Andrea Williams reflects on the General Election 2017.
"Righteousness exalts a nation; sin is a reproach to the people."
I am not surprised that today we find ourselves in political chaos. God will not be mocked. The great hope and stability of our nation in history is because our laws have been rooted in Jesus Christ and His righteousness. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than in the Queen's Coronation Oath made 64 years ago this very month:
The Archbishop said these words as he gave her a Bible:
"Our gracious Queen:
to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God
as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes,
we present you with this Book,
the most valuable thing that this world affords.
"Here is Wisdom;
This is the royal Law;
These are the lively Oracles of God."
Our ruling elites, whether in parliament, in policy, in law, in education, in business, in the media and even in the Church have forgotten that the Gospel is the "Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes".
God's people are to be the prophet and the priest to the King. We have failed to present the hope and the life that is found only in Him. Our citizens are left in the dark about what the Church stands for because of a weak witness. This is particularly pronounced when it comes to the Church of England because of its special position in our country and its muddled witness on the exclusivity of Christ and one man, one woman marriage. But the rest of the Church does little better; failing to the confront the culture and more interested in flattering it.
God's people have allowed the role of Christ as King in public life to be usurped and have substituted worldly wisdom in His place.
The effect of losing the gospel
Political policies end up saying that there is no such thing as man and woman and that killing is a human right. In the UK we have 9 million missing citizens through abortion since legalising it; one seventh of our population is missing.
If you raise your voice on these issues you are discriminating. What you say is 'hate speech'.
People's values in our nation have been numbed by the constant flood of sex and crime in the media.
Who worries about freedom of religion if he doesn’t believe? Who worries about freedom of conscience if he doesn’t have a conscience? Who worries about freedom of speech if he speaks the language of the new orthodoxy? Who worries about scientific freedom if the end justifies the means? Who worries about therapeutic freedom if the goal of his therapy is approved?
In our nation, a small minority of people has set the spiral of silence into motion; they mainstream their evil ideology and promote what used to be seen as evil, as good.
The more we have kept quiet, the more social and political power the minority has gained, leading to open suppression and punishment of our views. The higher the price, the fewer people are willing to pay it.
But at the Christian Legal Centre we have been representing clients for 20 years who have lost their jobs or been punished for speaking of Jesus Christ and his righteousness: doctors, nurses, teachers, registrars, magistrates and adopters.
This is the savage legacy of atheistic humanism that has dominated our political landscape and deliberately sought to defy God in the name of progress and freedom. It is unkind and devours the politician. Note how easily Theresa May capitulated on the moral issue of marriage. Note how she is unwilling to differentiate between a fundamentalist Christian and a fundamentalist Muslim.
What we are left with is an unhappy and muddled people who can't understand how we got to where we are.
Filling the gap
In the void, a new political ideology steps in, religious in name and fervour; political Islam. It makes demands on the culture – sharia banking, Islamic prayers in schools and councils, halal meet in all our food outlets, change of public exam timetables to accommodate Ramadan. It sees the decadence of our society and thinks that this is what a Christian society looks like. Islam believes it is destined to replace it. Terrorism hits our streets and our political leaders dare not call it out by name and the Church joins in multi-faith prayers when it should be exposing what is evil and pointing people to Jesus.
We the remnant church in this land needs to rise up and find our voice. In God's power, it is possible to change the political discourse and point a hurting people to Christ.
Change is possible
I have just returned from Hungary where the Prime Minister and his legal team honour God in the constitution; are actively promoting marriage, resisting same-sex unions, promoting the protection of life from the moment of conception until natural death and encouraging Hungarians to have lots of children. This Prime Minister and his top team would be excluded and punished for their views here and would never make it on to a shortlist to be a Tory candidate.
When we live and breathe the UK's anti-God culture, we become conditioned to live and think in a certain way constrained by the state's rules and regulations. My trip to Hungary showed me the insanity of our culture and showed me that there could be another God-honouring way. I am not insane; neither are they.
Please pray for the Church, Government, and our work at Christian Concern. For the Church, not to be ashamed of the Gospel; for the Government to honour Jesus Christ and His righteousness and for Christian Concern to serve them in the mission.