Dr Asangba Tzudir
The Church has long been the heart and pulse of Naga society not just as a religious institution, but one that holds moral authority including culture. In almost every village, town, or district across Nagaland, the Church holds spiritual influence, community leadership, and which plays a significant role in shaping identity. With emerging times, it has also seen the coming of various social issues, more so the degree in which it manifests has become a cause of serious concern and which directly or indirectly effects the spiritual growth of the Church. As such, within the pressing social issues of unemployment, corruption, substance abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence, increasing cases of HIV & AIDS, environmental degradation, and political instability, a very vital question arises: Are Naga churches truly effective in addressing these social issues?
To begin with, we also need to see how engaged are the Churches in these social issues. There is no denying the positive role the Church has played in shaping Naga society positively. With the coming of Christianity to the Naga Hills, through missionary engagement modern education, medicine and healthcare, cleanliness, and the values of peace and forgiveness were introduced and instilled. Even today, churches run schools; they do charity works including sponsorship, conduct awareness campaigns, Father and mother schools and also actively engage and mediate in various social issues. In times of emergencies, disaster, conflict, or crisis, the Church often becomes the first responder and shelter for affected families. The case of the Churches responding to the various needs of the situation especially during the Corona pandemic was exemplary. There are many churches that also run de-addiction programs, support orphanages, and encourage and provide relevant platforms for women and youth empowerment including skilling.
Moreover, on moral issues, the Church continues to give form and direction towards shaping public opinion. Also, through various mediums starting from the pulpit, it advocates for honesty, temperance, purity, and accountability. It continues to advocate for clean election and also going against electoral malpractices and proxy voting. In the ongoing struggle against alcoholism, the church continues to speak out against alcohol abuse, and corruption in public life.
However, while it is not beyond the scope of the Church, but one can also understand the difficulty of the Church to intervene and create impact on all the prevailing social issues. Having said that, the effectiveness is not just about its engagement, or intent or presence, rather it is about the impact, relevance, and also the courage to speak the truth boldly in the face of call for change. The role of the Church in its engagement with social issues cannot simply be discredited because it has done a very commendable job, and which is not easy. However, there are areas that need improvement.
To put it very bluntly, the cutting edge seems to be missing in the works of the church in its engagement with social issues. To transform and also deliver the cutting edge, the Church should stop being too cautious in order to break the status-quo. It is time for the churches to boldly speak out the truth in unison. The silence needs to be broken, whether due to fear, alliances, or internal divisions, because it only weakens the moral authority of the Church. The Social sins like corruption, nepotism, etc., continue unchecked when they are supposed to be addressed in all seriousness, as seriously as personal sins like drinking or adultery.
The youths today are ‘emotionally charged’ on one hand while on the other they are a vulnerable lot. A small failure can make them go mental or into depression. And this is one very important area where the Youths should not be made to feel that the Church is out of touch with their lived realities in failing to address the myriad of issues of the youths including mental health issues, sense of security, addictions including the digital, or identity crises. The challenge for Churches in Nagaland is to move beyond sermons and Sunday programs, and spring into social action by way of engagement with the issues of the real world.
In order to be really effective, the Church must reclaim its role first as a truth-teller, healer, and advocate re-emphasizing on the scriptures especially in the context of practical, moral and political or public theology. This will help in translating and relating religious beliefs and faith to politics, government and governance, justice, power and society. To be effective also requires the Churches to model values of integrity within its own leadership structures and finances. While Churches in Nagaland have deep historical roots and an enormous platform for exerting social influence also backed by the sincere contributions towards social welfare, it is time for the Church to evolve with courage, humility, and relevance. Yes, the emerging issues are really complex and so the Church cannot afford to remain passive. The effectiveness of the Church will be attested by the rising of the Church not just as a place of worship, but as a force for justice, transformation, and hope.
(Dr Asangba Tzudir writes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be emailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
