Standing in the gap for a faltering, useless State

Is the Church called to 'stand in the gap' for a faltering, some may say useless State?

Day 2 of Anglicans Ablaze conference in Johannesburg, drawing together Anglican Christians from all the corners of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa including Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, St Helena and Tristan de Cunha.

It's the biggest gathering of Anglicans in the region ever. An opportunity for meeting new people from places we're unlikely to visit, laughing, talking, learning, worshiping and visioning.

Opening the conference, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba reminded us of Desmond Tutu's statement after SA achieved democracy: ‘Now we can get back to truly being church!' But, asked Makgoba, "what does it mean for us to be truly church, in our new circumstances?"

I've been reflecting on the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel's words about finding people who could assist in building up the walls of Jerusalem and stand in the gap to protect the city. And I think that is exactly what the church in southern Africa is called to do - to stand in the gap. But in our contexts, it means standing in the gap for a rapacious, failing state. 

That state my appear as an upwardly mobile Frelimo party in Mozambique which, having left behind the revolutionary ideals espoused by Samora Machel, has been unable to bring about economic change to ordinary citizens. It may exhibit the reactionary and oppressive features of a Swaziland state. 

Or it may display the lack of leadership, the absence of creative ideas and solutions, but the presence of self-importance and greed and looking after themselves of the South African state, which appears to be failing on most, if not all fronts.

Standing in the gap may not mean simply taking over the role of the state, although where the state is failing to feed, to educate, to heal, to protect, the church MUST play that role.

But, increasingly, it must mean standing up against oppressive behaviors, speaking out on the things that people, leaders especially, are doing that are wrong. There's a nice synonym for 'things that are wrong' but people try to avoid using it because it's no longer regarded as politically or rationally correct. Sin.

The church has to take a stand against the sin of the failing states in southern Africa. And stand in the gap for God, who brings healing to a broken, divided, poverty-stricken and joyless world.

Jesus was the one revolutionary who didn't lay down the fight for justice, equality and peace in 1994 when South Africa became a democracy. And we're called again to stand in the gap for and with him.

I think that's what it means to be truly church.