In the first century, a crowd gathered to hear a story told by an eccentric rabbi named Jesus of Nazareth to learn about forgiveness, justice, and being neighbors. A man travels from Jerusalem to Jericho. Thieves beat the man and leave him for dead. A priest and a Levite walk past without helping, but a Samaritan has compassion on him. This parable was taken very seriously by a thinker, theologian, and bishop who greatly understood compassion and justice. His name was Desmond Tutu.
When Tutu died at 90, the world lost an incredible human being. He was born in 1931 in South Africa to missionary parents. From a young age, Tutu had a great mind and a deep faith in Christ and understood his calling to be Christ’s hands and feet in South Africa for people by fighting against racism. Tutu had no tolerance for racism and hate. His life’s work was helping people find healing and hope. The heinous evil of apartheid did not make him cynical or apathetic. It made him compassionate, brave, and strong. As a Christian, he felt it was his duty to help his brothers and sisters understand how valuable they are in the eyes of Christ since they are created in the Imago Dei—in the image of God. Racism is a terrible sin because it breaks the heart of God, and it violates the sacred gift of being a human being on this earth, no matter one’s ethnicity. Tutu called out the corrupt South African government for its complicity in the genocide and did something about it through prayer, activism, teaching, education, the sacraments, and acts of justice and mercy in his community.
What Was Desmond Tutu Known For?
Tutu was a very important thinker, theologian, and activist because of his work combating apartheid in his home country of South Africa. In 1985, Tutu became an Anglican bishop in Johannesburg, South Africa—the first black person to be made an Anglican bishop in the country. He used his social status for good by standing up to the corrupt government’s racial discrimination, murder, and injustice.
How did Tutu do this? Tutu exhorted the South African government repeatedly during his time as a bishop to end its policities, sometimes engaging in civil disobedient protests or calling for other nations ot boycott South Africa. After the apartheid era ended in 1994, Tutu became part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with future South African president Nelson Mandela. This movement held the government accountable by establishing just laws that embodied mercy, forgiveness, justice, and unity. Although the commission did not accomplish everything that Tutu hoped, it brought a measure of great healing and unity to his beloved country.
10 Important Events in the Life of Desmond Tutu
1. In 1955, Tutu married his beloved wife, Nomalizo Leah Shenxane.
2. In the 1960s, Tutu heard about the Civil Rights Movement, which became a key influence on his stance toward racial justice.
3. In 1964, Tutu’s friend Nelson Mandela was unjustly imprisoned by the South African government for campaigning against racial injustice.
4. In 1975, Tutu was made the Dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in South Africa.
5. In 1984, Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize.
6. In 1989, Tutu led an anti-apartheid march of 30,000 people in Cape Town to make a statement about racial justice.
7. In 1990, Tutu celebrated when Mandela was released from prison.
8. In 1995, Nelson Mandela made Tutu the head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
9. In 2010, Tutu retired from public life.
10. On December 26, 2021, Tutu died in Cape Town.
10 Things You Didn’t Know about Desmond Tutu
1. In 1986, Tutu was elected Cape Town’s first black Anglican archbishop.
2. Tutu had a very good sense of humor. Once, when asked why he and the Dalai Lama had such a good friendship, he responded, “He is always troubling me.”
3. Tutu was a teacher before becoming an Anglican priest in 1961.
4. Tutu got his M.A. in theology from King’s College in London, England, in 1966.
5. Tutu was a climate change activist.
6. Tutu was the author of many books, including one co-written with the Dalai Lama, The Book of Joy.
7. Tutu became the first black general secretary of the South African Council of Churches in 1978.
8. Tutu received the Templeton Prize in 2013.
9. In 1985, Tutu and fellow bishop Simon Nkoane saved a black man from being burned alive by an angry mob.
10. Tutu was awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
10 Quotes by Desmond Tutu
1. “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
2. “Forgiving is not forgetting; it’s actually remembering—remembering and not using your right to hit back. It’s a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you don’t want to repeat what happened.”
3. “Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.”
4. “We were made to enjoy music, to enjoy beautiful sunsets, to enjoy looking at the billows of the sea and to be thrilled with a rose that is bedecked with dew… Human beings are actually created for the transcendent, for the sublime, for the beautiful, for the truthful... and all of us are given the task of trying to make this world a little more hospitable to these beautiful things.”
5. “It is through weakness and vulnerability that most of us learn empathy and compassion and discover our soul.”
6. “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
7. “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
8. “God places us in the world as his fellow workers-agents of transfiguration. We work with God so that injustice is transfigured into justice, so there will be more compassion and caring, that there will be more laughter and joy, that there will be more togetherness in God’s world.”
9. “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”
10. “We are each made for goodness, love, and compassion. Our lives are transformed as much as the world is when we live with these truths.”
What Can We Learn from Desmond Tutu Today?
Tutu’s primary lesson for us today is the importance of reflecting agape love in our lives. This love is the highest form of love, is selfless, and is a divine gift to humanity from Christ. Agape love gave Tutu the courage, strength, and resilience not to hate, give up, and seek justice and compassion in his very troubled country. The terrible violence, poverty, hate, and death he observed could easily make one cynical or apathetic. Praise God, this did not happen to him! Because he heeded his vocational calling, he profoundly impacted many people’s lives for the kingdom of God.
A second important thing that we can learn from Tutu is the importance of racial justice and equality. Christianity condemns racism because every human being is created in God’s image. Growing up in the South, I observed terrible racism, found it appalling, and decided to treat everyone with respect and compassion, no matter their background. Whether someone is Chinese, Welsh, African, or Indigenous, that individual’s culture, language, and ethnicity is a sacred gift from Christ. A good example from scripture for racial equality is Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well mentioned in John 4.
Reflecting agape love in your life comes at a cost because it directly opposes our culture of instant gratification, racism, nihilism, and money. Jesus of Nazareth embodied agape love by becoming incarnate as a first-century rabbi, suffering a horrific death under the Romans. Then he rose from the dead, defeating death to offer hope and redemption to everyone in the here and now. Tutu answered his vocational call and lived a life reflecting agape love. His life is a great example to all Christians of someone that exuded goodness, beauty, and truth. Whether we are teachers, poets, musicians, writers, doctors, clergy, or nurses, we can do as Desmond Tutu did.
Photo Credit: Kristen Opalinski/Wikimedia Commons
Justin Wiggins is an author who works and lives in the primitive, majestic, beautiful mountains of North Carolina. He graduated with his Bachelor's in English Literature, with a focus on C.S. Lewis studies, from Montreat College in May 2018. His first book was Surprised by Agape, published by Grant Hudson of Clarendon House Publications. His second book, Surprised By Myth, was co-written with Grant Hudson and published in 2021. Many of his recent books (Marty & Irene, Tír na nÓg, Celtic Twilight, Celtic Song, Ragnarok, Celtic Dawn) are published by Steve Cawte of Impspired.
Wiggins has also had poems and other short pieces published by Clarendon House Publications, Sehnsucht: The C.S. Lewis Journal, and Sweetycat Press. Justin has a great zeal for life, work, community, writing, literature, art, pubs, bookstores, coffee shops, and for England, Scotland, and Ireland.
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