Let our gospel influence be felt

The Church’s mission is to influence the world to personalise Gospel values. More than ever before, Christians in South Africa have a chance to influence government and society to adopt values espoused by Jesus Christ.

This year two events will in South Africa will have profound consequences for the future. In June, the African National Congress will have a policy conference; and in December the organisation will have its national conference to set the programme for the next five years and elect people who will be responsible for translating the dreams of South Africans into a reality.

The events are not only important for the ANC membership, but have implications for the whole country and for our foreign policy. The ANC will remain in government for a long time yet. For most South Africans, the ANC is not just a political party among many. They regard the ANC as a liberation movement whose main task is to redress the legacy of apartheid and colonialism.

Pope Benedict has challenged Europeans to reclaim their Christian heritage. How this is going to be done remain to be seen. South Africa is a secular country, and it should remain so. Structures such as the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO) and the SACBC’s Justice and Peace Department (J&P) are always trying to influence government policy to reflect the Christian agenda on a whole range of issues, be it abortion, poverty relief, education, culture or good governance. A minority of Christians only intervene when the government has to decide on pro-life issues (such as reproductive health, abortion, euthanasia), but tend to be quiet on other matters that should be important to Christians.

There are some who believe that separating religion and politics is the right thing to do. This kind of thinking encourages silence and non-interference when faced with despicable crimes against humanity. We saw it in Nazi Germany, in apartheid South Africa, and now in Israel. There are also those who intervene only when their personal interests are threatened.

The ANC has released a series of policy discussion documents that form part of preparations for the ANC National Policy Conference in June. The topics covered include economic transformation, legislatures and governance, social transformation, transformation of the judicial system, peace and stability, international relations, spirituality, morality and ethics of the ANC, transformation of the media, and labour issues. These topics cover what is in the mind of South Africans at the moment, such as poverty alleviation, unemployment, affirmative action, Black Economic Empowerment, Zimbabwe, moral regeneration, gender, and health.

It is a given that some ANC members who are Christian will participate in these deliberations. Some others will join the ANC for this purpose. Meanwhile, the CPLO and the J&P department will continue to engage government and civil society. What is important is that the organisation has invited all South Africans to partake in these deliberations.

Vatican II used the all-encompassing biblical image of “The People of God”, which includes all the baptised—consecrated and lay. The important implication of this is not only for internal issues in the Church, but also for the Church serving humanity. The Church as “People of God” should elevate the faithful from a passive role to an active role in defining and shaping their history in South Africa today.

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).

If we ignore the ANC now, we must prepare ourselves to complain in the next five years.