“America [and UK ed.] today is a save-yourself society if there
ever was one. But does it really work? The underdeveloped societies suffer from one set
of diseases: tuberculosis, malnutrition pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera,
typhus etc. Affluent America [and UK
ed.] has virtually invented a whole new set of diseases: obesity,
arteriosclerosis, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, venereal disease,
cirrhosis of the liver, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, battered children,
suicide, murder, take your choice. Laboursaving
machines have turned out to be body-killing devices. Our affluence has allowed both mobility and
isolation of the nuclear family, and as a result our divorce courts, our
prisons and out mental institutions are flooded. In saving ourselves we have nearly lost
ourselves.”
Ralph Winter – Perspective on the World Christian Movement
- William Carey Library, 1981)
For many today, Christianity has become a faith of convenience…
it is our faith as long as it fits conveniently into our week. We claim to be for the evangelisation of the world as we sip or lattes and bemoan the
fact that our resources are so scarce in our post-Brexit society. We cut back on our giving of time and money to
our churches whilst greedily consuming hours of Sky TV. We cry “We have no time” as we spend endless
hours scanning our mobile phones, looking at our tablets or playing games on
our computers. We bemoan the church that
is not super-efficient, mega-staffed, and packed with children, whilst rarely
lifting a finger to make a difference at our local church. We treat church like a service industry that
is there to serve while we sit back passively to receive. We deplore the idea
of a whole day that belongs to God as the vast majority of churches rejoice that
their worship duties are over by 12 noon on a Sunday.
We thank God in prayer that he has taken up our Cross
(theologically and biblically untrue) whilst failing to choose the path of
Christ which demands we take up our own crosses.
We give thanks to God that we do not live in a country where
we are persecuted for the gospel, whilst avoiding any witnessing to the gospel on
our own part in order to avoid the discomforting looks or comments of those who
would disapprove.
Our godless country groans under the load of a pseudo-Christian
religion that is more and more being legislated by politicians who misguidedly believe
they are the new prophets of the Christian church. A belief that most church leaders confirm by
their continued and collective silence. The non-Christian fumbles
for meaning, purpose and value in life through yet more liberal behaviour, finding that nothing
satisfies for more than a moment. The church
meanwhile steps back and back, continually compromises the standards of the Gospel, blinding and confusing society more and more to the message of Good News found in Jesus
Christ.
Until the church of this country puts itself on a war footing and draws a line in the sand and says, “no more retreat,” this land will never know Christ in great numbers, and revival will never come to the Church of Christ in the UK.
