Hostility to the Gospel (Re-post)

I first wrote the following piece thirteen years ago, not long after I started this blog. Sad to say, my pessimism was not misplaced and the trend in our society is exactly along the lines I was afraid of back in 2006.


Unless God delivers us, we seem to be heading for dark times in this country. Hard won freedoms of speech and religion are under threat. Political correctness has run mad and it is only a matter of time until the freedom to preach the gospel itself is put under scrutiny and adverse pressure by the State. Serious stuff. Alarmist? Maybe -- for the time being. Five years ago it would have sounded like paranoid nonsense. But I don’t think it is now. There are trends in societies and cultures. History teaches us that. And right now I think we are entering a period where there may be more public, organised hostility towards Biblical Christianity and towards Christians committed to the blessed truths of the Bible than perhaps at any point in the past four centuries.

The trend has been slowly building in momentum for at least 40 years. Since the 1960s onwards the place and role of the Church has increasingly been marginalised in society and Christians more than any group have been fair game for hostility and ridicule from comedians, media commentators, politicians and many others with their own agenda. It is hardly surprising that what starts off as marginalisation and ridicule ends up in demonisation and persecution. And it is happening in 21st century Britain. Churches prevented from spreading the gospel even by intimating its services in any local council premises (premises that we pay for in our taxes). Gideons bibles removed from student halls of residence because they might "offend" students of other faiths or none. Broadcasters who won’t show political cartoons of Mohammed for fear of offending Moslems, but think it acceptable to blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ in so-called "works of art" like Jerry Springer the Opera. Leading scientists talk about religion being a "virus" that infects some human beings and needs to be eradicated. Street preachers are arrested for carrying Bible verses deemed to be offensive to other religions. Christian men and women are questioned by the police for "hate crimes" because they distribute gospel tracts.

So what do we do? Do we knuckle under, keep our heads down, and hope that things will not become as bad as the worst case scenario we might envisage if some of the things that have happened in the past few years are anything to go by? I don’t think so. I think there are two things we must do. Firstly, and most importantly, we must look to God for protection and deliverance, and trust in Him no matter what happens. We must pray that God will not allow things to go down this road towards persecution any further. Our attitude should be like the Psalmist:

"I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’." (Psalm 91:2).

The second thing we should do is strengthen our resolve to fight against all moves to stifle religious freedom or damage the cause of the gospel. The time is coming – in fact it may already be here – when being committed to Christ marks us out not just for ridicule or pity among unbelievers, but for discrimination and even persecution.

The other day I was reading Hebrews 13:12-13 and it strengthened my resolve:

"So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp, and bear the reproach he endured."

You see the point being made? Just as when the crunch came on Good Friday and Jesus was willing to go "outside the gate" – outside the comfort zone of being accepted by people, of being "one of us", of being "one of the crowd" – to go alone to the cross where he died to save us, so we are called at times to go "outside the camp" – to stand together, or even alone, against the world’s way of doing things, to take a stand against evil dressed up as good, even when it means we will be attacked for doing it. For the Hebrews to whom this was first written that meant being a Jew who was prepared to acknowledge Jesus was the Messiah and face all the approbation that would come from Jewish family, friends and colleagues. For us, it means standing up for Jesus in a society that increasingly thinks we are weirdos or bigots because we are Christians who put God first.

Okay so I’ve painted a deliberately bleak picture. It is only one possible way our society might move in the years ahead. Actually, I do not think God will allow things to descend into the abyss where Christians in the UK will be jailed for speaking the truth. I think we will be protected and preserved by God through all the natural and supernatural means He uses to protect His people. But surely it is a sign of how far things have gone already that in a country like Britain we’re even aware that such things could happen here, lurking as they do down one dark path the future might take.