Lessons for politicians from Christ’s teachings

As we celebrate Easter, have you ever wondered what political lessons one can draw from the life of Jesus Christ?

One possible lesson is, contrary to common political wisdom, the numbers of a leader’s core followers do not matter. What matters is the followers’ level of passion and the cogency of the message.

Jesus had 12 disciplines and a very cogent message of loving one’s neighbour. His message has outlasted 2,000 years. Today, there are more than two billion Christians spread across all continents. A century ago, Christians were largely in Europe. But the passion of his followers enabled the teachings of Jesus to survive persecution and hence help Christianity spread.

However, political leaders of today are obsessed with the number of people who follow them. For example, invite a politician to address a social gathering like a wedding, funeral or a political rally. The first question he will pose will be, “How many people are there?"

I once went on a meet-the-people tour during election campaigns. My worthy competitor took photographs of one of my stops, which was indeed poorly attended. He circulated the photographs ostensibly to show how my rallies were poorly attended.

My response was that Jesus had only 12 disciples but currently we have billions of Christians.

Meccan adversaries

Indeed, our few followers at that shopping centre went on to influence others and we won the elections.

This issue of passion applies in the other great religion of the world: Islam. On March 13, 624, Muhammad led fewer Islamic forces against his much larger Meccan adversaries in Badr and won. That battle marked a key turning point in the growth of Islam.

But it is the cogency of the message that inspires a few to withstand persecution and pressure from the majority. One of Jesus’ disciples, James the son of Zebedee, was killed by Herod for his Christian principles. Paul was beheaded by King Nero while Peter was crucified upside down on his request as he felt he was not worthy to die like Jesus. History records every disciple suffered cruel death for his faith except John. But they were so convinced of the message that they all chose death instead of renunciation.

And their sacrifice was right. The Christian core message of love is now universal. It forms the core basis and rationale of human rights doctrine which, by dint of the United Nations declaration of 1948 and various conventions that followed, has universal application even in the non-Christian world.

A great leader must, therefore, carry a great message. Such a message ought to be universalistic and all-embracing. An example is the political message of democracy. It was so inspiring that many sacrificed their comfort to champion it. The likes of Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia had all life comforts but chose to champion democracy and suffered for it.

Identify a good cause

Therefore, drawing from the life of Jesus, good leaders must identify a good cause that they must champion.

The second key political lesson from the teachings of Jesus is the importance of humility and forgiveness. Politics is full of treacherous fights and competition.

Jesus taught, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly father will forgive you” ( Mathew 6:7).

Peter asked Jesus how often one should forgive, he replied: 77 times.

Jesus also gave several parables on forgiveness. The lessons from the above is that a politician who is humble and forgives more by refusing to be vengeful will always emerge victorious. An example is Mwai Kibaki. He was President Daniel Moi’s vice-president from 1978. Political forces emerged seeking to undercut him.

 In 1988, Kibaki was demoted from his post of vice-president and taken to the less glamorous post of Health minister. Matiba was demoted as well and took a vengeful turn. Kibaki was gracious enough to bide his time and forgive Moi. The humble character ultimately created circumstances that made him a consensus presidential candidate and he removed Kanu from power in 2002. The same Kanu that had humiliated him in 1988.

The Uhuru Kenyatta versus William Ruto tussle between 2018 and 2022 is also another example of great politics of humility and forgiveness. Uhuru went out of his way to embarrass Ruto in public despite the latter’s great contribution towards two presidential victories. Many pushed Ruto to fight back since his office enjoyed security of tenure. Ruto wisely desisted from any public display of anger and stuck to his bottom-up message. He continuously praised Uhuru’s various projects in public.

That wisdom carried Ruto to victory. Compare Ruto’s response towards Uhuru with Raila Odinga’s response towards maltreatment by Kibaki between 2003 and 2005. Indeed, Raila was instrumental in Kibaki’s victory in 2002 when he made the famous “Tosha” declaration at Uhuru Park. Raila got a hero’s welcome in Mt Kenya in 2003 when many called him Njamba (warrior). But when Kibaki started to mistreat him, Raila made the mistake of revenging by causing trouble in government. He succeeded in a few battles as he caused government to lose the 2005 referendum. But he lost the war in 2007 where it mattered most; in the presidential elections.

The teachings of Jesus would have inspired Raila to bide his time in 2003 and forgive Kibaki for maltreatment. There is wisdom in Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s quote: “Observe calmly, bide your time, hide your strength and cherish obscurity, never claim leadership.”

This quote from Deng — an atheist — seems to echo the teachings of Jesus. In Luke 14:7-11, Jesus tells a story of a person who has been invited to a wedding feast.

“Do not take the seat reserved for a more honourable person, otherwise you might be ejected and you get embarrassed. Sit behind. Wait to be ushered ahead.”

When as Prime Minister Raila in 2009 complained of lack of red carpet, he signalled lack of humility.

Ruto, on the other hand, had his security downgraded but he never complained. Instead, he turned it all into political capital, hence his success in 2022.

Dr Kang’ata is the Governor of Murang’a County.