It's good to know that there are still some major bodies of Christianity out there who aren't afraid to take a bold stand for the truth. Far too much of the "church" in the United States and other Western nations have abandoned the truth for a lie.
In their meeting in Jerusalem, the Anglican Church has formed an umbrella organization to fight back against the growing culture of lies that is taking over the Western world.
From CNS News:
The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) -- representing more than half of the world's practicing Anglicans -- wrapped up a weeklong meeting in Jerusalem, where more than 1,100 lay and clergy, including nearly 300 bishops, declared their allegiance to traditional biblical and church teachings and vowed to combat liberal trends, including the acceptance of homosexual leadership.
In a statement drafted after all the delegates were allowed to give input through the week, the leaders said they were grieved by the "spiritual decline" in Western nations where, they said, "the forces of militant secularism and pluralism are eating away the fabric of society," leaving a vacuum filled "by other faiths and deceptive cults."
The group, which represents more than 35 million Anglicans worldwide, said Christians must work together "to understand and oppose these forces and to liberate those under their sway."
That is exactly in keeping with the mission Jesus Christ came to earth to perform: to liberate and to set the captives free from the lies that imprison us.
The Anglicans made a very sound and solid statement in support of the Biblical standard of human sexuality:
In their "Jerusalem Declaration," the clergy upheld "the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family." They called for a renewed commitment "to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married."
Bishop David Anderson, president of the American Anglican Counsel, described the current state of moral confusion with an apt analogy:
"If you conform your religion to your culture, it's like taking a compass and, when it doesn't tell you what you want, you break it," Anderson added.
That's a very good analogy. The compass of the Bible points to Truth, and when that isn't the same direction as acceptance of homosexuality, some would break the compass or slap a magnet on the outside of the compass so it'll always point in the direction of their sin. Clever...but not leading you in the right direction.
How sad that America, after hundreds of years of sending out missionaries to bring the truth of Jesus Christ to dark parts of the world, is now in need of missionaries from the world to bring the abandoned truth back here.
As much as that should shame us, it is better that this happen than we go without the truth altogether.
7 comments:
I am pleased to hear that there are still some Christians within the Church of England. You'd have hardly known it from news reports these past several years.
Praise the Lord!
Very nice of you two to judge your fellow Christians. Was God tired of that job?
Jesus said you'll know 'em by their fruits...
How do you Christians expect the rest of the world to see things your way when not even your own community can reach a consensus on fundamental issues? It seems that you guys have enough internal problems to work out before you take shots at non-Christians, yet you think you're capable and entitled to police the rest of society. It makes me laugh.
You're right, Anonymous; it does make Christianity look bad. You're also right that it undermines our mission to bring God's truth to everyone.
It's incredibly sad that the Body of Christ is divided over issues which are so plain and clear in the Bible. There are some that aren't so clear-cut, but the main ones dividing the Anglican Church are as clear as "Thou shalt not murder."
Christians, like any humans, give in too easily to the temptation to sin and compromise. At least God's truth is solid and unchanging.
I'm glad you agree, but the question still stands: Christians are severely divided over many issues that, I agree, are clear-cut. Wouldn't the productive, responsible, and less hypocritical thing be to address and resolve these internal problems before broadening your mission to non-Christians? If not even all Christians can agree on God's truth, what hope is there for those of us outside the church? (hypothetical questions, really)
Many would say that the mission IS non-Christians. Some might make the case that the worship of God is our first duty as Christians, and that could definitely be argued, but it is true that the "Great Commission" is to teach the world about Christ's truths and make disciples.
That is what many of us plan on continuing to do, even as we stick with Biblical truth.
If the others are determined to directly disobey the Bible (the areas in question in the Anglican dispute are beyond any reasonable debate), there's nothing the rest of us can do to stop them. If we wait around for them to repent and get with the Bible before taking the Gospel to the world, it'll probably never get taken, the way things are looking.
The rest of us will stick to the mission: love God and keep his commands, and leave it up to God what to do with the unrepentant that we have no authority over.
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