CHURCH AND STATE
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CHURCH AND STATE
try times;”>Brian Seymour
Part I
The government of the Bahamas exists for one reason only that is to provide and preserve the peace for the rights of all individuals and encourage the peaceful and orderly development of its people within its territory. It is also the duty of the government to defend the rule of law. It is its duty to provide for the indigent, inclusive of the widows and orphans, and those who from time to time find themselves in distress. It is not the role of government to give aid and comfort to the slothful. Simply put, this is the essence of government’s role.
The Christian church likewise exists for one reason that is to spread the message of the good news of salvation found in John 3:16. God the creator of the universe sent his son Jesus to live amongst us and to redeem mankind back to God. That God so loved the world message seems so simple that it has been lost to the modern church in the Bahamas. The church is also charged with bringing light to the darkened and stormy heart of the human family through its many outreach ministries which have almost become nonexistent. Instead we see the church off message not using biblical principles laid out by Jesus himself to the communities where they exist. We see the modern church operating as if it is a Fortune Five Hundred Wall Street company employing profit and loss principles instead of principles laid out in the Holy Scriptures.
This past week, a visiting pastor of a leading denomination in the Bahamas while speaking to the convention alluded to the church being off message and in a state of confusion. This sermon could have been preached to any other church denomination.
The Christian Council could be likened to the children of Israel wandering around in the desert of Sinai. They have become a polarizing institution more concerned with profile than the core message of salvation. The only thing left for them is to declare themselves as a political party.
In 2014, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas had an estimate population of Three Hundred Eighty-Two Thousand and Six Hundred (382,600) persons. The capital city, Nassau, on the island of New Providence is 7 miles by 21 miles long. According to statistical data, 70% of the nation’s population resides on this tiny island. The capital city, in some areas, has come to be likened to a war zone. Young men whose hearts need to be touched from the Master on high are killing each other for no good reason other than to kill. These hearts have been hardened by dark forces of evil.
The police, headed by Commissioner Greenslade, to its credit have been equal to the task which confronts them. They have demonstrated a high degree of efficiency with the apprehension of these offenders and placing them before the courts only to see these offenders back on the street in short order. It is not the job of the police to soften a darkened heart.
“Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman worketh but in vain.” Psalms 127:1