In the United Kingdom the Anglican Bishop of Rochester, the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, is bringing to the attention of his fellow bishops the disturbing fact that today’s secular politically correct multi-culturalism is pushing for Christian buildings - yes, space consecrated for Christian worship - to be shared with other non-Christian faiths.

There are now pressing demands that dedicated, and sometimes consecrated, Christian chapels in prisons, hospitals and elsewhere be turned into multi-faith centres, often known as ‘the multi-faith', for undifferentiated use by people of all faiths.
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The 1996 Church of England Report Communities and Buildings recognised the importance of sacred space. The nature and needs of Christian worship are such that buildings used for it acquire a certain character and atmosphere. Respect for Christian sensitivities, as well as those of people of other faiths, demands that buildings used for Christian worship should not become places where ‘anything goes'. It may be that Chaplaincies have ancillary space which can be relinquished so that others can use it, but consecrated and dedicated space must be protected.

It is one thing to be forced to share a building, but I believe the far more serious thing is what Bishop Nazir-Ali has next to say:

There is increasing evidence, however, especially from prisons, that Christian chaplains are being constrained in their ministries by the generally prevailing ‘multi-faith' culture. This may also be true of people of other faiths. Courses, such as Alpha, that bring people to faith or to deepen it are being discouraged as this is seen as ‘proselytising' (in itself a hugely ‘loaded' word). Other programmes which seek to base changes in behaviour on a deeper transformation, based on faith, are threatened with closure, even though their intake is entirely voluntary and they have a track-record in reducing re-offending.

It is greatly to be welcomed that chaplains from different Churches increasingly work together. There is also scope for cooperation with those of other faiths in areas like the welfare of patients or prisoners, hospitality for families, matters of diet, educational materials and inter-faith discussion. This does not and cannot mean that the distinctive Christian character of chapels and chaplaincies should be lost or compromised in any way. There are legitimate requirements - of welcome, of hospitality and of enabling - which Christians need to exercise in relation to others but again this must be without obscuring their fundamental commitment to the Gospel and its place in public life in this country.

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Again in Britain, a group calling themselves The Lawyers Christian Fellowship (LCF) are bringing to the attention of Christian organizations the consequences of new proposed legislation due to be made law in October this year.

The Sexual Orientation Regulations (SOR) would make it illegal for anyone who provides goods, services, facilities, or premises to someone to discriminate against that person on the grounds of their sexual orientation, whether they be homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual. This could create a problem for churches as it would mean in practice it would be illegal for a church to refuse to hire out their hall to a gay group promoting homosexual practices. The government hopes to bring the regulations into force by October 2006, and has launched a consultation to ask if there should be exceptions to the laws. In a letter to churches as part of their action pack on the issue, the LCF is urging churches to petition the government in opposing the law.

It says: “The overriding concern of Christians will be the earnest desire for all people to repent of their sins and to come to salvation by grace, through faith in Christ. “However, it is also essential that Christians continue to have the freedom to express the Biblical doctrinal view that whilst we should love the person irrespective of their sexual orientation, homosexual practise is sinful and wrong.

“We cannot emphasise enough that unless churches respond to the consultation, the law will be implemented with no exemptions to protect those churches who want the freedom to declare openly that practising homosexuality is wrong,” the letter declared.

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This week in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, the Most Rev Peter Jensen, has taken a stand and spoken out regarding another matter where the Christian faith is in opposition to the moral relativism of today, and where pressure from the secular non-Christian cultural ideology wants the Church to make unconscionable compromises. In this case, the Church is already teetering due to the betrayal of liberal theologians in the upper eschalons of leadership, and has partially succumbed to apostacy from Holy Scripture.

“The biblical ideal of sexual relationships specifically excludes same-sex relationships. The biblical teaching makes this a matter of spiritual life and death. That is crystal clear from both the Old and New Testaments.

“I say with all solemnity to those who say the blessing of same-sex unions is okay, and who will ordain clergy living in same-sex unions: how can you do this when the souls of those involved are in peril?

“This is an enormously serious matter. And in the blessing of same-sex unions and the consecration or ordination of persons living in those relationships, we are saying to the community as a whole that these relationships have the blessing of God, when the scriptures say those who are in them are excluded from the kingdom of heaven.

“This lifestyle is spiritually perilous. Encouraging it is endangering the lives and eternal destiny of those involved, and it is inconsistent with the duties of a minister of God’s word.

“This lifestyle is also unhealthy. I am astonished that the medical profession has not risen to a person and told us the truth and opposed it. The dereliction of duty of the medical profession is one of the most shameful parts of this whole thing.”

“Defending such doctrines as the uniqueness of Christ will prove impossible - the culture will see to that, and the church has developed a habit of succumbing.”

“It is part of the propaganda war to label those who take my point of view as obsessed, homophobic, fanatical, negative, fundamentalist, divisive and puritan …

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Clearly, this is an age where it is becoming daring to declare oneself a Christian, not just a nominal Christian for the purposes of writing something on a Census form, but one who has recognized that Christ paid a price on the cross and the purchase was one’s own life and soul.

Christianity is a worldview based on historical evidence and rational arguments, and has an exclusivity clause that refutes so-called truth from any other belief system. There is no avoiding the statement that Jesus made (John 14:6) that excludes all other faiths, all other false gods. True Christians cannot accept moral relativism and thereby say that Jesus was wrong, that His exclusive claim is false. Neither can they condone homosexual unions and practices while their God calls such things sin.

This postmodern age is working to divide the sincere faithful from those who would desert and follow more worldly trends and fashions. While mauling to pieces everything that is Christian, postmodernism can certainly be seen to be destroying our cultural heritage. But is this not purifying the church in the process? Our churches were not built for the worship of any false gods, the deities of other non-Christian faiths, but neither were they for our own gods of money, pride, greed, meanness and self-serving egoism, the teaching of false doctrine and manufactured dogma. The true church is the body of believers - people, not buildings - the living body of Christ, the historical Jesus who told all to repent and invited them to follow Him. His teachings are found in the Bible, not in contradictory philosophies of mankind. Postmodernism is already claiming the minds and souls of those who would betray His Word and deny His claim to Lordship. The world will take what is it’s own, and Jesus will have those willing to be His.

Quoting from a comment to the previous Judah’s Journal entry, Erwin Raphael McManus wrote:

…the message of Jesus has been lost in the catacombs of thousands of years of empty religion. Jesus never intended his movement to be about cathedrals and robes and titles and power. He never intended to establish a religious version of the Roman Empire.

The secret message of the Bible is one of elegant simplicity:
• We are created in the image and likeness of God.
• We are the object of his passionate love and concern.
• We have potential beyond our wildest imagination.
• We were created to live in relationship with God.
• We are spiritual beings and need God to be fully alive.
• We are closer to God than we know.
• We have been lied to about what God demands of us.

The secret that must be exposed is that God has come into human history in the person of Jesus Christ so that all of us might become the sons and daughters of God.