How to achieve real peace in South Sudan

(This is part two of an article that we published earlier this week, on how to achieve real peace in South Sudan)

How do we return to God in order to achieve peace?

(i)                 Obey Jesus’ teachings

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John14:6). Therefore, for us to return to God we need to obey the teachings of Jesus and apply them in our lives, both as individuals as well as a nation. If we abide by His words, we shall also have abundant life. Jesus stated in another passage that, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

(ii)               Know the truth and abide by the word of God

We also have to know the truth about God’s word. In this way, we shall be free from slavery to sin, fear and falsehood as Jesus stated in John 8:32and 34; “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free…. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin”. Although many South Sudanese consider themselves as Christians, they still observe cultural practices and traditions that are contrary to the word of God. Among such non-Christian practices and traditions is slaughtering of animals on important occasions. I give in the following paragraph below one illustration.

One of our cultural practices in South Sudan is slaughtering of animals whenever an important government official visits an area or when a new building is being opened. Usually a bull is slaughtered and the guest jumps over it. It is assumed that the guest of honor will be protected from harm as any evil spirits will have been appeased by the blood of the bull. This is based on African traditional belief held by many South Sudanese regardless of educational status. Some of the political leaders are Christians if not by practice but at least by name.

However in contrast to the Bible, that belief is false as blood of animals cannot cleanse or protect anyone from harm. This it is stated clearly in Hebrew 10: 4, “…it is impossible for blood of bulls and goats to take away sins”. Only by blood of Jesus can sins be forgiven by God (Hebrew 10:10). In case we need to eat meet during that day, then let us just slaughter the animal without giving it a religious significance. Otherwise, we incur the wrath of God as he does not tolerate any gods besides him as stated in the first and second commandments: you shall have no other gods before me; …you shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God….” If we continue to break the divine laws, we deserve God’s punishments up to the fourth generation of those who hate him through offering such animal sacrifices (Exodus 20:3-6).

Let us learn from the example of Israelites at the time of Prophet Samuel. In 1 Samuel 7:1-6, the story is told that the Israelites returned to the Lord as Prophet Samuel told them, “And Samuel said to all house of Israel, ‘If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of Philistines’. Then the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only”.

(iii)             We should not deny when we fall into sin but confess it

 But we may deny that we have sinned. We often say that we have no problem with anyone. We have not stolen someone’s property or committed adultery or killed a person. But what about the sin of lying that is seen by many as insignificant compared to the sins of stealing, adultery and killing? Denial of our sins will not help us for it is written in 1John 1:8-10 that we only deceive ourselves not God who knows us. I quote the passage below:

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”.

“But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for us only but also for the sins of the whole world” (John2:1-2). However, up to now, the truth of what happened in Juba on the night of Sunday 15th, December 2013 is not clear. The government says one thing whereas the SPLM/A-IO and SPLM-FD say another. Whom shall we believe? The reason for the unnecessary violence is not in the agenda of the peace talks even though the political rivals or their delegates have been meeting face to face during the peace talks in Ethiopia. And the denial continues despite the disaster that has befallen our nation. No wonder some of us South Sudanese preachers consider the man-made disaster as a fulfillment of the warning from God such as the one quoted in the passage from Jeremiah chapter 6 above.

(iv)             We need to pay our tithes as individuals and as a nation

In Malachi 3:6-12, God calls those who do not pay their tithes as robbers. I quote the passage fully as follows:

“I am the Lord and do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ’How shall we return?’ Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts”.

(v)               Drawing near to God so that he can draw near to us

In James 4:8-10, we are required to draw near to God so that he can draw near to us. It means that if we are far from God, he will also be far from us. He gives us four ways of drawing near to him as follows: cleansing our hands from sin, purification of our hearts so that we have undivided mind, mourning and weeping for our sins, and humbling ourselves before God.

God himself said in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that, “if the people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray and seek my face, repent from their sins, I will look down from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land”. Humility, prayer, repentance are given by God as pre-conditions for his forgiveness of our sins and healing of our land. But are we ready to repent as a nation of South Sudan so that God can forgive us and bless us with real peace?

Conclusion

The people of South Sudan had suffered for many decades under different colonial rulers. After a long struggle they attained independence and freedom on 9th July 2011. In those years of suffering, they used to pray to God for help. It was believed that God answered our prayers and granted us peace. But the freedom and peace did not last. On 15th December 2013, two weeks before Christmas 2013, violence broke out in Juba and quickly spread to Bor, Malakal and Bentiu like bush-fire. The violence left in its wake death, destruction of property, displacement and misery among the people in those areas as it spread from Juba.

The mediation efforts by IGAD countries, with support from International Community, have reduced the violence but the conflict has not yet been resolved. Therefore, some religious leaders have begun wondering whether God is punishing us through this self-inflicted disaster. They are asking themselves and the people of South Sudan to return to God whom they seemed to have forgotten in the euphoria of their political independence and freedom from colonial powers. They have pointed out the way back to God by obeying his word, the Bible, and applying its teachings in our lives both as individuals as well as a nation of South Sudan. Then God will bless us with peace as we sing in the national anthem, “Oh God bless South Sudan”.