Dominoes

We are called to be people who walk with consistency, reliant on the Spirit and determined to do His will. We have to guard ourselves against drifting away from God's truth, but grounded in the Word of God. Proverbs 4 reminds us:
23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.

If we claim to follow Christ, we have to evaluate our lives and make sure that we are lining up with how He has called us to walk.  We can easily get off track if we have our focus in the wrong place - gratifying self rather than exalting God.  He enables us to be people of integrity, who tell the truth and can be trusted.  Who are not one way in public and another in private.  People who abide by the instruction of Scripture rather than attempt to tell people how to behave without behaving that way themselves.  We should be shining examples to the world around us of the presence of Christ.

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We are not called to be duplicitous - saying one thing and doing the other; claiming to follow Christ but denying Him by our actions. We are called to be singly-minded and consistent. Proverbs 10 says:
8 The wise in heart will receive commands, But a prating fool will fall.
9 He who walks with integrity walks securely, But he who perverts his ways will become known.
10 He who winks with the eye causes trouble, But a prating fool will fall.

The British government is in a state of upheaval these days as members of the majority party in the U.K. are voting on a replacement for Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.  Currently, there are two final candidates, from a field whittled down over the past few days, and they met in the first of a series of 12 debates last night.  Former finance minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss are the two candidates.

What led to the resignation of Boris Johnson?  Well, there is evidence that it proceeded from...a prayer meeting!

According to the website for The Bible Society:

...it was the sermon given by Revd Les Isaac at the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast (NPPB) that triggered Sajid Javid's resignation as Health Secretary. His decision to quit set the dominoes falling: a wave of departures led to the Prime Minister's exit.

In his devastating personal statement to the Commons he had referenced the sermon, with its call to ‘serve the interests of others above your own and to seek the common good of your party, your community and above all your country’. On Sunday morning, however, he told the BBC's Sophie Raworth: ‘I was listening to him talking about the importance of integrity in public life and, just focusing on that, I made up my mind.

‘I went straight back to my office and drafted the resignation letter and went to see the Prime Minister later in the day.’

At the breakfast, according to the site, "... biblical truth was spoken in a way that cut through Westminster's high-volume moral muddles and triggered real change."

According to Premier Christian News, the speaker at the event, Les Isaac, "is the founder and CEO of Ascension Trust and also a pioneer of Street Pastors. His sermon referenced Psalm 23 :4 'Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod a nd your staff, they comfort me.'"

The article goes on to say:

He also spoke of Jesus expecting us to serve in humility quoting Philippians 2:8 : "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross!"

Singer-songwriter Andy Flannagan was leading worship at the event which heralded the start of the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief. He told Premier the presence of the Holy Spirit was palpable :

"It's quite remarkable. It felt really significant. There were what you might describe as holy moments where God's presence was just irresistible. It was profound and powerful.

Sunak also resigned his position the same day, representing two high-profile leaders who had stepped aside, weakening Johnson's position and apparently ultimately triggered Johnson's resignation.  

Flannagan wrote at Christian Today:

It would be so easy just to focus on the failings of one person but the events of this week reflect the collapse of integrity in leadership more widely. Covid season especially has awakened us to the importance of integrity and how important it is to have a track record in telling the truth. The importance of integrity in leadership is something that Christians in Politics has been talking about for many years now, but we're seeing the collapse of this on both sides of the Atlantic.

In some ways, this has made my job easier because people now really appreciate the importance of who leads us. It's not that the Church has a monopoly on ethics in leadership - we've had a pretty bad track record at times. But with humility, we aspire to good leadership and the ethics that are a part of that. We have to challenge the violation of ethics that we have seen in the political leadership of this land - and also those who went along with it for many years.

It would be easy to make Boris Johnson the pantomime villain but the sad fact is that we're talking about a culture. At a time when we are desperate to see more ethics in our leadership, sadly it's a whole culture that has let us down as opposed to just one person.

Flannagan is the Executive Director of Christians in Politics, which states on its website that, "Our vision...is to see Christians respond to God's call to positive, relational political engagement."

So, the race for Prime Minister of Great Britain is underway. I must admit, my hands are full with American politicians, so I haven't studied the two candidates a whole lot.  But, we can remember that the stage for this contest was set by a sermon, a proclamation of truth.  I think it can be a reminder of the power of God's Word.  We say that the Word will not return void, so that should inspire us to continue to trust in it and model our lives by it.

We also can be challenged to live lives of integrity.  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is leaving the office in part because of backlash over not abiding by COVID restrictions that his government imposed upon the people.  That's not an isolated case: we've seen American politicians do the same thing, putting restrictions on people to curb COVID, but then the discovery is made that they are not abiding by the same rules.  Jesus took the religious leaders of His day to task, speaking about them in Matthew chapter 23: 

(2) "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers
5 But all their works they do to be seen by men...

So where are the statesmen?  The stateswomen?  In a time in which solid leadership is needed in our country and the Church, who will step up and lead on principle?  We can each be challenged to be the person who demonstrates the demeanor of Christ and relies on His wisdom.