Most of us have a rather ambiguous relationship with the State. In his book, The State and Capitalism, Ralph Miliband summarised it well: "It is possible not to be interested in what the state does, but it is not possible to be unaffected by it."
Government at least wants to give the impression that it understands and is committed to the common good. And the vast majority of our political leaders really do enter politics with that thought in mind. But all of us – politicians included – are driven by our own legitimate personal ambitions and aspirations. At the end of the day, we tend to vote for what works for us and our family.
This tension between individualism and the common good makes politics a very tough task. Archbishop William Temple insightfully observed, "A statesman who supposes that a mass of citizens can be governed without appeal to their self-interest is living in dreamland and is a public menace."
The way to change legislation is to change the public mind
From its very beginning, the Christian faith has always tried to bridge this ambiguity. Passages such as Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 were written to guide Christians in their relationships with the State. These letters offered advice for Christians in a hostile environment: "Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king" (1 Peter 2.17).
The history of the Christian Church is partially an account to our own imperfect attempts to square this impossible circle.
Neither politicians nor Church leaders are taken as seriously as they once were. But perhaps the great disillusionment is that we have ascribed more influence and power to politicians than they actually enjoy. Politicians are no more than the public amplification of our own private failings.
In a liberal democracy, citizenship should be taken seriously by Christian and non-Christian alike.
Frankly, it is politically naïve for Christians to expect Members of Parliament to vote like evangelists. They must give due care and attention to the breadth of their constituency; the pull and push of public opinion and political accountability means that elected servants often feel helpless to tell the truth.
But the battle for respect must take public opinion into account. The democratic process needs a change in public views and morality - not just the private convictions of parliamentarians. This has always been the case; the difference is that we now have many more moralities vying for attention.
In the absence of a moral consensus based on the idea of holy transcendence, politics flounders with tactical responses to spiritual attitudes and values. The function of Christian faith is to build a moral consensus that makes the task of politicians easier to carry out..jpg)
In theologian Jürgen Moltmann’s view, "We are called to a special degree to work together for the revaluation of values which is required so that the world may live and not die."
Joel Edwards
General Director
Evangelical Alliance
