The Tribune

By ALLISON MILLER

THIS article is part two of my July 14 column, “Pray for the nation.”

In the previous article I said that a young man asked if I had been to church and I answered, “Yes”. His expectation was that I should have been praying for our beautiful country. To find out that I hadn’t seemed to disappoint him.

The reality is, regardless of some of the negative occurrences within the Church in the last 20 years, the institution and those who assemble in honour of it on a weekly basis are still held to a higher standard. The actions of a few cannot define the sincerity of the entire body. No one is perfect. However, there are people who live as an example for many of us to follow. A lot of people may not live a devout Christian life, but respect those who make the attempt. The mere fact that I had just come from early morning service, and that it is evident that our country is in trouble, praying for the nation should have been to the top of my list.

To be honest, I have tremendous respect for the young man I met and his question. It spoke volumes to the concern that people have for this country and shows that they still have faith that God can save us. I think we are all aware that the actions of some persons within the Church disappoint us and reflect negatively on the institution as a whole. It’s very difficult for the two to be separated. But the careless actions of a few bad apples should not condemn the entire organisation.

I said all of that to say this: Regardless of what some people, a certain pastor or congregate, do, it is known that God is not the problem; His servants are. Therefore we shouldn’t lose faith in Him, nor should He bare our blame for actions His servants consciously make. God changes not. The Bible tells us that He is the same yesterday, today and forever He will be.

So there is an expectation for believers and people who make an effort to go to church to intercede on behalf of our country. It’s good that people have that faith in God that He can give answers to the problems we have in the Bahamas today. I challenge all of us to live up to this expectation that we need to be offering up prayers to God for our country. We will start at home and then extend our prayers to the world, because we are all connected in one way or the other.