Letter from America 3

Today I am visiting no fewer than five airports as I make my roundabout way from Montgomery, Alabama to Vancouver, British Columbia. In the meantime I have time to reflect on the momentous and historic decision taken by the people of the U.K. on 23rd June 2016. The reactions I have read or seen so far have ranged from thorough depression to unbounded celebration. Neither extreme is appropriate to the situation we, as a country, now face.

If, like me, you voted remain, you are of course entitled to feel disappointed that things did not go your way. You may even have a feeling of disconnect from the nation of which you thought you were a part. You might also feel uncertain about exactly what happens next. Personally, I don't think there is ANYONE on the Remain or Leave sides who can claim 100% certainty about the next few months or years. Will Scotland renew its move towards independence? Will N.Ireland be forced into a divisive and dangerous border poll? Will there be a short, medium or long-term recession? Will trade and travel in Europe and the rest of the world be totally unaffected? Will the promised £350m per week that we now apparently have access to really be spent on a world-class health and education system while also continuing to support a struggling agriculture sector? Who knows?

But if, like me, you are a Christian, you do not have the option of giving in to despair or depression because your hope and your future do not ultimately depend on the decisions of populations or politicians but on the historic fact of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the certain reality that he really is on the throne. Instead, you have the duty to acknowledge that many of your brothers and sisters in Christ did not agree with you on this issue and that disagreement does NOT affect your fellowship in Christ one iota. You have the duty to continue to be good citizens of your country as you are called to be in Romans 13. You have the duty to continue to be a faithful presence in the midst of a polarising and secularising post-Christian western civilisation.

If, unlike me, you voted leave, you are of course entitled to feel happy that things did go your way. You may even have a feeling of release from what you considered to be the unwelcome and unwieldy burdens of EU membership. You also might have a perhaps unexpected feeling of uncertainty about what happens next.

But if, like me, you are a Christian you do not have the option of displaying ungracious triumphalism. You do not have, in my opinion, the right to say that this is a victory for 'the real people, the honest people and the decent people' as the UKIP leader did. You have a duty to acknowledge that genuine, honest, decent people disagreed with you. You have a duty to recognise that nearly half the population disagree with you and are disappointed. You have a special duty to recognise that nearly 75% of 18-24 year olds disagreed with you and to ensure that, together with the remain camp, you build for them a nation which is hopeful, positive and outward looking in a way that much of this referendum campaign, on both sides, has not been.

In a Facebook post before the vote, I reminded people that the affairs of the nations are as dust in the scales from God's perspective. As I sit typing this on an aircraft climbing to its cruising altitude I have some idea of what this means. I look down on buildings and fields and lakes that, from ground level, look enormous. From up here they look increasingly tiny and insignificant. Now consider how the 23rd June, which for us is so momentous, looks from the perspective of the eternal God, who alone reigns over the nations, who alone sees the end of history from the beginning, who alone is our hope, our security and our salvation today and every day.

Do you see? Leavers, you have so much more of significance to rejoice in than victory in a national vote. Remainers, you have so much more to put your trust in than a union of nation states.

God is on the throne. This is no mere pious platitude. It is fact. And it is a fact which, regardless of which way you voted and how you are feeling about the result, must be the guiding reality your life and mine as we exercise our calling as the body of Christ to give ultimate glory and allegiance to him alone.