BBC Radio 4 2015-12-01

Yesterday my attention was drawn back to France, but for very different reasons.

Recently, the Association of Mayors of France has called for a ban on cribs depicting the Nativity in town halls. The move has come as France seeks to reassert its identity as a secular nation in the light of religious extremism.

For faith communities, the move casts further ominous clouds over religious freedom. Many Christians in the UK are still bemused that cinema policies have ruled out broadcasting the Lord’s Prayer already given the green light by the Broadcasting Standard Authority.

For some people, this is all adding weight to the idea that a secular tide is encroaching on sacred spaces. Indeed, some Christians I know, suggest that this is tantamount to religious persecution.

The move has unveiled a world of ambiguities in which a French politician describing himself as, ‘profoundly secular’ regards the decision as a ‘ridiculous’ denial of French culture.

But the debate is also a global conversation throwing up fierce questions. Is equality compatible with religion? And how do we begin to differentiate, culture, religion and national identity? And can human rights become unrighteous?

These are complex issues in which we are all implicated.

But from a Christian perspective this tension is already implicit in our belief. Christians accustomed to institutional power and political privileges forget, too easily, that it sits at the centre of our faith.

Christian teaching is committed to the idea that God controls the levers of government and institutions responsible for human flourishing. Consequently, the Bible urges us to pray for those in leadership – for kings and civic leaders who, in New Testament terms, carry the sword of God to promote public order and the common good.

And yet, that same community also appeared subversive, exercising their freedom of faith in public spaces and insisting that they would rather obey God than men.

The road map between public compliance and freedom of conscience has always been a difficult path to navigate.

Consequently, Christian history from Emperor Constantine to the Reformers and the Pilgrim Fathers, has been trying to make political sense of this tension.

Far from monopolizing public life, it now appears that Christian faith is being called back to its root task: creating ambassadors of this incredible vision, who persuade others that this kingdom makes good citizens of us in the here and now.