Muslims agree that the church should stop watering down the message
A wake-up call for the liberal elements of the church
by Gary Bates
Gary Bates shares a creation message at an Anglican church in 2007.
A recent news report claims that there is division within the Church of England
on whether to proclaim Jesus as the only way to salvation and on how to evangelize
to Muslims.1
Paul Eddy, a lay member of the church’s General Synod who is training to become
a priest says that the church should stop avoiding hard questions about its beliefs.
Instead, being upfront about one’s beliefs would actually be helpful to Muslim-Christian
relations. He added, ‘Most Muslims that I’ve talked to say, “I
really wish that Christians would stop watering down their faith and expecting us
to do the same,” … Until we start really saying what we really believe
in our faith, there will be no respect.’
Certainly, the Anglican Church in the UK has been suffering declining attendances
for many years, which onlookers put down to the fact that many aren’t sure
what the church is supposed to represent any more. This is evidenced by the fact
that many unused churches have been sold and converted for other uses such as retail
stores, YMCAs, and even mosques. Quite simply, if one tries to be all things to
all people you can end up representing nothing. Late in 2007, I recall doing ministry
at an Anglican church in England. That happened because the local reverend decided
to make a stand on the authority of Scripture—the CMI–UK CEO,
Philip Bell, told me that this was one of very few times that CMI had ever
been invited to minister in an Anglican church in that country.
What Mr Eddy says (above), really resonates with us at CMI. This is not just an
issue for the Anglican Church in Britain. Ultimately, we’ve been battling
the same issues within the wider church across the West for many years—particularly
when they get caught up in the current trend of overt political correctness (see
When will Europe wake up?)
Sadly, the pastors/ministers of many churches are unwilling to have creation ministry.
We are told, ‘You guys are too dogmatic. We want to be sensitive to others.
We are not sure about Genesis.’ Of course, our focus has been on the origins
issue and the book of Genesis, but this is where the ‘watering down’
starts. A few years ago, I also wrote about how missionaries from an organisation
that operates on university campuses in Australia were told to steer questioners
away when they asked questions about Genesis, creation or evolution despite being
the very issues they were most questioned about. Read Christians
ducking and weaving on campus.
If we are trying to evangelize to the lost but don’t really believe what we
are supposed to believe, then how can we expect others to believe it?
What we need to know about Christ, our salvation and living a Christian life is
contained in the Bible. If we are trying to evangelize to the lost but don’t
really believe what we are supposed to believe, then how can we expect others to
believe it? It is quite illogical to think that there can be many versions of ‘the
truth?’ When we are talking about a key event in history (e.g. Creation, Fall,
Flood, Babel, and the Birth, Death and Resurrection of Christ), it’s either
true or it isn’t (isn’t it?). Either an event happened or it didn’t.
For example, either Jesus was Resurrected (as the Bible says) or He wasn’t!
And similarly, either God made the earth before the sun (as the Bible says) or He
didn’t! Your beliefs cannot change what really happened in the past—either
the Resurrection (and the creation of the earth before the sun) is a fact of history,
or it isn’t, irrespective of how strongly you might believe either way. In
other words, Christians might have a faith that can move mountains, but they cannot
change history (i.e. what happened in the past). Sadly, many pastors/ministers only
woke up to the fact that the Bible’s history was under attack when Dan Brown’s
The Da Vinci Code
gained prominence, whereas in fact the Bible’s history has long been under
attack in a major way—i.e. since the widespread teaching of evolution as (supposed)
true history.
And just look at the damaging effect that churchian compromise has had on the general
public. Here’s a modern-day example of a ‘witnessing’ conversation:
|
Christian (C): |
‘You are a sinner and need to be saved’ |
|
Non-believer (NB): |
‘Who says I’m a sinner? How do you know?’ |
|
C: |
‘The Bible says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God” and that Jesus is the only way to God.’ |
|
NB: |
‘Yeh, but the Bible also says that God created the earth is six days. Surely
you don’t believe that. Science has proven that incorrect.’ |
|
C:
|
(Gulps). ‘Ah but Genesis is just poetic and not to be taken literally.’ |
|
NB: |
‘So if the Bible does not mean what it says in Genesis, then how can I be
sure of the rest of it?’ |
You see, that’s the problem. Most people outside the church believe the Bible
to be one book. So if we disregard Genesis—where sin first entered the world—then
we cannot point to the fact that we are all natural born sinners, and thus, our
need for a Saviour. This is where many, in their desperate attempts to win people
over and not offend, lose the centrality of the gospel in a wishy-washy, seeker-sensitive
morass of ‘easy believism’. The Apostle Paul wrote, ‘ …
now is the day of salvation’. The implication is that tomorrow you may die
and then it will be too late. Now some might regard those as uncaring insensitive
words, but it demands a response—it is a call to action now! ‘Hopefully
the responder is thinking, ‘What if this person is right?’ It’s
because of concern for the non-believer’s welfare that we should be saying
such things. It’s not our job to save people, but we are all called to speak
the truth in love and be a good Christian witness. And don’t have an unrealistic
expectation that every single person you witness to is going to be saved on the
spot. How many Christians reading this article were saved the first time someone
spoke to them about the Lord?
Being real … and relevant
Note Mr Eddy’s observation that even Muslims don’t want Christians to
water down their faith. He pointed out that Muslims expect Christians to
believe that Jesus is the only way to God, and said, ‘They
will expect us—if we’re true Christians—to try to evangelize them,
in the same way they will expect us, if they’re true Muslims, to adopt their
faith.’
Having just heard a talk on the relevance of creation, these folk now enthusiastically
avail themselves of creation resources in an Anglican church.
Well, of course Muslims would want us to ‘adopt their faith’—after
all, they believe that they are the ones with the ‘truth’,
not us. But in a level playing field, we believe and should be confident that the
truth of Scripture and the very gospel itself will win out—but only if we
present a straightforward ‘Creation to Fall to Redemption message’.
See our article called The Koran
vs Genesis to show that the Koran’s origins view (unlike Genesis)
does not fit with reality. It appears that Mr Eddy has a similar confidence in the
power of the gospel because he is urging Anglican bishops to give church members
advice on how to evangelize, and how to better support Muslims who have converted
to Christianity and are now ostracized by their communities. What a great idea—equipping
the church. That’s been CMI’s goal for years and also one of the reasons
we have a particular emphasis on materials and resources. It’s to encourage
people to share them with others. In this way the Christian can:
- Be equipped and increase his/her confidence in witnessing with others.
- Use those very same resources to help present a clear and truthful message.
So come on church and fellow Christians
Let’s get out there and tell it like it is. I’m not saying we have to
be rude or insensitive, but let’s avoid that politically correct notion that
somehow telling someone the truth is wrong. Surely the one thing everyone wants
to know is the truth!
Not surprisingly, some in the church have voiced anger at Mr Eddy’s proposal,
which is to be discussed at a General Synod meeting on July 4–8, 2008. But
he says, ‘Both Christianity and Islam are missionary faiths, … For
years, we have sent missionaries throughout the whole world, but when we have the
privilege of people of all nations on our doorstep, we have a responsibility as
the state church to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.’
We say ‘Amen’ to that. So, please pray for the once mighty Church of
England and this upcoming meeting. That maybe at this meeting there will be an internal
revival of sorts and that they will decide to make a stand on the authority of God’s
Word. And moreover that they will take hold of Jesus’ words when He said,
‘Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’ and
win Britain back to the Lord. At CMI, we are ready and willing to be of assistance
with eager and fully-trained speakers and an array of appropriate resources to help
spread the truth.
Related resources
References
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Church of England Advised Against Withholding Christ from Muslims, 6 June 2008.
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Published: 17 June 2008(GMT+10)
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