Yesterday, I attended the Provincial Prayer Breakfast with other Salvation Army leaders at the Expo Centre. The service of the staff was outstanding, the food was terrific, and the company was good. I was very disappointed at how partisan the event was, though. It felt very American, very much like the culture of Christian Nationalism. It was disappointing and frankly dangerous. I wondered as I listened to the chairman of the event what he might say, or how the event would be seen by members of other political parties in attendance.

And then, to set the event into great irony, before the breakfast was over, one of the UCP MLAs arrived late. The chairman recognized him and commented, “our friend Mohammad is observing Ramadan, so we welcome him – he is the kindest man in our caucus.

The muslim MLA is the kindest….

Here we are…far from the tables of power.

I guess I would like to think that the Christian Church would applaud governments that do right, but not align itself with the seat of power. That is a dangerous place to be, and I suspect it will weaken its witness when the political winds shift.

Jesus never aligned himself with power – though he spoke to it, to the Elders, to the governor, to the Chief Priest and never to ask for support, always to the person and to their need to align themselves to God and His will.

And yet throughout history the Church has been tempted to embrace power, and the results have been devastating to the Church and to the Gospel.

Who is the kindest man you know? Maybe that person has more influence than the person in power?