On Thursday, December 5, former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela passed away. My goal today is not to write a tribute to this man because more capable men have already done that. The best one I've found so far is from Dr. Mohler and you can read it here. As I write this, I am attending the memorial service for this historical figure. Since his death, I have read many articles and statuses spread across social media platforms. What was most saddening was the reaction from certain Christian circles. When some see Mandela, all they see is a communist terrorist who, to some extent, participated in a secret plan of white genocide; a corrupt, liberal, interfaith leader; a champion of abortion and the gay agenda. And they are happy to be very open about this perception. They joined a fray in the culture war, but moved from “contact” to “engagement” without stopping to think. Why are we so surprised? I don't know why Christians are so surprised by the "idolatry" of Nelson Mandela and why they feel the need to point it out at every opportunity. Paul writes in one of his epistles: “For what have I to do with the judgment of strangers? Do you not judge those who are in the Church? But those who are outside, God judges them. » Paul speaks in the lineage of Christ, of whom John writes: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “What is the Church’s missionary policy? How can we interact with an unbelieving world? Based on these two passages, I think we should be careful when... middle of paper... unism, or anything else, the indictment is against you and the Church. How sad that no one has openly professed their faith in Jesus Christ, the symbol of the end of apartheid and reconciliation. How anemic was the Church to the point that God had to use a lay leader to bring the common grace of the Gospel on race relations and human rights in South Africa? Just as God used the pagan king Cyrus, as Isaiah the prophet showed, so in our day God has used Mandela for his own purposes. For a helpful summary of what others in South Africa said about Mandela, click here. Corinthians 5:12-13aJohn 3:17-181 Corinthians 2:2 http://www.examiner.com/article/ignored-by-the-media-mandela-pushed-one-of-the-most-pro-abortion -lois-never consulted on 10/12/2013 http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/quotes?qt=qt0470046 consulted 2013-12-10