“Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” The disconnect between salvation and sanctification among Protestants in Kenya and its consequences

Abstract

This article explores the apparent discrepancy that exists between religious claims concerning personal salvation and actual behavior among the many different kinds of Protestant Christians in Kenya and asks the question, how can a religion which seems to make such exalted claims of personal religious experience and status appear to make so little actual difference in how many of these Christians live their lives? And this in spite of the clear moral mandate contained in the Scriptures these churches and their members claim to believe. Hypocrisy, of course, is a reality in every religious system. But what seems to be occurring in Kenya (and throughout sub-Saharan Africa) goes far beyond anything that could be attributed to ordinary hypocrisy. And the question that comes to mind is Why? What is going on here? The country where this study has been undertaken is Kenya, and the observations that are made are not scientifically gathered, but rather are self-reported by Kenyan church leaders themselves. Their evidence is thus not determinative, but supportive of the central claim of the article. It is the argument of this article that the core issue facing Kenyan Christians and Kenyan churches behind this discrepancy is a theological and systemic one, namely how salvation is understood and preached by different Kenyan Christian leaders and the role that sanctification plays (if at all) in the contemporary Kenyan Christian understandings of what it means to be “saved” and thus what it means to be “Christian”. The sampled views of Kenyan Christian leaders are explored. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations offered to help Christian leaders begin to address the gap between “salvation” as it is understood and proclaimed and sanctification as it is experienced and lived in the ordinary Christian life.