FEATURE INTERVIEW with REV. DR. STEPHEN JENNINGS

Interview with the Rev. Dr. Stephen Jennings, past president of the Jamaica Baptist Union, lecturer at the United Theological College of the West Indies, and present pastor of the Mona Baptist Church in Papine, Kingston, Jamaica. Rev. Jennings also serves on the National Reparations Council of Jamaica.

KW: What is your working definition of reparation?

Reparations has to do with repairing damage that has been caused because of a breach/breakdown of relationships. It comes from the latin ‘reaper’ - to fix what has been damaged; to mend. Relationships were damaged because some people have enslaved people and damaged them by a distortion of relationships.

KW: How do you see this working out in the context of people who are victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade?

This works out in the context of the Transatlantic Slave Trade because the enslavers were largely EuroWesterners of Caucasian background in countries such as the USA, Canada, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Southern Africa. The enslaved were largely of African descent. People were taken from Africa and used in the aforementioned places. Reparations means that as a group, the descendants of those who benefitted from the institutions they formed, like churches, universities and businesses, and other proceeds of enslavement, should out of their own means and the accumulated profits they have made seek to compensate the descendants of those who were enslaved. This should take place economically, psychologically, spiritually, socially, theologically, culturally - by issuing words of apology, asking for forgiveness to heal the hurt, by returning things wrongly appropriated, (aka stolen), helping people to have spaces to express themselves, listening to people, helping people to come to terms with themselves. They themselves in turn can learn and benefit a lot by listening to these persons; treating people with respect, dignity, equality, and a sense of freedom. All these and more are crucial ways reparations can take place to correct a system that was in place for over 400 years, affecting over 13 million people, led to the underdevelopment of Africa, and prevented people from being able to develop their full humanity because they were the chattel property of others.

KW: How relevant is the concept of reparation to the church, both on the African continent and in her Diasporas?

Reparations as a concept is relevant to the church wherever the Church is, because the Church is in the ministry of reconciliation. Reconciliation means making people who were formerly enemies friends again. Clearly because of what was done by oppressive peoples to others, enmity occured. The concept of reconciliation therefore is that through Jesus Christ by the Spirit we become friends and we learn to work with each other. However, reconciliation is not a concept in and of itself. It is always linked toward repentance (confessing and turning from sins, turning to God for help, and to others) and reparation (repairing the damage in all the ways I mentioned before). References in Old and New Testament books talk about the need to make economic payback, helping people to have a sense of dignity and self worth. Sometimes it is called restitution - giving justice to those who were unjustly treated. It is part of a package.

KW: There are people who say as people of God, we should be forgiving. They use this to justify their view that we should not ask for reparation. Is there any Biblical ground for seeking reparation?

People who speak about forgiveness as enough reason not to ask for reparation really fail to understand what I just described. Forgiveness is not in isolation from other things. Forgiveness is part of a package. In the Old Testament when people sinned, they not only had to offer sacrifices to ask for forgiveness, but they had to make restitution and reparation to repair the damage that was done, as part of their repentance. In the New Testament it continues. John the Baptist for instance speaks about people who said” don’t just come and say we are children of Abraham. Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” That for him was practical. If you stole from somebody, pay back with interest. Stop oppressing, extorting and exploiting. Change! So these are concrete things. There are stories in the bible that speak about people who have been forgiven, but that should show in how they treat the people, by making economic restitution, and reparation as part of repairing the damage. Not just asking for justice but doing justly, and that includes economics. So reparation includes all of that, and there is much Biblical ground that we could give for that. Passages in Exodus and in Leviticus could help people to look at that. One has to look no further than the story of Zacheus in Luke 19:1-10 for just one example. When Zacheus said “Look! If I’ve robbed anybody, I’ll pay them fourfold what the law said. If I robbed from the poor I’ll give them back double.” And Jesus said “Ahhhh! Today salvation has come to your house!” Not that he’s saved because he’s doing it, but that today is the day that you show that you’re saved because you’re going to do it. Faith without works is dead. Asking for forgiveness is not enough. One needs to show that one is serious about it. And this is true not just about reparation but about anything! It’s not just enough to say we’re sorry. We need to show that we’re sorry in practical ways.

KW: Is there anything you would like to add?

In addition and in conclusion, I just want to say we need to see reparation as being central to the gospel and not peripheral to it. It isn’t a passion and hobby of a few but is the obligation and passion of everyone who is serious about being Christian. Whether or not we were a part of the system, we all in many ways are involved in it, whether as beneficiaries or the exploited ones, or rather, descendants of the exploited ones. A lot of the problems we have in the world, and in our side of the world, can be traced back to it. The type of crime we have. The way in which infrastructure cannot be developed without loans. (The fact that other places and peoples have loans to give show that they themselves benefited from being developed in particular ways, which came on the backs of those who were exploited as labourers and machines, in a system that eventually brought certain countries to be developed in their status.) So in one way or the other people have been a part of this. All we are saying is let’s try to level the playing field and equal the scales. This should be something that any well-thinking Christian would be interested in, because we want to make sure that the societies we are living in are ones that can be a blessing to everybody and that we can flourish as long as we are on earth, and that when we go to be with the Lord, we would have heard the “well done good and faithful servant” because we would have played our part in helping the world to be better, and people to give God thanks for a good life rather than to question God or curse God because their lives are so hard and so oppressed, and so full of exploitation. So any well-thinking Christian should have this at the centre of their agenda once they understand the issues. I pray others will see the importance of this and that the KW Magazine will be a part of spreading the word. God bless! Thank you!

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