How
can I describe in a few words and a few moments what Nelson Mandela meant to the people of South
Africa and the world? How can I describe his legacy in a short amount of time?
Well, let me start by saying this. Nelson Mandela’s life was a good example of
the life Christ calls us to lead. Nelson Mandela devoted his life to doing what
was right. Christ calls on us to remember the prisoners, free the oppressed and
care for the sick. Through his struggle against the apartheid regime in South
Africa and later through his concern for the people suffering from AIDS (a
disease that claimed one of his own sons), Nelson Mandela followed the example
of Christ and set an example for us as Christians to follow. He was an example
of the words of Christ in John 13:34: “Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another”.
His
life reflected his faith. In an interview that aired on CBC Radio recently,
he mentioned that he was raised in the Methodist Church, but while he was in
prison he was exposed to other denominations including the Anglican Church. Was
he perfect? No. He was married three times and divorced twice. He took an
active part in making the African National Congress a violent voice in the
struggle against apartheid. This might seem to be un-Christian behaviour, but
we must remember that in Old Testament times God allowed and even encouraged
the Israelites to use armed force against their enemies. In modern times
violence has been needed to defeat an even greater evil. For example, Hitler’s
evil plans were defeated by the use of violence during World War II.
The
African National Congress’ use of violence led to Nelson Mandela’s arrest on a
couple of occasions and eventually to his imprisonment for 27 years. Under
these circumstances one could understand if he resorted to violent revenge when
he was finally released in 1990, but he chose the “high road”. He chose
dialogue with the apartheid regime, and in 1991 he became head of the ANC. The dialogue
led to the abolishing of the apartheid regime and Mr. Mandela’s election in
1994 as the first black President of South Africa. Again, he followed the example
of Christ. Christ did not seek violent revenge against those who persecuted
him. On the contrary, he forgave them, just like Nelson Mandela sought
reconciliation with the regime that persecuted him and black South Africans. He
forgave them, and that put him in the same category as people such as
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Pope John Paul II and Mother Theresa-people who showed
Christ’s love to a poor, evil, hurting world.
Life
is like riding a horse. Sometimes the rider will fall off. When that happens,
he has two choices. He can sit down and give up or he can get up, dust himself off,
climb back on the horse and continue the journey. Nelson Mandela chose to
persevere in his life’s mission regardless of the cost and hardship, just like Christians
everywhere are to persevere in their mission from God regardless of the cost
and hardship. As he rode off into the sunset of his life this past Thursday and
arrived at the Pearly Gates, Jesus likely greeted him with the words found in
Matthew 25:21-“Well done, good and faithful servant”.
Bibliography
1.
Biography of
Nelson Mandela. Retrieved from http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography
2.
Billy Graham,
“Can a Christian Truly Love Everyone?” Retrieved from www.arcamax.com/religion
3.
Joni
Eareckson Tada, “Faithfulness”.
Retrieved from communications@joniandfriends.org
4.
No comments:
Post a Comment