What’s next?

We are only human.

We like to be liked. Therefore one of the most difficult things for us as Christians is that, if we are faithful to Jesus and his word, the world will hate us. ‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first,’ said the Lord to his disciples (John 15.18).

Elite world

Bear in mind that, when John records Jesus speaking about ‘the world’, the Gospel writer is not so much referring to our planet or its inhabitants but to the rebel spirit, the system of attitudes insinuated among us by the devil, which is antagonistic to God, his Word and his people. It is to do with independence, power, pride, love of money, etc. At one level, not all are quite so caught up in the spirit of the world as others. The poor and oppressed loved to hear Jesus. It was the worldly rich and the ruling elites who were the chief instigators of persecuting both Christ and the early church.

Political correctness rules in the corridors of power and among the powerful media elite these days. The Labour Party’s manifesto for last June’s General Election included the slogan ‘For the many, not the few’. But political correctness turns that on its head. In many areas of public life decisions are now made ‘not for the many, but for the few’. LGBT movers and shakers have become a new elite minority. They are the tail that wags the dog.

You can lose your job now for expressing majority views which just a few decades ago were seen as simple common sense – and most of those ideas are in the Bible. Children are best with both a mum and a dad. Public loos should be labelled male and female, etc. And so it is that those in power continue to make things distinctly uncomfortable for faithful Christians.

The Queen and disestablishment

This is speculation. And yet it does appear to have a certain inevitable logic about it. It seems to me that the situation is likely to get worse for us once the Queen is gone. Long may she reign, but this year the Queen is 91. In November she relinquished her traditional role of laying the ceremonial wreath at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday.

For many years now there have been mur-murings about the eventual disestablishment of the Church of England. ‘We are now a multi-faith society,’ say some, ‘and it is purely anachronistic to so favour one religion.’ Whereas Queen Elizabeth has made no secret of her own Christian faith, the personal beliefs of the next in line to the throne, Charles, the Prince of Wales, are very uncertain. It would seem very likely that once the Queen dies that it will not be long before the wheels are set in motion for disestablishment.

Roman Catholicism

I personally hold no brief for an established church, but I can see that disestab-lishment is likely to give momentum to an even greater anti-Christian atmosphere or backlash in our nation. The churches will need to be prepared and take seriously Jesus’ words in John 15.18f.

Disestablishment could also provide more ammunition for Anglicans seeking agreement or even reunification with Rome, to recover lost power under the Pope’s authority. On 31 October when we celebrated the Reformation there was a service of reconciliation at Westminster Abbey featuring the leaders of the two churches in the UK, Archbishop Justin Welby and Cardinal Nichols.

It could get tougher. But touching the faithful church is to touch the apple of God’s eye. He is omnipotent and he is ours.