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Sunday | May 28, 2000
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Church must repent first
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I believe that we the church need to be the first one to repent. The scriptures speak about judgment beginning in the house of God.
We often point fingers at the politicians and society, but we need to remember that to whom much is given much is required. If God were to judge this nation of Jamaica, he would not judge people only on the basis of what they have done, but also on the basis of the light they have received.
Who are the people who have received the greatest light? It is the church, or so it ought to be, because we are the ones who ought to have the revelation of God. The question is, what have we the church done with the light that we have? It is difficult to understand why the church has so little impact on Jamaica - a small country, though it has the most churches per square mile.
Many of us over the years, have heard about the killing in the inner cities. However, significant responses to the killing in Jamaica do not come because of the numerous killings in the inner city, but when uptown persons are killed.
Problems
We have said in our hearts over the years, that the politicians have created problems in the inner cities, so they must fix them. And so, while the enemy of man's soul - the devil - wreaks havoc on the lives of men, women, boys and girls, we stand by and allow the enemy's work to continue unabated.
Some of us have responded, but still we seek to approach the work as individual churches. Usually this makes little impact. We sometimes display the same 'party spirit' as the politicians.
The changes that are needed in the inner city will not come about by human power. If we, the church, do not get involved, we will not be guiltless.
We have sought to build nice churches in terms of reputation, but have missed the call to go to 'Nineveh' our inner cities - where the message of repentance needs to be heard in love. We have continued to spend high sums for church buildings of which there is no shortage, while persons in areas of critical ministry, or even persons in serious need right within our fellowships, are neglected.
The way forward will not be forged by defending ourselves, but by looking at ourselves honestly and making the necessary changes. We need to corporately address the needs of the oppressed, be they physical, social or spiritual. We need to look at how we spend our resources and we also need to look at the quality of disciples we have been producing as churches.
Despite its shortcomings, the church has done many good things. However, we must be careful not to be like the church at Ephesus, who were doing many good things, yet not pleasing the Lord, so much so that HE called them to REPENT, lest their candlestick be removed.
I am, etc.,
B.A. FLETCHER
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