“And Peter had followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the high priest” (Mark 14v54).
This describes the worst moment in dear Peter’s life, of which he was later so ashamed, and about which he needed the Lord’s forgiveness and reinstatement, which he graciously received (John 21). It was not that Peter had given up following Jesus, it was that at a crucial moment when he was under pressure he denied his master and Lord. Peter wanted to follow Jesus, but he did not at this time want the hassle and danger of doing so – it was all too much for him to cope with. Later Peter thankfully showed that he was more than willing to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever that led.
In the same way, the believers addressed by the Book of Hebrews had to be challenged not to slip back to the “easier” path of their old covenant Judaism and miss out on the blessings of the new covenant “which was better by far”. Their new faith was calling them to suffer for their Lord, from which they were shrinking back. So the writer challenged them: “Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Heb.13v13,14).
Sinners that we are, it is all too easy for us to follow Jesus “at a distance”. We can also spiritualise our cowardice and fool ourselves that we are acting wisely given the circumstances!
I speak as a Reformed Evangelical Anglican in the midst of the challenging situation we face in our denomination at the present time, in the hope that what I now raise will be helpful to all Evangelical Christians who are seeking to be faithful in today’s climate of opinion.
Our great hope at the moment is that either the bishops of the Church of England will truly repent of their folly and faithlessness (rather than “reset” the same heretical course in new clothes) or, if not, that the Alliance will be able to deliver an independent orthodox Province either inside or, if not granted, outside the CofE with the backing of the majority of world Anglicans (GAFCON and The Global South Fellowship). The efforts of the Alliance [an umbrella group uniting different networks with an orthodox stance on sexuality] and the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) to keep the denomination faithful to Scripture deserve our prayerful and total support.
But, what if the Church carries on in its foolish direction, and the Alliance is unable to deliver the necessary Bible-believing Province? While most of us do not want to leave the Church, the issue is a Church-dividing one (as it is a first-order salvation related issue– see I Corinthians 6v9-11). A satisfactory gospel-honouring solution needs to be found. To quote the late J.I. Packer: “When the authority of Scripture is abandoned and a particular pattern of behaviour, from which the gospel explicitly calls men and women to repent, is treated as a mode of holiness, how can one not, however regretfully, take some form of action.”*
What concerns me is that the issue seems likely to divide Evangelicals at a time of opportunity in the country with the “Quiet Revival” in evidence. I increasingly hear of Evangelical clergy who are saying that they will not leave the Church whatever happens, but will stay till they retire or get thrown out. Though committed to ongoing faithful preaching, one even said to me that he no longer had any red lines that would make him leave! Others of us feel that in a Reformation church, whose very existence was due to a break with Rome over a gospel issue, that to stay in the CofE should the Synod and the bishops authorise stand-alone same-sex services of blessing, or allow clergy to enter into same-sex civil marriages, is a bridge too far that undermines the gospel and dangerously misleads people. If we were to stay under those circumstances we should all have remained Roman Catholics at the Reformation!
That division of opinion will be made a great deal worse if we start analysing one another’s motives. Only God knows the secrets of the heart. Jesus warned us: “Judge not that you be not judged” (Matt. 7v1). But we certainly should challenge one another to be honest in the consideration of our motives. Good or bad motives can exist behind each reason given for a particular stand on both sides of the argument. It is also sadly the case that people can get very attached to buildings, or the security of familiar ways, rather than the treasure of the gospel and taking a costly stand for that.
How we need to pray and seek God’s will and wisdom in our circumstances, and bravely follow that path whatever it costs. We need, above all, clear consciences before the Lord.
And that is the rub. Are we willing to lose everything for the sake of the gospel, and stand up for it and proclaim it with integrity and without compromise in our denominational/church affiliation? Commitment to the gospel the apostles preached shows whether a church is faithful or unfaithful to her Lord, at a local or a national level. The gospel is the lifeblood of the church, and the amazing benefits it brings to us when believed were won at great cost by our Saviour on the cross. Are we willing to take up our cross and follow the Lord Jesus? Whatever the cost? I know that is easier for me to say in retirement with a pension than some others in more challenging circumstances, but the challenge comes to us all nonetheless.
We are not schismatics, we do not wish to divide the Church. But if faithfulness to the word of God and the gospel of Christ is at stake are we are willing to lose everything and look to God to vindicate that? The suffering brave church throughout the world looks at us in the West. Are we, as someone said to me recently “All mouth and no trousers”? Are we only willing to follow Jesus up to a point – “at a distance”?
Maybe God has sent us this issue to sort us out as to how serious we are about following Him. Peter’s denial was understandable if not excusable on the far side of Calvary and Pentecost. Those of us on this side of Calvary have no excuse for “following at a distance” the Saviour who gave everything for us. Let’s all make sure, whatever we do in the end, stay or go, that by God’s grace, honouring Jesus Christ our Lord and serving Him matters more to us than anything else does.
*(People concerned about this issue should read the excellent and very helpful chapter entitled “Taking the Church Seriously” in the book Taking God Seriously, by J.I. Packer, IVP & Crossway, 2013, from which the quote above is taken.)
