South Africa – Reconciliation

A few weeks ago, shortly before we went to South Africa, I had a dream in which my oldest brother was preaching. But two guys of our church were talking so loud with each other that we all had a hard time understanding him. 

One guy represented Politics because of his job he has in real life. The other one represents War and Superstition because of his name. My oldest brother had been a Jesus figure in my dreams quite a few times already now. Politics, War and Superstition are very dominant “personalities” in South Africa. They are making a lot of noise that makes it hard for the voice of Jesus to be heard. And South Africa has a lot of great preachers, teachers, prophets,…! 

The time when I woke up from the dream led me to the Greek word for “send”. It appears the first time when Herod sends forth to slaughter all the boys in Bethlehem that were two years old or younger. He wanted to make sure that he has no rival in the king that was born to the Jews. He shed a lot of blood but was not successful in his mission. Jesus survived. 

The second time the word appears when the Prince of Peace sends his disciples to declare the kingdom of God being near. As a sign of his power he sent them to heal the sick and raise the dead. What a difference! One comes with the power of fear through the shedding of blood and the other with the power to heal and raise from the dead. 

A similar situation existed within the camp of the jews at the times of Jesus. Different approaches were chosen to fight for freedom and peace. The Zelots built one camp. They wanted to reach freedom by fighting their “oppressors“ with weapons. But Jesus didn`t join in that violent fight. He had a different way of fighting for freedom. Martin Luther King had an opponent in Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. They wanted to reach the same goal but with violent means.  

freedom fighters vs. freedom fighters

With these words I woke up on the 27th of March `22. Opposing approaches on the quest for freedom wrestle for influence in South Africa. The Economic Freedom Fighters EFF for example are a left wing party in South Africa who are fighting for freedom but mainly bringing fear and blood. In Galatians 5 Paul says: 

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. … For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, „You must love your neighbor as yourself.“

True freedom comes from knowing Christ. We will join the freedom fighters in South Africa that are led by Jesus bringing love, healing, restoration and reconciliation.

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