In the first of new series from Christians working in politics, Everything Christian welcomes Andy Flannagan and Chris Le Marquand from the Christian Socialist Movement.
It’s been fascinating to observe the differing reactions to Peter Watt, former General Secretary of the Labour Party, who has spoken out against his treatment at the hands of the Gordon Brown in the midst of the furore surrounding suspect party donations. He’s received a mixture of criticism and praise for both the timing and content of his revelations, but one theme which has come through consistently is that of loyalty. Putting Watt’s case to one side for the moment, how should we as Christians in the political sphere approach loyalty?
I was reminded of an intriguing passage in The Christian Mind by Harry Blamires (a fascinating if slightly outdated read) where the issue is tackled head on. Blamires writes
It might be argued that the problem of loyalty is the key problem of our age…Loyalty may be said to be evil in the sense that if any action is defended on the grounds of loyalty alone, it is defended on no rational grounds at all…’I do this out of loyalty to my leader’ is irrational and amoral unless it is consequent upon, ‘My leader’s character, or purpose, of policy, is such that it ought to be supported.’ Loyalty is in itself not a moral basis for action. (pp. 23-24)
It’s hard not to agree with what Blamires has to say here – loyalty is not intrinsically good in the way that humility, for example, is intrinsically good. In the Bible loyalty is only commended when offered to a good cause (Judah staying loyal to the house of David in 1 Kings 12 for example), and its absence is only condemned when not offered when it should be (Psalm 78).
The only loyalty which is always good is loyalty to God, because God himself is always good. Our loyalty to men and to political parties is only as good as those men and political parties we’re following. As it says in Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (ESV)
Was Watt right to show a lack of loyalty and publish his book? That depends entirely on one’s judgement of how Gordon Brown and the Labour Party treat him. Are Christian politicians free to be disloyal to their party or party leader where it conflicts with their loyalty to God? Yes, in fact they must. Loyalty is always a moral issue, and it deserves more than unthinking assent from those who undyingly profess it.
That said, if every politician were felt free to be disloyal on whatever issue they felt like then our party system would break down very quickly indeed. Christians have no more dispensation to be disloyal than anyone else in the vast majority of circumstances – God probably isn’t going to give divine insight into whether Academies are a good idea, or whether Foundation Hospitals would make things better or worse (to take but two controversial issues from a few years ago). A key verse here is 1 Peter 2:12 – “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (ESV) For our conduct to be honourable we need to choose times to rebel carefully and on firm moral grounds, indeed the rest of 1 Peter 2 seems to assume loyalty as a default setting. It does our reputation as believers no good to be consistently part of the ‘awkward squad’.
The issue of loyalty is not the cut and dry moral issue that many, especially in political parties, make it out to be. However there’s a sensible, biblical approach to this issue which means that we can be loyal party members as well as loyal servants of God. Loyalty to our political party comes second to our loyalty to God, and cannot be automatically assumed. Nonetheless if we sign up to a party or a cause, we offer our support of its values and, dare I say, its leader as well. We have more to gain from faithful and active participation in politics than we do ‘going rogue’ and making a name for ourselves for all the wrong reasons.
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Andy Flannagan is the new Director of the Christian Socialist Movement, which is based at Labour Party HQ and Parliament. They exist to be a prophetic voice to left-sided politics and the church, encouraging Christians to see politics as mission. A driving passion of his is to see a just re-wiring of the global economic system. Andy continues to perform, speak, lead worship and play a lot of cricket. His proudest moment as an Irishman was captaining England’s Barmy Army during the last Ashes series. His new worship songs and resources are available for free from www.andyflan.com.
Chris Le Marquand works for a Labour MP in Parliament, and is a writer for the Christian Socialist Movement. He is passionate about the local church, social justice, and getting Christians of all political persuasions to engage with politics. He lives in Oxford where he is a member of Emmanuel Church, and in what spare time he has enjoys time with friends, playing keys, reading, and running less often than he should.
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