An Obadiah Slope column
Now that Scott Morrison’s memoir Plans for Your Good: A Prime Minister’sTestimony of God’s Faithfulness has been given a more than decent plug in The Weekend Australian, the book’s readership has been given more of a boost than The Other Cheek managed a couple of weeks ago.
But the insightful Cameron Stewart, the Chief International Correspondent for the Australian (and is the Sutherland shire really overseas?), picks up a quote that really stood out for Obadiah. “Staff is up; I am walking towards the sea.” This is how Morrison recounts texting pastors when he made the critical decision to stand for the leadership of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister.
It comes in a section where Morrison draws strong connections between himself and Moses. The staff is up is a reference to Moses, preparing to part the waters of the Red Sea. The motif of Old Testament leaders of the Jewish nation as exemplars runs through the book.
It was a crucial decision, and Morrison was right to pray about it. But Obadiah wonders whether the direct revelation that Moses received in his day was something that Morrison could expect to be as strong for him in the day-to-day running of his office.
Obadiah does not question whether any specific decision Morrison made, such as running for PM, was a direct answer to prayer.
Can God speak directly to us? – Obadiah thinks he does. But with the same power and direct signs as God delivered Moses? That’s a big call. And one that Scott Morrison – Obadiah almost wrote Scott Moses then – needs to ponder a little more. Intimations in The Australian’s reports that Morrison was under mental strain show that he may not have been helped by his identification with Moses. There was no pillar of smoke by day or pillar of flame at night to guide him through the thickets of Canberra.
The way Morrison writes about his identification with Moses is troubling because it implies that God will interact with us with the same signs and miracles daily as he did with Moses.
Our Sovereign God can surely choose to interact with us as he did with Old Testament heroes. But it is his choice. But we can’t decide for him that it will happen.
As Morrison told The Australian, he intended this book to help Christians. Obadiah is not sure the direct application of Old Testament examples to ordinary Christians is a sure guide for them.
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Obadiah might be overthinking Morrison, but it strikes him that Morrison concentrates in his book on men of power in the Old Testament instead of a saviour who gave his life in what seemed like a defeat to the watching world in the New Testament. Obadiah offers this reading tentatively because he is in no position to judge Morrison. Achievement, especially the sort that comes with worldly glory, needs to be grasped lightly by a Christian. Parliament must be a hard place to do that.
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Grey Nomadic thought: Best shop name in Northern NSW. A collectables shop in Manilla called the Manilla folder.
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Grey Nomadic thought 2: The wise guide and spouse who planned a holiday Obadiah has enjoyed this week has made sure we did not use Air BnB to avoid staying anywhere that removed housing from the rental market. So Obadiah benefited from staying in Pubs and other local businesses that preserve old buildings in the centre of towns. This is a good tip Obadiah is pleased to pass on. Yes, it sounds social justice-y. So what!
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Are things really getting worse? It may not be smart to ask. “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.”
(Ecclesiastes 7:10)