Reverend Gregory Crofford – Friday, 3 January 2014 “South
African Tony Balcom on ‘faith in the boiling pot’”
In 2014, I am committed to plunge into the massive literature on
African theology, or what I prefer to call "Christian theology written by
Africans." After all, we don't usually speak of "European
theology," "Australian theology," or "North American
theology," so why should we insist on the term "African
theology"? By speaking of Christian theology, it is an acknowledgment that
the broad, Scriptural themes that unite us - wherever on this planet we happen
to have been born and raised - are the priority. On the other hand, speaking of
"Christian theology written by Africans" admits that each of us
unwittingly brings cultural "glasses" to the reading of Scripture
that cannot be removed. These glasses affect the way we go about building our
theology, including the choice of which themes from Holy Writ to emphasize and
which to soft-pedal or even (unconsciously) which we ignore. Teaching only
theology developed in Western settings means neglecting themes that are dear to
the heart of Africans while emphasizing some that for them may hold less
interest.
To begin this plunge, I took down from the shelf a book that -
to my embarrassment - has sat unread for years, even if it has traveled with me
as I've made my home and served as a missionary in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Haiti,
Kenya, and now South Africa. William Dyrness helped edit Emerging Voices in
Global Christian Theology (Zondervan, 1994). The compendium contains three
essays penned by Christian theologians from Africa, as follows:
Anthony Balcom, "South Africa: Terrifying Stories of Faith
from the Political Boiling Pot of the World"
Cyril Okorocha, "The Meaning of Salvation: An African
Perspective"
Kwame Bediako, "Jesus in African Culture: A Ghanaian
Perspective"
Today, we will look at the first.
Tony Balcom was born in South Africa but raised in Northern
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). His essay was published the same year when South
Africa elected Nelson Mandela as President. This means that Balcom would have
been writing some time in 1993, when many South Africans feared that their
country was teetering on the brink of civil war. In this context of seemingly
intractable mistrust between citizens of differing backgrounds, Balcom
poignantly observed (pp. 47-48):
For almost four centuries in South Africa, we fought and killed
each other. When we tired of this we shouted abuse at each other across great
divides of race, culture, and ethnicity. When we tired of this we slammed the
door on each other, each pretending the other was not there, each hoping the
other would go away. But when we squatted at the keyhole and squinted through
to the other side, we saw each other there, as large as life, waiting. And we
knew that one day we would have to do it. One day we would have to talk...it is
the conversation of those who have begrudgingly come to realize that
conversation is the only way out, because those who do not talk, fight. It is
therefore conversation steeped in suspicion, resentment, fear, and hate. But it
is nevertheless conversation.
Balcom tells three stories to illustrate his contention:
"Not a single issue of life can escape the fact of our faith. Our faith
demands of us that we ask the questions to do with our lives" (p. 47). The
best story is that of Nonqawuse. A prophetess from the Xhosa people group, in
1856, she revealed that the ancestors had spoken to her and had instructed that
all the cattle must be slaughtered. Once they were dead, not only the cattle
but all the ancestors would come back to life in spontaneous resurrection,
chasing away the white oppressors (p. 50). The paramount chief of the Xhosa,
Sarhili, accepted the prophecy, and he ordered the slaughter, believing -
according to the prophecy - that the resurrection would happen on 11 August
1856. The date came and went, with no resurrection. Balcom concludes: "The
Xhosa people were effectively decimated" (p. 50).
The story of Nonqawuse is a tragic narrative that makes one
appreciate the desperate lengths that the oppressed will go to in search of
liberation. Further, it encourages today's messengers of the Gospel to make
sure that we are preaching Good News. This Good News is of a Christ who not
only liberates us from our sins. More than that, regardless of our cultural
heritage - in the words of our Nazarene communion ritual - Christ unites us as
believers who are "one, at one table with the Lord." Barriers of
ethnicity must crumble around the Table.
It has been 19 years since Tony Balcom's essay. Just over one
month ago, former President Nelson Mandela passed away, heralded by one and all
in the country as a Great Uniter. Debate continues regarding whether Madiba was
a follower of Christ. Certainly God knows the heart, and we rest in that truth.
However one answers the question, one thing is certain: Of all peoples, Christians
should be at the forefront of promoting harmony among peoples of all
backgrounds. This is the primary take-away from Balcom's chapter, a timeless
lesson in a troubled and divided world.
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Greg Crofford | January 3, 2014 at 1:21 pm | Tags: African
Christian theology, Anthony Balcom, Emerging Voices in Global Theology, Nelson
Mandela, Nonqawuse, William Dyrness, Xhosa | Categories: book reviews,
Christian theology in Africa, Wesley brothers | URL: http://wp.me/p1xcy8-WX
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