written by Stephan joubert
“You have no choice but to accept me as I am,” a church council member told me once. “Why?” I inquired. “I have been made and left just like I am,” he replied. “No, you’re wrong,” I said. 2 Corinthians 3:18 teaches me that God’s Spirit transforms us into the likeness of the Lord with ever-increasing glory. We are not victims of ourselves, our education, or our circumstances. We don’t have the “luxury” to stay as we are. Christ gives us the grace and privilege to change and grow.
Too many South African people, black and white alike, are still victims of this guy’s “I can’t change” syndrome. That’s why our deep-rooted prejudices toward each other still run strong, despite 70% of the people in our country saying that they’re Christians. Does this happen since we believe we have the right to think like we always did about things like racial relations? Does it happen because in church we only speak about faith or moral sin while dodging questions about how we need to treat each other across cultural and racial divides? Or maybe because we ourselves are bad examples of true transformation in this area?
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