The Jesus Manifesto

I wonder just how much money I could make if I could predict – with absolute certainty – the result of the U.K. election?

Judging by the hours of air-time and discussion with political pundits of every variety the answer must certainly be in the tens of millions of pounds for the definitive answer.

The commentators are to be found in all kinds of huddles and panels trying to be the one who has the answer – sorry, the most likely result. Poll upon poll is shared, analysed, dissected and finally discarded as being inadequate or faulty.

Now we are a mere nine days away from finding out which party – or, more likely, parties – will be responsible for running the country for the next five years, so I understand the media interest. Yet as the clock ticks away, the focus of the questions being asked of the politicians by the public – and increasingly taken on by media interviewers and hosts seems to have taken

a subtle twist.

At the beginning of the election trail there was a lot of time given to the discussion of policies – who will promise what, to whom, and for how much. But in these last days a different question appears more and more frequently:

“How can I be sure you will do what you say you will do?”

“How do we know we can trust you?”

And in some cases “You let us down last time, how do we know we can trust you not to let us down again?”

So it seems that whatever party you might favour in terms of policy, the real decider for who gets our cross on election day is “Who can I trust to deliver?”

Isn’t it interesting that a personal quality means more to us than a political policy? That despite our intellectual aspirations and understanding (or lack of it!) of the shades of political policy, what really matters to us is the quality of the character of the person.

This isn’t really a surprise. Our whole society – indeed civilization – is built upon this strange abstract quality of trust. Of loyalty. From the smallest family unit to the largest conglomerate or government, none function properly without trust.

But what really strikes me about the change in tone of the election questions is that it shows how much our trust – and who we put our trust in – affects our hopes and aspirations for the future. In considering who we want to vote for our hope is less that a certain party will get ‘in’ but that they will actually deliver what they say they will.

But my hope for the future will not be upon my MP. It won’t be upon the leading parties. Or, in fact, on a political ideology at all. There is only one person I know whose character can actually bear the weight and scrutiny of my trust. Only one person I know who has, over my 50 or so years, proved to be totally faithful, loving, gentle and deserving of my loyalty and respect.

When I became a Christian back in the 1980’s I don’t suppose I really knew what to expect from a relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m pretty certain that some of my expectations were coloured by an already negative take on life.

But he has, at every turn and twist of my life, proved himself to be the voters dream ticket – 100% trustworthy and reliable. And his manifesto? Well, refreshingly honest:

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, I have overcome the world.”

And I have proved his words to be true. True peace is found in a trusting relationship with Jesus. Not in a way of life, not in a set of policies, not even in knowledge of the future, or in the having, consuming, producing or acquiring of things – political power included.

With my best political debating hat on I may well ask “How can Jesus make that claim? How can I know that I can trust him?”

The Jesus Manifesto is based on his authority as the Son of God and on the work of his death on the cross. The resurrection is the final proof that Jesus is who he said he was, and that he has indeed overcome the world – that is, the very worst it could do!*

And was he correct? I can share openly that I have indeed had many trials and sorrows. I have been in most of the groups that the politicians seek to appeal to – I’ve been unemployed, self-employed, married, raised a family, divorced, suffered from depression, been ostracised and alone. I have known both plenty and having very little. Some of these trials have come from those around me, a few from political policies but most, I must confess came from within me and the choices I made.

Yet in all these, one thing I have proved – Jesus has never left me or let me down. Even when I was the one plainly in the wrong. He has stood by me. More importantly I have experienced his constant desire for my wholeness, comfort and restoration through the mercy and kindness of God.

Now don’t get me wrong. Politics is important. Very important. It is the way that we shape our societies and therefore the world that we live in.

Political policies affect all of our lives in major and minor scales. So make no mistake, I shall be voting on May 7^th and, indeed, engaging with and lobbying whoever my elected MP is on a whole range of issues through the next five-years.

But when it comes to my life – my heart, my very soul – that I shall continue to trust to Jesus alone. And if you are feeling that politicians have let you down and you need to find some certainty for the future, I know just the person.

Take some time to consider the ‘Jesus manifesto.’

*I remember the more poetic words of Charles Dickens when describing ‘the ways of the World’ – “A conventional phrase which, being interpreted, signifies all the rascals in it.” (From Nicholas Nickleby)