Who rules Britain?

Some years ago when I was teaching students in London University for the BSc Sociology, the question that had caused the most difficulty in that year’s degree paper on ‘Modern Britain’ was simply three words: “Who rules Britain?”

Student answers at the time ranged from the Queen to voters. They included the Government, the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, backbench MPs, the European Union, the Trade Union movement, bankers, the media, TV celebrities, political party activists, pressure groups and numerous other inventive suggestions.

Their answers revealed the complexity of our modern democracy where power is distributed over a wide range of institutions. They revealed the healthy checks and balances in our political system, but they also indicated a huge sense of powerlessness right across the nation. Nobody really has unlimited power.

The Queen has to sign whatever bills are presented to her - however much she may disagree with them. Whoever is Prime Minister continually has to look over their shoulder for those who are plotting to overthrow them. The Cabinet is there purely to do the bidding of the Prime Minister and may be summarily dismissed.

In a democracy, all political power is impermanent and transitory. Leaders exist at the whim of the public and face daily threats to their authority. The current challenges faced by both Theresa May and Donald Trump are cases in point: holding power in a democratic country is an uncertain and dangerous business!

Limits to power have been built in to our political system over centuries, but seasons of powerlessness can also be allowed by God to descend upon our national leaders.

There are limits to the exercise of power in every institution – even in dictatorships where mob rule can take over and wrest power from the hands of rulers like Mugabe as happened recently in Zimbabwe. But a sudden loss of power can also engulf leaders in a bank, or a great financial house such as Lehman Bros, or a shopping complex, or a manufacturer, or even in the Church.

Limits to power have been built in to our political system over centuries, but seasons of powerlessness and instability can also be allowed by God to descend upon our national leaders. In Britain today as the Brexit negotiations move towards deadlines, the sense of crisis is growing, but amongst both Remainers and Brexiteers there is also a growing sense of powerlessness!

This may seem like a negative thing, but it is actually a sign of great opportunity – if it is recognised by our leaders and responded to properly.

Why Powerlessness Can Be Good

Feelings of powerlessness are experienced at some point in life by all human beings. Circumstances conspire to leave us feeling unable to control and direct our lives as we would wish – and for each of us this presents a challenge: will we respond positively or negatively?

Negatively, feelings of powerlessness can lead to frustration, depression, mental illness and even suicide.

Positively, the recognition of our own powerlessness can also lead to creative thinking. Our objectives may be being frustrated, but if they are worthy we can think creatively to discover other ways of achieving them. If they are not worthy we may be forced to re-think our plans. More broadly, we might be challenged to re-evaluate who or what we serve, and in whom we are placing our trust.

This is the choice facing our political leaders in Britain today. They may well feel powerless in the face of a petulant EU, an angry electorate, divided MPs, concerned businesses and a media lynch mob. But this season in Britain’s history is nevertheless an opportunity to ask deeper, more creative questions about our future. What are we really seeking to achieve? What is in the best interests of the nation and what sort of people do we want to be? To whom, or to what, will we entrust our future?

Feelings of powerlessness are experienced at some point in life by all human beings: the question is, how will we respond?

It is not only Britain which is at a crossroads, but also the whole of Western civilisation. The General Election in Sweden last Sunday, which resulted in significant gains for the ultra-right populist Sweden Democrats, revealed public concern for the cultural threats posed by waves of mass immigration. The same concern for loss of traditional culture is to be seen in Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Austria, the USA, Australia and Britain, where populist movements are challenging previously dominant elite groups for control over the direction of social change.

Pro-Brexit protesters outside Downing Street, last week. See Photo Credits.These are all nations whose cultures have, to some extent, been built upon Judeo-Christian foundations for centuries. It is the loss of this heritage that is now being felt keenly by ordinary citizens in these nations; although many in positions of power do not recognise this.

The Only Answer

This is where national leaders in the Church should play a major part in redirecting the values and objectives of the state – calling upon political leaders to re-examine their objectives. What do we want from Brexit? There is opportunity today to re-emphasise Judeo-Christian values of truth, integrity, faithfulness, loyalty, generosity, unselfishness and all the other biblical ethics that have proved to promote prosperity and blessing in our history.

At the same time, there is also enormous opportunity in amongst the Brexit mess for Church leaders to teach the nation a biblical lesson about our own helplessness – our spiritual inability to pursue goodness and truth without God’s help. Probably the most insightful passage in all the Apostle Paul’s writings is in Romans 7 where he writes about his own personal experience of powerlessness. He confesses, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do.”

Billions of human beings today can say exactly the same thing: we don’t do the good things we want to do, but we find ourselves driven to do the very things that we hate. This is what leads to self-harm and depression among so many young people today.

Understanding and accepting our powerlessness in this ultimate spiritual battle against sin is the first step to rescue and recovery.

In answer to his own lament, the Apostle Paul points to the amazing, creative, transformative, life-giving power that came into his own life and can come to us. It comes when we cry out for help from Jesus, who through the Cross set us free from the power of both sin and death. Yes, in an instant, lives can be changed.

There is opportunity amid the Brexit mess for Church leaders to teach the nation a biblical lesson about our own helplessness – our spiritual inability to pursue goodness and truth without God’s help.

Revival?

And that goes for nations too! All that is needed now for revival to sweep across Britain is the recognition of our own powerlessness – individually and corporately - to resist the forces that are driving the nation towards devastating political and social destruction and blinding our leaders even to plain common sense.

Once we recognise that we have turned away from God’s truth and put ourselves outside his protection, and that on our own we are powerless to help ourselves, and once we cry out to God for help – his transforming power will come to our aid.

That would be revival! But revival cannot be organised. It is a sovereign act of God releasing a movement of the Holy Spirit among ordinary people like us. And right now, revival is the only hope for a better Britain. But it will not come unless believing Christians start declaring the truth and preparing the way through prayer.

Italy’s new Government puts another strain on Brussels.

The wave of populism continues to sweep across Europe with Italy being the latest nation to feel its ‘people power’ unsettling the political establishment. But it is not only Rome that is fearing radical change: the shockwaves are reaching Brussels and shaking the EU. The past week has been one of turbulence in Italy with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) doing a deal with the right-wing anti-immigration League after more than 12 weeks of haggling.

The two parties nominated Giuseppe Conte, a professor of law with no political experience, as Prime Minister and Paolo Savona – a fierce opponent of the Euro – as Finance Minister. Both were overruled by the President who refused to appoint them. President Mattarella was widely reported to be following instructions from Brussels with particular pressure from Germany. A compromise has been reached with Conte remaining as Prime Minister but Savona being moved to Minister for European Affairs and Giovanni Tria – who favours remaining in the Eurozone – becoming Finance Minister.

But Italy’s new populist Government still presents a headache for Brussels because both M5S’s leader Luigi Di Maio and the League’s Matteo Salvini – now Deputy Prime Ministers - are strongly Eurosceptic and have declared that the Euro is not good for Italy. The President’s intervention, far from steering Italy into calmer waters, enraged voters who support these two parties precisely because they are anti-EU and anti-establishment.

Justified Anger

The rise of the populist parties reflects the justified anger at the political class both in Rome and in Brussels. Italy has 30% of young people unemployed and more than 20% unemployment in the southern half of the country. Vital reforms have not been carried out by previous governments and the situation has been greatly exacerbated by the flow of immigrants coming across the Mediterranean from North Africa.

The shockwaves of populism are reaching Brussels and shaking the European Union.

Appeals to the EU for help with the migrant crisis have been ignored; so too have the desperate needs for tackling corruption and improving the country’s education and youth services. Italy’s economy has not grown for the past two decades, which has caused the people at last to rise up and say “Enough is Enough! We will not have these people ruling over us any longer!” Historically, this has been the cry of oppressed people throughout the ages.

The new Coalition, due to be sworn in today, plans to increase spending, cut taxes and disperse half a million immigrants across the Eurozone - to the horror of Brussels! The new populist Government in Italy takes power at the same time as Britain concludes its negotiations for exiting the European Union – all putting additional strain on the EU that could result in the collapse of the whole enterprise of a united Europe.

Resentment and Revolt

Even if Italy does not abandon the Euro, the shockwaves of its new populist Government’s policies will be enough to shake the EU to its foundations. Italy is the fourth largest economy in Europe and their national debt is already at 132% of GDP. No nation can go on spending more than it earns without courting disaster. But that is what Italy’s new Coalition plans to do – to increase spending massively in order to give a living wage to the poorest families which could send the Euro spinning out of control.

The plain fact is that Italians are contemptuous of their political establishment and of the Brussels hierarchy. In particular, they deeply resent the power exercised by Germany. They saw the brutal treatment of Greece by Germany’s bankers last year which was in line with the way the Nazis dealt with Greece in the Second World War. The Italians are determined that this is not going to happen to them. They want to shake off the power of the EU over them.

Even if Italy does not abandon the Euro, its new populist Government’s policies will be enough to shake the EU to its foundations.

Last week there was talk of impeaching the President for refusing to recognise the democratic will of the people. But this would have resulted in a General Election which was the last thing that Italy’s President or the EU wanted, because public opinion was swinging increasingly to the populists who could have won an increased majority. That is the strength of the populist movement sweeping the country, with its strong nationalist and anti-immigration sentiment which is likely to strengthen the same movement throughout Europe.

Demand for Justice

The demands of the people for justice and righteousness cannot be ignored for ever. There is something in our human nature that recognises corruption, lies, oppression and injustice as wrong. Perhaps it is because we are created in the image of the God of the Bible, who abhors these things. Truth, righteousness and justice are part of the nature of God, but corruption and lies are the works of the devil – the father of lies.

It looks as though the European Union is facing judgment day. The warning shots fired by Britain through Brexit and the many calls for reform from other nations across Europe have all been ignored by the liberal postmodernist intelligentsia that rules Brussels, enjoying wealthy lifestyles and practising oppression and corruption.

There is something in our human nature that recognises corruption, lies, oppression and injustice as wrong.

The populist movement is probably not a paragon of virtue! But God often uses imperfect instruments to accomplish his purposes. He even used Cyrus the Persian to deliver his people from Babylon. One thing the Bible makes abundantly clear is that God hates injustice and corruption. Here is a selection of verses from the biblical prophets that illustrate this:

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness…Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. (Isa 5:20-23)

Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth I will forgive this city. (Jer 5:1)

Sow for yourself righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love…But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception because you have depended on your own strength. (Hos 10:12-13)

They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. (Amos 2:6-7)

Woe to those who plan iniquity…They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance. Therefore, says the Lord: I am planning disaster against this people. (Mic 2:1-3)

Maybe the word of the Lord to the EU today is similar to that which he pronounced against Israel when their leaders were steeped in corruption:

Therefore, this is what the Holy one of Israel says: because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly in an instant. (Isa 30:12)

Hungary’s populist victory and the disintegration of Europe.

The re-election of Viktor Orban in Hungary’s presidential election last week came as no surprise, but it has caused dismay in Brussels where there is a real fear that Orban’s trashing of the EU rules may spread to other states within the European Union. His campaign was built on fear-mongering and anti-immigration which gave his right-wing populist party a vastly increased majority.

Orban’s victory is a direct challenge to the core values of the European Union which, according to Christian Ultsch in the Austrian press,¹ has caused some to claim the EU is being “shaken to its foundations”.

Many Christians may be happy to see the secular humanist ‘core values’ of the EU being shaken and all those who respect the Christian values that have formed the foundation stones of Western nations will have some sympathy for Victor Orban’s endeavour to protect his country from a large influx of Muslims. He has seen the difficulties that have arisen in Germany following Angela Merkel’s opening the door to one million Muslims and within months some of them became involved in highly publicised terror attacks and sexual attacks upon women and girls.

In France the latest Islamist attack that has shaken the nation was the murder of Mireille Knoll, an 85-year-old Jewish woman and Holocaust survivor. She was stabbed 11 times before her body was set on fire in an anti-Semitic crime that brought 30,000 people onto the streets in protest.

Equality and Tolerance?

Those who uphold the politically correct EU core values of ‘equality’ and ‘tolerance’ believe that over a period of time integration will take place as people live together and accept one another as equals. But this secular humanist, atheist, Marxist dream of a tolerant society is utterly unachievable and simply reveals the ignorance of those who are the driving force behind the secularisation in Brussels that is seeking to remodel Europe.

They simply do not understand Islam, whose Qur’an specifically forbids Muslims to make friends with Jews and Christians: “O ye who have believed, do not choose Jews and Christians as friends; they are friends to each other; whoever makes friends of them is one of them” (Qur’an 5:51).

Those who uphold the EU values of ‘equality’ and ‘tolerance’ believe that over a period of time integration will take place as people accept one another as equals.

Integration is not on Islam’s agenda. Islam’s short-term objective is to rule Europe and the long-term intention is to dominate the world.

There is no compromise in Islam: which is why there is total deadlock between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians do not want peace with Israel: their sole objective is the total destruction of Israel! In Britain we have seen the result of politically correct town councils and secular humanist social workers refusing to believe poor white girls being abused by gangs of immigrant men, so we can understand the widespread indignation in France where similar things are happening and Islamists are particularly targeting Jews.

Islamic Anti-Semitism Exposed

Protests in France against the murder of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll. See Photo Credits.

A letter signed by more than 300 French dignitaries (including former President Sarkozy) denouncing the new anti-Semitism in France has been published this week in a Parisian newspaper.² It calls attention to the alarming surge in Islamist radicalism that is driving a string of attacks upon Jews.

The French Jewish community of more than half a million - the largest in Europe - has seen a wave of emigration to Israel over the past 20 years at least partly driven by the virulent anti-Semitism of Muslim immigrants. The letter highlights the “quiet ethnic purging” that is taking place in working-class city neighbourhoods.

Against this backdrop, the rise of far-right populist parties is understandable. But it is not just the EU’s values that are being shaken. Orban’s victory in Hungary is linked with divisions that are destabilising the whole of Western society – it represents the rise of a new kind of nationalism that has its roots in racism.

Self-Destructing Society

It is strange how wherever you look in the Western world today, division and hatred are on the rise. It is as if our societies are tearing themselves apart from the inside out. While immigration into the West has imported a plethora of new prejudices, home-grown hatreds are also flourishing - at both ends of the political spectrum.

Wherever you look in the Western world today, division and hatred are on the rise.

In the USA, right-wing populism brought President Trump to power, but already his presidency has seen a rise in anti-black racism as well as a spike in anti-Semitism.

In Britain, the populist movement that brought about the Brexit vote has coincided with a rise in racist incidents. But the focus recently has been upon left-wing anti-Semitism in the Labour Party since Jeremy Corbyn became leader. In a meeting last week with representatives of Jewish communities Corbyn was challenged to do something to eradicate the racism that has become apparent in the Labour Party.

Behind the Division

What is it in human nature that drives people to hatred of other human beings?

The answer can only be that we have turned our backs on God. We have rejected the biblical values that have formed the foundation of Western democracy for centuries. Once we depart from these core values the cracks in the structures of society begin to show and it’s not long before all our social institutions, such as the family, begin to crumble.

In the absence of love, justice and unity that stems from God, humans soon turn to hatred. Barely one generation passed in Genesis before mankind turned to murder, brother against brother. The lesson of history is that rebellion breeds hatred and violence. Today, from end to end on the political spectrum, we see people trying to build a world without God – just like at the Tower of Babel. We cannot be surprised to see hatred and division on the rise as a result.

The Litmus Test

The litmus test of the health of a society is the poisonous presence of anti-Semitism, the “oldest of all hatreds”. Whereas other racisms regard hated groups as ‘inferior’ (e.g. anti-black racism), anti-Semitism strangely blames Jews for being ‘superior’ because of their achievements in finance, business, banking and the arts. Whereas all other racisms have definable roots, anti-Semitism transcends time, geography, politics and social class.

In the absence of love, justice and unity that stems from God, humans soon turn to hatred.

It also transcends religion. Islamic anti-Semitism is widespread around the world, stemming right back to Mohammed who turned on the Jews and viciously slaughtered them when they refused to accept his new religion. Christian anti-Semitism has flourished through the ages as Jews have been blamed for killing Jesus and punished for rejecting the Gospel, while Replacement Theology has been manufactured by the Church to write Jews out of God’s purposes altogether.

When people rebel against God and reject his word, this manifests most virulently in a spiritual hatred for the Jews as the covenant people of God, through whom he chose to reveal his nature and purposes to the world. But the Bible says that “The word of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and settle disputes for many peoples” (Isa 2:3-4). This has never been rescinded; and is still God’s intention to fulfil.

The cracks and divisions in our society today have one common root: rebellion against God. This is surely the major problem of our humanity that only the Gospel can cure.

References

1 Die Presse, Vienna, 9 April 2018.

2 Click here for the original letter (in French) or here for the translated page. Please also see this article from Jihad Watch.

People power and the hand of God.

This week we have seen the fall from favour of two powerful politicians – Mugabe and Merkel. They have each held power in very different societies but their downfalls are both linked to the rise of people power.

People power signals the awakening of ordinary people to the misuse of power among the ruling elite that has been the source of oppression for far too long. It is now even affecting cruel dictatorships such as the Mugabe regime, which has dominated Zimbabwe for decades.

The popularist backlash has begun: where will it end?

Angela Merkel’s problems stemmed from her unwise single-handed decision to welcome more than one million asylum seekers from the Muslim world and to try to force other EU nations to follow the same policy. Her nearest neighbours - Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria - have all resisted this pressure.

Populist Revolts

Other parts of the EU are experiencing something similar - a populist reaction against decisions made by those in power. In France, Macron’s sudden rise to prominence reflected a workers’ revolt against both left and right traditional political parties. But his failure to please the workers has brought them out onto the streets in protest.¹

It remains to be seen whether a similar pattern will be followed in Zimbabwe if the vast army of unemployed do not see radical change with their new President, Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Politicians in traditional parties throughout the EU are watching the growth of anti-establishment, populist movements with trepidation.

And what about the European Union itself? The cracks we have been forecasting in Prophecy Today UK are beginning to widen. The corruption at the heart of this evil institution with the gross rewards it pays to its unelected officials is becoming widely known and will bring its inevitable consequences. Politicians in the traditional parties throughout the European Union are watching the growth of anti-establishment, populist movements with trepidation.

The God Factor

Angela Merkel announces the failure of her coalition talks. See Photo Credits.

But the major factor that the Establishment does not recognise is the God factor!

Yes, certainly, the forces of social change that are sweeping Europe and other parts of the world, including traditional monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, are of sociological significance, but they also have theological significance! They are not simply generated by human ambitions or discontent: they all show signs of the guiding Hand of God!

The Prophet Haggai prophesying in the year 520 BC may not have known God’s timetable, but he certainly received a clear revelation of the purposes of God when he declared, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: in a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations…”.

We are certainly seeing a great shaking of the world of nature through storms, hurricanes, floods, droughts and earthquakes – arguably more than in any other period in recorded history; and we are also seeing a great shaking of the nations.

The forces of change that are sweeping Europe and other parts of the world all show signs of the guiding Hand of God.

This is where we need our Bibles more than sociological and political theory to give us a steer about what is happening and the likely outcomes of the forces of change that are driving the nations.

When we get a clear view of the nature and purposes of God, we have the necessary tools of analysis to enable us to understand what is going on in our world today. Without this knowledge we are left with our secular human frailty; alone in the universe, facing the gathering storms with winds of change reaching hurricane force and no compass or rudder to guide.

The two fundamental assets of the biblical prophets were: revelationary knowledge of the nature and purposes of God; and understanding of the sovereignty of God - that everything that happened was either because God directly willed it, or because he allowed it.

Exposing Injustice

So, what’s happening among the nations today? Certainly, we can see that in Europe and the West, God is exposing the corruption, injustice and oppression exercised by the ruling elite who misuse their riches and their power to pursue selfish aims and objectives.

As Jeremiah stated in his famous ‘Temple Sermon’ (Jer 7), God hates injustice and oppression. There is something in our fallen human nature that still reflects the image of God, in which we were created, that enables us to recognise injustice and oppression and to reject them. This is what is happening today as God turns on the light, exposing the corrupt financial, political and social systems of the modern world.

Mrs Merkel’s fall from power is likely to trigger elections in the new year which will benefit the far-right nationalist ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) party, or even the ex-Communist Left Party. This will further destabilise Germany and could possibly trigger the collapse of the European Union, already under threat because of Britain’s withdrawal.

The two fundamental assets of the biblical prophets were: revelationary knowledge of the nature and purposes of God; and understanding of the sovereignty of God.

This gives an enormous opportunity to Britain to review the whole policy of offering enormous sums of money to the EU to allow us to come out from under its oppressive regulations.

But is the British Government sufficiently spiritually aware of what is happening in the world that political decisions can be made in line with the purposes of God? This is evidently not the case – unsurprisingly, given how few MPs are biblical Christians. This is where Christians are greatly needed to make their voice heard in the nation and to bring a ‘God-perspective’ into national decision-making.

Church, Arise!

At present there is very little indication that God-centred direction will come from the Church. But it is the Church that should be the prophet to the nation. In the absence of the word of God thundering through the naves of our cathedrals and from the pulpits of our churches, perhaps people power may yet emerge from the pews!

It is surely time for Bible-believing Christians to find every opportunity in this media-saturated world to declare the word of the living God to this godless generation!

The authorities in Israel were forced to take note of the disciples: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). May the backlash not only be seen on the streets, but in the churches as well!

Notes

1 E.g. Read more here.

Protests, confusion and cries of abuse have a common root.

In the week that we have been remembering the 500^th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, it is appropriate to look at Europe today where we see the widespread rise of protest movements. Luther’s challenge to the practices of the Catholic Church was a direct challenge to its authority. Today we are seeing challenges to authority in almost every part of Europe – but these stem from a very different spirit.

In Britain, our media never ceases to inform us of the chaos and confusion surrounding the Brexit negotiations. The confusion is not just in Westminster; it is also in Brussels. We are facing so many ‘unknowns’ – political, legal, commercial, as well as ideological. Our politicians and media commentators spend their time consulting their crystal balls trying to discern the future, but only succeed in generating greater confusion.

But Britain and the EU are not the only centres of confusion. Throughout Europe there are signs of growing discontent and dissatisfaction with policies that have been followed by traditional leaders for decades.

Uprisings Against Traditional Authority

Young people in particular are exerting influence, rising up to challenge traditional authority. France, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic have all voted for young leaders; part of a populist uprising across Europe.

The Catalan declaration of independence, challenged by the Spanish Government, has rapidly descended into chaos with their leader running away to Brussels. Austria voted last month for Sebastian Kurz, a 31-year-old right-wing leader who is said to be talking to the far-right Freedom Party in an attempt to form a government.

Throughout Europe there are signs of growing discontent and dissatisfaction.

The Czech Republic has also voted for an anti-establishment leader, Andrej Babis, who obtained 30% in last month’s election.

In Germany, the far-right ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) party won 94 seats in the Bundestag in September’s elections, which was the first time any such party has made gains in Germany since the 1930s. In Italy the two northern regions are seeking to organise a referendum to gain greater autonomy and the populist five-star movement (M5S) also elected a 31-year-old leader.

Abuse and Loss of Trust

Defence Minister Michael Fallon has lost his position because of the recent allegations about sexual misconduct at Westminster. See Photo Credits.Back in Westminster, confusion is not confined to the Brexit negotiations: politicians are greatly concerned by allegations of sexual impropriety among MPs, which has attracted much media attention with women queueing up to tell tales to journalists. ‘Someone touched my knee 20 years ago: I lost my confidence and it ruined my life.’ What a load of codswallop! Has the world gone completely mad?

Of course, if there are incidents of serious sexual malpractice or harassment there should be a safe place where complaints can be lodged and dealt with professionally, but the current politically correct hysteria is ridiculous. Is our society not sufficiently adult to be able to sort out relationships between the genders?

Two days ago I was in my study with the door shut and the young woman who does some cleaning for us was hoovering in the dining room. I heard her phone go and then she burst into loud crying. My wife was out so I immediately went to her and between uncontrollable sobs she managed to say that someone in her family had died. I had hardly ever spoken to her before but I simply took her into my arms and let her cry on my shoulder.

When she quietened down I told her I believe in prayer and could I pray for her? She nodded and I prayed, which brought about a total transformation. She said she used to go to Sunday School as a child but hadn’t been to church for years; so I talked about the love of God and gently gave her the Gospel. Far from accusing me of ‘inappropriate behaviour’, she was profuse in her thanks. We were just two human beings – one in distress and the other offering comfort.

Incidents of serious sexual malpractice should of course be properly dealt with, but the current politically correct hysteria is ridiculous.

Breakdown of Relationships

Surely, all the major problems we see in modern society come down to human relationships which have failed, broken or been abused in some way. The ongoing drama over Brexit and the political instability right across the Western world are but symptoms of this deeper, more systemic problem of human relationships.

In the same way, the current wave of sex scandals delighting the media has its origins in broken human relations – particularly the breakdown of marriage, but also a broader disintegration of trust and commitment to faithful and loving relationships. This is where Christian churches have much to teach secular humanists. In most churches, relationships are a strong uniting factor and churchgoers regularly exchange greetings with hugs or kisses, with no fears of sexual impropriety. Even in Anglican churches, often regarded as formal and cold institutions, sharing ‘The Peace’ is usually an opportunity for hugs all round!

When human relationships are based upon mutual respect and trust, we do not have to worry about political correctness or ‘inappropriate behaviour’. We can just be natural and free from inhibitions and fear of being misunderstood in our relationships with others.

Getting Our Relationship with God Right

But it is vital to recognise that these ideal human relationships are the outcome of a right relationship with God: recognising him as Creator, who made us all (both male and female) in his own image; as Father, who designed us for intimate relationship with him as his sons and daughters; and as Lord, who alone is the true authority, setting out right from wrong and holding us all to account.

When we get our relationship right with God, this automatically puts right our relationships with other human beings, because our whole attitude is different.

We do not seek to ‘lord it’ over others, because we know that we ourselves are no better or worse than they, and all are subject to God. We are enabled to love others and given wisdom to handle difficult times – dealing with differences, misunderstandings, or complex negotiations. Mutual respect in personal relationships leads to the same spirit prevailing over wider issues involving whole communities and nations.

When we get our relationship right with God, this automatically puts right our relationships with other human beings.

The basic problem in Western society today is that we have abandoned this biblical authority structure – once a fundamental part of our Judeo-Christian moral, social and political foundations, enjoyed by our forefathers. These were passed on to us, but they have been despised and rejected. We have rebelled against God’s good plan, inverting his model for right and blessed relationships and deleting God from the equation.

The Apostle Paul went to the heart of this issue by saying “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” (Rom 8:7, ESV). The answers to our difficult personal relationships and our complex international relationships all lie in getting our relationship with God right.

It’s worth just meditating on a few verses from Psalm 119:

Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
Turn my heart towards your statutes and not towards selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. (vv33-37)

Clifford Hill explores the Dutch election from a biblical standpoint.

What’s happening in the Netherlands? The results of their General Election have surprised the pundits who were all expecting Geert Wilders to do well.

He had been topping the polls for some time but then, days before the election, the spat with Turkey was a gift for Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He took a courageous decision to defy Turkish requests for rallies of Turkish nationals in Holland as part of Erdogan’s bid to gain greater power for his Presidency.

Rutte’s decision to break up demonstrations of expatriate Turks in Rotterdam, to ban Turkey’s Foreign Minister from the country and to expel another Turkish Minister who arrived in the Netherlands by car without permission, delighted the Dutch public and greatly enhanced Prime Minister Rutte’s electoral prospects. The timing could not have been better for him and the results from the 80% turnout of voters has reflected this.

Dutch newspapers have been full of congratulations to Rutte and political commentators have hailed the increase of right-wing parties and the diminished support for Wilders as a significant shift away from populist parties. One newspaper (NRC) said that the result showed that the Netherlands had returned to ‘normal’ and the ‘patriotic spring’ was dead.

Is Populism Dead?

But Dutch elections never give a clear-cut result. No party is able to form a Government on its own and, although Rutte has slightly increased the number of seats his party holds, he cannot govern alone. He will have to do deals with two or three other parties to try to find a working majority for a coalition to govern the nation.

Newspapers are claiming that Rutte’s win shows that European populism is dead.

It would be reckless to conclude that populism in Europe is now dead, especially with the French elections coming up soon and Marine Le Pen doing well in the polls. The level of dissatisfaction with their political leaders among Europeans is still running high and part of the reason why Rutte did well was because he stole some of Wilders’ anti-immigration thunder.

Focus will now be upon what a new right-wing Government led by Rutte will do to restore broken relationships with Turkey. If they give in and apologise, they will inflame the rising anti-Muslim sentiment in the Netherlands.

No Understanding

Europe has by no means ‘returned to normal’ because one nation has narrowly held on to the political status quo. Politicians do not understand the mood of the people because they do not understand the socio-economic and social forces of change that are currently driving Western nations.

These forces of change cannot be understood simply in terms of an ideological battle between the radical left and the conservative right. Neither can they be understood purely in economic terms of Marxism versus capitalism; or in sociological terms of relative deprivation and the revolt of the ‘have nots’ against the ‘haves’ in society.

The reason why our political leaders cannot understand what’s going on today is because they have abandoned God. It is as simple as that! In academic institutions of former generations, theology was regarded as the queen of the sciences, because people understood that God was the God of Creation who had created human beings in his own image. This was the starting point of all investigations of human relationships. If you rule out God, you lose the anchor point of truth for all subsequent investigation.

If you rule out God, you lose the anchor point of truth for all subsequent investigation.

The Bible’s Timeline

The Bible gives us a timeline that enables us to see the development of humanity against the backcloth of God’s plan for the nations. If we look at humanity from God’s perspective, we can see how far we are along the road to self-destruction. God sees the global arsenal of weapons of mass destruction – nuclear bombs, nerve gas, germ warfare weapons.

He also sees the vast pollution of society and the corruption of human beings, not least through the internet’s transmission of pornography and the degradation of human bodies through sexual perversion, violence and drugs.

These twin forces of global destruction – violence and moral corruption – are the fruit of the spiritual forces of darkness or ‘principalities and powers’ against which the Bible warns us.

Jeremiah has a telling phrase:

This is what the Lord says: let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord. (Jer 9:23-24)

This is where wisdom truly resides!

Wake Up!

The populist movement we are seeing today is not just a social movement of underclass protest; it is the result of God shaking the nations. God is alerting us to danger. He is drawing our attention to the fact that humanity is heading for global disaster.

The populist movement today is not just a social movement of underclass protest – it is the result of God shaking the nations.

The populist movement is just a small symptom showing that ordinary people know there is something wrong. But will the leaders of the nations pay heed? Will the elite secular humanist intelligentsia who have been the driving force behind globalisation and the undermining of Western Judeo-Christian heritage for decades take heed? Will they open their spiritual eyes and understand what is happening before it is too late?

Much depends upon whether the churches in the Western nations have sufficient strength and spiritual insight to stand for truth and righteousness against the forces of darkness. We cannot expect to see repentance or understanding in the world until there is first repentance and understanding in the Church, which must mediate the truth at this pivotal time.

The Apostle Peter says in the Bible:

The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:10)

Was this just a flight of fantasy? Or did Peter know something that we don’t?