The writer of the Editorial for The Anguillian of Friday, 24th January 2014 began by referring to my declared intention to become a candidate in the next general elections, in Anguilla, widely suspected to be held early in 2015. He made particular mention of the comparison I made between “Ministers of Government and Ministers of Religion”, both of whom I said are “servants of the people”. He indicated that while he could follow my thinking, “the comparison made me shudder”. “Shudder” is a very strong word and the context suggests that it was used figuratively. As such, it speaks of a sudden and strong feeling of revulsion and disgust. I wonder why such a feeling. Could it be that the way our politicians have practiced politics, up to now, has caused people in general to think of politics as a “dirty” and “doggish” thing which “decent” people should avoid? If this is so, and I believe it is, then it is a very, very sad reflection on our politicians and, by extension, on all of us who vote for them over and over.
The view that many people in Anguilla have of politics as “dirty” is supported by the fact that over the last week or so several persons have asked me this question in one form or another – “Why are you getting involved in politics to spoil your good name as a man of faith and integrity?” In asking the question some persons have used the word “politricks.” I am happy to know that there are persons who see me as a person of integrity and faith, and I intend to maintain that wherever I find myself. I have and will always be a person of good character.
My answer to the question goes like this: “Politics is a good thing, and government is also a good thing.” (See Romans 13:1-7). If you want to see the goodness of politics and the goodness of government, then you must have people of character and integrity in politics, and in government. I have always been involved in politics, but I decided to enter the political arena fully at this time because I believe that God has equipped me to make a positive contribution to the tone of politics and the effectiveness of government in Anguilla. If you, the people, accept and cheer “dirty” politics, the politicians will be “dirty”. If you accept corruption and injustice as the norm the government will be biased, unjust and corrupt. However, if you say No! No! No! to gutter politics and corrupt government, the politicians will climb out of the gutter, raise the bar and perform at a higher level, and you will see a new day in Anguilla. I believe we all want to see this new day and, if it is to be, we must really desire it, demand it and settle for nothing less than the best. You, the people, must also be very wise and careful to ensure that the persons you elect to political leadership are ready in every way for such a responsible and high office. It is impossible for an ill-prepared person to provide good, positive and visionary leadership.
The Editorial went on to define and discuss the role of the Church. It said: “When you critically examine it, you will find that the church is really a body of people who came together for worship,” and “the first priority of this group of persons is to serve God” by serving others. That service to others is summarized as “showing love to others,” and this love is demonstrated in caring, compassion and kindness to “those less fortunate than ourselves in order to bring comfort to the hurting and witness to those who have gone astray.” It concluded with these words: “Our ministry should not be confined to praise and worship on select days – we should take care of those around us all the time. The Church must be active in the community. If each of us commits to helping others, the Church would be fulfilling its role to serve God and His people.”
The Editorial highlights two important roles of the Church – worship of God and service to others, but barely mentions a third – witnessing to the lost. Good as these may be, and commendable as the Editorial is, the editor is much too narrow in his understanding of the nature and role of the Church in human society. The broader view is that the Church is the community of people who have responded to the call of God in Jesus the Christ to be His people, and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be God’s servants in the world, proclaiming and witnessing to the Good News of the Kingdom of God in our midst. This proclamation is done both by word and by deed. The Kingdom of God speaks of a reality which is spiritual and physical, divine as well as human, eternal as well as temporal and transcendent as well as immanent, all at once. This two-dimensional nature of the Kingdom of God must always be held in a creative, complementary and corrective balance as the many facets of the Kingdom are discussed. The mistake that is often made is to emphasize one or the other, and this leads to a faulty understanding, wrong conclusions and inappropriate responses.
When you look carefully at Jesus, you will observe that in His life and ministry these two dimensions – the temporal and the eternal – were always in creative tension and balance. If we wish to be faithful to Jesus we must also keep the balance. Jesus preached the Gospel, i.e., the Good News of the Kingdom of God among people. This is one of the most revolutionary messages ever announced. It speaks of supreme blessedness, joy and peace, of total wellbeing and the highest possible good for all of God’s people. The goodness is both material and spiritual. It speaks of the supremacy of love and compassion in every human interaction. At the same time, Jesus also declared that the dawning of the Kingdom will see the various manifestations of sin and their effects on God’s people replaced by practices of obedience to God, love for God and neighbor, and justice for all peoples. (Eg. see St. Luke 4:18 – 19.) In Luke Chapter 9:1- 6 and 10:14, when Jesus sent out the Twelve and the Seventy on their missions, among the things he told them was to “proclaim the Kingdom of God.”
Space does not allow for a fuller development of Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom, but it is very obvious that the eternal and temporal nature of “the Kingdom of God” brings into sharp focus the issues of the material and the spiritual, and the Church and State or Religion and Politics. Together, they address the totality of the human being and the human condition, and the totality of the Kingdom. Either one taken by itself does not do full justice to what it means to be human with body and spirit and fails to recognize the two-dimensional nature of the Kingdom of God. To separate them completely has led and will lead to unnecessary injustice, imbalances, unfairness, and evil. Those who would separate them and keep them apart do so out of fear, selfishness or ignorance.
Because Religion and Politics or the Church and the State both focus on a different aspect of the one reality – “The human being,” or (if you wish) “The Kingdom of God” – it is inevitable that they will conjoin or overlap in significant ways. When this is handled in a creative way they correct, complement and inform each other in the interest of the one reality which is either the finite human being or the ultimate Kingdom of God. With this understanding, one is obliged to conclude that while the notion of the “separation of Church and State” has some merit, when properly interpreted, the notion of an absolute separation is not only ill-formed, misguided and false, but is actually impossible, impracticable, and evil. In recent times persons like Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Theresa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela are some prime examples of how humanity and human society were enhanced when the Church and State engaged each other. Long before them there were persons like Moses, Joshua, Ezra, Nehemiah and King David who served both Church and State for the greater good of human kind. Challenge, correction and collaboration always prove to be far more productive than separation, conflict and control.
It has long been recognized that a major role of the Church in society is to be the “prophetic” voice. This prophetic role is two-fold. On one hand, the Church must proclaim the Will of God for individuals and nations and challenge them to obedience, “Thus says the Lord …”. “What the Lord requires of you is …”. The Church must also pronounce the outcome of disobeying and violating God’s will and sound the call to repentance and turning back to God. Because of this critical role which the Church must play, the Church has been referred to as “the Conscience of the Nation”. As bad as it is now, can you imagine what society would be like without the voice of the Church? Yes, the Church must console and comfort the sick, sad and suffering but, much more so, the Church must confront and challenge the structures and agents of suffering, oppression and injustice.
Here in Anguilla we need to see and be guided by the “Larger Picture” rather than by personal biases, partisan loyalties, faulty political paradigms, the crab mentality, selfishness, fear, negativism, and the like. By the way, do you know that according to Lee Green some habits of highly ineffective people are poor listening, greed and negativism? It stands to reason then, that the more greedy, selfish and negative one is the more ineffective that person becomes.
In light of this – The Kingdom of God – I urge that you make sure you truly understand what Jesus meant when he said “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s,” and “You cannot serve God and mammon” (wealth or money). To quote them as evidence that the clergy or the Church do not have a meaningful political role to play in society is to display an ignorance that is beyond understanding. Perhaps the only thing that can be worse than that is to refer to the role that the clergy or the Church must play in society as “the ultimate conflict of interest.” How narrow-minded one can get! What do you make of Jesus’ statements like: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste …. it is no longer good for anything…” and “you are the light of the world … let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven?” (Mathew 5:13-16). The Bigger Picture calls the Church – both clergy and members – to be salt and light in our society. Do not be fooled by a misunderstanding of the “separation” talk.
