We need to talk about Kevin

I have to admit that I'm in shock. With all the hype over the World Cup last night I've only just found out that Kevin Rudd is out and that Julia Gillard is the new Prime Minister of Australia.

We need to talk about Kevin is the title of a novel by Lionel Shriver. Without giving too much of the plot away, it is made up of letters from a Mother trying to come to terms with the fact that her son is a sociopathic murderer. I don't want to be melodramatic but I feel a similar need to come to terms with what on earth has happened to Kevin Rudd. Heralded as the conquering hero in 2007, how can he be booted out before even finishing a first term?

Here's some more heralding (from the SMH):

The move against Mr Rudd was sparked by a report in yesterday's Herald that Mr Rudd had used his chief of staff, Alister Jordan, to sound out the backbench over the past month on the level of support for him. This followed a Herald/Nielsen poll which showed the government would lose if an election were held then.

But Mr Rudd's action was regarded as a sign that he did not trust the repeated assurances by Ms Gillard that she would not stand.

"It was offensive and disloyal," said a Gillard supporter

... and apparently absolutely correct! It is quite possible that there is all sorts of stuff behind the scenes that I don't know about, but it seems incredibly harsh on Kevin.

I wonder what this teaches us about leadership in Australia?

What I like about Kevin is that he seems to have convictions. Politics is a tough game for Christians who have convictions because it is entirely based on compromise. I remember the British Tory Cabinet minister, Brian Mawhinney, being interviewed about how his Christian faith impacted cabinet discussions. He replied, "You can only resign once." In other words there are constantly issues raised with which you disagree, but once you have stated your case and the cabinet decision goes against you, then you have to decide whether you resign over it or not. Resignation may give you a self-righteous satisfaction but it also ends your influence in the running of the country.

Kevin clearly had to let some of his ideals go. That's politics. But generally he stuck to his guns and that is why he was fired! It seems the Mines are just to powerful for him.

What concerns me most is I think this represents a prevailing attitude to leadership in Australia. We want results fast and when decisions prove unpopular we cave in with equal speed.

As a starter for discussion, here are some possible lessons for churches:

1. Let's give our leaders time. It takes years to grow a tree, cress seeds sprout in days. Churches are supposed to have the perspective of eternity - you don't get much longer-term planning than that.

2. Let's support our leaders when unpopular decisions are made. That's not to say that we shouldn't be able to criticise bad decisions; just that we should expect change to be hard work and not give up too easily.