Michael Nazir-Ali announced last week that he would be resigning as Bishop of Rochester so that he may focus his energies on supporting the persecuted church. In a national newspaper this week he called on British Christians to learn from the witness of these believers who suffer for their faith in other lands. In particular he has drawn attention to what he calls a drift in Britain away from its Christian moorings.
The evidence for the Bishop’s assertions can be found within the news every day of every week. The concept of “diversity” has been elevated to such a level that it is unassailable and everything has to take second place to it. This is seen in the debates about Gay rights, so called, and the presentation of Islam, as well as many other items of daily news. It is especially seen in the devaluing of the role of Christianity in the historical development of Western Society, and British Society in particular.
Bishop Nazir-Ali highlights this in his article when he says, “The perfectly virtuous pages of history, such as Magna Carta, the campaign to abolish the slave trade and later, slavery itself, the easing of conditions of labour for men, women and children and the introduction of universal education, which all took place under the inspiration of the Christian faith, are forgotten or ignored.” What is emphasised is the guilt elements in our history - which should be acknowledged with due repentance.
This same historical and philosophical short-sightedness can be seen in the speeches of President Obama as he addressed the Muslim world in Turkey. Analysing his generous words about Islam the American political commentator, Roland Martin, said, “I think President Obama rightly said that the United States is not at war with Islam. I think it is a very helpful clarification. But you can’t take Islam out of the whole civilisational struggle we are in, not only in the war on terror, but, frankly, going back for centuries, coming up with a definition of what a good civilisation would look like and how a society ought to be arranged.” We would concur that there is no place for any war or conflict, except the intellectual debate and disagreement which should take place in a spirit of respect and compassion as we seek to present and defend the truth of the Gospel.
Both these two issues, historical misrepresentation of Christianity and our relationship with Islam, raise a very important subject for us and that is the nature of what we now call Western civilisation, and its huge debt to the Judeo-Christian worldview. That may sound a little grandiose but what it means is this, that countries like Britain, the USA, and many parts of Europe have developed to be what they are because of the influence of Christian values. What it also highlights is that Islam and the West offer two very different, and fundamentally irreconcilable, visions of society. Anyone going to Turkey and visiting Istanbul, the historic seat of the Ottoman Empire, as President Obama did, should be able to see that.
On this Easter Sunday we need to remind ourselves of the extraordinary impact the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ made on the disciples and first Christians. And then what phenomenal impact they had on the world around them. They truly did “turn the world upside down”. It was that same dynamic of the Risen Lord in the lives of His people that made the Reformation such a powerful influence for good across Europe and then into the wider parts of the world. It was not only in the preaching of the Gospel and the enlarging of the true Church that this influence was seen, but also in the social, moral and even political changes that it brought about.
Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” teaching us that the only way of salvation is through Him. That is the pre-eminent fact and glorious truth of the Christian Gospel to which we must always give our first attention. However, Jesus also teaches extensively throughout the Gospels and then in the rest of the New Testament how we are to live and what sort of shape a good society ought to have. That teaching moulded the minds and lives of men and women in our history, and through them our society was developed in terms of justice and compassion.
These values are now being lost and displaced in the name of this new ideology “diversity”. But it has no values. How should parents bring up their children? “Diversity” cannot tell you! It can give you a range of options, but there is no clear moral guidance. What is the role and place of women? Diversity will only give you the conflicting and confusing answers of Islamic suppression (which is the reality despite the claims to the contrary) or feminist unfulfilment. What about the moral malaise of binge-drinking, drugs and violence that plague our society? Does “diversity” have an answer? Sadly much of the problem can be laid at the door of “diversity” which has led to a loss of moral and ethical constraints. What is justice? Can “diversity” give us any picture? Is the use of lad’s magazines in Media Study GCSE courses, with their pornographic content, a just presentation of women? Is compulsory sex education, with its equal presentation heterosexual and homosexual relationships, just treatment for parents who would dissent if they were allowed to? Do we really want Sharia Law in our cities with its implications for family life for instance? “Diversity” will insist on these things and the destruction of any coherent moral values that must follow. So we could continue to ask the big questions of our day, and draw blanks when we look to “diversity” to provide wholesome answers.
But if you put all those problems to Christianity you will find that the Bible has profound answers (e.g. see Ephesians 5:1 to 6:9; 1 Peter 2:13 to 3:7; and many more). It was in the careful application of the great truths of the Bible that our forefathers developed the concepts of liberty of conscience and speech, the dignity of every person irrespective colour, race or gender, the nature of family life, the values of integrity, self-respect, honesty and self-control and so on. The Bible gives us a worldview that permeates every part of life and society and that brings wholeness and joy to those who follow it. It is the Bible that teaches the sacredness of life and of every individual person, out of which flow the balanced views of equality and freedom that once marked our culture.
That Biblical worldview centres on the Lord Jesus Christ. By His death and resurrection He frees us from sin and brings us into a wholesome relationship with God that is real and vital. By that same death and resurrection He gives us new life which has the power to make us different people in this world. His followers are those who seek after truth and righteousness and whose lives reflect the impact of the power of God’s grace and truth.
This is why it is appropriate on this Easter Day to reflect on the massive transformation that Jesus Christ makes to people and societies where He is acknowledged and obeyed. There was once a significant number of people in Britain who did that and who therefore changed and enhanced the nation. There are still a good number of Christian people in our land but, as Bishop Nazir-Ali reminds us, the church in Britain has failed to provide robust opposition to the slide away from Christian values. We need to ask why this should be so. Is it because we have failed to think through what the Bible really teaches and then to apply it in our lives and families? Is it because we are so besotted with the entertainment and comfort orientated culture around us that we have shrunk from being different? Is it because we have become so individualistic in our approach to the Gospel that the relevance of it to the wider society around us has been overlooked?
Those first Christians saw the risen Lord, listened to His words and then in the power of the Holy Spirit went out and changed the world. The Lord is still alive and reigns over all, His words are unchanged and eternally absolute truths, and the Holy Spirit is still the same infinite and Divine person who lives in every true believer and comes on those who seek Him. So where is the difference? That is an issue to contemplate as we celebrate and rejoice in the fact of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at this Easter.