March 2017
On 15th February the General Synod of the Church
of England voted not to ‘take note’
of the Bishop’s report on ‘Marriage and Same-Sex Relationships’. Some opposed
it because the report re-affirmed that marriage can only be between a man and a
woman, others wanted it thrown out because it gave room for ministers to flout the
church’s teaching.
And some people, I am sure, on hearing the news, shook their
heads and wondered why the church was even discussing this. In 2017, who still cares if a man wants to
act like a woman or a woman like a man? Can’t
they be what they want to be? As David
Cameron once said (on another issue) the church should “get with the
programme”.
Here are three reasons why Christians cannot fall into line
with the direction our so-called liberal culture is travelling:
1. The
commonly-accepted wisdom is that the Bible must be measured against today’s standards. Christians cannot agree with this; the Bible
had human authors but by God’s design they wrote living words from God himself
for all people in all ages. The Bible is
not out of date; rather it is human ideas that come and go like driftwood while
God’s Word remains as unmoveable rock.
2. ‘The programme’ (as
David Cameron put it) is by no means certain to continue. The political upsets in Britain and America in
2016, which may be repeated in other western countries, remind us that what
seems orthodoxy one day can be overturned the next. It is not ‘the wrong side of history’ to
resist today’s fleeting obsessions. Take
the long view.
3. God speaks not to
destroy our freedom but to keep us from miserable slavery to confusion. When we reject his words we suffer. Even worse, our children suffer. Jesus had stern words for those who cause ‘little
ones’ to stumble. To take away from our
children their certainty about being created by God as male or female is cruel
mistreatment.
Jesus called a spade a spade, but those whose lives were in
sexual turmoil sought him out for help and were warmly received. If that describes your life too, then I would
be very willing to talk to you.
Sincerely
Graham Burrows
