The Church has misconstrued its role

Dear Editor,

The following is an open letter to the Church in Jamaica:

I once heard an anecdote: A man opened his brothel next to a church. They could not stop it and so they prayed much about it that it would be moved. One day it was razed to the ground and the proprietor brought the church to court saying they made their God do it. The church defended itself, saying it didn’t commit arson. The judge paused and reflected, “Here we have a non-religious man who believes in the power of prayer, and a church that does not.”

The Church in Jamaican is privileged to have a seat and a voice at the table of our society. It enjoys said privileges regardless of the turning tide of world views on what it should allow, accept, defend, or ignore.

Unlike popular world views, shaped by relativity and reimaginations of age-old cultural decadence, the Church is given a standard by which to measure herself. Unfortunately, she has misconstrued her privilege for socio-political authority.

Having constantly deviated from the standard of Christ – love and light — the Church has become a watchdog of social ills, rather than an usher to Christ. The cliché, “in the world but not of the world”, demands that our great commission is to bring people to Christ and not to stop people from deviating from “the way”.

Christ never attempted to take sin out of the world when he committed himself to the cross. Why is it then that the Church thinks it can stop the tide of time? To assume that you can stop it mirrors that very arrogance in the hearts of men who nailed our Christ to the cross. It’s transformation over confirmation.

Meanwhile, what we should stand for has always been here. We’ve hidden it under a bushel. Christ has not called us to zealotry and to public debates, but rather to be salt and light.

You will never win the argument on abortion or sexual deviation. It is not your calling. Our pulpits have become soapboxes for our crusades as we launch social campaigns against the unsaved. Stop it.

Preaching against sin will never convert a soul; preach Christ and Him crucified.

One day the abortion laws will pass and the buggery law will be repealed. Where will your compassion be? Where will your relevance be? Where will your power be? Don’t you see you are fighting on the wrong front?

There is work in the fields. It’s time to give up your seat at the table and get to it.

Dave Richards

d1darichards@gmail. com