This past week will surely go down in history as one of the most momentous in our nation’s history. However you voted, whether you are in the just-over-half or just-under-half, life will never be the same again.
Unsurprisingly, in a time of such unprecedented change, social media went crazy.
Euphoria, triumph, grief, anger, bewilderment…. There were many different opinions expressed, with varying degrees of sensitivity.
Then followed a spate of ‘stop whinging and get on with it’ type posts. We are being exhorted to pull together, accept things, put a brave face on it, stiff upper lip, it’ll all be OK- oh, and don’t ask any difficult questions.
On the face of it this seems like sensible advice, and what I was telling myself. The country has been pretty much split down the middle (52:48 is hardly a resounding victory) so more arguing is hardly going to help.
But in the light of recent events I have been prompted to reevaluate my position. I no longer think it’s OK to sit back and hope for the best. I strongly believe that, now as before the vote, we should be on our knees praying for wisdom, and guidance, and courage ….but I don’t think that our Christian responsibility stops there.
This vote has unveiled a deep divide within our country. Those who voted ‘Remain’ can’t just dismiss all 17.4 million ‘Leave’ voters as racist, or old, or uneducated. Those who voted to ‘Leave’ need to recognise that the pain being expressed by the Remain camp is not just intellectual snobbery, or being bad losers. There is a deep dissatisfaction in our society, a distrust of red and blue politicians alike. The campaign was fought on both sides in a way that promoted division and sowed harmful seeds of bigotry (whether racial or educational), fear, and selfishness. Something has broken. And no amount of ‘Keep calm and carry on’ memes are going to fix it.
It seems like the referendum result has somehow made racism and xenophobia socially acceptable again. Whether it’s teenagers on a tram in Manchester disrespecting and verbally abusing a fellow traveller, or Polish schoolchildren being confronted with racist notes and graffiti, or the BBC thinking it’s OK to interview a neo-nazi (complete with swastika tattoo) on the breakfast news- it’s like the boundaries have suddenly been taken away and, like children, we are now testing them. The problem is that our political leaders have abdicated all responsibility for the genie they’ve let out of the bottle. Our Prime Minister has walked away from the result of his self-inflicted nightmare and left us to our own devices. Both Labour and the Tories are seemingly too busy scrambling for power to notice what’s happening, let alone provide leadership and direction.
And that’s where the people of God should come in.
As citizens of the Kingdom of God- a kingdom that transcends all earthly powers and nations- we need to put our trust first and foremost in Jesus, the Prince of Peace. We need to make it clear, both to ourselves and to those around us, that our hope is in Him and not in politicians. This is not a time for the Church to be anxious or divided. Now more than ever we are called to be lights shining in the darkness. Our little lights may feel weak and flickery, and if we’re relying on our own battery power they will eventually stutter and go out. But if we are plugged into the mains, energised by the Holy Spirit, then together we can shine an unwavering beam of light- of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control- into the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.
That might mean calling out and standing up against racism and xenophobia wherever we encounter it- on the street, online, amongst our friends or families. It might mean giving a voice, and being Jesus’ hands and feet, to the disadvantaged in our communities who feel disempowered and ignored by the political elite. It will almost certainly mean loving those we find difficult to love, and forgiving those we find difficult to forgive.
It may well come at a cost. Following Jesus has always been a costly business if done wholeheartedly. But the cost of sitting back and doing nothing will be far higher. In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Silence in the face of evil is in itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
So I am going to stick my head over the parapet and risk being labelled opinionated (again!) I’m going to stop apologising for caring deeply about the future of our nation, and the safety within our communities of people who don’t look or sound like the majority. I am going to try my best to do what I can with what I have, where God has placed me. And I hope you’ll join me.
Emma Tanner 