In a television interview some years ago, Natalie Cole, daughter of singer Nat King Cole, was asked for her definition of heaven. Heaven, she said, was a place where everyone was doing things for everyone else and everything got done.
A somewhat incomplete vision: no God or Lamb, no throne or singing angels, but a nice idea. More than that, it's a very descriptive version of what we might loosely call 'heaven on earth'. And it's probably the ultimate utopian vision of a mutually respectful society.
From the teachings of the Old Testament prophets and laws to the Crime and Disorder Act, we have been hemmed in by rules and regulations designed to stop us killing each other and build civility. But as we stockpile legislation and hand out ASBOs it has become increasingly clear that you simply cannot legislate positive attitudes into being. Respect offers something more.
Respect is never imposed. It wells up from an amazing conviction that everyone is made by God - a 'little lower than the heavenly beings', in fact (Psalm 8.5). There is no greater fund from which to feed our imagination about what it means to be a person or, even more importantly, what it means to treat others as people. And there is no more important idea to stimulate positive community cohesion than this worldview.
In this political climate, when politicians and columnists are saying so much about respect, it would be a tragedy for Christians to remain mute. We have both the right and responsibility to say that respect adds value to community relationships. Only a person who values another human being because they are made in the 'image and likeness of God' (Genesis 1.27) truly understands what it means to be a person. And a person who understands people like that is unlikely to become a racist, rape a teenage girl or put a knife in someone's back.
Respect, properly understood, gives us an enduring perspective when we disagree with someone else's faith, sexual orientation or lifestyle. Respect empowers us to disagree without getting nasty about it. Respect can be an avenue of grace.
You simply cannot legislate positive attitudes into being
But respect is also important to us as an evangelical community. In recent months we have been talking about our ministry as a movement of evangelicals working Alltogether. The word Alltogether describes the way the broadest grouping of evangelicals in Britain complements each other in our witness to Christ.
Simply put, it is another way of reminding ourselves that this movement, now in its 160th year, has been called to bring people together to change society. We stand together on a number of non-negotiable beliefs but we are also committed to diversity across our traditions, as well as our denominational and cultural differences.
And we do this because we are passionate to present Christ credibly to our world. Taking the Good News to lost people is the hallmark of our mission. This is the basis on which we want to work as an Alltogether movement of evangelicals in a complex and challenging landscape: corporation without control.
It's an exciting journey ahead, and we will walk it well together as we demonstrate amongst ourselves the respect we want people in our society to show for each other.
Joel Edwards
General Director
Evangelical Alliance
