One of the favourite activities of mainline churches is not, as one might expect, saving people from hell and judgement but pestering governments on how they should run the country. In practice, this usually amounts to leftist agitating, couched in familiar clichés like speaking truth to power, or advocating for the [choose any of the following, alternating as needed to avoid vain repetition]: poor, marginalised, disadvantaged, refugees, migrants, or make poverty history – a less onerous task than simply helping the poor, since it can’t be done.

Part of the problem seems to be that the church is nursing the fantasy that Jesus spent his time confronting secular authorities. Tom Wright says as much in this article [my emphasis]. The fact is, though, he didn’t; Jesus reserved his harshest criticisms for the religious authorities – in today’s terms, people like….. bishops. Although he called Herod a fox, the Pharisees were likened to snakes and cosmetically disguised coffins.

The gospels are not, then, a compendium of detached moral maxims for individuals. Jesus’ sayings find their meaning within the larger story about new creation struggling to be born. ‘Supposing God was in charge,’ Jesus was asking, ‘might it not look like this?’ – as he healed the sick, fed the hungry, rebuked the arrogant, told sharp-edged stories, wept with distressed friends, and (not least) confronted cynical authorities. ‘God’s rule’ poses its challenge to nations and cultures, not just individuals.

[….]

This brings us to the other key point. Along with the absolute priority of looking after the weakest and poorest, the church has a specific vocation. One of the tasks Jesus bequeathed his followers is to hold earthly rulers to account. This doesn’t mean clever clerical soundbites, still less theologians aping one strand of popular prejudice. It means drawing on the sustained wisdom of the worldwide church, across space and time, to remind rulers (often distracted by the next election or referendum) what they are there for. Back once more to the Psalms, the prophets and Jesus’ vision of God’s Rule. At the climax of the fourth gospel, Jesus confronted Pontius Pilate on the topics of kingdom, truth and power. His followers need to do the same.

Jesus’ point to Pilate was, surely, that his kingdom and Pilate’s occupy a different dimension. The church can advocate until all its bishops turn blue in the face but God’s Rule is not going to be established until Jesus returns. Meanwhile, the church might want to consider getting back to the job of saving sinners from hell and judgement.