The challenges ahead

This week I have been attending the Sydney Anglican Synod for 2015. While we have covered many worthy topics (and have many more to go!), I was particularly encouraged and excited by the wise words of our Archbishop Dr Glenn Davies in his opening address. So I thought that, in lieu of this week's links, I'd leave you with some quotes worth repeating.

Joy in persecution

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:18-19

Two things are identified by Jesus. Notice the world hated him first. To be a disciple of Jesus is to follow in his footsteps. This is not to suggest that we are to look for opposition, let alone persecution, but if we are true to our Master, faithful to his commission, then opposition and persecution will inevitably follow, as Paul reminded Timothy (2 Timothy 3:12). The second fact that Jesus mentions is that he chose us. It is his choice, not ours; it is for his glory, not ours. It therefore follows that we undergo opposition for his sake, not ours. Moreover, he who chose us is truly with us. His Spirit indwells us so that we may live for his glory and endure the persecution that may come our way. In the same chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus told his disciples that he had spoken these words so that his joy might be in them—in us—and that our joy may be full (John 15:11). This is an incredible promise and one that perhaps we do not appreciate, let alone assimilate, in our daily lives. 

Same-sex marriage

The antagonism of the world to the Word of God is perhaps seen nowhere more acutely than in the virulent challenge to the definition of marriage which pervades conversations in the media, the workplace and even in our places of leisure. The bombardment, both subtle and not so subtle, is relentless... 

Marriage is fundamentally not a social construct of human invention, but is a divinely ordained institution for the good of humanity and the well being of society. Yet our society for many years has not recognised the importance of this divine origin, nor of the importance of confining sexual intercourse to the marriage of a man and woman, united by an exclusive and permanent bond, ‘forsaking all others’, ‘so long as they both shall live’...

There simply is no ‘marriage equality’ for everyone. Marriage necessarily has boundaries that even the adherents of the facile rhetoric of ‘marriage equality’ cannot deny: children, for example, are excluded; couples within prohibited relationships, such as siblings, are excluded; those who are already married and wish to marry another spouse are also excluded. Yet we are the ones portrayed as being discriminatory in our defence of marriage, when in fact we are not alone, for everyone needs to discern the purpose of marriage if one is to understand, and so rightly ‘discriminate’, regarding the eligibility of proper candidates for marriage...

It is time that all Christians, especially Anglicans, should enter the discussion and graciously and sensitively explain the reasons why our good Creator has made marriage the way he has. We need to be courageous in our discussions both in private and in public, yet we also need to be sensitive and loving in our defence of biblical truth. As Vaughan Roberts reminds us: ‘homosexuality is not simply an “issue”; it concerns people, created and loved by God, many of whom are Christians.”

Domestic violence

[Domestic violence] is a salutary reminder of the corrosive effects of sin even in the believer, that men who profess Christ should treat their wives with such contempt, inflicting either verbal or physical abuse upon those whom they have promised ‘to love and to cherish, till death us do part.’

This is not the way of Christ. It should not characterise the bride of Christ. It does not reflect, despite the accusations of some, the inevitable consequences of the doctrine of headship in marriage. What it does demonstrate, regrettably, is that in the words of the Thirty-nine Articles: ‘in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good’ (Article xxvi). If even Satan can use the words of Holy Scripture to tempt our Lord, it is not difficult to concede that the Evil One can twist good doctrines to his own evil purposes. That Christian women are caught in such a vulnerable situation at the hands of those who abuse their responsibilities as husbands is both horrendous and inexcusable. It is therefore important that we address this issue with honesty, compassion and resolve, so that we may protect those who suffer any form of domestic abuse and find ways to prevent its reoccurrence, especially in the household of God. 

You can read, watch, or listen to the whole talk online.