave owners. Ask the Zimbabweans.

You see, when there is only one peanut left, and somebody must have it, it most often will be Takalani Musekwa, and not Bizza Musekwa. Why? Because for some strange reason, Takalani has a right to the peanut, and not his brother.

Thank God he has saved me from the foolishness of my old identity. Our South African Constitution Fathers, had the foresight to state in the preamble of the South African Constitution: “We, the people of South Africa, Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.” You have heard my confession. Are you xenophobic?

A Donkey Story

Years ago when I was about 9 or 10, my mother used to send me to a shop about 5 km from home. For about 4 km to the shop we walked through a deserted road through the bush. One day as we were walking back from the shop with my cousin, we saw a donkey cart coming from behind us heading to our village, same direction as we were going. Donkey carts were the most common mode of transport for the "middle class" of the village. There was only two men in the whole village who had cars at that time.

My cousin and I got excited when we saw the donkey cart. It was common courtesy that those with donkey carts will give lifts to pedestrians like us when they find them on that stretch of road. As the donkey cart approached we raised our hands to hitch a lift. The man, who was probably in his late 20s or 30s, started hitting the donkeys harder for them to run faster as he approached us. We were devastated when he passed and did not stop.

After passing us, the man stopped hitting the donkeys, so they slowed down and started walking. When they were about 200 metres further down the road, the donkeys actually came to a standstill. The man started hitting them hard again, and the two donkeys would not move. When we about 100 metres from them, the one donkey bent his knees, and then lied on the ground. The other donkey followed suit as he was pulled down by the other one. The man got off the donkey cart and started hitting the donkeys even harder. There is a saying, "As stubborn as a mule", but after what I saw that day, I think the donkeys are more stubborn. As we got to where the man and his donkeys were, he was sweating and angry, and we dared not say anything to him.

As we were passing, he asked us to get on the donkey cart and hold the reins as he continues hitting the donkeys. My cousin and I jumped at the opportunity. As soon as we boarded the cart, the two donkeys got on their feet and started walking! The man jumped onto the donkey cart, and before he hit them again, they started jogging. He never had to hit them again, they jogged all the way to the village, with my cousin and I nicely seated next to the man. We said nothing to each other all the way, and he said nothing either.

When we got to the village he dropped us us next to my home and he proceed to his house further into the village. As we were walking home, we talked about the strange behaviour of the donkeys, and how kind they were to us. It was an incident incident I could not forget.

Years later I read a story in the bible about a man called Balaam and his donkey. When I read it, it sounded so familiar, that I knew why those donkeys behaved that way when I was 10 years old. Here is the story of Balaam and his donkey:

The story is found in the book of Numbers 22:21-33
"21 So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along, 23 Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road. 24 Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again. 26 Then the angel of the LORD moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all. 27 This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.
28 Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”
30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”
“No,” Balaam admitted.
31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.
32 “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the LORD demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me.”

Recently, I came across another donkey story that reminded me of my donkey story. It goes like this:

A man once left home on a long journey. He took with him a donkey and a mule. He placed all his goods and luggage on the donkey’s back, and though he walked most of the time, he would occasionally ride the mule.
The donkey carried his load easily. He was accustomed to bearing heavy burdens. But when the three travelers began to climb the side of a steep mountain, his load became too heavy to bear.
The donkey, struggling under his load, turned to the mule and asked him to help carry some of the load, explaining that he would gladly take the full burden back again after they had climbed the mountain. But the mule refused to help even a little bit.
Before long, the donkey slowed and collapsed beneath his load. Though the man beat him mercilessly, he was too weak to go any farther.
Not knowing what else to do, the man began unloading the packs from the donkey’s back and placed the entire load on the mule. Then, leaving the donkey where he had fallen, the man and the mule continued the journey.
The mule, groaning beneath his heavy burden, said to himself, “It serves you right. If I had only been willing to help the poor donkey, I would now be bearing half the load I carry, and would have a friend besides.”

The common theme of these donkey stories, two of which are real stories, including mine, is about kindness. I have no doubt that God had pity on me and my cousin that day, and decided to stop those donkeys so that we could get a lift. I don’t know whether that man ever got the message, but I got the message loud and clear. When you have an opportunity to be kind, don’t be like the man from my village, or even the mule. Show some kindness. In fact, you will find that when you are kind, you receive kindness in return. That’s how God’s triune life between Father, Son and Holy Spirit is. That’s the life God wants us to share in, today, tomorrow, and forever into eternity.

Kindness is good for you, not just the person you are being kind to. Patience is good for you, not just for the person you are being patient with. Love is good for you, not just for the person you are loving. “You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:35.

The 21st Century Pharisees

When Jesus walked the streets and hills of Galilee, he often met the religious leaders of the day. He often took the opportunity to correct some of their thinking and practices that he found to be in error. In reading about some of the things he said, you might think that Jesus despised the Pharisees and other religious leaders of the day. Nothing can be further from the truth. Jesus loved the Pharisees, but he sought to correct their misguided thoughts and attitudes.

On one occasion, Jesus was invited for a meal by a Pharisee (the Pharisees loved Jesus as well, though their motives might not have been as honourable). On this occasion, which is recorded in Luke 11:37 – 53, Jesus’ host was surprised when he sat down for the meal without engaging in the ceremonial washing of hands as per Jewish custom. Knowing what his host was thinking, Jesus took the opportunity to set some matters straight.

A few years ago I got very angry when the government legalised abortion in South Africa. Many Christians were more vocal than I have been about the issue, although I was as disturbed as they were about it. They collected signatures to petition the government, they picketed in front of Parliament. I personally signed one petition circulated via e-mail.

Recently I have wondered about what Jesus’ opinion would be about such matters? I have tried to imagine what he might say if he walked the streets of Accra, Harare, Johannesburg, Kampala, Lagos, or Nairobi today. Looking at his approach to religious issues of his day, this is what I saw in my mind’s eye.

I saw Jesus coming across a large Christian demonstration in front of Parliament, where the legalization of abortion is being discussed. A Christian journalist rushes forward to get Jesus’ comments on both the demonstration and the immoral politicians inside parliament. “Lord, what do you say about the legalisation of abortion being discussed here today?” the journalist asks.

Turning around to face the crowds, Jesus starts to speak, and all the chanting of slogans stops. In his typical style, Jesus ignores the journalist’s question, and addresses the attitudes, thoughts and religious opinion behind the question.

“Woe to you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the mother who aborts her baby, yet you turn a blind eye to the plight of thousands of homeless, hungry, street children who roam your streets!”

“Woe to some of you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the young orphaned girls who prostitute themselves to survive, yet you won’t support the orphans and widows in your churches!”

“Woe to you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the corrupt politicians who pass immoral laws, instigate civil wars and plunder their countries, and you turn away the refugees who turn up at your borders.”

“Woe to you religious people! For you are quick to condemn the greedy company executives and directors who defraud their shareholders of millions of dollars, yet you yourselves defraud my Father of his offerings every month!”

When Jesus turned around to talk to the journalist, he found that he had run off down the street to take pictures of a pro-abortionist and Christian demonstrator who were exchanging some very unkind words.

“But Lord, aren’t prostitution, abortion, corruption, civil war, fraud and all these other things wrong?” asks one of the Christian leaders leading the demonstration.

“Oh my friend! It is not a question of whether these things are right or wrong. Indeed those things are wrong. However, it is about how you respond to these wrongs. Do you criticise and condemn, or do you show love and support to the victims of these wrongs? My Father "desires mercy and not sacrifice". As for the politicians inside this parliament, show them respect and pray for them.”