When Andrew Mitchell left Downing Street, all those months ago, what did he say to the policemen on duty? And what did the police say, in response, either then or later?
These may seem small issues, but this story, and the ways in which it has been investigated, raises questions of trust in public figures - both politicians and the police. Without that trust in such figures, many aspects of our lives are undermined.
Much of the character of British life is shaped by our attitudes towards police and politicians. It is striking how relaxed most of our encounters are with the police, and how free we are to meet politicians, both local and national, without security guards and minders making sure who is saying what to whom.
These wholesome features of British life have been highlighted for me in these last days, as I have enjoyed taking Martin Olando to London and Oxford, and during our Jubilee Weekend.
But there is a deeper issue to address.
Why can people trust what we say, whether we are talking about mundane matters or deeply significant ones?
Can we be trusted to speak truth to power, and challenge the views of the people we encounter, in order to reveal a deeper truth about the nature of God?
In the New Testament, we see and hear Jesus amongst people who are often not interested in what he is saying or doing.
One such story is when Jesus encountered a man who had been born blind, whom he healed. This raised problems for the religious authorities, as the healing took place on a Sabbath.
Instead of being glad that a man's life had been transformed by Jesus' miraculous intervention, the authorities show themselves to be blind to the deeper truth. ' When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”
“You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!”
“Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshipped Jesus.
Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgement—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”
Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.' (John 9.35-41)
Unless we are known to be trustworthy and open about the normal things of life, we will find that people will find it hard to trust us when we talk of more significant issues. As Jesus found, some people will remain blind to that truth, whatever we say.
Best wishes,
Richard
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