The participation of Pentecostal churches in politics : a pastoral perspective

Abstract

The journey in writing this thesis has been both intellectual and spiritually challenging keeping in mind that I am a Pentecostal scholar an “insider” responding to issues of politics which are perceived as foreign to the Pentecostal discourses in Swaziland. The subject of political participation though, still under debate and being pursued by the Church of Jesus Christ even this time around has not wholly been appreciated by most Pentecostals. This is despite the fact that some of the early Pentecostals, including the early Church as seen from the ‘Acts of the Apostles,’ chose to pursue political dimensions of the gospel in addition to the Church’s mandate of ‘pure evangelism.’ Although political engagement has been at the very heart of Jesus Christ’s mission and early Pentecostal theology, traditionally speaking, the Pentecostals under The Swaziland Conference of Churches (SCC) has been seen to place much emphasis on ‘pure evangelism’, which is winning souls to Christ and the establishment of churches rather than ‘embracing’ both spiritual and political reforms of the nation. Pentecostals have not been heard publicly voicing their position on political issues affecting Swazi people. They could rather privately confront the parties involved in disputes. The main line churches governed under Council of Swaziland Churches (CSC), voice out their position on political issues. For instance, they normally speak out when there are issues affecting people’s justice and the peace of the country, whether the inconsistency is from the government or civil society. The traditional Swazi churches, under The League of African Churches (LACS), on the other hand do not speak politics at all. Their position is to support the government of the time. However, this trend is slowly changing as observed from the political involvement that some of the Pentecostal congregations and institutions are currently undertaking; such as occupying government political posts while at the same time shepherding churches. It is, however, noted that most of them are appointed by the majesties in office, not through a voting system. The study views that part of the reason for the lack of an all-round political involvement by Pentecostals lies in the state-church position. In the view of this study the church has become the state, and the state has become the church. The church should be being assertive by remaining the moral conscience and moral compass of the nation. The study also reveals that the lack of clear constitutional guidelines concerning this has contributed to the absence of political forums in most of Pentecostal churches resulting in not having a strong ‘political’ voice compared to the main line churches. The other aspect is the non-awareness of the Kingdom of Swaziland Constitutional rights that could normally enhance their speaking from an informed political position. This position impedes the Pentecostal churches’ call to God’s justice mandate as codified by Jesus Christ teachings As this study is in the practical theology field, the thesis uses a positive deconstruction and mentoring praxis cycle to structure its theoretical framework and research methodology.