At Tommy’s Carols

The proposal to hold a carol service in Whitehall on Saturday at the instigation of Christian convert Tommy Robinson was met with a chorus of pre-condemnation from among others Theo Hobson, Giles Fraser, Fraser Nelson, several provincial bishops and any number of local pastors scared of… what exactly? Writing in UnHerd, the Reverend Giles compensated in telepathy for what he lacked in Christian brotherhood, declaring Tommy Robinson’s conversion to be “cynical”.

How many of these critics attended the event to see for themselves? I did, but I have to confess we were ourselves nearly put off; was it to be too “politicised”, wondered the Tradwife?

Needless to say, the event itself provided no justification for the media finger-wagging.

I have been to many such evangelical events over the years. The preaching from several ministers at this event was different. It was more declamatory, in the style of the great Methodists John Wesley and George Whitefield. The preaching was ambitious, drew on the gospel, and focused on Christ as King. It was a rough-edged call to Christian leadership.

Apart from the carols and the Wesleyan proclamations, there were many striking personal testimonies from those whose self-avowedly ruinous lives had been turned around through the intervention of Christ, in some cases miraculously so. Several confessed that they had been rescued from suicide. As the psalmist said: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.”

In one such testimony a young woman told us how the n-word had been used against her by Stand Up to Racism activists when she questioned their ideology; at Tommy’s carols she had been welcomed with love. There were contributions from sharp and fearless young commentators – Bob from Speakers’ Corner compered much of it, together with courageous young Bob from Turning Point UK.

How have we arrived at a point where to proclaim that ‘Britain is a Christian country’ is regarded as dangerous and leads to wailing protestations from bishops in the House of Lords? That Britain is a Christian country is a statement of constitutional and historical fact. Show me a tree that can ‘progress’ beyond its roots. National renewal is not going to occur without Christian renewal. Yet to say so is a heresy, not against the gospels, but against postmodernism and multiculturalism which some of us feel is now the bishops’ creed.

I became a believing Christian in 2007 and was received into the Catholic Church that Christmas. As part of the charismatic wing of the church, my wife and I have been called to associate with many churches of different denominations over the years. One of the things that I have noticed as a sign of a church that is going somewhere; it attracts and is led by young men. This is the grounded church at its most authentically apostolic. This is the kind of church we saw at the event. We will be hearing a lot more from these men in future years.

As the secular philosophers have led the country away from the sacrificial, the heroic, towards a settled doctrine of self-preservation and self-interest, we are washed up in a place where all we really believe in is ‘safety’. What is there for young men in that? Postmodernism ushered in this apathetic decline. The bishops are scared of what an unapologetic proclamation of a Christian country might lead to; it might get all rather ‘unsafe’. Yet as Karen Armstrong successfully argued in Fields of Blood, authentic religious faith leads people away from conflict, not towards it. If Tommy Robinson continues on his Christian journey, he’s likely to become gentler on the surface, more deeply convicted underneath and more willing to sacrifice himself for Christ.

The leadership of the Anglican church more and more comes to resemble the Green Party at prayer. That will convert no-one.

Tommy Robinson himself appeared only briefly at the end of the event. He admitted that he knew the Quran before he knew the Bible and in an aside, he proclaimed “masculine Christianity”. He has a good point. The church in England is very maternal – that can also be a strength – but there is too little there to attract young men who know their lives bear little resemblance to Catholic ideals and know that the way they are is held in disdain by the aspirant classes.

The answer is not to abolish the Catholic ideals but to stop the lying. We are all sinners, however much we prop ourselves up with the aid of secular ideologies or self-righteous religion. And that humble, even humiliating admission of sin is what we saw being proclaimed here by speaker after speaker. Christ pours out his love on the sinner.

In this controversy the ‘Parable of the Prodigal Son’ is being played out again; the shattered, dishevelled son is welcomed home by the father, while to one side, as depicted in Rembrandt’s great painting of the scene, stands the established and respectable elder brother; elevated, superior, thin-lipped, disdainful, yet in the end just as much loved by the Father.

The Bible warns strongly against the misattribution of the work of God to malign forces. We came away from Tommy’s carols impressed, uplifted and encouraged. The bishops probably already know they have been wrong-footed by this joyous occasion.

But don’t take my word for it – join us next year in Trafalgar Square!

Chris Larkin is the pseudonym of a commercial film-maker who lives in London.