Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Rev Andrew Dick, minister of St Michael’s church, Inveresk, in Musselburgh.
Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to address you this afternoon.
In this season of Advent, Christian churches of many denominations are preparing to celebrate the birth of one who is described in the popular hymn as “the Servant King”. Indeed, Mark’s gospel tells us that Jesus said of his mission:
“the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
I am a minister of the Church of Scotland; the Parliament has within it ministers of state. The idea of leaders being called ministers, I suggest, betrays our country’s Christian heritage. The word “minister” means “servant”, and Jesus once said:
“the one who rules”
should be
“like the one who serves.”
I am a servant of God, and ministers of state are servants of the people, as the previous First Minister, Alex Salmond, and the former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, have recently pointed out. It has been suggested that power corrupts, and it is surely worth the while of politicians and religious leaders to remember often that they are servants.
Some would question whether leadership and service are compatible. I believe that an important tool in the toolbox of leaders is example. If we are tolerant of people, if not always of their ideas—rather than, as is the tendency today, tolerant of ideas but not always people—and if we model a culture of service and mutual respect, perhaps, just perhaps, others will follow our example and the national renewal that many of us long for might begin. Let us never forget that, by definition, a leader is a person whom people follow.
I, like many Scots, was proud that mutual respect characterised much of the recent referendum debate. I am proud that public service is still largely respected and honoured in our country. However, I am convinced that we must, as never before, be vigilant and look to the source of our values as a society in this age of such rapid change.
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Business Motion