I have to admit that I can no longer get too worked up about politicians saying the kinds of things that Robert Jenrick said about Handsworth yesterday. It’s power for the cause for politicians to engage in dog whistle politics. More concerning is that they use the dog whistle approach because they expect it will work because they tap into the fears and conversations among others. At a minimum they believe it will fire up the party base.
Rather, my concern is the way in which Christians respond or don’t respond. Sadly, I’ve heard too much of the same from Christians. The same kinds of arguments have been put forward in recent weeks from Christians with platforms in response to flags and marches. Similarly, you get the same looks and even sneering comments if you mention that you live and serve the Gospel in Birmingham or that you are from Bradford. Recently a friend of mine posted on social media that they were in Bradford. Another person. Immediately responded, daring them to talk about Islam. That was their go to.
Worst of all though is the silence that too often descends. I was encouraged to see John Stevens respond robustly to Jenrick’s nonsense. However, too many prominent Christians seem to have much to say on all kinds of things but go eerily silent in these kinds of situations. Earlier this year, I responded to some sneering comments about Bradford and it being the city of culture, made on a TV news channel. I think I was the only Christian to respond publicly. Indeed, I think that only one Christian publication (Evangelicals Now) wrote anything about the City of Culture. Even that was with some prompting from me (though I prompted others too) and didn’t really grasp the rich spiritual heritage of the city and its contribution to the wider church.
Silence may leave people presuming that we tacitly agree with the views publicly expressed or at least don’t have a problem with them. I hope that’s not the case.
Faithroots 