The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling (he of the white hair and black eyebrows), has written a memoir of his time at No. 11 Downing Street. It’s called Back from the Brink and provides a fascinating insight into the economic and political troubles the Labour government faced from 2007 to May 2010. Towards the end of his book, Darling charts a way forward, stressing the need for both private and public sectors to be involved in any sustainable recovery. Anticipating, perhaps, some criticism from the left wing of the Labour party, he says: ‘To me, what matters is what works’.1
Results are all that matters?
In other words, it is the end result that counts; how one achieves that result is not important. Ironically, he does not seem to realise that it is precisely this attitude which led the banks, politicians and regulatory bodies to ignore the serious weaknesses in the British economy. While the good times rolled, few questioned the shaky foundation on which those good times were built. The economy was ‘working’, delivering impressive results, and that was all that mattered.
The attitude and approach outlined above is one of ‘pragmatism’. Pragmatism has been defined as being concerned for what is practicable, rather than theoretical or idealistic. It sounds attractive and reasonable and it is no surprise that most politicians, who want to see things done, are pragmatists. But what about Christians? Is there any room for pragmatism in Christianity?
