A call to repentance and renewal

The ancient promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 — rooted in humility, prayer, repentance, and divine healing — offers a piercing lens through which Jamaica’s Christian community must confront its complicity in the nation’s moral and social decay. While churches multiply and prayer conferences abound, Jamaica’s crime rate, including the recent horrific murder of a nine-year-old girl, stands as a damning indictment of our collective failure to embody Christ’s transformative love.

THE PARADOX OF PIETY AND VIOLENCE

Jamaica, with one of the highest per capita church densities globally, reports a murder rate of 48.4 per 100,000 (2023 World Bank data), dwarfing Denmark’s 0.9 and Singapore’s 0.2 (UNODC). These nations, though less overtly religious, prioritise systemic justice, equitable social policies, and community trust. Singapore’s rigorous policing and Denmark’s investment in education, mental health, and poverty eradication underscore that societal peace requires more than piety — it demands ethical integrity and tangible action.

The recent arrest of young men — once active in congregations — for armed robbery exposes a rupture in spiritual formation. Their descent into crime reflects not merely individual failure but a systemic collapse of discipleship. The Church’s muted response — a fleeting “nine-day wonder”— reveals a dangerous complacency. Where is the sackcloth and ashes? Where is the corporate repentance for leaders who preach heavenly riches while exploiting the poor or for congregations that prioritise emotional worship over ethical accountability?

THE SCOURGE OF EXPLOITATION AND HYPOCRISY

Jamaica’s reputation as the Caribbean’s “scamming capital” cannot be divorced from the moral dissonance of a Church that tolerates leaders living in opulence while their flocks languish. When pastors demand “the last dime” for offerings yet ignore the desperation of youth surrounded by inequality, we sow seeds of cynicism. Christ’s parable of the lost sheep rebukes our obsession with the “99 saved” while ignoring the one — or the thousands — lost to gangs, scams, and violence.

Prayer is vital, but Scripture ties God’s healing to repentance and turning from “wicked ways” (2 Chron. 7:14). This demands:

1. Accountability for leaders: Pastors must model Christ’s humility, rejecting greed and prioritising transparency (1 Timothy 3:1–7).

2. Community engagement: Churches must partner with schools, policymakers, and social workers to dismantle systemic inequity.

3. Youth investment: Mentorship programmes, vocational training, and trauma counselling — funded by redirected church resources — could offer alternatives to crime.

4. Prophetic advocacy: The Church must confront corruption, police brutality, and political neglect not merely comfort their consequences.

Denmark and Singapore prove that low crime is achievable through societal trust and equity. Jamaica’s Church, however, clings to ritual while avoiding the costly work of justice. The rape and murder of a child, the parade of “church boys”-turned-criminals and the normalisation of violence demand more than prayer conferences. They demand a Church that weeps, repents, and acts — a Church worthy of the Shepherd who leaves the 99 to rescue the one.

Let us reclaim 2 Chronicles 7:14 not as a mantra but as a mandate: humble ourselves, turn from hypocrisy, and heal this land.

Rev Desmond Robinson is a Seventh-day Church pastor and PhD student, counseling .pastordcrobinson@yahoo.com