On speaking up

I think Christian faith hasn’t always done itself a favour by becoming too close with power, that’s true. There are lots of examples about which illustrates that, which demonstrates that. But I think at its best moments, Christian faith has exemplified what it means to be a prophet at the gate of the king. And written in the very heart of the Christian faith and the Old Testament books was this constant presence of the prophet challenging the authority, challenging the king to remember the poor, to not embezzle people’s properties, to look out for the widows, to act justice – to act justly.

And today I think exactly the same challenges are with us. The Christian faith is still at its very, very best when in local councils, in national settings, in international settings we have Christians who speak up not just for themselves in issues of human rights or poverty alleviation, or indeed challenging corruption, but talking on behalf of the rest of the world.