Scandal or Prayer by Stewart Perry
Not much has been said but plenty has been speculated this week in response to the “Royal Photoshop Scandal”. If you’ve been in a cave fasting and praying or given up watching and reading the news for Lent and missed the story, Princess Kate released a photo of her and her children for Mother’s Day only to apologise later for “editing” the photo.
Most children play at being a prince or princess, a king or queen, or pretending to be someone rich and famous. Little did we know as we were playing dress ups or using our imaginations that with those roles comes intense scrutiny. I couldn’t imagine every part of my life being dissected and critiqued by the media and the public, yet this seems to be the lot of those with power, position and influence.
If you were to poll many school children these days, along side, doctors, lawyers and police officers, you’d find the profession “influencer” as something that young people aspire to… I think the events of this week remind us of the old saying “be careful of what you wish for”.
This week I was asked to lead prayer as part of a ecumenical gathering in preparation for Billy Graham’s (famous American evangelist) grandson Will Graham visiting us later this year. A number of church leaders were asked to lead prayer for different things and I was asked to lead prayer for the speaker and the organisation group known as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
As I was reflecting that day about how I would lead prayer I asked myself whether I’d ever aspire to preaching or speaking in front of thousands of people… from my spirit came a very quick almost guttural response – “Absolutely Not!”
I imagined all the media scrutiny that went along with such a profile, I imagined all those in our current society who like to criticise the church, I imagined trying to deal with all the diverse perspectives represented by the wider church and trying to please everyone… and I thought to myself: “I am so glad God hasn’t called me to that type of ministry”. However, I did feel like I should be praying for those people, particularly Christians who have that level of profile and influence. I also felt convicted to pray for all who have profile and influence.
It seems popular to cover stories of how the mighty fall, how people of influence are caught out or to expose the wrong doings of the powerful. I admit I have some level of interest to find out what is actually going on with Kate Middleton at the moment.
What if, however, our first response wasn’t curiosity or criticism. What if our first response was prayer.
This weekend we have our local council elections. Our politicians and people who service the public with a public profile need our prayers. Even the ones we don’t align with.
Rather than jumping to speculate about conspiracy theories, rather than joining the bandwagons of criticism, rather than being part of the crowd cheering as another mighty one is falling, could we not consider falling to our knees in prayer and praying for them.
In a way each one of us is called to influence for the kingdom of God. The Great Commission says to us “Go therefore and make disciples”. As we seek to influence others through the way we live and move and have our being, we know we need the prayers and support of others. Let us be generous with the way we pray, especially for those who are influencers in today’s world.
May they influence with integrity, may they make wise choices. May they know Jesus and live and influence in they ways that he lived and influenced. May they be held to account for their poor choices and actions that impact others in negative ways. May they be protected against unfair criticism and may their influence always point towards the glory of God for the benefit of others. Amen.