When did Paul become Political?

What's following Jesus all about?

Love, peace, the Kingdom of God...

...but politics?

I must admit, I generally think of the path of a Christian as non-political. But maybe that's because all of our recent displays of Political movement amongst Christians have been rather embarassing.

Do you notice how, often when the church moves politically, we end up looking slightly weird and not quite 'in touch' with the real world.

Furthermore, often the issues that seem to get christians up in arms are often 'non-issues' - more to do with christian comfort than restoring the world.

Is it just me that finds it hard to support christians angry at television bosses, when the church is largely silent on issues of human abuses (poverty, slavery, sexism etc) - the real stuff to protest.

So Christianity - generally not good on the political scene.

But Paul seemed to be an exception to that. In Acts 22 and 23, we find him moving and shaking the political scene like a master. He jumps between trial and tribunal, somehow always knowing what to say and when to say it, whether facing an 'angry mob' or the governer.

I'm realising that while Christianity, should probably keep its nose out of the politics of comfort - we do have a call to be able to influence in that arena.

So if you're an MP or the friend of an MP - should you be wondering how you can use your position to serve the kingdom of God?

Imagine if people of the United Kingdom were led by people of God's Kingdom.

But if we're going to influence the society and the leaders of society that we live in, we need to improve our savvy of all things political. We can't just hide away in a corner only asking God to help us. Maybe God wants us to do some things ourselves - like influence our environment ourselves.

But of course, if we want to influence our environment, you know what we have to do...

...We have to be there.