I’m wondering in the event you’ve ever had a tour of the parliament at Westminster? Back in 2015, after the General Election that yr, I used to be fortunate enough to be shown round by an ideal friend who was working for a Christian MP on the time. We went through Westminster Hall, across Central Lobby, into the House of Lords, then back and into the House of Commons. I stood on the Despatch box 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 surface. The Palace is impressive, the corridors filled with grandeur and you can not help but breathe within the history of the place. It was on this site that Parliament asserted its sovereignty over the tyrannical King Charles I. It was here that wartime leaders like Winston Churchill made epic speeches to galvanise the nation.
But for all the great thing about the outside, what about what actually happens contained in the Parliament? After all, the Lord looks at the guts. He’s utterly tired of external appearances.
I think your awareness of what happens in Parliament is perhaps limited to social media clips from different debates, what’s shown on the news and perhaps, in the event you’re more into it, Prime Minister’s Questions every Wednesday. If that is the way you interact and examine what happens in Parliament, I’d not be in any respect surprised if you may have a negative view of the place. PMQs is usually just Punch and Judy politics of the more serious kind. Social media inevitably captures essentially the most sensationalist clips, with none real context on them.
Add within the growing list of scandals and suspensions as a result of improper behaviour, plus the deadlock created by the Brexit debates in 2017-19 and it’s little surprise many have a dim view of what goes in Parliament.
Yet beyond this media image, there’s a lot that happens that we don’t see and never all of it’s unrighteous!
There are genuinely necessary debates of substance on vital pieces of laws. There is the work of improving Bills as they progress through the parliamentary process. There is the work of select committees and other committees, which provide detailed scrutiny and highlight problems inside our communities.
Parliament is a spot where good is completed. Take the Online Safety Act, for instance. Here is a law that can ensure porn sites are behind age gates for the primary time ever! But Parliament can be a spot where bad ideas will be diluted and even stopped. For example, in 2015, MPs rejected an assisted suicide bill after a moving and excellent debate.
My point here is that what happens in Parliament is of giant significance for our lives, our fellow churchgoers’ lives, and the lives of our neighbours and family as well.
And it’s for this reason reality 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 well of their respective roles. I cannot imagine Parliament without this vital witness.
Jesus told his disciples that they were the salt of the earth and the sunshine of the world. This is a component of our calling to enter every sector of society. We need Christians in business, sport, drama, the humanities, academia and so forth. And, given the sheer importance of what it does, we’d like Christian parliamentarians as well!
In the Bible we see clear examples of God’s people being raised to positions of public significance and influence. Think of Joseph, Queen Esther, and Daniel. Or consider John the Baptist speaking truth to King Herod, or Paul before King Agrippa.
Part of our work at CARE is supporting Christian parliamentarians. I’ve observed two distinct ways they prove their incredible value.
Firstly, Christian parliamentarians are sometimes willing to lift issues no-one else wants to the touch. For example, attempts to make clear that sex-selective abortion is fallacious were led by a Christian MP. Or what in regards to the first ever legislative try and ban prostitution adverts? It was led by a Christian peer within the House of Lords.
Secondly, Christian parliamentarians are capable of bring the Biblical worldview into every debate they speak at. They bring the nice 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 incredible platform and Christian MPs can bring the flavour of Christ to assist season the world around them in a novel and invaluable way.
This just isn’t to say that non-Christian parliamentarians cannot do good. Of course, by God’s common grace they’ll and do! But knowing that there are fellow followers of Jesus in search of to uphold God’s truth within the corridors of power gives me confidence and hope.
So yes, we’d like Christian parliamentarians. They help make the work that goes on inside Parliament more beautiful. One of my prayers this election time is that God might raise up more Christians to take their place at Westminster.
Find a spread of resources to enable you to think, act, and pray before you forged your vote at CARE’s dedicated election website: engaGE24
James Mildred is CARE’s Director of Communications and Engagement.
