However, if one goes to the Last Discourses, and to the final prayer of Jesus before his passion, one finds that Jesus promised to anyone who loved him, that both God the Father and he himself would take up their abode in that person. So it is not a question of choosing the one indwelling or the other; it is simply choosing which is more appropriate in any particular circumstances, when both are always available. Those who say differently do not know their New Testament! So my suggestion that to maintain Law and Order and a proper administration of society, you need an indwelling with the Creator to see what needs to be done, and to avoid making a shambles of it as so many politicians do, does not show me as being unconventional. It shows me as orthodox.
It does not matter whether Jesus was the incarnate Word of God from all eternity, or a good man in whom the Creator was pleased to dwell and whom he filled with the fullness of His spirit, Jesus had to fulfil the process of a normal man. He had to be tempted to doubt whom he was, and he had to identify with the Imago Dei in his psyche, with all the risks of doing so. If the Word of God had been excused this, we could all have greatly admired him, but not followed him, save by hiding behind his sacrifice. As a Saviour of the human race, he would have been useless.
However many people do not want a communion with God. In fact most people don’t. They think they can live perfectly satisfactory lives without it. They may be right. They are more likely to get to the top of the greasy pole; and if one has a healthy ambition, many young men see that as a commendable aim. It is only later that one begins to realise one may have to dedicate oneself to a worldly goal with the same single-mindedness as the service of God demands. And this reveals the essential falsehood of living for oneself. We all to some extent lead a public life; and I understand that Winston Churchill, when asked about his priorities as a Member of Parliament, replied “Country first, Constituents second, Party third”. And “Self”? Where does “Self” come in? Nowhere at all! In public life, we should be public spirited.
But more of this in the next Chapter.