Earlier this year there were political spills - the National Party Members of Parliament decided to keep their leader and not bring back a previous one. It was all over the news and commentary aplenty.
The Greens leader decided to call it a day and a new Greens leader was elected. Again the news commentaries were out there with every nook and cranny being explored.
The year before the Australian Labor Party Federal Members changed their leader after losing the unlosable election. There was much drama and calamity as the new leader sought to bring a new focus.
Then in the US the Democrats holding sway in the House attempted yet failed to defrock the 43rd President in drama that challenged Hollywood but it all came horribly undone in the Senate where the Republicans held sway.
Politics is sport.
Sport as politics
Consider the situation when in a major league sporting entity changes a coach. The sports news goes ballistic. I don’t know what planet you’ve been on not to notice these things.
When an achieving athlete is not selected in an Olympic situation – politics is front and centre. Or when a famous female athlete announces she is having a baby. So much delight is in the air, it could be cut with a cake knife.
Or what about when a referee or umpires makes a dramatic decision which affects the outcome of the game – be it a fixture or a grand final. Politics 101.
And then there is the kids in the park and the coaches’ son who happens not to be the sharpest chisel in the tool kit is given serious roles for which the child is literally incapable. The best kid at that task either sits on the side line or watches with the other team mates. Politics is central.
Jesus spoke of politics
He referred to all this as ‘white washed tombs’ – the participants made great plays, flamboyant gestures and shout-outs, spoke the speak, wore the colours, made the claims, and as always, there is a but ….
The politics behind the scenes are strong, relentless and powerful - they depend upon each other’s survival, truth goes out the window, their world is all but dependent on false and horrible and lifeless activity. It’s politics.
What might we say of all this. The book ‘This Present Darkness’ addresses this. Many Christian movies illustrate it. There is something greater afoot. The Lord somehow allows situations to demonstrate a far greater reality and a truth that sees the light shine in.