East Leake Evangelical Church

The past week has seen the usual issues featuring in the News and the inevitable discussions that follow:

The problems of teenage pregnancies and teenage abortions have been dealt with in a report on sexual and relationship education in schools.

• It was also reported that the UK is right at the top of teenage abortions;
• Apparently UK teenagers spend more unsupervised time together than anywhere else in Europe.

The issues of binge drinking and violence have also come up again with the normal responses and explanations from ‘experts’ and government ministers.

The Government has set out its new counter-terrorism strategy.

Then there have been all the reports about abortion clinics and condoms being allowed to be advertised, while in Cornwall Christian owners of a guest house are facing legal action after refusing a double room to a homosexual couple.

The Labour MEP Mary Honeyball, who represents London, has said that she objects to the increased activity of Christian groups in the public square because faith is a “personal eccentricity”.

These things may seem to be very diverse and disconnected, but in fact there is a very significant link among them.  It was expressed in the report on sexual and relationship education in schools which argued that it was replacing the traditional moral framework with a “values based framework”.  Similar language was used in the counter-terrorism strategy which spoke about the common values held in the UK - equality, tolerance and democracy (these terms were not defined).  And, inevitably, Mary Honeyball spoke approvingly about “an aggressively secular society”.

A secular society is one that rejects God and wants any reference to Him to be forbidden.  It speaks about equality and tolerance but denies them to those who want to speak publicly about their faith - and that especially means Christians.  There are two elements to this secularization that we need to recognise:

1. The Loss of a Christian Memory - The impact and benefits of Christianity are utterly discounted and forgotten.  But more than that there is a loss of moral perspective.  So we see a significant change in public morality.  That was expressed very movingly by the father of the young boy who was killed by another boy throwing a glass dish in his face.  He said we were becoming a “society of anger, selfishness and fear.”  He looked for the lost values of “civility and fairness”.  But you cannot have such things when you have a particular view of what it means to be human, and how human society should function;  a view which sees that we are all made in God’s image and are answerable to God.

Once you lose the concept of man being made in the image of God and the consequent recognition of the dignity of every person, you will see selfishness becoming dominant.  Violence and excess will then be seen by some as totally legitimate, irrespective of the impact on others.

The view of society is also radically changed once you exclude the Christian perspective.  The Bible teaches that we are inter-dependent.  The family is the central structure of any community and in that context we are to be mutually supported and caring.  Then again each of us has a duty to love and care for our neighbour, not on the pragmatic basis that it is the best way to run a society, but because there is a God who does exactly that and we learn our values from Him.  Without this basic set of principles society becomes fragmented and community cohesion can only be achieved on a pragmatic basis.  And on the same basis it can be quickly destroyed.

2. The Rejection of Alternative World-views - A world-view is simply the way we understand the world around us.  The Christian world-view has four elements - Creation by a wise and sovereign God; The Fall of man in rebellion against God which damages the image of God in man; Redemption by grace through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that brings rebels back to God; Restoration by God’s power of that lost relationship and image which points to ultimate renewal.

Such a view of the world cannot be private.  It affects and covers the whole of life.  And therefore those who hold to it must show it in all they do, and speak about it in all they say.  There is no part of life where it does not apply.  It is life enhancing and enabling.  It gives purpose and motivation, meaning and value to every element of our lives.  But now there are those who not only reject that worldview but want it silenced.  Their world-view is to be the only one to be heard.  True Christian thinking has always been tolerant and while disagreeing with what others may say has allowed them the right to speak.  Modern tolerance expects everyone to conform or be silent.  Democracy, which is so espoused, depends on free speech, but that must be denied to allow this aggressive secularism to rule unchallenged.

The damage caused by the loss of this Christian world-view and its replacement with a secular mindset can be seen in the approach to the family and in the issue of self image.  In the review of sexual and relationship education in schools one of the key emphases is the reduction of the role of parents.  Parents would no longer be able to withdraw their children from these subjects; they are compulsory.  Indeed the authority of parents is further undermined because the child’s voice is to be given pre-eminence.  Christian parents will need to be asking themselves whether they want their children to be subject to an even more overt form of humanism and secularism.

In terms of self-image the whole approach to sexual conduct has no clear concept of what constitutes being human.  Therefore desires and emotions become the defining factor, irrespective of whether those desires and emotions are appropriate or right.  So sex before marriage cannot be questioned and all kinds of sexual orientation and behaviour must be approved.  We are just animals and procreation and satisfying our desires are the essence of life.  That is why there is no answer to the problems we listed at the outset.  The proposed solution actually feeds the cause of the problem.

This in built self-contradiction lies at the heart of the secular approach, and leads to the confusion and chaos we see within our society.  What is the answer?  It is the Gospel - the Christian world-view.  Only that can give balance to a society and enhance true tolerance and equality.  Only the Gospel can supply any coherent answer to the issues that are perplexing our leaders in these areas of morality and personal behaviour.  Only the Gospel can show an individual the truth about himself, and give hope and purpose to life.  We do not need a “values based framework” drawn up by an intellectual elite who are accountable to no-one.  We need the truth as it is in Jesus Christ who shows us God in all His glory, and who brings forgiveness and wholeness to those who trust in Him.