Do Not Compromise Truth
My personal research librarian (a part-time, unpaid, self-directed, informal position), Mr. Richard Clark, shared an article with me this week about the declining state of the Church of England. The author gave examples of the ways the Church has sought to “modernize doctrine,” embracing “gender ideology and same-sex marriage.” Other examples were shared of some of the current debates around abortion and assisted suicide, both of which the British government proposed making even less restrictive. If these laws move forward, the Church will be forced to make a clear stand for or against these changes. Lately, the trend has not been in the biblical direction, though a glimmer of hope shines through as more than 200 clergy signed an open letter against these proposed changes.
Not only does the Church seem to be declining in their biblical morality, they are also declining in attendance: “Church data shows that 1.7% of Britons attend service regularly.” Fewer than 2% attend the national church? Of course there are other Christian churches in the United Kingdom, but how could a nationally sponsored institution dwindle to such an abysmally irrelevant state?
Two thoughts came to mind as I contemplated this:
1) It’s no surprise that the church that was founded on compromise continues to compromise. Henry the VIII famously separated the Anglican Church from the Catholic Church in 1534, so that he could legally divorce his wife. Of course there were other factors involved like politics and finances, but Henry’s passion for another wife was surely a factor. If a church can be manipulated by a government to support sin, then the church has given up its central purpose of calling people to follow Christ and what the Bible teaches. We don’t adjust the church to accommodate our desires, we adjust our desires to the truth of God’s Word.
2) In an effort to become relevant, the Church of England has become completely irrelevant. I wrote that sentence in the margin of the article next to the 1.7% statistic. They thought that updating doctrine to match the culture would help them become more relevant when actually the exact opposite has happened. People have left in droves. In fact, it seems pretty clear that almost no one in England really cares about the Church of England. The same seems to be happening to some American denominations that have increasingly strayed from biblical authority, especially Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians.
Our goal is not to adjust to the culture. Our goal is to point a hurting, broken, lost, desperate, hopeless, joyless culture to Christ where they will find everything they’ve ever been seeking even if that means we hold to truths that are no longer popular today. We hold to the truth of Scripture even when the world rejects the Bible. Of course we do this in love, we aren’t angry or bitter or hard to be around, but we do not compromise the truth of Scripture!
In our study of Proverbs we’ve been reminded often of Proverbs 30:5 which says, “Every word of God proves true, He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” We find truth, peace, and hope in the refuge of God’s Word. Valley View is a Bible believing church. We hold to the truth of Scripture even when other churches give up on it. We pray that God would use us to spread the light of the Gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ all over the south end of Louisville!
Photo by Mike Bird