The church must redefine its role
Bishop Kleopas Dumeni, one of the religious revolutionaries of Namibia’s liberation struggle, turned 90 over the weekend and, deservedly, the nation paid him homage.
President Hage Geingob led tributes, chronicling moments of sheer humanity and fearlessness by the nonagenarian.
Dumeni was among the vocal religious voices during apartheid, having consistently called for the swift implementation of the United Nation’s Resolution 435 that charted the way for our independence.
Inevitably, Dumeni and his contemporaries are in the evening of their lives and are leaving us in the hands rogue clergies who radiate cowardice and immorality.
With their faithful going through many trials and tribulations, many of the current church leaders confine their efforts to regurgitating bible verses.
There is little else that the modern church is remembered for.
What is the church’s stance on unemployment, homelessness and grinding poverty? Who do they hold accountable when streets are teeming with orphans begging a dollar from passers-by?
Dumeni and his contemporaries spoke truth to power – not to gain traction but because they knew their responsibilities by far stretched beyond the altar and the holy book.
The church must remain combative. It must remain resolute, revolutionary and unapologetic in calling leaders across all spectrums to order.
The faithful already know that Jesus fed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. They don’t have to be reminded of this every Sunday.
President Hage Geingob led tributes, chronicling moments of sheer humanity and fearlessness by the nonagenarian.
Dumeni was among the vocal religious voices during apartheid, having consistently called for the swift implementation of the United Nation’s Resolution 435 that charted the way for our independence.
Inevitably, Dumeni and his contemporaries are in the evening of their lives and are leaving us in the hands rogue clergies who radiate cowardice and immorality.
With their faithful going through many trials and tribulations, many of the current church leaders confine their efforts to regurgitating bible verses.
There is little else that the modern church is remembered for.
What is the church’s stance on unemployment, homelessness and grinding poverty? Who do they hold accountable when streets are teeming with orphans begging a dollar from passers-by?
Dumeni and his contemporaries spoke truth to power – not to gain traction but because they knew their responsibilities by far stretched beyond the altar and the holy book.
The church must remain combative. It must remain resolute, revolutionary and unapologetic in calling leaders across all spectrums to order.
The faithful already know that Jesus fed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish. They don’t have to be reminded of this every Sunday.
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Namibian Sun
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