Sin has no political colour!
We want to look at a practical issue in society. Does sin or gross wrongdoing in society have a partisan political colour? What is the colour of sin, if any?
Advertisement
To discuss this we must first define what sin is. Sin is missing the mark, disobedience or breaking the law. It is rebellion against God’s commandments and standards.
When we talk about sin we are discussing the concept of good and evil, right and wrong, required moral obligations; standards and ideals.
To do what is considered evil and wrong is sin. Stealing, murder, adultery, incest, greediness, drunkenness, bribery and corruption, drug trafficking and slander are some of the things considered as sins.
To break the provisions of Ghana’s Constitution and the laws of the land is to sin, regardless of one’s gender, status, tribe, or political party affiliation.
In Christian thought, sin is primarily against God. It is the breaking of God’s law. It is disobedience or rebellion against God, as well as independence from God. It is to miss the mark of God’s holy standard of right living and justice.
In the Genesis record of sin, the instruction or command “don’t eat the fruit” and the breaking of that command was a result that directly related to God.
In fact sin always involves rebellion against God. However, there is a link between sin against God, and sin against another person or a nation. We find that in Psalm 51, David prays to God in confession, against you, you only have I sinned. But David had committed adultery, lied to, and murdered his faithful countryman Uriah.
Other Trending Stories
David had sinned against Uriah and others but laments to God about his gross failure and disobedience. Like David, we must face up to our sins and admit wrongdoing!
At the Global Evangelical Church 2014 National Convention at Wumenu, near Ho, last weekend, the Rt. Rev. Dr E. K. Tettey, the Moderator, decried attempts by partisan political activists to politically colour sin and any person or group of persons who break the law or do any kind of evil in the country.
He demanded a stop to this sad tendency in our beloved country. He also lashed at church leaders for their reluctance, these days, to discipline their members when they do the wrong thing or grossly go against God’s standard.
Rev. Dr Tettey said, “…God expects us to punish wrongdoing and rebuke it at home. Reports show that there’s a lot of wrongdoing in the Church”.
And leaders just conspire to cover it. At an elders meeting, there may be a fight because either an elder or the pastor says we must discipline a member for misconduct and others say we should not.
Yet the Word of God tells us that we must punish those who do wrong in the Church. If we want the blessing of God to follow us, we must rebuke and punish sin. Because this problem exists in our homes and the Church, Ghana, our nation, is suffering. Proverbs Chapter 14, verse 34 tells us that righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.
Ghana is a blessed nation but sin is pushing us down and down. At times when people are caught doing evil and put before the law courts, they are not punished.
Leaders in the government, Members of Parliament and those in any position of authority must be humble to resign if they are guilty of breaking the law or found in gross wrongdoing.
We must pray for a change in our attitudes to sin and wrongdoing. The Church must be in the lead of these things. If we have any of our members involved in gross wrongdoing, we must advise them to resign.
The next generation will then learn that sin brings a nation down and “righteousness exalts a nation…”
Sin, is presented in the Bible as evil which is actively chosen by people. Such persons are not simply products of heredity or environment. They are active in choosing between good and evil.
And like the Prophet Nathan before David, countrymen and women, and especially those in Government; the parliamentarians, judges, magistrates and indeed the religious and traditional leaders must confront sin, rebuke and punish it; without regard to political party affiliation, gender or tribe.
Advertisement
Sin has no partisan political colouration. It is “Godliness that makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people”. (Proverb 14:34 NLT)
(The author is a Leadership Development and Cross-cultural Ministries Consultant, an Email: [email protected] / [email protected])