Mandella Remembered

Obviously, the former President of South Africa was a man of contradictions. The press almost universally portrays him as a man “for the ages,” almost god-like in his compassion and leadership. No question, he was a great statesman who could have fomented a violent revolution but instead chose peace and reconciliation. In death, most journalists have chosen to remember the more erudite of his views. But at one time he espoused bloodshed if necessary to abolish apartheid. I have been to South Africa many times, including the era before Mandela’s release from the Robben Island Prison. A statement oft quoted in the South African press when he was behind bars, and underscored by white Afrikaners, was Mandela’s threat that if ever released from prison who would commit an act of terrorist violence within 24 hours. He didn’t. Instead he reached out to his white supremacist oppressors to ensure a stable transition. Did he still harbor communist style rhetoric in his heart? Or was he strategically placating the more extreme factions of the ANC party that had vowed to overthrow the De Klerk government? We’ll likely never know. But such duplicity as evidenced by the above quotes isn’t an option for true Christians. In Matthew 5:37 Christ warned, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Christians can’t play politics. We have to mean what we say and say what we mean!