The World Cup is here – at its best, a month's celebration of football. We rejoice in the skill of the players, we get caught up in the excitement of the games, the ups and downs of our teams. We naturally have sides we want to win, and we cheer them on. But, true football fans, although they will be disappointed should their own team be eliminated, will continue to watch because what they enjoy is good football, whoever might be playing. Sadly, for many, it is the results that will count – and should those results not be what they want they will lose interest and turn away.

We have just seen a general election, one in which the result was not what most people expected. And there is a danger we can react badly to that, either dismissing politics, and particularly our participation in it, as a waste of time, or by continually sniping at, criticising and undermining the current administration. However, that is to miss the point. The result may not be what you or I voted for, but, if we are truly concerned about this country and the society we want to create (which is what politics is about), then we have to remain engaged, and to do so positively. Coalition government is a rare thing in British national politics, but maybe this is the chance for politics to “grow up” and finally for us to find ways of working together for the benefit of all, rather than continuing with the adversarial approach adopted hither to. The more we work across party boundaries, the more we need to balance different interests, the more inclusive we become and the more that goal of a fairer and more just society can become a reality. It won't be easy. It is much easier to simply do your own thing when in power, and to criticise and undermine the other side when not. But nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy.

Meanwhile, deep down, we all know what is fair and what is not. We all recognise greed when we see it. We all recognise poverty. We have a sense of natural justice. The question is whether we care enough about these things to do anything about them, even when that something might not necessarily be in our own short term interests.

Sometimes, people tell me that faith is a personal matter – something just between them and God. That, however, is a mistake. As Christians, a sense of community, and the building up of that community, is central. Christianity is about relationship, primarily our relationship with God but also the way that relationship then affects our relationships with those around us. We are all part of a community and it is the well-being of the community as a whole which should be our concern, not our own interests – just as true football fans are concerned about the game as a whole, and not just one team's particular set of results. If we get that balance right, and if our politicians get that balance right, then we will all find fulfilment, whether at church, in sport or in the community at large.

God bless – and enjoy the football!
Jonathan

Jonathan writes a monthly column for the Woodstock and Bladon News. This is his contribution to the June issue.