Book Review: A Better Ambition
If you’re looking for an excellent new book about the kind of ambition that drives someone to seek a life in politics, complete with all the backroom dealmaking, conflicts with the press, and ultimate rise to the head of the party, then consider this an answer to your prayer.
I recently finished, and strongly recommend, Tim Farron’s “A Better Ambition: Confessions of a Faithful Liberal.” In it I was pleased to learn that the author and I share an inextricable appreciation for The Bay City Rollers and a firm commitment to the gospel.
Aside from concerns over why “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!” is an amazing song lyric (it was the first Billboard #1 of 1976??), this recommendation may raise a couple of questions for those serving in Washington.
First, who is Tim Farron? Well, believe it or not, there is life and politics outside of Washington. Farron rose to become a Member of Parliament with the UK’s Liberal Democrat party and eventually served as the party president until 2019.
Second, what sort of confessions is this liberal democrat making? The answer is, like Augustine, all of the good ones!
Farron writes in detail about how he allowed a career in politics to win out over his earlier ambition to be a pop star, including choosing to go to a political party meeting instead of recording an album with Island Records (the same label that signed U2). But it’s his honest insights into navigating Christian faith and political vocation that are the most helpful in growing as a disciple.
He writes of his conversion in college,
“Some words towards the end of the Gospel of John made it clear: ‘these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name’ (John 20.30). There is no faffing about here. These are not vague bits of philosophy. This is a clear and forthright appeal to believe that Jesus really is who he says he is, that he really did die and rise again and that we should put our trust in him. If it’s true, everything changes. Much that you thought was wrong is right, and much that you thought was right is wrong. Stop everything now. Nothing else matters.”
What MP Farron does here is both beautiful and dangerous. It is beautiful because he clearly articulates the orthodox, historic, gospel of good news for the forgiveness of sins and redemption. It is dangerous because of his party affiliation.
Regarding commitment to his party, the Liberal Democrats,
“That’s why, as a Christian, I not only feel that liberal values best reflect my desire for equality, dignity, compassion and service, but I also feel that liberalism best preserves the rights of those whose worldview is off-centre or ‘eccentric’ as John Stuart Mill would describe it. Christians who fear that their rights are under threat should therefore instinctively be inclined towards the liberal cause.”
Some may be asking, how can a committed, orthodox, Christian support the legalization of marijuana, expansion of social welfare programs, college incentives, and gay marriage (he has a 98% positive rating on that issue)? The book details the answers to all of those questions, including, how his views on the LGBT issues, the British version of the Equality Act, and matters of sexual sin, played out in his political career.
But what struck me about MP Farron’s book was his honest look into the application of Christian faith in the life of an elected official and some of the assumptions we make in the United States about how theologically orthodox Christians ought to affiliate with political parties.
For some, there will be disbelief, even concern, at how Farron can possibly reconcile his personal faith and political views. And that is exactly why you should read every page of this book.
Yet, if we are to see our political ideology through the lens of our faith rather than our faith through the lens of our political ideology, then MP Farron’s book is a helpful recalibration.
A cursory Google search of Tim Farron will include the Twitter viral fact that MP Farron once found himself in a Peter-like situation that demanded he chose between professing what he held as true and what was politically expedient within his party.
66 And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” 71 But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” 72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept. Mark 14:66-72
MP Farron’s willingness to share his journey through his failure and his acceptance of his political fate is authentic, honest, and open. Christian’s serving and leading in government around the world, including America, will find great encouragement in his story.
If you’re wondering where the devotional portion of this devotional is, it’s right here,
“The following day, Paul [a friend of MP Farron] said he was impressed by how committed everyone at the Langley Park day had been, and how determined they were by a desire to do good. It had struck him, however, that everyone else was looking for hope in someone or something else other than Jesus. Of course they were. All of us are. In politics, it is so easy for us to seek our ultimate meaning in the form of an ideology, a manifesto, a party or a person. Paul pointed out to me that our ultimate meaning, and humanity’s ultimate hope, is in something way above party politics. It was a reminder that religion and politics speak different languages and have different priorities, and that means that we need to work harder than we do to understand one another. Mind you, too often believers and sceptics alike don’t seem all that interested in understanding the other side. For Christians, this is a shameful state of affairs, because you cannot love your neighbour if you don’t take the time to consider how they think and treat them with respect.”