I have a picture on my office door.
It is an Internet shot from the opening montage of London 2012. The Queen is walking in the corridors of Buckingham Palace with Daniel Craig in his role as James Bond. Speech bubbles have been added. The intelligence officer is saying: ‘…and Donald Trump, ma’am?’ The Queen is responding: ‘Make it look like an accident, 007.’
Amusing? But perhaps it is sobering. We have always known that MI5, in John Le Carré or Ian Fleming style, may sometimes have been involved in dirty dealings for the ‘defence of the realm’ but it does raise the question of violence entering into politics more generally. God permits the state to ‘bear the sword’ (Romans 13.4), but recently we have observed thuggery and threats in national politics in a way not seen for many years.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …