The wrong side of history?
Today marks the 100th birthday of our province, the state of Northern Ireland. It’s a day of thanksgiving to God for his grace & blessing on our land and churches. We have known “the good hand of the Lord upon us” for many years & experienced his undeserved grace.
But perhaps it’s also a day to reflect. For many of the 100 years Northern Ireland has existed, we’ve lived in something of a religious atmosphere. Church attendance is still (relatively speaking) high. As we look around an average Northern Irish town, there are often more churches than schools! While western society has been swiftly sliding into a godless morality, we have been somewhat protected & preserved. But now, in the words of Bob Dylan, the times they are a-changin’.
Just look at the events of the last few weeks. Regulations on abortion in NI were eased by Westminster, who sidestepped the democratic process of devolution, with politicians and press cheerleading on the sidelines. A motion calling on all forms of ‘conversion therapy’ to be banned, which explicitly included prayer, preaching & pastoral counsel was passed in our Assembly, and legislation to enact this is now being drafted. The Justice Minister has announced plans to ban parents from smacking their children.
We’re on the wrong side of history, as those with a different worldview love to tell us. This is the cry from the terraces of ‘liberalism’. We’re caricatured as bigoted & outdated dinosaurs, belonging to a different world. Of course, as we write those words, there is a very real sense in which they are true. We are strangers, and we’re supposed to be exiles as Peter reminds us (1 Pet.2:11). We’re citizens of another kingdom (Phil.3:20). So the key question for us is not why but how. How do we faithfully live on this ‘wrong side of history’? Let me suggest three Biblical principles.
Firstly, we must prepare. Persecution surprises us, but it shouldn’t. From Abel to Zephaniah, true believers have always been persecuted. This is exactly what Jesus told his disciples to expect as he prepared to go the cross. “If the world hates you, know that it hated me first” (John 15:18). The world hates God’s ways, God’s Church, and God’s People. That’s because the world hates God (Psalm 2:1-3).
So, we must be ready to face persecution. The day when the police interrupt a church service to arrest a minister faithfully preaching Romans 1, or storm a home to investigate a parent lovingly living out Proverbs 13:24, doesn’t feel very far away. We’re on the wrong side of the world’s history, but it’s a world influenced & enslaved by Satan and the forces of evil. It shouldn’t surprise us.
“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world”
Secondly, we must proclaim. There are two subtle temptations when society begins to aggressively turn against the church. The first is that we adopt a siege mentality, where we batten down the hatches against our enemy – the world. We hold what we have, and focus on feeding those within the city walls. The second is that we compromise, surrendering to the shouts for silence. The immediate peril that we face seems bigger than the eternal dangers facing the world; and we abandon our post as watchmen.
Both of these approaches are wrong. To live as though we’re under siege is a self-fulfilling prophecy. We will eventually grow old and die. If we remain silent, we will find that when it’s safe to use our voice, it’s no longer there.
In contrast, God calls us to proclaim his truth. We have the hope that the world desperately needs, and we must lovingly hold it out. It’s they who are on the wrong side of history. Scripture paints a fearful picture of that day when God will turn history upside down – vindicating his faithful people & righting every wrong done against them (Rev.6:12-17).
Of course, that’s easier said than done. So thirdly, we must pray. This is what Daniel did, living in a world where his very thoughts were being policed (Dan.6:10). It was God’s means of giving Esther courage, when threatened with destruction if she identified with God’s People (Est.4:15-16). It was the instinct of the early church following Peter & John’s arrest, and the government’s order of silence (Acts 4:23-31). Through it, God made them bold.
There is perhaps nothing more urgent than the need to pray for our nation. As we pray, we’re coming before the God who holds all of history in his hands (Rev.5:1). We’re answering the call of Christ to “pray for those who persecute you” (Matt.5:44). We’re carried along by the Spirit “who intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Rom.8:26). As John Bunyan said,
“you can do more than pray after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”
May God give us the grace, vision and courage to faithfully hold out Christ, even from the wrong side of history.
