Remember the poor

The Coalition Government’s cutbacks, as they seek to master the huge national debt, are just beginning to bite. The impact on society over coming years will be immense.

The Prime Minister has insisted that he has done his best to spread the load fairly. Others feel that a disproportionate burden has fallen on the poor. While leaving it to the economists to haggle over the figures, the bottom line is that many people are now losing their jobs. There is talk of some 500,000 public sector jobs going. One EN correspondent said they have two families in their church in real difficulty following redundancy. Both have children. The church is trying to help, but in their borough there are hundreds of people seeking employment and the chances of getting work look slim.

There is also the emotional side of redundancy. Those who have lost their jobs or had their homes repossessed will be under great stress trying to keep their heads above water. In such circumstances it is easy for folk to feel worthless and crushed. The churches and evangelical pulpits need to respond with compassion and good deeds.

Old-fashioned parenting

But, even apart from the austerity measures, it is arguable that our society has already let down the poor in other ways. Frank Field, the former Labour minister, believes a decline in old-fashioned parenting has held back the poorest children. Recently he said: ‘Parents who set clear boundaries for their children’s behaviour, who love them, bond with and read to them, and teach them essential social skills, are the agents that open up life’s opportunities’. But brainwashed by our hedonistic media and binge culture many parents find it difficult to set boundaries for themselves, let alone their children.

So working class young people fall into addiction, apathy and sometimes crime. The dangers came vividly to me recently. There is a small park near our church building. Last summer we were out with 30 or so of the primary school children who come to our mid-week children’s club. Enjoying a ‘scavenger hunt’ for leaves and bits and pieces they were joyfully skipping around the park in the evening sunshine. It was idyllic. By contrast, sitting under one of the trees was a morose little group, a boy and two teenaged girls, one sadly obese, with their bottles, cans of lager, and cigarettes of dubious content on their way to being stoned. Looking at the scene the shocking contrast was obvious. Without protection from the lies of the current pleasure-centred zeitgeist many of our lovely little children, smiling and innocent, in just a few years will have joined that sulky, surly group under the tree.

Education

Successive governments have put their trust in secular education to raise the poor out of the depths into which they can sink. But the Coalition has had to make drastic cuts to education funding and many believe that ordinary young people will not feel able to go on to higher education because of the enormous personal debt they will incur. University tuition fees are now set to rise to as much as £9,000 per annum. Consequently there were student riots in London in November.

Actually it is only the gospel which can change the human heart. It is the gospel which is the ultimate hope of the poor and needy. Jesus still does perform miracles. One old friend told of his father, a terrible, violent drunkard being converted. ‘Christ didn’t turn water into wine, he turned beer into furniture, and bruises into kisses in our house!’ he said. The answers for our country are not ultimately found in education, but in a living person, Jesus Christ.