The Power of The Kenyan Church to Make Change in Kenya

Even before Christianity was adopted in Africa, the African was always a spiritual man who put his faith in a mono God. Kenya today has over seventy per cent of her population professing or practicing the Christian faith. The nation itself has laws that reflect Biblical principals. This then reveals the power that the church has to influence the direction of the nation. Christ is the foundation of the church and He said that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. The church, for the purposes of this article, means the body of Christ regardless of the different denominations emanating from doctrinal differences.

The church, it is submitted, should be the unifying factor of a nation since the church will always have people from all works of life and political affiliations as well as ethnicity. Christ commanded His disciples to be one in love that the world may know that they are his disciples; “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” John 13:34.  We are living in a world infested with hatred and one of the things the church can do is to manifest the love of Christ. Sometimes one feels like the world has come to the church and neutralized the church, instead of the church going to the world to transform it.

When God appeared to Solomon as reported in the book of Chronicles, He said “—if my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land, ” 2 Chronicles 7:14. Who then are the people of God? Scriptures suggest that there are those who God has given the authority to be his children. Apostle John writes, “— as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” John 1:12-13. This is not to be confused with creation, for all are created in the image of God.

The church according to Christ operates as the light and salt of the world. He asks the church to “let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” Mathew 5:16. We hide out light by keeping quiet when we should speak, going along with the crowd, denying the light, letting sin dim out light, not explaining our light to others, or ignoring the needs of others. Apostle Paul adds that the church has been given the ministry of reconciliation “—that is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” 2 Corinthians 5:19.

The church should however not just preach the word, for faith without action is dead. The church ought to show the country the way to go even in areas of development. One’s faith, it is submitted, should be a way of life and not something that is practiced on Sundays in a gathering and discarded when one is out of the building. The church meetings are for fellowship, training, and edifying in order to equip the members to go out and spread the truth to the world. In church we have economists, architects, lawyers, politicians, journalists and all other professions that could do great wonders if directed. Apostle Peter, writing to the church says, “each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” 1 Peter 4:10.

The church leadership should therefore motivate and inspire its members to get involved in development issues. It should be at the forefront in providing solutions to cases of homelessness, unemployment, good governance, among others because the church’s mandate is to lead others to the truth. The first church, as revealed in the book of Acts, dealt with the needs of their members by involving all members to the needs of others in the church so that no one was left out. (See Acts 4:32-34) This is what we ought to see happening in the church and not the mistaken belief that the church is only about preaching and religious rituals.  

The world is looking for solutions which the church has at its disposal if it executed its duties faithfully and according to its purpose. Instead of always emphasizing on the giving of money, there should be encouragement of people to share their talents or skills to help others to be self-reliant. The church needs in its leadership people who can direct others in matters of housing, employment, parenting, training, leadership among other human needs. The church could start various outreach ministries meeting the needs of a particular community like housing, health or education. This is faith in action. The gospel must be practical as Jesus Christ showed us. He fed the people, healed the sick, even as He met their spiritual needs. There are many possibilities for the church to fulfill its God given mandate if it will only be constructive and look to God for answers. We must take the words of James seriously that “as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead” James 2:26.

The church also has the mandate to pray for the leadership of a nation and present them to God daily. Scripture states that “the authorities that exist have been established by God —and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves” Romans 13: 1.  In this regard, it is also right to say, that the church should be at the forefront in educating its members about the character and nature of the leaders that the people should be appointing to lead the nation. As long as we separate our beliefs from our daily living, then we fail as Christians, because Christianity ought to be a way of life that influences all our actions. People deserve their leaders, and more so in a country where there is universal suffrage. The church has to lead its members to thinking beyond tribe and personalities but to analyze and challenge the character and motives of any one that seeks a leadership position.

Man cannot have freedom without God, but God’s freedom should not be used to gratify the sinful nature but to serve others through God. In my submission the church will only influence change in societal values if it starts balancing the word with actions. Jesus took the gospel and the benefits of the gospel to the people. He dealt with the politicians and encouraged the people to pay their taxes. The church must follow the master’s example even as it encourages its members to be ambassadors of Christ in their homes, places of work, communities or wherever life destines them to be.

The church must be at the forefront in inspiring and directing its members to give and rescue others in case of need and disaster. The people must be made to understand that God uses what we give him and it is through giving that we are blessed. Only we can meet the needs of those who are needy in our midst and such acts God is well pleased with. In fact scripture provides that “he who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given” Proverbs 19:17. This idea of waiting for foreigners to help must stop. Everything that Kenya needs is within its borders and we must start being our brothers keepers regardless of ethnicity or race.