Joshua D. Jones's Blog, page 10

The Disillusioned Christian Man

It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life. -1 Kings 19
I write this on Easter Saturday. Some have called it ‘Long Saturday’ or ‘Silent Saturday’. It’s the Saturday when the disciples were hurt and confused. The circumstantial drama of the crucifixion was over. The joy of Easter had not yet begun. The wound had been delivered. Now they had to live with it.
Disillusionment is a particular type of suffering and is often an element within other types of suffering. It’s the unmet expectations and disappointments writ large. The trauma that circumstances and people were not as you had thought them to be. But God is disillusioning us because he loves us. We are of limited use to him as long as we have illusions. Removing them so that we can come to terms with reality is a painful but necessary step in God crafting his man.
This last year has held many blessings for which I am grateful. But it’s also included a painful disillusionment. I've suffered the loss of a relationship that I had poured everything into. Despite things that had been said between us, new circumstances now reveal that the relationship was not everything I thought it was.
It's probably drawn up every feeling of rejection from my past that I've ever felt – and then added some more. The only comparable relational disillusionment would be the unexpected separation and divorce of my parents when I was 12.
Here, Elijah is disillusioned to such a degree, that he wants to die. I've been there at least once in my life – maybe twice or thrice. At times, God allows his men to undergo this baptism of darkness. A minister of a previous generation wrote that before God can use a man mightily, he must first wound him mightily. And few things wound a man like the physiological wound of disillusionment.
The author of 1 Kings does not give us a full report on how Elijah slipped into this depression. After all, he had just performed a mighty miracle and won a major victory over the false religious teachers. Many of his countrymen turned to God as a result. Isn’t revival supposed to make you feel better?
The pain seems irrational. Jezebel issued a threat which a messenger delivered. What’s the big deal? Hasn’t he been a hunted man for some time? Life’s like that at times. We hardly understand the way our surrounding circumstances and relationships affect us. So much can be seemingly going well, yet we are not well on the inside. The circumstances that provoked our pain may have seemed large or it may have seemed small. But it shook something foundational in us. Now we’re just left with our pain to wait. But wait for what?
And perhaps that’s where Elijah is. So much had been building towards the confrontation at Mt. Carmel. And now it’s done. It’s a bit like how many people experience the intense build up to Christmas, only to feel empty once it’s over. Elijah is left wondering if his greatest moment is now past. What else is on life’s radar? The glory is gone and you’re left with nothing but good memories. And for how long? What is there to live for now?
It’s impossible to see Easter morning when you’re in Silent Saturday – but it’s coming. God is now doing his silent work in the confusion and the pain. We think the story of our life has tragically ended. No. He’s preparing us for the next chapter. 
_________________
(Please Share)  To read about how Christian men and women can relate through friendship, check out Forbidden Friendships - available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the  USA  and the UK.

Can Morality come from Evolution Alone?

My Dear Atheist,

You wrote me to explain why you think it is no longer necessary to believe in God. I appreciate that. It was a friendly gesture. I hope you don't mind if I return my own thoughts - especially in response to what you wrote on morality and ethics. You say,
Altruism is an evolutionary response to the pressures of competition in the world – we can’t help but find it enjoyable
So, according to your theory, we act in a moral way because evolution has designed it that we get pleasure from doing so. Please let me briefly share four issues I have with your new theory. 

Animal Morals?First of all, when some of our 'evolutionary animal cousins' eat their own children or when a male forces sex on a female, is this morally wrong? Can animals act in an immoral way? You argue for a universal moral metric stick. But given the evolutionary process, how? Was there a definite moment in history when the organic motions we call cannibalism and rape became ‘wrong’? If it's ok for some animals (and they seem to enjoy it) when did it become wrong for us? 

Past Morals?Secondly, if altruism evolves, what does this mean for people who do not share our modern, Western moral standards? What about Ghengis Khan and crew? Did they act that way because they lived 900 years ago and evolution had not advanced their altruism enough yet? Are we morally superior because 900 years has biologically advanced us? What about ISIS? They do similar things to the Khans. Are they genetically inferior to you and me? If our species is to advance, should we get rid of these altruistic retards?
But then, if morality comes from our evolution, why berate immoral people? Why do you give, as you did in your letter, the ancient Israelis such a hard time? They were just doing what genetically gave them pleasure. You might as well call salmon to repent for not having legs.

Future MoralsThird, if altruism has developed to where it is now to help our species survive, we should expect it to change in the future. Right?

What if our hard wiring changes so that we see evil as what we now see as good – and vice versa? What if we start getting pleasure from other sorts of behaviours? Birth rates in the West are low. Perhaps our hardwiring will change in order to increase our offspring. It may have us do things to our women that we now consider unethical so that they will have more babies. What if ISIS and their sex slavery, instead of being backwards, is really the next step in the evolutionary process to replenish the species and make a stronger race?
If morality evolved, then that means morality changes. Your eternal standard - which you say evolution can provide - is a concept foreign to the material universe you live in. The current morals of homo sapiens are just a stopover on the road to something else. No use in getting too attached to them.

Fun ImmoralityLastly, why should I be moral? Because it gives me pleasure? Really? I'm sure I could find many things pleasurable that we would generally consider to be immoral. So could you. In a given situation, why should I obey the 'altruism impulse' which you say that evolution gave me, but not my impulse for sexual satisfaction or longing for power. Evolution gave me those impulses too. Why is it 'wrong' to follow the one but not the other?
I leave it with you to respond. 
__________________________
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Can Christians have best friends of the opposite sex? Check out Forbidden Friendships - available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the  USA  and the UK.

Prayer that Raises the Dead

'And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord… and the LORD heard the voice of Elijah.'

We often say our prayers. But do we really pray?
Those who will be broken in prayer are the ones who break hellish fortresses.
Elijah was dealt an unexpected blow. The blessing of friendship he enjoyed with this woman and her son was attacked by a deathly spectre. The young mother that Elijah had blessed was now facing an unspeakable curse: the death of her little boy.
But Elijah knows a God who can redeem the worst of tragedies. But this redemption is not brought down on the careless wings of half-hearted praying. He doesn’t merely look at the boy, shrug his shoulders and say ‘Well if it’s your will, God…’.
He takes the dead boy and brings him into his own bed. He makes this personal.
He stretches himself out upon the boy. He identifies with him. He takes this boy’s death as if it were his very own.
He does it three times. He persists. His faith will not be turned away by a lack of answer the first two times. Three times he stretches himself out in crying out for life.
His voice is heard. God sends life back into the boy. Do we pray just to pray? Is it a mere personal exercise – a form of meditation? Or do we pray in order to be heard?
Not only is the boy raised to life, the mother finds a new life for herself, one that cannot be taken away from her. Elijah had built a relationship with a woman who did not share his faith. He had blessed her with bread and she was grateful. But it was in seeing her boy raised that she came to personal faith.
Churches do many activities that the wider community benefits from. Christians have started countless soup kitchens, hospitals, and orphanages during the last 2,000 years. We’ve done so much of it, that society now expects it.
Feeding the poor gives moral validation to the message of a God who generously and freely gives to those who are spiritually poor. This will soften some hearts. It makes some people appreciative and can give us a hearing. But charity programs are not one of the ‘signs that shall follow those that believe.’ They are not in the sense Jesus meant when he uttered those words. We can do such things without an ounce of supernatural help.
Some things will simply not happen until we learn how to pray in such a way that causes us to be heard. How many of us can say to an unbelieving world when it faces tragedy, ‘Give me your son’? How many of us are willing to risk such embarrassment? Are we willing to risk our image for God’s glory? 
We need people who can pray God's life into a perishing generation. Such prayer comes from long hours spent alone with God as well as a willingness to take risk. It’s not cultivated by praying with one eye on heaven and the other checking how many likes our last social media post got. It comes when we learn to pray specific prayers for real crises in real space and real time. 
________________
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Can Christians have best friends of the opposite sex? Check out Forbidden Friendships - available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the  USA  and the UK.

Dear Mr. Vice-President

Dear Mr. Vice-President,
Greetings. I am a pastor here in England who would like to start by thanking you for the gracious speech you gave at the big pro-life rally back in January. Though many in this debate often demonise the other side, you presented your case with firmness as well as with respect for those who might disagree with you – something rarely done in politics.
I also want to thank you for being a man of integrity in your marriage. In an age filled with so much divorce and adultery, you have, like President Obama before you, been scandal free in your faithfulness to your wife. As you are a Statesman, I thank you for your example.
It is in regards to your comments about your marriage that I now write. It was the comment you made about how you never meet with a woman alone over food or coffee.
I do not write to rebuke you. God forbid! Many who are now rebuking you for being too guarded and overly cautious with women are the same ones who rebuked your running mate for being unfaithful and too loose with women. They mock you both as the Playboy and the Puritan. I am not looking to score any political points one way or another. I am writing explain why I live another way and why I teach others to do so.
I realise you were simply describing how you, as a married man in the public eye, wish to behave in a way that is above reproach. It’s understandable. I respect the personal choices you and your wife make. But as you are a statesman, many look to your behaviour as well as your policies. Your critics will look for things to fault you on and your supporters will look to you as exemplary.
Billy Graham Rule
As you probably know, your practice is often referred to as the ‘Billy Graham rule’. Not because he ever made it a rule for others. But he was also in the public eye and wanted to avoid scandal. Sadly, others have taken that personal practice and begun teaching that all Christian men must do the same.
I meet with women regularly over coffee or meals. Sometimes this is work related - a ‘work lunch’. But sometimes it is purely social with someone I care about. My wife has done the same with trusted brothers or fathers in the Lord.
Women have played a big role in my life since becoming a Christian as a teenager. At that young age, there were a couple of older women in the church who reached out to me in a caring, maternal way. One of those women – about 30 years my elder – I still try to take out for lunch when I can. I do this as a way of showing filial respect for the role she played in my life, and the role she still plays.
My parents divorced around the time I came to faith and for me the church has been the family that the New Testament says it should be. In finding Christ I also found his family of fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers. And for those closest to me – my inner circle of friends – I really do treat them as such. Yes, I spend time with my friends in groups. But we also know that for any relationship to grow in depth, some one on one conversations are needed.
I do not keep these mothers and sisters tucked away, meeting them only in secret so that no one gets the wrong idea. I believe it is important for a generation of young men to know and see healthy cross-gendered friendships being modelled. In today’s sexualised world young men are constantly seeing examples of how men should pursue and pick up women as romantic or sexual objects. They rarely ever see examples of how Christian men should treat women as mothers, sisters, or friends. In Scripture, Paul writes to Timothy about this saying,
Treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters.   -1 Timothy 5
This is what I try to live and model.
This is not a disguise for any political agenda. As I have already suggested, I am one of the least political pastors you’ll meet. Nor am I trying to push any new social or theological agenda. My views on gender, family, and church are quite classically Christian. (One feminist critic referred – rather cheekily – to my views as ‘soft-core patriarchy’!)
Importance of Meals
Food and drink are not always involved when I spend quality time with a friend (of either gender). But often it is, and this is a thoroughly Christian practice. It is for a reason that our chief sacrament is a meal we eat together to show our unity. Bonds are built over the shared bread and wine. Even outside of our Christian faith, most cultures eat together as a sign of acceptance and trust.
That’s one of the reasons I would not want to discourage any two Christians from sharing coffee or lunch together. Eating together with Christians across racial, political, age, and gender divides glorifies the unity that Christ brings.
Yes, my wife and I believe in healthy boundaries. We believe in people showing themselves to be trustworthy before they are given these sorts of inroads into our lives. I also know whenever my wife meets with a man and she knows when and where I ever meet with women. As you can appreciate, there is a big difference in having a private conversation with someone of the opposite gender and having one that is secret.
I know your political enemies would love to grab a picture of you with a woman that they could use to discredit you. I understand that because of this you need to be extra careful. But many of those who may look up to you have no such challenges. Their challenge is how to relate to the opposite gender in a pure, non-sexualised way.
Like you, there are many pastors eager to keep their lives and ministries scandal free. My encouragement to them and you would be this: in your zeal to exemplify purity, please also seek for a way to exemplify the family relationships that the gospel calls us to live out.
Purity by way of gender segregation is the way some Islamic cultures have gone. But this is not the Christian way. As one who has spent time in some of these cultures, let me assure you that such practices have done nothing to eliminate the lust of the heart. The best medicine against unholy relationships with women is holy relationships with women – not avoidance of women.
If you wish to discuss the issue more, I’ve put a link to the book I’ve written on this subject at the bottom. If you read it, perhaps we can meet to talk… over a meal ;).
May God grant wisdom to yourself and the President you work with,
Sincerely,
Joshua D. Jones 
________________
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To read about how Christian men and women can relate through friendship, check out Forbidden Friendships - available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the  USA  and the UK.

Does God Hate Men?

‘Men are the image and glory of God.’-1 Cor 11.7
Men, you were born into a culture that hates you.
You have been told to sit down and pay attention nicely like the girls that surround you since your earliest years in school. When your naturally boyish and boisterous selves resist this environment, they pump you full of Ritalin and other drugs.
You are sent into schools where girls are naturally encouraged every step of the way but you are not. Girls do better in our current form of education and tests.
35% more women than men go to University in the UK. More scholarships and grants are specially earmarked for women than men. A man and a woman of equal qualifications will often go for a job, but a woman is more likely to get it as it adds ‘diversity points’ to the business in the eyes of the government. If you are under 40 in the UK, you are earning less than your female co-workers. 
Once in the workforce, you will often hear women make jokes about men. If you make a joke about women, you may lose your job.  If you experience divorce, many places in the West have laws that will be against you in terms of child custody and finances simply because you're a man.
Whereas once being a man meant something noble, young men are now viewed as nothing more than a Homer Simpson in the making. It used to be understood that there is something unique about being a man – that men and women are different and therefore naturally excel at different areas. Now such talk only invites the shrill mob of feminism to attack you wielding the ill-defined accusations of ‘misogyny’ and ‘sexism'.
You are told that your natural attraction to women is to be suspect and that you are all rapists in the making. You are told that compliments or pick-up lines that you may use to attract women are harassment that you should be sent to a class for. But you’re not rapists all working together to form some massive rape culture. You want to either date or befriend women. You want to protect your sisters and female friends from rapists. And you would rightly beat any rapist who tried to touch them.
Not only must you endure all this, but you must then tick the politically correct box that says you believe that middle class, educated, (largely) white women around you are an 'oppressed' class. You must say that you believe the myth that there’s a gender pay that favours men, and that you too freely desire to join them in further 'smashing the patriarchy'.
Church
Sadly, it’s not just society. Church is no longer an encouraging place for you either. Here in the UK, only 37% of those worshipping on a Sunday are men. The music, the preaching, the decorations largely appeal to women. Whereas past epochs of church history resounded with a robust masculinity under the leadership of reformers like Martin Luther or fiery church patriarchs like John Chrysostom, we now have ministers whose flowery talks are about as dangerous as a cup of warm Horlicks.
And this does not even begin to consider the recent overturnings of church leadership – be it bishops or eldership – being male. After nearly 2,000 of being led by men, we have gotten with the times in hopes that the cool kids will give us the thumbs up. Denominations who lead the way in the liberalisation and feminisation of the church 30 years ago have been wilting ever since. Shocking! What man doesn’t want to get up early on Sunday morning and lead his wife and children to room where he can hear yet another sermon against systemic misogyny by a feminist pastor?
Depending on the church, the singing part may not be all bad. But there are many churches where this is done in a pop love-song style with high notes that men struggle to reach. It's worse than the karaoke at the pub – and he’s expected to be sober.
This also hurts countless women. Many are spiritually widowed - worshipping at church while their husbands are home watching sport. When someone asks how the church can reach men better they are told that if men aren’t there that’s it their own fault.
You will watch the theological feminist mobs ignore the suffering of their sisters who suffer real oppression in Islamic countries, and give most of their attention to defaming certain godly, Western church leaders. Why? Because these leaders believe what 90% of Christian through 90% of church history have believed the Bible to say on the subject of gender roles in the church. (USA here and UK here)
Thankfully, this is not true of most Christian women. The majority of women don't identify as feminists and most don't oppose men being men. Most Christian women want to help men share the gospel and war against demons. Many of us would not be where we are if it were not for the encouragement of spiritual sisters and mothers. 
But the feminist minority is loud.

 The Glory
Men, even though clerics in high positions won’t say it, we need you. And we need you in a way that we don’t need the ladies (we do need them, but in another way).
Being masculine is not a joke or an insignificant part of your makeup as a person. God made you male for a purpose. Scripture declares that you 'are the image and glory of God'. 
Be that.
Be that without shame. Don’t apologise for being male – even if the plague of third-wave feminism pressures you to do so.
God made you that way to build civilisations, carve out roads in the wilderness, plant churches, lead governments, serve as elders, fight wars, take wives, and raise up families.
Society may hate men, but God loves men. And he loves you as men – not just as androgynous humans. Don’t throw away your masculinity when it comes to discipleship. Don’t waste your life with a neutered faith.
We need you lead the charge against the gates the hell in the screwed up and confused generation. Everything will be against you. You will constantly be told you’re wrong. If you speak the truth, you’re called a bigot. If you lead, you’re called power hungry. If you denounce sin, you’re called a hypocrite.
Do it anyway. ________________
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To read about how men and women can relate through friendship instead of feminism, check out Forbidden Friendships - available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the  USA  and the UK.

Men Eat Meat

‘Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening.’
-1 Kings 17.6
Elijah unleashed his prophetic message upon the unsuspecting King. That short and single word did more to upset Ahab’s political-religious agenda than all the internal pundits and foreign powers combined. God now tells Elijah to go hide – and Elijah obeys.
He gets out of the public view and feeds himself on the meat that ravens bring him. Now some scholars argue that the Hebrew word translated as ‘raven’ may be an alternative word for ‘Arab’. So, it could’ve been Arabs that were giving this Israeli prophet food. (Which some may cheekily quip is a greater miracle.)
It was important that Elijah ate meat. He was a man who was not yet done his mission and he needed strength for his upcoming confrontations with the idols of Baal and Ashtoreth. Men need meat.
Now before I get attacked by some nightmarish mob of vegan feminists, I will concede that women also should eat meat and that Elijah didn’t just eat meat. He ate bread with the meat (steak sandwich?) and later on in the same chapter we find Elijah actually eating cake. I’m tempted to think this was an effeminate backsliding on his part, but God seems to grant sanction it when he eats cake yet again in chapter 19. Thankfully, by the end of that chapter, we see Elijah eating lots of beef again. Our man has returned to his senses and all is right with the world.
The author of Hebrews chides his readers for their immaturity (Ch. 5). He says they still have a diet of milk when they should be eating meat. He ends the chapter by saying ‘But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age’ (v. 14). He connects their spiritual maturity – not with the amount of time they’ve been Christians – but with their spiritual diet.
If you want to grow into a man that God can use, you must eat meat. Years passed do not make one strong in God. You will be unfit for confronting the idols of our day if you’re only on a diet of cake and milk. Have a real plan to study God’s word daily. Read Christian classics* that have stood the test of time – no the latest spiritual junk food from publishers trying to make more money. Get alone with God daily and nourish your soul on a grill of spiritual lamb chops, T-bones. See what God will do with you and you get strong. 
You staying weak does not serve this world. _______________________________(Please share)*Classic books by authors like Andrew Murray or EM Bounds are a great start.

It's the Theology

Thank you to those of you who contacted me after the recent terrorist attack outside of Parliament and asked about the well-being of my family and I. We’re alive! We live north of London and were many miles from the tragic incident.
Those who live in North America may have the impression that Europe is completely overrun by violent, Islamists posing as refugees. But this is an exaggerated perspective. Most Muslims I know were here with their families long before the crisis in Syria and are moderate and peace-loving in their views. 
That’s not to say there are no violent radicals here in Europe – there certainly are. I don't want to minimise the trouble that some Europeans have experienced by poorly planned immigration policies. But violence is not the norm in my experience. 
If you have no Muslims among your friends, I would encourage you to try and make some.

Remember! 
I want to remind my Christian friends about priorities. It is understandable that secular people – whose joy is in this world – fear radical Islam. For those of us whose life is hidden with Christ in eternity, such fear is unnecessary and only reveals our own unbelief and worldliness.
Terrorists cannot change the death rate. It’s still one per person. At most, they simply make death more unpredictable and take our loved ones at unexpected times. But the ultimate tragedy of humanity is not that we lose loved ones when we least expect it – it’s that we lose them in the first place. The goodbye we must one day make to all our loved ones is inevitable.
This is why we must give ourselves to proclaiming the resurrection of Christ from the dead with fresh boldness and compassion. It's debated between radical and moderate Muslims to what degree the Qu'ran encourages violence towards 'infidels'. But it's definite that the Qu'ran denies the hope of Christ's resurrection. And it's Christ alone that can save. If you have him, you no longer wet yourself at the thought of being murdered by a terrorist.
I am concerned about the veils of secularism and Islam that blind the people around me. The disease of sin is killing them and neither ideology can save from death or hell.
I am far more troubled by Islamic theology than I am by Islamic terrorism.
You should be too. 

Who is Really this World's God?

'As the LORD, God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand.’-Elijah, 1 Kings 17
Does the devil rule our generation?
Read what Elijah says. Ahab and Jezebel led Israel into the dark jungle of idolatry. They did so with greater zeal than any of the Kings before them. Baal and Ashtoreth were worshipped in the field and in the temple. Paganism had displaced the YHWHism as the chief moral, social, political, and religious power in the land. And yet, Elijah still sees and proclaims YHWH to be Israel’s God.
This is not because he is blind to the situation.
There are no rose-tinted glasses being worn by our prophet. He knows that society no longer maintains any of the spiritual and sexual values of days gone by. Like the God of heaven, he too smells the vomitus reek of incense being offered up to other gods in the name of progress and enlightened thinking. Yet, he looks at the land and still can say, ‘The LORD is God here.’
How?
Jesus spoke of the evil one as ‘the prince of this world’ (John 14.30). He knew that men and women loved darkness, and that wickedness is the natural spiritual, moral, and sexual condition of humanity. This is because we are under the influence of this prince more than our Creator King.
Yet, it should not be so. Ours has been the irrationally rebellious planet from the beginning. ‘But now God calls all men everywhere to repent’ (Acts 17). God is King, and the wicked prince has been leading humanity in a revolution against him. Ahab and Jezebel were tools of this prince just like many of those in the influential halls of culture, politics, and religion are now.
As Christians, we are the counter-revolutionaries. We call everyone back to the King who created us. He is kind and has made provision for the forgiveness of even the most rebellious. This is why the King has not decisively stepped in yet: he’s giving us a chance to repent and come back home.
To speak for God in our day, we must have the conviction that everyone will one will be called to account before Him. The insanity revolution will not go on forever. Yes, we should preach the gospel humbly – aware of our own rebellious tendencies. But we’re not cuckish about it. We must be bold, knowing everyone should repent and faithfully serve the King. _______________Please Share

Stand before the King

‘As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand’  -1 Kings 17.1
We all stand before someone or something. We wake up each morning with a circumstance or a person on our mind – a reference point that helps define who we are and how we act and react to the world around us. It’s something we want, something we love, or something we fear to lose.
Elijah was physically standing before the throne of Ahab, the most powerful man in his country. This King commanded armies and possessed the authority to have the prophet swiftly executed. Most of us would wet ourselves.
But Elijah wasn’t fazed. How? He had more than strong coffee flowing through him. His power came, not from what he drank, but what he saw. He had eyes of faith that had been cultivated by unseen hours spent in the secret place.
Elijah saw two thrones. He saw Ahab’s seat for what it was: a brief and fleeting thing. Beyond that, he saw the high and fiery throne that reigns forever unmoved in the granite halls of eternity. It was before that throne that Elijah had trembled in private – and now he could stand in public. Elijah was not unique among the men of God in this regard. It was by faith that Mordecai also stood before the wicked Haman when everyone else pleaded with him to bow.
The devil uses intimidation to silence the people of God. The phrase ‘keep your opinions to yourself’ may easily be what someone says when they do not wish to hear the word of God. If Jezebel cannot get you to celebrate her false teaching, she will seek to keep the children of God from prophesying his truth.
When we tremble before God, we can walk confidently before people. The more we bend the knee before the true king, the less influence bullies and manipulators will wield over us. If we are to stand and speak for God in our generation, we cannot fear what those around us fear. Our lives must be controlled by a divine fear that outstrips every earthly fear and leaves every earthly intimidation toothless. 

The Philip Fiasco

If you’re not a UK Christian, you may be excused for being ignorant of the Philip North dog pile this week. In that wild and wacky world of British Anglicanism, this was a man set to become a Bishop. There are a few elite perks to being a Bishop over here which include dressing as a pink Jedi.
Now as a Congregationalist, I could chuckle and wonder why anyone should be a Bishop in the first place. But let’s leave that fun for another time. In the Church of England being a Bishop means – in theory – having a significant degree of influence. Philip North was set to become the Bishop of Sheffield, but the problem was that he held to Biblical views of gender and sexuality. And that was simply too much for some – and the intoleristas began a smear campaign. In the midst of intense, personal attacks, North stepped down.
This got so big that Martin Bashir has an article on the BBC over the whole mess. He traces the source of this bullying back to the theologically liberal couple, Revs. Emma and Martyn Percy. The attacks were so bad that even those with pro-female bishop views came to his defence for, in addition to his Biblical views of gender, he was also had an outstanding commitment to helping the poor and being kind to those with whom he disagreed.
Bishops may wear pink, but they're not
all agreed on FeminismNow the leaders of this whole dog and pony show need to go back to their think tanks and wonder how post-feminist Anglicanism is actually supposed to work. I’m usually an optimist, but I also hold to a book that asks, ‘How can two walk together unless they be agreed?’ And these are not small matters of disagreement. What it means to be a man or a woman is high up on the ideological eye chart and we are reading the letters with different lenses.
What can we (Anglicans, Congregationalists, and ‘others’) learn from the Philip fiasco? Two things come to mind…
Punching Bag for Jesus
First of all, if you hold to Biblical views of gender and sexuality and you want to be a leader, you need to be prepared for vicious, nasty attacks. Jesus, Paul, the apostles were all dudes who were slandered and attacked for their teaching. There is tremendous pressure in the current climate for Christians to bow to certain social pressures and kiss the rainbow coloured ring. Some do. Those who don’t are targeted. Perhaps Philip North was not expecting so much attack to come from within Anglicanism itself, but the NT is filled with examples of slanderers who are also religious.
North is one of the nicest men in all of England. But simply being nice won’t stop the haters. They will come after you with everything just because you articulate a truth that they find offensive. There is a particular type of evil at work in Western society today and it’s in the church. It’s an evil that preaches tolerance until it is dominant – then it seeks to behead that which is righteous. It’s a totalerance that not only wants you to make a concession for its views but to actually celebrate them. 

When they come for you, the worst thing you can do is apologise for your beliefs or back down. And though I don't know all the details of what on behind the scenes, it seems that here is where I feel our nice Mr.North erred. He withdrew himself. I am ashamed that at times in my life, I have done the same and I hope - by God's grace - to never do so again.
Befriend those who Differ
Secondly, when we give ourselves to the Biblical commands of caring for the poor and being kind to those we disagree with, we find unforeseen allies at times. Some of those who came to Philips defence were female clergy who were in obvious disagreement with Philip’s views. But such was had been his kindness to them, that some were compelled to come to his aid. Kindness doesn't mean being unwilling to boldly speak the truth or take a stand, but it does mean being kind to the individuals behind the ideas.
Scripture says that ‘as much as depends on you, be at peace with all people.’ Some will reject our friendship simply because of our beliefs, but not all. Paul writes to Timothy that we must have a ‘soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say.’
I’ve been blessed to see this in my life to a small degree (I’m certainly nowhere near as nice as Philip). When I write on LGBT issues, I get a lot of attacks – often from the ‘straight allies’ – being called homophobic, self-righteous, etc. One of my biggest defenders is a gay, atheist man whom I’ve befriended (he’s a great guy). We share a mutual appreciation in the midst of our rather feisty disagreements.
The Goal

The challenge for the 21st Century church in the West will be to resist ungodly sexual and gender ideologies with courage and perseverance while reaching out to the individuals in those systems with compassion and friendship – seeking to save, not condemn. Be prepared to take a beating and keep on loving.
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To read about how friendship can cross the gender divide, check out Forbidden Friendships - available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the  USA  and the UK.