Hashkama: The Body Snatchers, Perverse Politics, and an Accommodating Church
It is all okay to divorce and leave one’s wife to remarry. It is all okay to divorce the second wife and to leave her to live with another woman. It is fine for that man to become Prime Minister, and it its acceptable for him and his girlfriend to live together in 10 Downing Street. It is okay to get his girlfriend pregnant while being Prime Minister and living with his girlfriend in No 10. It is acceptable that they married eventually, at the Catholic Westminster Cathedral – even religion obliged and okayed it. Boris was sacked as shadow arts minister by Michael Howard after it was revealed he was having an affair with columnist Petronella Wyatt despite describing it previously as an “inverted pyramid of piffle”. In 2006 Boris was accused of having another affair with journalist Anna Fazackerley. This is the man the moralizers now dissect like an organ-thieving surgeon, cutting bits out of a body that in their eyes, no longer serves a useful purpose. The body is murdered and cut up so that it can no longer function. The body’s sin was that it made poor judgments concerning a perverse person. Boris had given the perverse person a job, and the perverse person did what he was in the habit of doing. The story goes that it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. That poor camel had been gathering straws long before the Prime Minister became Prime Minister. However, Boris Johnson served a useful purpose for a time to the people in Parliament that have integrity and standards – of a kind. Previously it didn’t matter a hoot about Boris’ morals. Now, suddenly, such behaviour can no longer be tolerated. Sajid David, blaming the morning prayer meeting, and perhaps the sermon by Rev Les Isaacs, had to consider his own integrity and was prompted to resign his post. Why didn’t he consider his integrity before he accepted a ministerial position? It appears to have been bad judgment on his part. He knew Boris and the kind of man he is. And what of rich Richie Sunak. He knew about the life Boris had lived; but now, since the camel’s back had snapped under the load, Richie could take no more. So, the scalpels came out and the carve-up began. More body snatchers joined the gang until the dirty deed was done. Politics isn’t simply a dirty business. Double standards and hypocrisy are essential attributes if you want to be successful in this murky world of political intrigue. You must be prepared to plunge the knife into the back (metaphorically speaking) of those you have wined (whined?) and dined with, and put one’s arm around as one shared a joke and discretions on a regular basis. A knife in the back is necessary in the name of keeping one’s integrity intact. To keep in on the act, Nadhim Zahawi was perhaps the most colourful assassin of all. He had only just accepted a ministerial position from the Prime Minister, when the new Chancellor told Boris he should go. Zahawi has for months now (reportedly) been secretly plotting his own leadership bid. Seeing this whole episode unfold, no-one should accept the job of Prime Minister without first engaging a gang of personal body-guards. Passing fish shops back in the day you could see a sign saying “frying tonight.” There should be such a sign over Westminster. Like the smoke going up for a new pope, the sign could go up each time a Prime Minister is cut down – which appears to be a regular happening in these modern times. Will the new Prime Minister derive from Back-Stabbers.com?
The police have stood and delivered their verdict concerning those two from the other side of the swamp. Sir Keir Starmer, a bastion of integrity and honesty (I jest) and the little ray of sunshine (Ijest) Angela Rayner, (both little covids?), had what some considered, their own Beergate. There might be a challenge to the police decision of “not guilty,” but not at this busy time. Alastair Stewart appeared to hint on ‘gbnews’ (08.07.2022) that police, or someone connected to the police, attended the same party Starmer and Rayner attended. We await Westminster’s response, but it is unlikely there will be an official complaint. It is possible individuals might eventually lodge a complaint. The timing of the declaration by the police, the day after the PM resigned, is interesting and seems calculated.
And the Christians?
Interesting it was that so many Christians backed Boris, supported Boris, wanted Boris as Prime Minister because of his stance on the EU. Yet, some of those Christians condemn a Christian leader, so much so, that he himself jokingly describes himself as someone you wouldn’t take home to meet your mother. His speech is somewhat crass, and he doesn’t mince his words, which is unpalatable for the sophisticated. One person, instead of going to the brother (Matthew 5:23) rumoured that the man had an extra-marital affair. He did write a disclaimer naming the particular accuser, but as far as I know, an apology has not been made. Hopefully, the situation between the accused and the accuser has been resolved. Our own double-standards in the church are equal to those in Parliament, and our knives are just as deadly, if not more so (1 John 3:15). I consulted a leader I considered wiser than me, and certainly more experienced in ministry, about a situation concerning divorce and remarriage. He said he had never thought about the subject. I was disappointed in the response; and apparently it was said that I acted out of fear. I had not realised that the couple in question were friends of the minister in question. For some, friends are more important than the word of God. The church itself can be something of a mine-field, and if you don’t tread carefully, you can be blown out of the picture. These examples are to question if we walk in the ways of the Lord. They might appear parochial to some, but our decisions and actions have consequences. The accuser of the brother in the first example gives the appearance of being a very spiritual person. The accusation, may have affected not just the man himself, but his wife and his children. God will judge, as he will judge you and I.
Sin in the camp
Does it matter? To answer that, forty or so years ago Joshua Ch.7 was a popular and emphasised teaching. It doesn’t appear to be taught today, but when you hear of a ministry suffering loss or failing, this teaching could give the reason – certainly it is included in the bible for a reason. Today, we have a different problem to the one they had in the time of Joshua. Today it is “when is a sin not a sin?” The church has largely taken on the moral standards of the world. What is sin in God’s eyes is not sin in a worldly-wise Christian or Church. So situations are allowed to develop unchallenged by God’s word. The church and those in the church suffer the consequences without, in some cases, having the ability of diagnosing the cause. There are obvious diversions from God’s word in allowing same-sex marriage and the like; but there are other, no longer so obvious sins. They are not obvious because they have become commonplace; the world accepts them as normal, and to keep up with the times, the church accepts them too. So what was sin is no longer sin. Coupled with that is a low view of the righteous God. It is a problem because no-one wants to challenge that thinking, and no-one wants to change it. We want the world to accept the church, so the church accepts the world and its standards. Joshua Ch.7 shows us how dangerous that is. The sin of an individual has consequences for the family and for the nation. The whole nation of Israel could be devoted to destruction through the actions of a single person. There will be collateral damage in the community/church/parachurch/ministry when someone is in sin. Achan sinned, but the crime is viewed as unfaithfulness of the sons of Israel. It goes against the grain of western 2022 mentality, but the danger was/is like the rotten apple in a barrel, and it is what is happening in a church that has accepted the worldly mind-set, sexual perversions and morality. The danger of one person’s hidden and unresolved sin, was that it would spread through the community and nation. It cost Israel lives in a battle they should have won; and there was no longer the fear and dread of Israel among her enemies. When Achan confessed his sin Ch.7:20-21, we have echoes of Eden. Achan ‘saw’… ‘coveted’ … ‘took’. Joshua and the people of Israel brought Achan and all that belonged to him to the “valley of trouble.” They probably stoned him and his family, then burned them and raised a heap of stones as a monument to this trespass against God’s holiness (Joshua 7:24-26). Sin is serious. It causes death and destruction to people and to ministry. In these days we don’t even hide our sin, we categorise it differently to ease our consciences. That is the story in a nutshell, there is much more to consider so do please read the whole chapter. We can ignore the sin in the camp and accept the circumstances, or we can deal with the sin for the sake of God’s holiness. There was a situation in Corinth where the church was told to “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5). Destroying was a means of saving.
As we see, the UK is spiritually and morally deficient in politics and in Christianity. There will be a great cost for our moral and spiritual infidelity. Britain is not alone; the USA is in a bad way. The percentage of Americans that believe the Bible is the literal Word of God has dropped from 24% in 2017, to 20% in 2022. There is a new high of 29% of those who believe the Bible is a collection of fables, and legends. There is a decline in overall spirituality in the USA adult population. That once great nation is a shadow of its former self, as is the politics and leadership.
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
Blessings and shalom
Malcolm [08.07.2022]
