Greenbelt

For the uninitiated, Greenbelt is an arts festival, taking place at Cheltenham race course every August bank holiday weekend. No showers, unfortunately, but plenty of thought provoking stuff to see and do. Greenbelt is basically a Christian event, but without the huge worship meetings you find at Soul Survivor, for example. The ethos is that different ideas are shared and explored, but you won't catch anyone telling you what to think. This year was my first Greenbelt experience. Good food, good beer, good company and lots to argue about. I'll be going back, I think.

Probably the seminar that will stick in my memory the most is Jonathan Bartley's exploration of post-Christendom politics. I won't attempt a complete description of his ideas, because I wouldn't do them justice, but the basic thrust of his argument is this:

• The church began as a minority movement, subversive to the government of the day in not just a religious but a political way
• When Constantine declared the whole Roman empire to be Christian, and institutionalised the faith, this dynamic changed profoundly
• We today need to accept that Christianity is no longer part of the institution of this country - effectively we're back to how the church began
• Our values no longer reflect those of the establishment, and we need to have the courage, the faith and the creativity to live out these values, even, indeed especially, when they are politically subversive

Hmmm. The church as a movement for anarchy. Does this mean I can go and set fire to things? And how do we square this viewpoint with the idea that "there is no authority except that which God has established" (Romans 13:1)? Is there any way of submitting ourselves to the government, while still subverting it?