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Diary of a (Maybe) Retired Pastor

Tag: Culture

  • A Christian Country?

    mayberetiredpastor

    A Christian Country?

    … to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

    14 ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
        and on earth peace, goodwill among people!’

    Luke 2:11-14 New Testament, The Bible.

    We really enjoy watching the detective series “Death in Paradise”.  Set in the gorgeous Caribbean, each episode begins with a grisly death followed immediately by the jaunty reggae theme tune of the series! The incongruity always makes us laugh and is possibly our favourite part of each episode. Because we enjoy it so much we also follow the spin-offs and we have been re-watching series one of “Beyond Paradise” which follows two particular characters from the original series as they re-settle in the UK. We didn’t intend to do so, but we found ourselves watching the Christmas special just as Advent began. So, wholly appropriate!

    This year has seen the release of more data from the 2021 census. One of the headlines has been the report, for the first time, that less than half of the population identify as “Christian” leading to much discussion around the theme of “the UK is no longer a Christian country”. I have even been contacted by friends from the Far East bemoaning the “shocking” news.  But Christmas specials, like the one we watched last week, should, perhaps, make us pause a little before writing-off the UK as a Christian country.

    This particular episode of Beyond Paradise ended with the community gathering in the town square for their Christmas celebration.  They rejoiced and celebrated peace and goodwill to all. Above all, It was full of hope for the future and, as these things are designed to do, left the viewer with warm, joyful feelings.  “Serious” Christians tend to be cynical about the Christmas season as celebrated by the wider community, and, indeed, the modern Christmas season includes much dross, but, yet, carol services are full and churches tend see more people than at any other time of the year; it is the time of year when people give most to good causes and, we, as a wider community, seek to recognise those who have quietly served their communities through the year.   

    It may be the case that the numbers of people identifying themselves as Christian has fallen below half the population but as a nation we still hold closely to key elements of the message of the angels. In that sense we remain very much a Christian country. It is cultural but it is an act of faith baked into our cultural foundations, maybe this is the reason why many in the world still want to come to the UK despite the many disincentives – the message of the angels is still heard by them in this collective act of faith.

    This isn’t to claim that this is a nation that knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, but that hasn’t been the case since the middle of the last century – if not longer. But the fact that so much of the gospel message is still retained is an encouragement to the church to continue proclaiming the full gospel of Jesus Christ so that the smouldering faith still held by the nation can be fanned into life: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born amongst us; lived amongst us; gave His life for us on the Cross; and was raised again on the third day so that all who believe in Him shall not die but have everlasting life! This is why we celebrate and rejoice at Christmas time.

  • When Is A Tax-Cut Not A Tax-Cut

    mayberetiredpastor

    When Is A Tax-Cut Not A Tax-Cut?

    But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ …

    Ephesians 4:15

    When is a tax-cut not a tax-cut? When it’s a Tory one! We are in the throes of general election hype and spin. The Conservative Party has announced that if voted back into government the state pension will never be taxed even if it increases above the current tax-free threshold of around £12,500. They are presenting this as a tax-cut, which it isn’t because the state pension does not currently exceed the tax-free threshold and won’t for a good few years to come, so nobody’s actually paying any tax on their state pensions! Setting that aside, in itself it’s not a bad idea and certainly worth considering. I was pleasantly surprised at the amount  I received in state pension (currently around £800 a month) but it wouldn’t be easy to survive on it if it were all the income you had as a pensioner. So, to have the assurance that it will never be taxed would reassure those who do rely wholly or mostly on it.  But it isn’t a tax-cut.

    Which brings me to Rachel Reeves and Labour. On Sunday, she ruled out any increases in income tax or National Insurance if she were to be Chancellor in the next government. Instead, she reassures “us” (which “us” would that be I wonder?) that Labour is the natural party for business and will “grow the economy” in order to raise funds for the spending plans of a future Labour government. Nonetheless, she concedes that she would have “difficult decisions” to make on spending! Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has pledged to hit the 18 week waiting time target for NHS consultations within five years of assuming power. So, I wonder how is Labour going to do that – closing all the prisons and releasing all prisoners into the community perhaps, maybe this is the “difficult” spending decision Rachel Reeves will make? It would certainly save a lot of money which could be diverted to the NHS!

    Our political culture is one in which the major protagonists refuse to be honest. We cannot have an honest debate on tax and spending, instead of setting out the alternatives and the costs and consequences of the various alternatives we are fed sound bites intended to lull or deceive into acceptance. Why can Rachel Reeves not say I have to raise £x billions to ensure that we can hit the 18 week NHS consultation targets which may mean raising taxes by  x%, but if the economy grows by a  certain amount it may be less? Why do the Tories have to dress-up a proposal worth considering as a “tax-cut” when it is nothing of the sort? The Bible teaches us to “speak the truth in love” but as a society we seem incapable of doing this. Unfortunately, this simply opens the doors to Satan, the father of lies as Jesus famously described him, with the terrible consequences that we see and hear about all too frequently.