Yet more on separation

OK - I'm still reading Ezra. Today it was chapter 6 and, again, the subject of separation came up. In the description of the first celebration of the Passover after completion of the Temple, it says that "the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbours in order to seek the LORD, the God of Israel" (vs 21, NIV). So the returning Israelites were not totally exclusive, but any others who wished to join them had to first of all separate themselves from certain things. We are not told exactly what the unclean practices were, but worship of idols would have been included and may have involved various forms of sexual immorality and possibly even child sacrifice. Exactly the sort of things which had got the Israelites expelled from the Holy Land in the first place, more than 70 years earlier.

This message - of the need for those who seek the Lord to separate themselves from the world and its ways - is largely absent in the church these days. Not much is said about how the world system in which we live is totally antithetical to living as a Christian and so has to be forsaken. Not much preaching is done on the need for repentance. It's all about God's love and grace and forgiveness to the extent that many in the church do not seem to realise that, if the world does not find them odd, something is wrong. They are going to get a shock when the real persecution starts! If you have put your faith in Christ and crossed over from death into life, you are in the world but not of the world. Sometimes that involves a physical separation but, more often, it is a mental separation from worldly ways of thinking. We still need to interact with the world around us but we do it from a different perspective and with the thought always that this is not our home. Our home is in heaven with Christ.

As Christians, we need to be careful of the company we keep, what we read, what we listen to, what we watch on TV or look at on the internet. Bad company corrupts good character. We need to measure everything against what the Bible teaches. We need to heed Philippians 4:8 and think on good things and, if possible, find godly people to associate with and emulate (Philippians 4:9). If the church we attend majors on love and forgiveness and does not preach the need for repentance and separation from the world, we need to find another church, because otherwise we will end up surrounded by people who have one foot in the church and one foot in the world and we will be corrupted by them.

"Therefore come out from them and be separate", says the Lord. (2 Cor 6:17a NIV)

Prayers banned in council meetings

As an Arminian, I believe that God has graciously given man free will and man can use that free will to deny the existence of God and exclude Him from their lives. As Christians, I believe that we should try to persuade men, as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:11, but always accepting that they may choose to reject the gospel which we bring. Christianity cannot be imposed on people - to do so goes against everything the Bible teaches us. In that context, I was interested to read today about the decision on prayers in council meetings in England and Wales handed down by the courts. It seems that the matter hinges on whether the time of prayer is part of the agenda of the meeting, in which case councillors are summoned to attend that part of the meeting, as opposed to prayers being apart from the official business of the council, in which case atheist councillors need not attend. Today's ruling states that having prayers as part of the agenda is unlawful, however the judge said 'prayers could be said as long as councillors were not formally summoned to attend'.

I have to say that I am in agreement with the judgement as reported. I would not like to be forced to attend prayers to non-Christian gods. I therefore think that we as Christians should extend the same courtesy to those of other religions, including atheists and humanists. We are currently seeing a rise in militant atheism, militant humanism and militant Islam. All seek to force their viewpoint on others. Christians should not be like that - we should seek to share the Truth in love, without force, and so try and win people to Christ. Militant Christianity is also on the rise these days and it is as much to be deplored as the other militant religions I have listed above. We do not fight force with force. We should stand fast in what we believe, always being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15) but also being prepared for the fact that they may not accept what we say. In that case, we pray for them and leave them with God. Only the Holy Spirit working within someone can ultimately bring them to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only half the story

It was good to hear the Queen giving an unashamedly Christian Christmas message yesterday which emphasised the importance of family and community and, dare I say it, marriage between a man and a woman. It was better than many of her recent Christmas messages, so much so that it seems a shame to take issue with it, however...

I do have a problem with her saying that 'we sometimes need saving from ourselves' because I think we need saving from ourselves all the time. I also think that while forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian faith, as the Queen said, the message of forgiveness in Christ came after John the Baptist's call to repentance. One of the problems in our society today is the emphasis on love, reconciliation and rehabilitation without the requisite repentance and confession of wrong-doing. Indeed, how often do we hear on the news that some politician or other public person has 'denied any wrong-doing'. It has almost become a mantra. Our prisons are full of repeat offenders who have manifestly not repented of their crimes because society has more sympathy for them than for their victims.

Until our society heeds the call of John the Baptist it will not know the peace that comes through Christ.

'The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord' - Isaiah 40:3 (KJV)