26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.27I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
I think so often we develop an opinion about a person and leave no room for the grace of God to work. Just because someone acts in a certain way today doesn't mean that will be their course of action tomorrow. When Jesus is involved, He brings about heart change and can dramatically alter the trajectory of someone's life. And, a person who has walked in darkness and makes a profession of faith doesn't automatically get it right - they have to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, just like you and me - we're all still walking toward God's standards. So, recognize people can change. And, don't give up on those that you think are not in the same place spiritually that you are.
I was reading in Acts 28 the other day, where the apostle Paul quoted a passage from Isaiah. We pick up in verse 25:
(25) "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,26saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive;27For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." '
Jesus also quoted from that passage
Yesterday, thousands gathered near Johannesburg, South Africa to pay tribute to the former leader of that country, Nelson Mandela, whose impact was so strong that CBN reports that more than 90 countries flew in representatives. President Obama and former Presidents Clinton and Carter were on hand.
For almost a week, there has been extensive coverage of the death of this man and the legacy he built. People from across the ideological spectrum compliment his leadership. There are a couple of words that you hear in connection with him - reconciliation and forgiveness. But, those were not always, it seems, words that would be used to describe him.
Cal Thomas wrote a piece for WORLD where he relates about a visit he and another reporter had with
Mandela in prison in 1985. He writes:
The Mandela celebrated by world leaders following his death was not the Mandela we interviewed. He received a life sentence in 1964 for attempting to sabotage the apartheid government but had been offered his freedom several times. He only had to promise not to engage in any more violence. Mandela told us, however, that if he were released from prison he would be back “in a day,” because he saw “no alternative” to violent revolution to end apartheid. There’s no room for “peaceful struggle,” said the man who would upon his release engage in peaceful struggle that would result in his becoming the first black South African president.He goes on to say that, "Many violent revolutionaries became peacemakers once their oppressors were removed from power. Whether Mandela experienced a 'conversion' after we met him, or simply adapted a more pragmatic path to his goals, I cannot say.
"Let us charitably assume the best about a man revered by many who ended an evil and gave his country an opportunity to build something better."
D.C. Innes, also writing for WORLD, indicates that that Mandela that went into prison was not the one who came out. He writes, "Mandela’s great accomplishment for which we revere him is, first, his triumph over himself in overcoming bitterness and the desire for revenge (the faith he professed indicates this was the triumph of Christ), and second, his national leadership in reconciling a bitterly divided nation that could have become one of the many tyrannies and bloodbaths of Africa."
Gary Bauer points out that, "Fortunately for South Africa, during his prison years Mandela ended his flirtation with Marxism and chose upon his release to be a voice for reconciliation, not revenge...Sadly, however, he retained an affection for some of the world's worst despots. He regularly praised Libya's Gaddafi and Cuba's Castro."
He goes on to say that, "Ironically, the Mandela who emerged from prison followed many policies that the American left today rejects. He cut spending, privatized state industries, reformed the South African economy, encouraged investment and strove to build a vibrant middle class. He rejected efforts to divide the country by exploiting class or race."
So, was there a faith component to Mandela's turnaround? Hard to say, but there was an interesting piece on CBN.com that indicates there may have been. One of South Africa's leading evangelists, Michael Cassidy says that Billy Graham asked him to visit Mandela in 1992 in response to a letter Mandela had written to Graham after he left prison.
He said he personally took a signed copy of Graham's book, Peace with God, to Mandela.
Cassiday says, "I remember him telling me that when he was in prison he never missed Bible study or church service or Sunday nights. I was very impressed by that." He added, "I personally like to believe that the Christian Gospel also informed his responses. It wasn't just pragmatic politics. These were principles in his heart and soul and mind that he had come to believe were right."
It is clear to me that Mandela experienced a political transformation - moving from being reportedly associated with the Communist Party and devoted to the enacting of change through violence to a conciliatory leader who wanted to exercise principles of reconciliation. And, there may have been a personal faith to some degree, as well - he apparently had an appreciation for the church, according to a Christian Today article I came across. But, reminiscent of those leaders you read about in the Old Testament - you know the ones who we're told followed the ways of God, but didn't remove the "high places", the locations of idol worship - Mandela's legacy ends us being a mixed bag, especially when you factor in his endorsement of the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996, that Examiner.com reports was called by the Guttmacher Institute as "one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world."That law essentially allowed abortion on demand up to the 20th week, as well as after it and up to birth for so-called "serious medical reasons".
I do think we can be encouraged - more often than not, we think that leaders hold to a political philosophy throughout their careers. But, in politics, as in life, there is a capacity for change, and people can indeed change. And, the presence of Jesus Christ and the search for a relationship with God can be a catalyst for it. I remember Stephen Mansfield's contention that Abraham Lincoln was on a spiritual journey throughout his life that moved him from secularist, perhaps even atheist, to someone who was acknowledging God in his life. George W. Bush was more forthright in his declaration of experiencing the new birth in Jesus Christ. As we follow 1st Timothy 2 and pray for leaders, we can be devoted to praying for the Lord to change their hearts, and perhaps they will apply that heart change to a desire to put policies in place that are consistent with Biblical truth.
I think we also have to learn not to give up on people with whom we disagree, especially in instances where their beliefs are contradictory to Scripture. Perhaps as you engage with family over the holidays, you'll have that cousin or uncle, maybe your parents, who hold a different position than you on the issues of the day, including those who do not know Christ. We can choose to be winning in our approach and not confrontational, or we can make those areas of disagreement points of contention that destroy our family unity. When we have the opportunity to share our viewpoint that is consistent with Scripture, we can do so with conviction - and compassion. We all have blind spots, none of us have arrived in our spiritual walk - so we have to maintain a sense of humility when dealing with those with whom we disagree. And, never, ever underestimate the power of prayer in the changing of a life.
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