Peter Sammons reflects on a recent survey, first in a series.
# 1/5 – Does the King do you any good?
Background to the Wolverhampton Surveys
It was TFM’s privilege to serve 5 churches in Wolverhampton during May 2023. Three churches are in one Anglican benefice (Bushbury). The other two are independent churches (International Life Centre, and Hope City Church). The churches are approximately ten minutes driving time apart, so definitely local but not on each other’s doorstep.
During the 2023 TFM mission to Wolverhampton we used two surveys. The first was a one-off, but as the mission coincided with the Coronation event it really seemed a God-sent opportunity, so we grasped it gratefully. Here is the “Crowning the King” survey for those who would like to see the questions:
https://tfm.uk.endis.com/Publisher/File.aspx?ID=327542
Whilst its questions appear to be focused on King Charles III, there was an easily recognizable sub-text, as the questions offered-up the opportunity to think about The King of Kings. The survey seemed well received and thought-provoking, and it certainly made for a friendly and non-stressed person-to-person encounter, irrespective of peoples’ personal feelings about Monarchy in the UK.
In this short reflection we shall only focus on the first question – does the King do you any good?
Does the King do you any good?
The way people reacted to this question reveals their general attitude to Monarchy, as well as their insight into the broad socio-political settlement that governs the UK. Here is the question and the associated percentage responses:
| 1. Does the King do you any good? | ||
| a | Yes – I think he brings some stability | 49 |
| b | No – I don’t think he does any good at all | 17 |
| c | I think he would – if only he knew my needs/difficulties | 7 |
| d | Not sure | 23 |
| e | something else …. | 4 |
The subtext behind this question is, irrespective of whether you believe in Him or not, does King Jesus in truth do you any good? Here the normative Christian response is absolutely clear. The answer is yes, King Jesus does you personally good, in these three ways in particular:
Firstly, He has made possible your rescue (‘salvation’) for eternity. No one else could have done it, but Jesus did – it was His prime directive (to borrow a phrase from TV’s Star Trek series). Encapsulated in that reality are some wonderful sub-texts of Jesus’ achievement – here are thirty, explored in brief:
https://www.kevinhalloran.net/31-reasons-why-jesus-christ-came-to-earth/
The rescue that Jesus achieved is that anyone and everyone who truly believes on Him (and that means believes on what He achieved for us through the Cross of crucifixion) shall not die but shall have eternal life: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes will on Him shall have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way; He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him shall not die, but have eternal life. God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Those who believes in Him is not judged; those who do not believe have been judged already, because they has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:14-18, edited).
Secondly, although Jesus died for you, He also lived for you as well. Jesus lived a truly sinless life. It was not easy – and the devil came specifically to tempt Jesus away – see Matthew chapter 4 – but Jesus remained resolutely firm and did not yield. So only Jesus was good enough to die in your place, to accept the punishment that we (you and me) should have suffered. If that does not benefit you personally, then I’m at a loss to think what else might have done.
Thirdly, Jesus arose from the grave to demonstrate the death of death. Jesus has proved beyond any serious doubt that He is alive today and lives on in the daily life and experience of His followers across this world, consistently down through the past twenty centuries. That is why we look forward, also, to His return to this planet, not to some ethereal ‘heaven’ but to this world in its present form, at the absolute crisis of human history. When Jesus returns, it will not be as ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’ as some have styled it. No, Jesus will reign as The Lion of Judah, to bring righteous government at long last to this world. Again we must declare that King Jesus does you immeasurable good, yet we must ultimately receive Him or find ourselves excluded eternally from His blessings.
Wow!
Revealed via our Wolverhampton survey some 49% considered that the UK King does them some good. Those who voiced their specific thoughts tended to the view that yes, the Monarchy brings a measure of stability that transcends mere politics. Whilst they might stop short of being ‘Monarchists’ yet they see the benefits as real. By contrast only 17% thought the King does no good, but the remaining 34% were ambivalent.
How ambivalent are most people to King Jesus, we wonder? What He has achieved for you and me is amazing (“wow”!). What He will achieve for us in the future will be even more amazing, perhaps. But He also holds the keys to eternity and to judgment, it would be a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the God who must – and will – be Judge over Mankind (Hebrews 10:31).
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Look out for our next article which will consider how people responded to the second question – ‘if you could be a part of a real royal family, would you be interested?’ We hope this will come out next week via the TFM prayermail.
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Through Faith Missions (TFM) is an evangelism charity that aims to bring the good news of Jesus to people across the UK – and beyond. Volunteer missioners are mobilized for short term mission, and regularly see profound answers to prayers. Here is a link to TFM: https://tfm.uk.endis.com/
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