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VALUE OF CHURCH
MIRIAM NAMUTEBI

Issue #39 - July 2015

This month, Miriam Namutebi tells us whether the church is still

relevant in a country where moral degeneration seems to be on the rise. saw giving Christians condoms as a more effective approach than trying to preach to
them about abstinence which they know they wont stick to.
The church is an institution and it has many people, the young and the old. What
happens is that we sit in a church and listen to different speakers. But the church will not
be there to start following everybody around asking where is Miriam going, and what is
she doing? The church is not going to go around policing people, that does not add up. All
the church does is come and tell you this is Gods word, this is how God wants you to live
righteously.
The church can, however, choose to be proactive and not reactive by saying okay, these
are the trends going on and this is what we need to do and the church will decide to an
extent what they choose to talk about. For example the church can say we are going to
talk about sexual immorality for the month of January or July depending on the schedule
because we need it this year. But we should not expect the church to wake up and say
what is going on is sexual immorality so let us preach about that in January and
February. And then in March, there is an issue of corruption and the church switches to
corruption. And then in June, there is homosexuality and then they schedule that. And

1. You have been a member of Kampala

Baptist Church since 1988; why have you
continued to identify with KBC as your
local church?
I came to KBC because I was at university
and they used to run the students fellowship. There were quite a number of people I
identified with, the old girls from school
and also a few other people I had gotten
acquainted with.
But there was a time I broke away; that was
when I left university during the
holidays and before I started work because
of transport issues. Even when I started
work I did not fellowship at KBC but
gradually I realized that I was missing my
colleagues and friends and so I came back.
MIRIAM NAMUTEBI
Of course there were some other churches
with people praising God in different ways that I did not understand, but I found KBC a place
with nobler people to associate with. And then KBC also had bible studies for
students at that time.
I know we are people of the word; people who will get the bible and interpret it and you will
not get these outrageous interpretations where somebody will get up and say God said you
can divorce your wife and therefore they will come back and say I can be wedded again and
so forth. When it comes to KBC you kind of find sound doctrine interpretation.
then in the month of August, there is discrimination. The church sets out a schedule of
2. Should the church one identifies with have an impact on the moral stand and values of the things it talks about and I think it is also incumbent upon us as believers to give f
eedback to our pastors and to our leaders in church on the relevance of the things that
that person?
To an extent, yes. You see Christianity as it is, one will come to church on Sunday, join bible we would like to be talked about such that even when you do not have an immediate
response you still have that issue brought out.
study, have fellowship and get interpretation of scripture. How much one believes, how
The leaders have the obligation to try and look at the issue that is being brought forth
much one takes in or how much they put out in form of behaviour is up to them.
from very many different angles so that it is covered thoroughly so that even what I did
If I am really convinced, yes it will have an impact. If I am not convinced, I may say my
not mention is brought out because another person may have faced it or is currently
church says this but I do not think it is right.
dealing with it. That is what I think we need to deal with as a church.
So, you find that there is a percentage that I have to own myself and there is the other part.
For example, we were at work one time and the issue of Christ being born by a virgin, dying If we go back to the beginning of the universe, to the laws handed down to Moses, there
was something called theocracy. If you study theocracy, you will realize that it is what
and resurrecting came up and this Moslem lady posed a question Do you believe in that? I
formed the basis of the laws we had in many of the nations, especially for nations like
looked at her and said Yes. At that moment I was being asked whether I believed or not.
Uganda which leaned more towards Christianity. So if you are going tackle immorality,
That ladys question got me asking myself Do I really believe that Christ was born of a
you do not have to think about the church only.
virgin, he died and rose again? I found my belief put to the test and that is why I said there
I am not saying go away from the church and neither will I say go to the church only
is the personalthe part I have to own myself.
reason being that there are those that do not come to church; how will you target them?
3. Despite the fact that majority of Ugandans identify with a bible based faith, moral And then the church also needs to think outside the box. How do I get these people
degeneration seems to be getting from bad to worse. Does this mean that the church is attracted to what I am talking about without having to bring them to the confines of the
church? Christians can organise games or have picnics and call people in the neighbourgetting irrelevant?
The church will always be relevant whatever the circumstances. If the church teaches hood. You can also choose to use other measures. You can look to the government to do
Christians the doctrines of God, the laws of God, the principles of Christianity and the something about it, to have campaigns not necessarily under the church. The issue
people choose to do otherwise, that is their responsibilityindividual responsibility. You though would be are they sound campaigns, are they based on good and sound
doctrine? But church can surely have different administrative institutions running
cannot attribute that to the church and say the church is irrelevant.
However, I think the challenge that the church is facing or the Christians are facing these campaigns aimed at reshaping society and our nation.
days is that it is becoming prestigious to belong to a church; to say I go to Watoto, to say I The other thing we ought to remember, God said that His word will not return to Him
go to KBC, to say I go to Redeemed and some kind of church whatsoever. So you find without achieving its purpose and I think our obligation as a church is to speak Gods
people saying I am a Christian and if there is a box to be ticked, it will be Christianity. word at every opportunity and use that to reinforce the principles and doctrines and
However, what they do individually in their personal lives, especially when nobody is leave God to handle the rest. Otherwise if you think you are going to physically handle it
and sing morality over and over again, you might lose it.
watching, is a different thing altogether. So the church is facing that kind of challenge where
you have a big mob hanging out, calling ourselves Christians, and yet the practices are
totally different.
The KEY RING is a monthly publication by the Kampala Baptist Church Media
I was at an HIV/AIDS seminar where sexual immorality was being discussed and they were Team that seeks to provide an avenue where men and women can share
saying that even in the church sexual immorality is too much that now they are promoting knowledge and understanding of the word of God, experiences and
condom use. They said they have realized that this business of abstinence does not work in encourage one another as the older perform the act of paralambano to the
the church because what people do when they are by themselves is totally different. They younger.

The church will always be relevant

whatever the circumstances

Drop us an email at kbcmediateam@gmail.com

Visit the church website at www.kbcuganda.org