Garry spoke this evening from Matt 16:13-18, talking about the clash between God’s kingdom and the kingdom of the world. He highlighted two specific pieces of legislation which have come into force in the UK this year (the legalisation of gay marriage in March and the fact that state-funded schools must teach evolution as an established scientific fact in June – see here for more information) which have divided opinion and which represent the ongoing clash that comes throughout history over certain issues.
Rom 1:26-27 and 1 Tim 1:8-11 are clear references to God’s opposition to homosexuality, with Jesus reinforcing the Genesis basis of marriage between male and female in Matt 19:3-6. The church has traditionally differentiated between homosexual practices and acceptance of people. No sin is ‘greater’ than another; God is opposed to all sin, but loves all people, and the church needs to be a place of welcome and acceptance, whilst not condoning sin in any shape or form. Increasingly, however, in our culture, this traditional Christian view is under attack.
Similarly, evolution has been taught as the only rational scientific explanation of our world and those who believe in evolution ridicule the Biblical account of creation as being based on faith alone without tending to acknowledge that faith is also required to believe in evolution. Some of the facts propounded by scientists (eg Michael Whiting’s research on stick insects) directly contradict the theories that were previously taught, leaving us with the conclusion that these scientists still need to believe evidence will be found to support their theories: it matters, ultimately, what we believe in!
Faced with such culture clashes, how do we react? Do we fight for our point of view or retreat in fear? We need to be secure in the fact that God is building His church and that nothing will be able to prevent that. We either belong to the kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness and must be aware that God is calling us to live the truth and declare the truth. Our discipleship can be costly (see Heb 10:32-35), but we need to be confident that God is the victor. As Rend Collective sing, ‘Build Your kingdom here/ Let the darkness fear.’ The devil will not triumph, for God’s victory is secure.