57 reparations which is a biblical ethic in which those who have acquired wealth through cheating or exploitation of fellow human beings were required to return that wealth plus the interest. The story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-9) is a very classic example of what reconciliation with God demands on the part of those who want to be reconciled with God and fellow human beings. Face to face with Jesus he could not help but to be converted to a new way of looking at things and relating to others. His whole life changed and he immediately took concrete and visible action to reconcile himself not only with God but with fellow human beings and committed himself to returning whatever he had taken from others through unjust means: “Here and now I give my possessions to the poor, and if I have ever cheated anybody of anything, I will pay back four times the amount” (Luke 19:8). Only after taking that gigantic step did Jesus say to him “Today salvation has come into this house” (Lk19:9). The same ethic is articulated in the Book of Nehemiah chapter 5. Nehemiah demanded that those among the Jewish community who had acquired their wealth through exploitation and impoverishment of their kindred should immediately take action “restore to them, this very day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, their houses, and the interest on money, wine, grain, and oil you have been exacting from them” (Nehemiah 5:11). To this challenge from Nehemiah the rich responded by saying “We will restore everything and demand nothing more from them” (Vs. 11). A deliberate action on the part of those in our society who have benefited from the exploitation of the poor by voluntarily contributing to the creation of a just society is what the Gospel of Christ demands. This therefore is the challenge not only to our white Zimbabweans who benefited from the unjust colonial system, but to black Zimbabweans who have taken advantage of the present economic crisis to defraud, cheat, and enrich themselves through corrupt means. Setting in motion a credible process towards the renewal of our society and addressing the economic imbalances is a step in the direction of national reconciliation and forgiveness. The rich in our communities must voluntarily contribute towards that end. As Churches in Zimbabwe we would like to identify ourselves with the position taken by the authors of the Kairos Document in South Africa in the days of the struggle against apartheid and declare that also in our situation we would regard it “ to be totally unchristian to plead for reconciliation and peace before the present injustices have been removed” since any “such plea only plays into the hands of oppressors by trying to persuade those who are oppressed to try to accept (their) oppression and to become reconciled to the intolerable crimes committed against (them). This is not Christian reconciliation, it is sin. No reconciliation is possible