The Greatest Challenge facing the 21st Century Church

The Greatest Challenge facing the 21st Century Church Secularism Islam Naturalism These three I believe have come together in the opening decades of this century in a perfect storm of opposition to the Church of Jesus Christ. Firstly lets take a look at each of them, and try to understand what they are, what they represent, and what they are trying to achieve. Secularism. For most of human history, in most societies religion has been at the centre of society, shaping its laws, customs and behaviour. Perhaps the best example of this is to be found in Hebrew society from Moses to the Captivity. There are many bad ones to choose from, perhaps the worst is to be found in the bloodthirsty central American societies like the Aztecs. European society has been influenced mainly by Christianity, albeit before the Reformation in the early 16th century, of a variety tainted by the legacy of the Roman and Greek paganism that preceded it. With the so called enlightenment of the 18th century there was a move away from religion in public life towards what is commonly referred to as Secularism, epitomised in the French state created after the revolution. Secularists claim the moral high ground, and point to the failings of (mainly Roman) Christianity as justification for their position. They also enlist science as being on their side, dispelling the “superstitious myths” of religion. So in the “brave new world” of secularism, religion finds itself excluded from the public sphere, and its adherents ostracised and marginalized. This was a reality in the French state for a while after the revolution, accompanied by unrestricted violence and bloodshed, but gradually religion recovered some of its popularity, and the worst excesses of secularism were abandoned. Unfortunately the whole sordid experiment would be repeated on a vaster scale with the Russian and Chinese revolutions and the emergence of the godless totalitarian Communist secular state. In the sphere of science, secularists also claim the high ground, but history is not on their side, as it is a fact that most of the great scientists of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries were Christians. Furthermore, their particular “scientific” idol – Darwinism, is as we shall see, scientifically flawed, and is ideologically motivated, being based on Naturalism, i.e. without God - godless. Secularism then is a godless system that removes God from society, and places Man in place of God. Religion is tolerated as long as it is private. In the secular system, religion has no place in the public sphere, which should be cleansed of its influence completely. So Christianity would cease to play any part in politics, policy, Law, education or procedure.

The result of this on societies who have experimented with it in the past has been catastrophic, and there is every reason to believe that the current virulent western form that we see at work today will be every bit as disastrous to society at large. Naturalism. Secularism is the system, and naturalism the ideology that underpins it. If you want to get rid of God, you have to replace Him with another belief system that offers an explanation of how and why things are. If there is no God as the prime source and mover of the material universe, then the material universe is its own source and prime mover! So, using nothing, it exploded itself into existence! Intricate molecular cellular life sprang into being from lifeless chemicals, and then self mutated over vast periods of time into highly complicated life forms. In spite of there not being a shred of hard evidence for this belief, it is propagated as fact, and clung to tenaciously as a (for want of a better term) religious dogma! In this ideology, scientific facts are ignored if they inconveniently contradict the accepted paradigm of naturalism. 21st Century discoveries in the fields of DNA, and cellular biology have conclusively buried the 19th century theory of evolution in the sands of obsolescence, yet it remains the underlying dogma underpinning naturalism, for without it the whole secular system would collapse. Islam Islam is not only a religion, but an exclusive political system, a legal system, a culture, and a prescriptive moral code. In Islam there is no room for any other system, and the nation state instituted by God after Babel is anathema. The aspiration of Islam is global submission to a global caliphate governed by Sharia Law. In the meantime, other religions are tolerated where Islam is forced to tolerate them, and outlawed where it is able to enforce its will. Nation states likewise are tolerated as a present “realpolitik” , but will disappear under the caliphate when that is possible. History affords an example of this in the Ottoman Empire, and its centuries long war with Christendom in an effort to extend its Caliphate into Europe. In Islam, there is no room for doubt and uncertainty. Islamic Law is deemed perfect, and Allah’s will paramount, to both of which every Muslim must unquestioningly submit. In Islam, truth is both inflexible, and at the same time where expedient, flexible. So as a minority religion in a country, Islam will preach tolerance to other faiths, but in a majority situation, as in Iran or Saudi Arabia, other religions are not tolerated. Where the political power of Islam is weak, it will work with and in other political systems, but where Islam is dominant, there are no other political systems! The Challenge to the Church Secularism, Islam and Christianity are competing ideologies centered around a faith based belief system. They are mutually exclusive, with uncompromising claims to pre-eminence.

Secularism’s adherents have shown in the past no qualms about using state coercion and godless laws to secure their objectives, and ostracise and marginalize their opponents. This has been the defining characteristic of every secular state, and so there is no reason to think that will not be the case in the west with this latest experiment either. Islam’s adherents (and founder) have shown in the past no qualms about using the power of the Islamic state and Law to crush their opponents, and there is no evidence that they will not do so again if afforded the opportunity. In both cases, their opponents are Judaism and Christianity. Leaving aside Judaism for the time being, (It being a related, but distinct subject in itself, and a minority faith in the West) the question needs to be asked, WHY? Why do Secularism and Islam, which are opposing ideologies; both oppose and focus on attacking Christianity? The obvious answer is that they both see Christianity as their main ideological opponent, with the potential to destroy them. So how do they separately pose a threat to the Church? Secularism & Naturalism. By denying God, secularists place Man in the position of lawmaker and ultimate authority. Science is co-opted to lend some sort of legitimacy to their alternative narrative. Christians however cannot accept this. They, like Daniel before them, choose to worship God, not man. They will not bow the knee to mans ungodly laws, or compromise their Scriptures. They reject the so called “scientific” narrative, and believe God created the universe, and mankind, and reject evolution. They will not accept same sex marriage, co-habitation or homosexual practise. They object to abortion, feminism, and political correctness. They resist euthanasia, drug use, pornography and the sexual indoctrination of children. They want to cling to the “arcane” rituals of prayer in schools and government offices. Everything the secularists want to introduce which is contrary to the teaching of Scripture is resisted by the Church. That is why they wand to remove Christianity from the public sphere. That is why they want to get rid of Christian politicians. That is why they want control of bodies like Ofstead, and the BMA. That is why they want control of our educational establishments, adoption providers, medical providers and judiciary. They have infiltrated the media (with a few exceptions) especially the television companies, like the BBC, and use them to constantly push their propaganda and ridicule the Church’s opposition to their agenda. Alongside vigorous opposition they employ subversion. There is an unremitting campaign to subvert the Church from within. They have long since infiltrated the seminaries, and are now in a position to subvert the Church with liberal clergy. Any opposition to this campaign is branded with words like “dogmatic, homophobic, intolerant, bigoted, racist, backward”, etc.

Secularism is a threat to the Church, because it threatens it with irrelevancy and fatal compromise with and in a world that has abandoned God and seeks after its own way just as in the days of Noah. Islam In a world where Christianity is fatally compromised, and has become irrelevant, there will always be those who are not enamoured with Secularism, and look for an alternative. Islam is only too happy to step in and fill the void. Islam offers a solid moral compass (albeit a warped one) to replace the Christian one abandoned by a secular West. Islam offers a strong legal and political alternative (albeit an intolerant one) to a weak western legal and political system corroded by a faithless liberal secular worldview. These converts are usually recruited by militant Muslims, and are indoctrinated into their extreme version of Islam, with its appealing certainty. The results for society as we have already seen are deadly and disastrous! The liberal section of the Church, the same ones who accept evolution, and same sex marriage, and homosexual clergy, and who will not accept the word of God as such, but water it down with so called “higher criticism”, are the ones who are now flirting with Islam. They mistakenly identify Islam as a sister Abrahamaic faith along with Judaism, but while oddly keeping Judaism at arms length, they are eager to embrace Islam! This is a serious error. The evidence of the fate of the Church under Islam is there in plain sight for all to see in Muslim countries, yet these apostates are eager to invite Islam into their now desecrated shrines! It is noteworthy that Mosques don’t reciprocate! Muslim clergy will accept the invitations with smiles, and in an apparent ecumenical spirit, but inside they despise the weakness of these Christian compromisers. What are we to do? In every age God has preserved a faithful remnant who will not bow the knee to Baal. Whilst the majority flock to the high places of false gods and idolatry, the faithful often have placed their lives on the line for their Lord. They are still doing so in Muslim and Communist countries today, and are increasingly being called to do so in secular godless western societies. It will not be many years before in addition to losing our livelihoods and liberty, (which is happening now) we start to lose our property and even our lives. Or we deny our Lord and turn apostate. This is already happening, and will only increase. Compromise is happening at individual church level, and at denominational level. What is the response of the faithful to be? If we are to maintain our witness, we must be holy. We must not

compromise, and if our denominations head in that direction, we must separate. If we do not hold fast to the Word of God, we are lost. If our minister speaks out against any of the holy cows of secularism, and condemns them from the Word of God, what will we do when he is arrested and jailed? Will we keep our head below the parapet and distance ourselves from him, or will we openly support him and risk sharing in his fate? Thus will we be sifted. Or how will we react if our minister agrees to baptise a person living in a common law relationship with another, or even in a homosexual relationship? Will we hold him to the standard of the Bible, or keep quiet? Are we prepared to face up to the consequences, or will we duck the issues? To place all of this in a wider context, I believe it is clear from the Scriptures, especially Matthew 24, Luke 17, and 2 Timothy 3, that we are in the last days of this age, and this increase in godlessness and apostasy is a sure sign of that. Those who compromise with the world, with Secularism, Islam, and Naturalism, will find themselves gaining nothing from SIN, and losing everything they have been given by God! “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, \"Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down; and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Revelation 12:10-11 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 “And they who endure to the end will be saved” Matthew 24:13 Roger Malone June 2017