A Private Faith
There was a fascinating moment at a recent hustings meeting in our constituency the other night. The local churches had organized it (we still do really well at these kinds of things) and inevitably the question of faith arose. One response was to talk about the broader role of faith in the candidates upbringing, another declared that he was an atheist and a third candidate said, “I believe that faith is a private matter”. That particular candidate is a practicing Christian. I found myself getting a bit mad when I heard those words.
Faith is never a private matter! It was a very public matter for Jesus, for the early church, for the martyrs of the ages and it should be for us. Personal (not private) faith should always have public consequences. A general election is a good time to provoke that kind of conversation.