The European Union

Much Christian hand-wringing seems to be going on over the approaching European Referendum.  Several normally opinionated friends of mine have appeared bewildered because, well, they cannot get opinionated about it.  In a Cathedral notice I saw online they are diligently arranging for a Christian from each side of the debate to answer questions in a forum.

I think earnest Christians suffer more in such circumstances because they are very desperate to be politically serious  (if this is you please stop reading now).  While a neighbour might vote on the basis of the niceness or nastiness of the latest East European worker they have met or others on the basis of their favourite or least favourite politician's stance or others because now Stephen Hawking has told them what to think (again) the Christian tries to (and here I quote a friend's conversation) discern what the Spirit is saying to us at this time.

I've decided to stick with my friend's quotation and to wonder whether the Spirit of God is saying anything about how to vote in the EU referendum. 

The juxtaposition of earthly nations' treaties is not irrelevant to salvation history.  It forms a kind of wallpaper in the room of God's activity; it sets a mood, provides a backdrop and is caught unmistakably in any snapshot of God at work.  Most memorably in the Gospel story the Roman Empire and its granted but fraught Jewish autonomy region is there, spreading on into the events of the Acts of the Apostles.  The Old Testament is full of treaties and because Israel was in a Covenant with God these treaties sometimes take on a foreground, theological significance.  This is because an international treaty in that Testament often signified a lack of faith in the covenant with God.

I have read some heavily reasoned arguments  by earnest Christians but if you want my advice it is to trust the Holy Spirit whichever way the vote goes, ignore Stephen Hawking (who is planning a spaceship to get away anyway) and carry on discussing your options with the guys at the pub.

Oh bother.  There goes my last vestige of hope of being invited onto the Baptist Union Faith and Society Team.