This British Leader is Stepping Down Because of His Christian Faith
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. Tim Farron, the leader of the Liberal Democrat party in the U.K. Parliament, struggled to follow this teaching of Jesus Christ for two years. The Christian leader even publicly held left-leaning positions on same-sex-marriage and abortion, but, in the end, even this was not enough.
On Wednesday, Farron resigned from his leadership position.
“From the very first day of my leadership two years ago, I have faced questions about my Christian faith that I have tried to answer with grace and patience,” said Farron in his official resignation speech. “At the start of this election, again I found myself under scrutiny, asked about matters to do with my faith.”Farron has been grilled by the media about his personal positions on issues like abortion in the past. It was not enough for his public positions to be liberal, the press demanded that his personal beliefs fall in line as well. Because of this, Farron admitted in the bombshell statement that:
The consequences of the focus on my faith is that I have found myself torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader.
The former leader went on to say that his liberal beliefs involve defending the freedom of people he may disagree with. However, he said:
Even so, I seemed to be the subject of suspicion because of what I believe and who my faith is in. In which case, we are kidding ourselves if we think we yet live in a tolerant, liberal society.
So much for “coexisting.”
Of course, many in the media are pointing to Farron’s Christianity as a smoke-screen for the real reason he is quitting the position: the fact that the Liberal Democrats performed poorly in the recent election.
Regardless, Farron’s statement represents our current cultural climate. It is impossible to be a practicing Christian and adhere to the demands of the secular “religion” of the left.
As Jesus also taught, you cannot serve two masters.