When the roots are rotten, the whole tree suffers.
History and Christianity can not be unlinked in the present by simply ignoring or glossing over the past.
The roots of a movement inform the position and formation of the movement in the present and in the case of the church in the South African context, this is certainly true.
The story of the church in South Africa is rich and wide. Most South Africans would claim christianity as their faith although we are a pluralistic country where ALL religions have equal rights under the law. The formation of colonial South Africa under the directorship of first the Portuguese ( briefly) and then The Dutch and British Colonizers was strongly and purposefully linked to Christianity. The Isiphambano walk in Cape Town telling the story f the history of the church is awful and wonderful at the same time.
Apartheid was interlaced and interconnected with Christianity as the reason for this evil regime and the outworking of the crimes against humanity . Christian Nationalism.
The church in South Africa, as much as having this oppressive version of itself embedded, unfolding alongside and in opposition to the oppressive version was the liberating gospel and activism of the awakened church. The Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his life work as a Christ follower, stands as an example of and reflection of Jesus in South Africa.
Anthony Balcomb's work From Apartheid to dispensation: evangelicals and the democratization of South Africa looks at 5 responses of evangelical church's in SA, both during Apartheid and then in 1994.
When roots are rotten AND when roots as rotten are not acknowledged , owned and dug up, nothing new and fresh or really deeply "rooted" in anything vastly different can grow.
Locating ourselves in the story of the history of South Africa is key to walking forward with justice and humility and affording dignity to all people. This locating takes hard work and time and is in essence a life undoing and unlearning of all that was ground into us as South Africans in the context we find ourselves in. Plastering bible verses and platitudes in the hope that these form some kind of reality was and continues to bare little fruit at all.
And so, after 22 years of " belonging" to a church in Cape Town South Africa, and after writing an honst reason reflecting all that I have written about , Doug and I left our church . We had one thing to guide our new church decision - we wanted to be at a church where the leadership was wholly and authentically black lead.
We began that place within a student church linked to UCT and it is a beautiful, fun and young space. We were the oldest people there. Lol.
For various reasons we are no long at this church largely , as I began with, theologically ( we had yet to define this as a stumbling block ) and so we are at present in a small church called Ubhuko Bakhe.
There continues to be much to unpack of theological unearthing of the old and the relaying of the new. This is painful and very difficult as you might imagine.
The Very Good Gospel keeps blooming and redirecting what Jesus hopes for us as his followers in this preset context of Cape Town in South Africa 2025. With our fellow sojourners, we struggle on. This path is full of the richness that comes from building bridges and having very honest conversations. It allows for the many threads of unanswered questions to dangle and be. It is less certain but more full. It engages with people who think differently faith with with deep respect and creates spaces and places that are open and for the flourishing of all people NOW.
Truthfully, in this holistic Gospel I have found many of my nagging questions answered and more than that built onto. In other words, to live a life of deep purpose and meaning NOW for others and less self focused.
I am grateful for the theology of those who seek to grapple with what it really means to be a citizen of earth AND a christian. My faith has thickness and diggs into a depth I did not think possible.
" Shalom is what the kingdom of God smells like. It is what the kingdom looks like and what jesus requires of the kingdoms citizens. It is when everyone has enough. it is when families are healed. It is when shame is renounced and inner freedom is laid hold of. It is when human dignity, bestowed by the image of God in ALL humanity is cultivated , protected and served in families, faith communities and schools and throughout public policy. Shalom is when the capacity to lead is recognised in every human being and and when nations jon together to protect the environement. " - The Very Good Gospel. Lisa Sharon Harper.
" At it's heart the biblical concept of shalom is about God's vision for the emphatic goodness of all relationships. "
Walter Bruggemann - " The vision of wholeness, which is the supreme will of the biblical God, is the undergrowth of a covenant of shalom in which people are bound not only to God but to one another in caring, sharing, rejoicing in community with none to make them afraid"
This vision is not simply and only spiritual but encapsulates ALL of life for all people.
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