Power or principle?

This week the Leader of the Liberal Democrats told his party that they faced a choice between ‘protest  and power’.  Many grass-roots Liberals seem to feel that the choice has in fact been between principles and power, and that the party in its determination to hold on to power has let go of the very things it stands for.

History’s pages are full of examples from all spheres of life of individuals and organisations who sacrificed their principles in order to cling on to power.  We would do well to think a little further about these. The church today is desperate to have influence in our nation and to avoid being ignored or marginalised. In order to cling on to the position they have in society, it has gradually diluted its message,  dropping doctrines, beliefs and practices that the world outside finds offensive and focussing all their energies on appeasing and appealing to the world.

A typical example of this of is a church near here that recently held a beer festival in its mediaeval buildin http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-17775140 . It was clear from the comments made that (possibly in addition to financial considerations) this was about getting non-church attenders inside a church building, and yet having got people into the building by such ruses,  these congregations don’t seem to  know what message they want to proclaim to people. They have so confused and compromised their beliefs that they no longer have anything distinctive to say to the world. I believe that this is why people who are really searching for something spiritual (as opposed to a good real ale) are turning away from the Established church in many places to independent churches who are still prepared to proclaim the undiluted, uncomfortable, radical Truth. I want to weep sometimes when I hear the kind of insipid counsel given to people who are clearly seeking God by people appointed to be ministers of the gospel  - mere platitudes that could just as easily have been spoken by a Buddhist or a humanist as by a Christian minister.

One of the features of our post-Christian era is that we no longer respect people of strong principles. In the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, society honoured people of strong convictions and principled lives. Their opponents respected them as people of integrity even when they disagreed with them, and the heroes of the day were people like Florence Nightingale, William Booth, Earl Shaftesbury, David Livingstone and so on. Now people with uncompromising convictions are ridiculed as being fanatical, vilified as bigots or scorned as out-dated in a post-modern era. The heroes of today are film stars, people from reality TV series, overpaid footballers and all sorts of other ‘beautiful people’ with decidedly flexible morals.

So having strong principles isn’t popular in today’s world. But when the chips are down and people are seeking answers to some of the hardest questions of life, such woolly, insubstantial waffle will not do. People want answers of substance, clarity and conviction.

But let’s not fall into the trap of thinking this is just an issue for others people in other places, for this is a temptation for all of us as churches and as individuals. We are making daily judgments about how much to engage with the world, its thinking and its practices. It is not wrong to want to have influence in the world, if that is in order to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Yet if in the process of gaining and holding on to that influence, we forget why we wanted that influence in the first place, what have we gained?

In a sermon I heard recently on being ‘salt and light’ the speaker made an obvious but fundamental point. Salt is meant to be different! Our function in this world is act as a spiritual preservative in society. To fulfil that purpose we need to remain distinctive, for ‘salt that loses its saltiness is of no use for anything’. Our effectiveness is bound up with our distinctiveness. So if we want to remain effective let’s remember why we are who we are, and hold onto our principles at all costs.

Empty dreams

Dreaming rarely gets us anywhere. In the Christian life, God is looking for realists not dreamers – people who have worked out their faith in the context of real events, real difficulties, real relationships. When we dream things for ourselves, we are just storing up for ourselves disappointment, disillusionment and sadness. There is usually little space in our dreams for God to do his sovereign will, since we have decided what we want to happen.  We then try to twist God’s arm into doing what we want and are only half listening to his voice of guidance. Dreams do not come from a heart seeking that ‘He might become greater and I might become less’ (John 3:30) Dreams are rarely about seeking what is best for others but are about ‘my hopes’, ‘my ambitions’, ‘my needs’. If we are truly laying everything on the table for God there is no place for pre-requisites or reservations - nothing held back and nothing stipulated either.

I don’t know about you but my life seems a long way at times from this total surrender to Christ. Not only that but no sooner has something been laid on the table than the ‘old man’ snatches it back again. This is a constant battle, and a painful, painful battle. It inevitably involves trying to peel away what we are most wedded to. The old self wants to cling on to the right to self-determination, the ability to seek its own happiness, the apparent ability to avoid the pain and suffering involved in living for Christ and for others.  But that is what we ought to be doing  – each day consciously placing ourselves and our resources 100% at God’s disposal for him to do with us as he will. There is no place at this altar for personal dreams.

Perseverance

‘We want each of you to show this same diligence to the end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and perseverance inherit what has been promised.’ Heb 6:11,12

I said I would be returning to this topic. It is something I feel we need to face up to urgently both in our own Christian lives and as churches.

The Westminster Confession, says the following: “They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.”  This is what theologians call the doctrine of final perseverance. Another confession puts it more simply:  “We believe that none who are born again will fall away so as to be lost, but that they will persevere through grace to glory.”

Now, I believe firmly in final perseverance because  the Bible clearly teaches it.   But it’s a doctrine that has been dangerously misapplied. All too often it is understood as meaning that if a person once makes a ‘decision for Christ’, they are safe forever.  No matter that there is no resultant change in the person’s life, no desire to attend church or that there has even a complete turning away from God. The dangers of presenting such a travesty of the doctrine of final perseverance are multiple:

·         It lulls people who are not truly born again into a false sense of security about the state of their soul.

·         It plays down the need for personal holiness and a transformation in the life of the believer. It makes us blasé about the spiritual dangers all around us.

·         It makes us careless about the spiritual welfare of other believers, and less inclined to act when we see someone starting to slip away from the Lord.

·         It makes our evangelism shallow, and reduces conversion to a one-off decision rather than a total dedication and lifelong commitment to Jesus Christ.  It artificially severs evangelism from discipleship.

The Bible clearly entertains at least a theoretical possibility that Christians can fall away from faith, because the New Testament is full of warnings. Think for example of these words to Jewish Christians who seem to have been in acute danger of deciding to turn back:

‘So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what has been promised.’ Heb 10:35-36

Our our Lord’s words of warning to the church in Philadelphia:

‘I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no-one will take your crown.’ Rev 3:11

Why, then,  is it so rare to hear preaching on these warnings in Evangelical circles? It seems to me that some in ‘reformed’ churches neglect to preach on some passages of scripture because they fear they will be preaching Arminianism!  I believe that it is precisely through the warnings God has given us, and through the mutual encouragement of fellow Christians that he will ensure he brings each one of us safely to heaven. Why otherwise did the Apostle Paul and others go to such lengths to warn their spiritual children of the dangers around them and of the need to keep on in the Christian life, whilst at the same time expressing confidence in God to bring them safely to glory? If Paul and others found it so essential to give these warnings, why are they missing from so much evangelical preaching today?

When the writer to the Hebrews warned his readers not to give up meeting together, it was because he knew the peril they would be in if they did so. In fact, the epistles are full of exhortations to keep on encouraging one another – not because it is ‘nice’, but because it is essential.  But we do so looking in faith to God for salvation – indeed, these exhortations frequently occur in connection with a statement of assurance on the basis of God’s faithfulness (see 1 Thess 5:9-11, Gal 6:2, Hebrews 3:12-13, 10:23-25).

So then, let’s finish with a thought from the end of Jude:

‘Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and evermore! Amen.’