IMPASSE OVER THE BURIAL OF ECL – A CHRISTIAN NATION THAT CANT PRACTICE BIBLICAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

By Kellys Kaunda

IMPASSE OVER THE BURIAL OF ECL – A CHRISTIAN NATION THAT CANT PRACTICE BIBLICAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION

President Hakainde Hichilema must know what the Bible teaches about disputes.

Ephesians 4:26-27, says, “Be angry, and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.”

If Hichilema had turned this Biblical concept into public policy, his predecessor would have been long buried.

That very day the Lungu family questioned the burial program complaining that it was contrary to what had been agreed, the impasse would have been resolved.

Some of us keep holding Hichilema responsible because the buck stops at him.

What is so difficult about turning the Biblical concept regarding dispute resolution into public policy when we are a Christian nation?

Nelson Mandela, even without formally declaring South Africa a Christian nation, turned forgiveness, a Biblical concept, into public policy.

And look at how the whole nation chose not to avenge their years of oppression!

They embraced their former tormentors and resolved to work together to heal the nation.

If there was an opportunity when the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation should have been on full display, it was immediately following the death of Edgar Chagwa Lungu.

The whole nation knows the beef that stood between Hichilema and Lungu.

The dispute over his burial is a continuation of the toxic relations between the two men.

However, Christian principles would have demanded a different outcome – immediate resolution of any differences.

Unfortunately, the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation has been rendered of no effect.

It remains a form that has no substance. We are a nation who confesses Christ by our mouth but reject His Lordship over our lives and our land.

By this, we make a mockery of His ministry and His death on the cross.

Tragically, there’s growing evidence that collectively, our conscience as a nation has become so seared, the voice of reason no longer holds sway over our politically peppered positions on this matter.

When the devil looks up to heaven, he must be having a very hearty laugh teasing Christ and mocking the alleged ineffectiveness of His dispute resolution teaching over the Hichilema/Lungu burial impasse.