Warily, I went to Tommy Robinson's Carols

Warily at first, I stood there in Whitehall on Saturday afternoon for Tommy Robinson’s "Put Christ back into Christmas" carol service. I wanted to experience for myself this apparent toxic nationalism. I would give it one go – one too many in the eyes of some.

I stand against racism of any kind and I had been issued with plenty of warnings in the last few weeks on social media by other Christians, notably bishops of my own denomination: this former criminal would be politicking cynically, out to hijack the faith for his evil agenda, I was told. Oh yes, there might be karaoke carols blasted into the open-air that day but watch out! It would be a guise for hate and all that this church and nation should oppose.

Well, in my view, the nay-sayers got it dramatically wrong. I did see and hear some things that this country (including sections of the church) might not like these days. But I’m talking about the name of Jesus being glorified passionately in worship, God’s word being preached publicly and compellingly – maybe to thousands, and that good old blatant proselytising challenge – to turn to Christ as Saviour and Lord – being given to all.

Yes, there was a sparse collection of union flags, sporadic young males with crew-cuts and a few swigs of lager being taken from supermarket cans. These features of the afternoon might have been enough to send establishment representatives into a mild panic. Yet, there were only cordial encounters with the police in evidence to me, no rude songs about Keir Starmer or immigrants and, most importantly, the gospel was unadulterated by any cause except for two barely noticeable instances of someone calling us "patriots," which of course would be seized on in certain quarters.

Overall, this was inspired kingdom of God stuff; rough round the edges maybe, but so am I.

Thankfully, it was also clear that God’s church was out in force – a variety of races – to support what they hoped would be an occasion that would do Him justice. Hopes were realised!

Most striking for me was the testimony from one young woman who told all present that she had given her life to the Lord purely through reading Scripture on her own. My low moment was standing there as a Church of England vicar, listening to the event’s compere say: “Sadly, the Church of England doesn’t seem to want us.”

Tommy Robinson himself appeared for a mere five minutes towards the end and explained: “In 15 years of activism, hundreds of demonstrations, this is the most beautiful moment in my life (as an activist)… We are [here] to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ… Every one of us, including myself, needs to ask what that means to us, that Jesus lived for us, He died for us, He rose again.”

Robinson went on to admit: “I struggle like everyone does because of my sin.”

How glad I am that I decided to witness the so-called "Tommy Robinson event" for myself. I didn’t really have the time; the next morning I was preaching on Paul’s evangelistic sermon in Acts 13 and the evening I was giving our carol service address, imploring people to come to Jesus. Neither was fully in the bag when I took the tube to Westminster. However, when it came time to head home, I found myself thanking God for a well-spent, thoroughly encouraging afternoon. I had all the material I needed to finish my talk preparation, having been energised by the drive of all the contributors to see the Lord honoured once more in our country.

As the football results flashed up on my phone, I did wonder for a moment how God would view the scoreline of the particular fixture I had just attended: Tommy Robinson 1; Church of England 0, perhaps?

Please note: The author writes in a personal capacity. en carries a range of political views from evangelicals and does not endorse any one political party or movement.