Moving with the times?

Recently, I’ve heard a lot of people criticising the Church of England, and Christians generally, for not moving with the times, not keeping up with society. And in one sense this criticism is absolutely fair – we are never going to be effective in bringing people to know and experience the love of Jesus if we appear not to have any sense of how to use to new technologies, new ideas, new trends. That’s why the emphasis on ‘new expressions of church’ is so exciting: putting across the same victorious message of hope, but in fresh and vibrant ways that mean something to those on the outside. But when we’re urged to ‘move on’ in terms of what we believe, there we must be adamant that we will not compromise Jesus’ message simply in order to fit in with society.

Jesus’ teaching was radical. Jesus’ followers were told that they couldn’t just follow when it suited them and do exactly what everyone else was doing at all other times. “Jesus said ‘Anyone who starts to plough and then keeps looking back is of no use to the Kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:62) Being a Christian involves making a sacrifice, and being prepared to give up those things which go against God’s will for us. And so, when we as Christians consider difficult issues such as whether abortion can be justified, whether homosexual sex is permissible or how we spend our money, we should never base our opinions merely upon what ‘society’ deems to be acceptable.

This may sound obvious, but it is so easy for us to be influenced by the culture we live in, whether it be the materialism, the liberalism or the pluralism of that culture. I am not for a moment suggesting that, because we are Christians, we can find simple pat answers to these difficult questions – indeed, the uniqueness of each of our personalities, created by God, means that hard and fast rules don’t work very well. However, we must always go to the Bible, reading it carefully and in context, to try and establish just what God’s view is about the issues which affect our society. The argument that homosexual sex is permissible because ‘society has moved on in the last few years’ is not an argument that ought to hold weight for the Christian – instead our view should be formed by studying Scripture in depth. Our opinions about what the Bible says about certain issues may be divided, but they should never be influenced by what the changeable and probably short-lived society around us tells us to think.

"Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)

Another version reads: “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”