‘Go and tell that fox’ said Jesus of Herod (Luke 13:32).
If you’ve used less than complimentary words to describe political figures before, you might be surprised to find you are in such illustrious company. It has become a truism that people have lost confidence in politicians today. Allied to this, and more disturbing, is the sense that people are losing trust in the process of government.
Although the spread of democracy in the world today has slowed in comparison to its rapid growth in the 1990s, the question over where the legitimacy of government lies has been decisively answered in the large part: it lies with the people, in a democracy. In Romans 13 however, St. Paul says it lies with God. Is it possible to reconcile these two commitments? I think it is: government lies in the people under God. Modern secular constitutions predictably do not reflect this balance, but it limits a government’s sovereignty in a crucial way by making it embrace its own contingency in the light of eternity. |
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House of Commons for PMQ |
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Only one kingdom will endure and while good government shares some of its characteristics, there is a built-in obsolescence with all human authority that should engender awe and humility in those who possess it. If that last point makes you smile wryly when you survey modern government, it may indicate how far political authority is slipping from its divine calling.
According to Romans 13, a functioning government should restrain evil and promote good. History is littered with regimes which perform the opposite: promoting evil and restraining good. It takes integrity, perseverance and courage to resist evil and if the State can’t help us, there is little hope for the population. As Isaiah observed: ‘those who refrain from evil become prey’ (59:15). Good government reflects the character of God in its sifting of human behaviour. It is also the reason that corruption among the powerful is the worst possible social outcome because of the sordid legitimacy it gives to other opportunists on the make and the subtle temptation it affords ordinary people to suspend their scruples.
St. Paul’s corollary - that government should promote good - is most striking. Living in a law-based society we know more or less what we shouldn’t do – but where exactly do we learn how to live good public lives, especially now that trust in all institutions, including the Church, has been eroded? There is a role for the promotion of good in society which extends far beyond the minimalist honours system which has anyway been compromised by political favours. That we have not developed it demonstrates both a lack of shared vision over what makes a good society and a crisis over the legitimacy of government encouraging people to live a certain way. The mere mention of the words ‘nanny state’ would be enough to stifle any such debate today. People like to be free to live their lives their own way, but how does society get them to think responsibly about others at the same time?
The trend towards seeing government as a conspiracy against the people, inspired by obsessive far-right groups in the United States, is fast gathering pace, given needless succour by the way technology is used routinely to pry into private lives. Good government should help to ensure freedom, fairness and protection for the more vulnerable members of society. It is a blessing to thank God for. Civic disengagement from its processes, however compromised, is the surest way to turn a blessing into a curse. |