From the minister...  

Dear friends

Over the last few weeks, the same topic has come up in several conversations, both within and outside church. The matter in hand is flags, but not just any flag. What’s got people talking is the proliferation of Union Jacks and St George Crosses in public spaces across England.

While this might feel new for many of us, it’s got me thinking back to my childhood in Northern Ireland, where flag flying has been commonplace for decades. Near to where I grew up, we had flags on arches, flags on murals, as well as the colours red, white and blue painted in sequence on kerb stones. And then there was the Union Jack which flew from our church each summer, first raised on 1 July each year to commemorate, we were told, the many young men from our town who died at the Battle of the Somme. It remained at full mast for the rest of the summer marching season. 

In recent weeks I’ve been pondering what that obsession with flags revealed about the Ulster Protestant mindset, and whether there are any parallels that can be drawn with the emerging trend in England. It often seemed that the flags functioned primarily as a boundary marker, a signifier of who certain territory belonged to. A flag on the perimeter of an estate wasn’t there to welcome everyone but rather to warn some people to stay away. If this flag isn’t yours, step no further.

I’ve also found myself wondering if the flags revealed not so much a pride in the identity of those who flew them, but more of an insecurity. In the mid ‘90s Ulster Protestants were described by one of their own church leaders as feeling a ‘precarious belonging’. They feared the influence and equality that was at long last coming the way of their Catholic neighbours, while also experiencing what they perceived as rejection and disloyalty from British politicians. In that context, the flags felt less like the assertion of identity by people safe within their own skin and more like an act of defiance by those who wanted to be taken more seriously. 

The origins of the recent proliferation in flags in England can be traced back to Birmingham, where, in the summer, residents began ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, in protest against the council’s attempt to remove flags from lamp posts in order to install LED lighting. It wasn’t long before speculation about the council’s motivation spread online, with some claiming that this was an attempt by ‘woke’ bureaucrats to stop people celebrating their national identity. In recent weeks, some politicians have gone as far as suggesting that any local official in the country who removes a flag should be sacked for a lack of patriotism! It’s also worth reminding ourselves that nothing happens in isolation, that these protests have felt more troubling to many people in a summer when there has been rising political tension over immigration levels and accommodation arrangements for asylum seekers.

As disciples of Jesus, those who speak of him as Lord – the one deserving of our ultimate allegiance in all we do – how should we respond to what is happening? Let me offer three suggestions.

Firstly, let’s remind ourselves that while fear is a strong emotion, it is not the strongest force in the universe. I don’t think it’s controversial to suggest that there’s a lot of fear around right now – we live in a time of increasing insecurity and falling prosperity, creating understandable concerns about the future. There are some politicians – as there always have been – who, at the first smell of fear, detect an opportunity. Fear creates the perfect conditions in which to divide and conquer, to pit one person against another. 

Scripture reminds us that, ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear’ (1 John 4:18). This love, of course, is most fully revealed to us in Jesus, who triumphed over evil, not by fighting his enemies, but through the sacrifice of his life. The problems facing our world are not going to be resolved through anger and driving others away, but by people working to establish peace and better understanding of each other. Secondly, let’s examine our own hearts when we read the news or find ourselves in conversation with someone with whom we disagree. When we encounter views which we find troubling or repellent, it’s all too easy for us to become angry ourselves, to inflate our own sense of outrage or moral superiority. As I think about this I am reminded of the disturbing words once uttered by the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, commenting on the violence that would be necessary to defeat fascism: ‘Even if we lose, we shall win, for our ideals will have penetrated the hearts of our enemies.’

Even in moments when anger is an understandable reaction to what is happening around us, how can we guard our hearts from being shaped by the fear and cynicism that seem so dominant in our culture? Thirdly, let’s live in obedience to the first command of Jesus uttered in the Gospel of Mark: ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ (Mark 1:15). In calling people to repent, I think that what Jesus meant was something along these lines: now that I’m here, and the kingdom has arrived, sort out your priorities and values so that they align with my incoming regime, a world where everyone is welcome: tax collectors and sinners, lepers and the lame…

Within a few decades the world got a glimpse of what this kingdom looked like through early church communities made up of Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free people, men and women all worshipping together. Today, it falls to us to demonstrate to our friends and neighbours what life looks under the rule of Jesus, people from all nations and backgrounds putting aside their differences and united in their love and allegiance towards him.

As I look back once more on my childhood, I am filled with a sadness at how our churches in Northern Ireland often failed to reach out beyond their own communities, instead flying flags that testified to the hold their political allegiances had upon them. Now we face a similar test. How will we respond?

Wishing you God’s grace and peace,
Trevor