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I’m wondering should you’ve ever had a tour of the parliament at Westminster? Back in 2015, after the General Election that yr, I used to be lucky sufficient to be proven spherical by an excellent pal who was working for a Christian MP on the time. We went by way of Westminster Hall, throughout Central Lobby, into the House of Lords, then again and into the House of Commons. I stood on the Despatch field and was struck, as so many are, by how small the place feels!
The tour was fascinating and a reminder that the Parliament is a surprising and exquisite place on the skin. The Palace is spectacular, the corridors stuffed with grandeur and you can’t assist however breathe within the historical past of the place. It was on this website that Parliament asserted its sovereignty over the tyrannical King Charles I. It was right here that wartime leaders like Winston Churchill made epic speeches to galvanise the nation.
But for all the fantastic thing about the outside, what about what really occurs contained in the Parliament? After all, the Lord seems to be on the coronary heart. He’s totally bored with exterior appearances.
I believe your consciousness of what occurs in Parliament may be restricted to social media clips from totally different debates, what’s proven on the information and possibly, should you’re extra into it, Prime Minister’s Questions each Wednesday. If that is the way you work together and think about what occurs in Parliament, I’d not be in any respect shocked when you’ve got a detrimental view of the place. PMQs is usually simply Punch and Judy politics of the more severe sort. Social media inevitably captures essentially the most sensationalist clips, with none actual context on them.
Add within the rising record of scandals and suspensions because of improper behaviour, plus the impasse created by the Brexit debates in 2017-19 and it is little shock many have a dim view of what goes in Parliament.
Yet past this media picture, there may be a lot that occurs that we don’t see and never all of it’s unrighteous!
There are genuinely vital debates of substance on important items of laws. There is the work of enhancing Bills as they progress by way of the parliamentary course of. There is the work of choose committees and different committees, which supply detailed scrutiny and spotlight issues inside our communities.
Parliament is a spot the place good is completed. Take the Online Safety Act, for instance. Here is a legislation that may guarantee porn websites are behind age gates for the primary time ever! But Parliament can also be a spot the place dangerous concepts will be diluted and even stopped. For instance, in 2015, MPs rejected an assisted suicide invoice after a shifting and glorious debate.
My level right here is that what occurs in Parliament is of giant significance for our lives, our fellow churchgoers’ lives, and the lives of our neighbours and household as properly.
And it’s due to this actuality that I’m so grateful that there are, in each the Commons and the Lords, born-again followers of Jesus who’re working diligently to serve properly of their respective roles. I can not think about Parliament with out this important witness.
Jesus advised his disciples that they had been the salt of the earth and the sunshine of the world. This is a part of our calling to enter each sector of society. We want Christians in enterprise, sport, drama, the humanities, academia and so forth. And, given the sheer significance of what it does, we’d like Christian parliamentarians as properly!
In the Bible we see clear examples of God’s individuals being raised to positions of public significance and affect. Think of Joseph, Queen Esther, and Daniel. Or consider John the Baptist talking fact to King Herod, or Paul earlier than King Agrippa.
Part of our work at CARE is supporting Christian parliamentarians. I’ve noticed two distinct methods they show their unimaginable worth.
Firstly, Christian parliamentarians are sometimes keen to boost points no-one else desires to the touch. For instance, makes an attempt to make clear that sex-selective abortion is flawed had been led by a Christian MP. Or what in regards to the first ever legislative try to ban prostitution adverts? It was led by a Christian peer within the House of Lords.
Secondly, Christian parliamentarians are capable of convey the Biblical worldview into each debate they communicate at. They convey the good truths of God’s plan for human flourishing to the committees they sit on, to the questions they ask, and to the conversations they’ve with colleagues and constituents.
MPs have an unimaginable platform and Christian MPs can convey the flavour of Christ to assist season the world round them in a singular and invaluable method.
This is to not say that non-Christian parliamentarians can not do good. Of course, by God’s frequent grace they’ll and do! But figuring out that there are fellow followers of Jesus looking for to uphold God’s fact within the corridors of energy provides me confidence and hope.
So sure, we’d like Christian parliamentarians. They assist make the work that goes on inside Parliament extra stunning. One of my prayers this election time is that God may elevate up extra Christians to take their place at Westminster.
Find a variety of assets that will help you assume, act, and pray earlier than you forged your vote at CARE’s devoted election web site: engaGE24
James Mildred is CARE’s Director of Communications and Engagement.
