Christianity has been in Zambia for more than a
century thanks to that "Apostle to Africa" Dr. David

We must however lament that much is still to be desired in the fabric of our society which only a spiritual revival and an education based on a Christian worldview can bring about. Even a casual reflection on many aspects of our society informs us that a deeper transformation is still needed to move the nation forward in its quest to take an honourable place among the nations of the world. Many areas come to mind where transformation is needed such as: work ethic, time management, view of the law, integrity, management of resources and dominating nature. I will touch on some of these areas briefly.

Many in this country still have a poor view of work not realising it honours God to work because He commanded man to work. There is still a "dependency syndrome" whereby relatives of one in gainful employment expect that person to support them financially even when they themselves are able-bodied and can work to provide for their families. This syndrome is sometimes seen even at organisational or national levels where people are always looking for donations from others. People are also content to merely get by not realising that it is hard work which brings profit (Proverbs 14:23). Indeed God requires us not only to work hard but to do quality work (Colossians 3:23). Because of a negative work ethic, productivity is low and the quality of work is often very poor. (If you have ever dealt with artisans such as carpenters, bricklayers and electricians, you will know what I am talking about!) I strongly believe that an education with an emphasis on a Christian worldview would help address this.

Another scourge we see is a mediocre attitude toward time. Little regard is given to time as a resource needing to be maximised. We all have 24 hours in a day but some achieve a lot more in that time than others. Generally speaking, our people do not respect time (e.g., people arrive late for appointments or other commitments and are hardly bothered about it). Apart from what has been said above, poor time keeping is a reflection of poor planning.

At the risk of being misunderstood, let me share an experience I had. A friend invited me to observe with him a kitchen party of his daughter. The stated time on the card for the event was 14:00-17:00 hrs. The event started with a trickle of invited guests and people were still arriving at 17:00 hrs when the event was due to end! Our God, though He created time, keeps to time. He promised to deliver the children of Israel 430 years after their going into bondage in Egypt. Scripture records, "At the end of 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord's divisions left Egypt" (Exodus 12:41, ESV). There is a double lesson here: keeping time and keeping promises - both of which we are still very poor at! Many hours are lost on a daily basis waiting for people to pitch up to do one thing or another.

Perhaps an area of even greater concern is the general view on law. The saying, "rules are rules," does not resonate with many in the land. The common attitude is that law or rules apply to common people but not to
those in positions of authority. In many situations, people will turn a blind eye if a boss breaks the law/rules for, "He is a boss after all." This selective application of the law leads to a tolerance of injustice and its "cousin sins"
of corruption, bribery and theft which in turn lead to squandering of institutional or national resources. It is hard to imagine how much national resources have been misapplied over the last 50 years because of this scourge. There is a need for a greater sense of accountability for those in authority at whatever level and an equally great demand for this among those in the "rank and file." An education with a Christian worldview will inculcate a high sense of justice, responsibility and integrity for it is written about God in Psalm 89:14 (ESV) that, "righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne." God is inflexibly just.

An education based on a Christian worldview would also help in the management of resources and subduing the earth. We may note that when God created Adam, He put him in a beautiful garden, and not in a desert, signifying that men are expected to make where they dwell liveable by managing the surroundings well. He also commanded him to dominate nature and rule over it. How many times have we had recurrent problems (e.g., flooding of drainages, late provision of farm inputs, uncollected farm produce, etc.) without finding lasting solutions to them? When we build things, we somehow hope they will maintain themselves and the result is deterioration in our assets. We are then forced to redo these projects at even greater cost.

It is certainly hoped that ACU will have a massive role to play in this "re-engineering" of the average mind set. If God permits that leaders trained at this institution will emerge, it will do the country much good. We may take a cue from the fact that graduates of renowned universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard (institutions started by Christians) attained positions of national leadership and were instrumental in moving the nations they led forward. They used the privileged position of being national leaders to further the cause of their countries (improvement of the economy) and not to feather their own nests. Much of our public leadership ethos is about  self-serving rather than serving the nation. 

And since the  fortunes of any people are bound up  with the quality of leaders, therein lies the real issue. An education with a Christian worldview should shape statesmen  and not mere politicians. Such an  education makes men accountable to God and  since, "righteousness exalts a nation" (Proverbs 14:34, ESV), the economy   would surely improve as a consequence.