Sick

I have come to call sinners (1:17)

Often we say that Christ came to save everyone, and with good reason, but when Jesus gets to air his view he tells his hearers that he has come to save only the sick. I think we can reasonably append those who realise they need a doctor. We are all in need of a saviour but only some of us realise it, and then only some of the time. The first step to getting well is to know that you are sick.

This is one reason our political leaders disturb me. It is clear to most of us that there is a distinct lack of competence in our current government. The delay in the first lockdown, the eat out to help out debacle, the millions wasted on failed efforts to track and trace, the muddled messages to protect cronies, the Christmas rules fiasco. I could go on. For those with humility a mistake is an opportunity to learn, but if we fail to acknowledge when we get it wrong we are incapable of getting it right next time. An even greater danger than incompetence is arrogance. 

And why are our leaders so poor? Well I have a theory. I suspect that the vast majority of the competent politicians believed that leaving the European Union was foolish in the extreme and so are not in Boris's cabinet of leftovers. As politicians they deal in the pragmatic and currently in global matters big is beautiful and small countries struggle. It may be, as many hope, that in 30 years time global politics will have swung our way and the little countries will have an edge, but today competent politicians still bet against Brexit, so today they are not in the cabinet. We are left with the outsiders, the failures, the yes-men (of both genders), and the newbies. With them in charge the outlook for our country continues to look bleak.