Disciples and Citizens: A Vision for Distinctive Living [Paperback]

Many of us find integrated, whole-life discipleship very difficult. It is easier to live, not so much a double life as a dualistic one, where faith is a personal matter with little impact on work and other spheres of life.

Graham Cray shows that there are profound gospel reasons for taking seriously both our national life and our call to be Christian citizens. A nation's social health is a matter of Christian action and concern because it matters to God.

How should we live as 'dual citizens', citizens both of the kingdom of God and of our nation, in a rapidly changing world? In the light of the kingdom of God, what would be an appropriate Christian involvement in society and its public life?

Many Christians find integrated, whole-life discipleship very difficult. It is easier to live not so much a double life, but a dualistic one, where faith is a personal matter which has very little impact on work, civic participation and other more public areas of life. This is not necessarily hypocritical. Some Christians feel powerless to make any significant difference in the world and decide to keep their heads down, rather than get themselves into difficulty for little or no purpose. Others simply don't know what to do.

Some have an over-negative view of society, combined with an inadequate grasp of the gospel. In fact, this approach is based on a 'double negative': the world 'doesn't really matter' and 'it's bad anyway', and so should be avoided as much as possible. From this point of view, this world's only importance is to provide the context for evangelism, as the gospel is solely about heaven when we die. On the other hand, when society is examined, it is seen as a dangerous place, going from bad to worse: something for 'spiritual' Christians to avoid.

Mercifully, such attitudes are much less prevalent than they once were, thanks in part to initiatives like the London Lectures in Contemporary Christianity. But they have by no means disappeared from the churches. Both forms of dualism are based on an inadequate grasp of Scripture.

As we shall see, there are profound gospel reasons for taking seriously both our national life and our call to be Christian citizens. There are also good reasons for identifying the positive as well as the negative aspects of society. This book will identify ways in which our social health is under threat, but it will do so assuming that a nation's social health is a proper matter of Christian action and concern, because it matters to God.

Graham Cray, Bishop of Maidstone
March 2007

'An excellent book: well researched, tellingly illustrated and powerfully but lovingly argued.'
Revd Julian Hardyman

It takes only a moment's thought to see that the public life of our nation is a proper matter for Christian concern, and a proper setting for Christian discipleship. As residents we want our neighbourhoods to be secure and safe. As parents we want our children to have a good and appropriate education. As patients we want good healthcare. As workers we want a fair wage. When we retire we want to be financially secure. When we are old we want to be cared for and treated with dignity. As citizens we want a say in who makes the decisions which have an impact on our lives. As wage earners we are concerned about the level of taxation and how our taxes are spent. All these issues are part of the public life of our nation and proper matters of Christian concern.

As Christians, however, we have an additional dimension. Christian discipleship is not about self-interest. It is about looking to the interests of others. Jesus calls us to love our neighbours as ourselves, and to treat others as we hope to be treated. So it becomes a matter of simple Christian obedience that we should want for others the things we want for ourselves and our own families. If we are willing to act to secure or safeguard these things for ourselves, we should also, at the very least, be willing to act to secure them for others, particularly those weaker than ourselves. If we take the example and teaching of Jesus at all seriously, we may well need to campaign for justice for others, at a cost to ourselves. This, we shall see, takes us to the heart of citizenship: a willingness, for justice's sake, to support actions and policies which are for the greater good, even though personally we might lose out.

The greatest good that any person can encounter is to become a follower of Jesus Christ, finding salvation in him. If we love our neighbours, we will bear witness to them. But witness to Christ involves being an example, embodying what he did and taught into our daily lives. He fed the hungry and healed the sick. He included excluded people. He had a special concern for the poor and, contrary to his culture, treated women and children with the same dignity as men. He challenged unjust leaders and religious hypocrites. This is the Jesus our neighbours need to know and follow.

Because Jesus gave such clear teaching about money, power, faithful relationships, reconciliation, the dignity of children, the love of our neighbour and so on, the state of our society is a proper matter of Christian concern. The growing gap between rich and poor, both nationally and globally, should concern us. Global warming should concern those who believe that God created them to be stewards of the earth. War and terrorism should concern followers of the Prince of Peace. An increasing rate of marriage breakdown should concern those who are called the bride of Christ. Social trends matter in the light of the gospel.

Of course, it is not only Christians who face challenges about civic responsibility. At the time of writing, British public life is, in many ways, positive and full of potential. There are many places around the world where Christian and non-Christian citizens alike would love to have our levels of equality, democratic institutions, social stability, personal freedom and civic institutions.

The research carried out for the Economic and Social Research Council's 'Democracy and Participation' programme concluded that, on the whole, Britons identify with their country and still maintain significant levels of mutual trust. Levels of trust in key unelected institutions, such as the police and the courts, are comparatively high, if uneven, across the whole population. On the other hand, there is much less trust in elected officials, whether local or national. We seem to trust the people we pay, through our taxes, much more than the people we elect to lead us.

Within limits, most citizens show tolerance towards people with whom and organizations with which they would not personally identify. We want a free country and recognize that this must allow people the freedom to do things we would not do ourselves, provided there are proper moral boundaries. (Just what these boundaries are is a matter of debate in a free country.) Although most people believe that government is not very responsive to them as individuals, they do believe that it is responsive to majority opinion. To that degree, civic participation is healthy, but, says the research, 'there is also evidence of a darker side to citizenship'.

The detailed evidence for this 'darker side' will make up the substance for Section Two of this book ...