Prime Minister for the Day? Exercising power and the Christian way

“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected.” And with those words the shortest reign of any Prime Minister came to an abrupt and somewhat ignominious end. A week used to be a long time in politics. In these extraordinary times, when the word unprecedented has been used an unprecedented number of times, a single day can feel like an eternity.

If the Prime Minister feels unable to deliver change, it’s unsurprising that so many of us also feel powerless. A sense of disaffection is causing many to disengage. The unending rounds of unedifying headlines ever eroding the interest of many in public life.

And yet as Christians, we don’t get to enjoy the luxury of detachment in the last resort of cynicism. Why? Because we are called to change things and, what’s more, we have been given the power to do just that.