Abandoned by the church

 A chaplain who gave a sermon on the biblical position on Transgenderism who subsequently was arrested and labelled as "a terrorist" which of course, happens to be complete nonsense. He has been abandoned by the arch-bishop of Canterbury. This reveals a serious problem within the church of England that it can abandon a chaplain; therefore, by showing just how far it has fallen over the last century. Let me just say that at this point it is starting to ring true in terms of all that the faithful man of the past when they said that this trajectory had been evident to them (JC Ryle; Charles Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd- Jones). And it is very sad to see such a compromise take place even though it is inevitable known the liberal leaning that are manifest in the church.  To quote one of those who sounded the alarm:

 Most of the difficulties in the early church seem to have arisen because people had a defective idea of the nature of the Christian church, and many of the particular problems are solved  by coming to the correct view of the nature of the church. then there is the question of the unity of the church.... this unity while it is spiritual must also be visible... so I say we should consider this matter because the New Testament compels us to consider the church and the unity of the church.  (Lloyd-Jones: evangelical unity-- an appeal)

Now this is the issue and in another lecture he gave several foundations which form the second part of this unity: (1) Spirit born conviction. (2) any contrary way is a dishonour to God. (3) fidelity to the Word of God.   And each of these are vital stepping stones to true unity. And yet, what we see in the church at large is precisely what had been warned about between 1870-1970 with such clarity. And at the rout of this abandonment is one simple reality: an undeniable shift from the authority to scriptures. And as one has rightly said: "Church history has repeatedly and clearly proven one thing: Once the highest view of Scripture is abandoned by any theologian, group, denomination, or church, the downhill slide in both its theology and practice is inevitable." (James White: sola Scriptura) And it should noted that if it is not unfounded traditions; it will be cultural norms that are accepted. 

A sign of incompetency  

One of the first signs of a weakened; and even more so, a compromised church can be found in those who lead it. It should not be so, but it is what it is. The  man who Jesus states these words "well done good and faithful servant" happens to be the same person whom is charged with this "teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you..." In other words, there is no way around it.   A man who has been granted the gift of preaching the word of God has one duty to proclaim it accurately and faithful from beginning to end. That is to say, from Genesis to Revelation which means that he must preach all parts even those which he is uncomfortable with or the public is uncomfortable with. We have no place nor no right to doctor it to fit a persons felt needs. There people out there for that kind of teach: self help gurus. And not men who have been divinely instituted to declare his unadulterated truth. 

And what is the truth as far as we, the creatures of God, are concerned? Does God gives any room to discover our own truth? No. He has said it plainly and clearly in these all important words:

Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1)

This is the first truth about mankind we learn; and it is the first thing that all scriptures uphold and affirm (Matthew 19:1-12; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16; Ephesians 5:22-33). There is simply no room for negotiation or accommodation. Man and woman has been designed in every way to reflect the glory of God; and they do so, by means of their distinct genders and roles. A male will only ever be a male; and a female a female. That much is clear scripturally and biologically. Let us never doubt it. The bible honours and praise each for their particular contribution to the social sphere: a man for his and woman for hers. Let us not that even the terms "transgender;" and "transition"  in this case, are simply misnomers and complete folly. what you do when you go under the knife to alter your gender is nothing short of destruction to ones God-given identity as the sex and gender you were created as. 

So coming back to the point in question.  The chaplain who gave this sermon from what we have been told done everything according to scriptures; and therefore, he done it faithfully. And for Him not to be supported by the church of England and the hierarchy is nothing short of dishonouring to God. Let us note what is important when it comes the office of an elder or someone who leads the church: "For the overseer must be beyond reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not overindulging in wine, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined." (Titus 1: 7-8)  That is the moral qualification; and from what transpired in this matter Justin Welby fails on this. But let us note the more important matter in the next words:

holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. (vs. 9)

Surely if this statement is anything to go by; and it is. The Pastor/elder must teach just what the scriptures teach on regardless of the subject. And why is this the case? Because it is God truth. And stray from the truth may mean may things; but it means one thing for certain: you have been unfaithful. And because this is true then your judgement will more severe (1 Corinthians 3; James 3) And the truth is clear as day. man was and is created as a man; and woman was and is created as woman.

A clash of world-views 

 Now looking at what lies behind this matter before us; we come to the clearest example of the contradiction. We are dealing with a man (Welby) who claims to be a Christian minister who by that confession should uphold Christian values; and yet, like so many other in the Church of England have demonstrated a clear disdain for both biblical doctrine and biblical ethics. This alone should give us some great pause. I recall what something on the briefing recently where the COE showed this kind of contradictory pattern which is a clear compromise: they "speak and act consistently in accordance with the plain reading and plain teaching of scripture on sex and marriage, as recognized by the church down the centuries." And yet, on the other hand they say "Some of us say that sexual activity belongs as appropriately to same-sex as it does to opposite sex relationships. Whether we think that means within a same-sex marriage, or within the relationships of those who have committed themselves to marriage, or within other patterns of faithful commitment." And there it is, so clear: the want to have their cake and eat it too mentality that has no place in the church. 

I cannot help but to think of the potter and pots illustration that scriptures present to us. Only in this case it is the head and the church; that is to say, Christ as the head has deemed what is to be communicated before His people in the church or outside of it in normal every day context; and we as faithful Christian have one duty and that is to obediently proclaim His kingdom before all mankind.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 5 that it is our duty to expose the darkness and shine forth the light of Christ before all men; and yet, we do not need to be thinking what are we to take to them; for it is already given to us in these words: 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Rom. 1:16)

 And again we have these words:

For this reason I also suffer these things; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to protect what I have entrusted to Him until that day. (2 Tim. 1:12)

Note that we are told twice that we, like the apostle Paul, should not be "ashamed" whether it is the gospel or the belief in the gospel; he was not ashamed. And neither should any true Christian be. But I ask this: does the bishop's neglect to side with this chaplain reveal something more akin to shame? could it be that in taking this step is he revealing that he is ashamed of his calling and his "faith"?  And this is the example that this man is communicating to those under him; one can only pray that many will abandon Him too the way he abandoned this chaplain. Christ has some strong words to say in this regard; does He not? Here they are: "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38) Strong word: not only ashamed of Him; but likewise ashamed of his words. tell me where do we find those? it is in the same scriptures that say man is man and woman is woman. Marriage is foe one man and one woman. It sure sound like this man has listened to Satan's words and not the Saviours. look at what Satan said of God: 

Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)

 And so, the distrust in the truth of God Word stated where? Back in the Garden of Eden when even though he knew it to be the truth; he still decide for his own wickedness to lead the women into sin; and by proxy the man. Does this sound familiar? It should for when a man who acts in God's place follows this pattern we know that it is not due to any lack of clarity on the part of God and his truth but solely because the man does not want to be ruled by God. 

A dangerous tendency to set 

The question that must be broached is this: where does this lead the church of England? Well, we have one chaplain who was seeking to deal with a rather complex issue as transgenderism from a biblical stand point; and whatever was said in his talk may have been good or may have been bad. We do not know. While this is not the matter which I am seeking to address at this time I simply will state that he should have been allowed to address such topics freely. The arch-bishop had a duty to represent and support him in this ordeal; but chose to pander to pluralism instead. This is a sign of compromise. 

The scriptures teach us in no uncertain terms that we must teach them "in season and out of season" (2 Tim. 4:1) which could refer to all weather; all personal situation; but it definitely means whether or not; we are comfortable with the particular thing we are preaching. And it seems that while this chaplain was attempting to do so; the church did not support his chose to "proclaim the full counsel of God"  (Accts 20). In order for us to be "salt and light" (Matt. 5:13-16) before the watching world, which is the only way to save souls, we must be able to have the right to proclaim all the scriptural truth in whatever setting we find ourselves in.  And there can be no restrictions placed upon us by anyone as that is a violation of human rights and freedom of practicing religion. But still we must expect there to be hostility in a world that shrouded in darkness (Matt. 5:10-12; John 16:18-25). It is a very serious issue when we are being maligned by those from within.

Therefore, let us now seek an answer to this matter: what are we allowed to proclaim? 

• Christ is God unique Son; and not simply a wise man or a prophet.

•  Christ is the sole means of salvation; there is no other way.

•  Christ is the head of the church; and not the pope or the queen. 

• Christ defines what sin is and is not; and not us. 

• Christ is the culmination of all that the Old Testament foreshadows.

Now all of these topic have been at the centre of many debate through out the history of the church. The scriptures are clear on what they teach in these regards; there can be no dispute in an honest and fair fashion. The disputes that have arisen often are founded on unbiblical premises which are being read back into the text of scriptures much late some of the current ways to denounce reformed theology based on human reasoning and scriptural exegesis. But coming back to the point: as Christian, do we have the right to proclaim these truths laid out above despite feeling and view points being called into question? If not; then, no one should be free to express their opinions as being any more valid than another in their pragmatic world. Or should we expect a totalitarian controlled state where no one can descent for the fear of punishment just look at china for an example of this.               

 

 A postscript

So, in conclusion,  we need to establish what the church is; and how must operate from within. And in doing so, we shall seek to take on board two major principles:

(1) No Christian should ever neglect their faithfulness to the scriptures.  They must hold the same position on the authority of scriptures as did their Lord in His earthly life; otherwise your in jeopardy of being cast aside. This again assumes something to be true in the first place that one is actually a Christian. And to have someone claim to be a Christian and act in a way that is contrary to what scriptures tell us about being one is a sign of malicious intent. Think for a moment what these words say and mean: "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6)  knowledge of what? Truth. But it also comes down to the fact that the truth is being suppressed and rejected.

(2) No Christian should ever lack concern for fellow believers. why is this necessary? We will allow John to answer this question: "I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) Now it should be evident that when the Lord says that we should "love one another" he does not only mean that we act in a friendly manner with each other; no that is not all that is involved being friendly is only one aspect, we are to share in each other live in ways that set us apart and show our Christian commitment. And in the end: this all shows up in a magnificent manner when one of us is going through a horrific time.

In both of these matters, Justin Welby showed his true position as one who is not Christian.