Adrian Hamilton is concerned that the Church of England “will not survive my children’s lifetime and quite possibly not even my own.” Writing in The Independent [London], Hamilton writes of a Church of England that remains established as the national church, but is no longer established in the hearts of the nation. Here is what he says:
For most Britons, he argues, the role of the nation’s state church means very little — “some exotic clothes and ritual prayers on state occasions. What is really worrying for the future of the Church, however, is that its leaders themselves seem to have ceased to believe in it.
“The majority of people are quite happy to profess themselves Christian and Anglican. It’s easier to accept than asserting a different faith. But they are not so happy to go to church services or take an active part in its activities.”
Despite a series of initiatives such as Back to Church Sunday and some improvement in the numbers of young people participating in church activities, attendance figures amongst Anglicans have dropped by some 10 per cent over the last decade. Only 1.1m people, some 2 per cent of the population, attend church on a weekly basis, and only 1.7m, or 3 per cent, once a month. This in spite of the fact that around half the population still profess themselves Anglicans.
So what is really killing the Church of England? Here it is: As valid as the institutional question of establishment may be, the more important factor in this pattern of decline is theological. Churches and denominations decline when they lose or forfeit their passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for the Bible as the enduring, authoritative, and totally truthful Word of God. If life and death are no longer understood to hang in the balance, there is little reason for the British people to worry about anything related to Christianity. If a church is not passionate about seeing sinners come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if there is no powerful biblical message from its pulpits, then it is destined for decline and eventual disappearance.
When a church forfeits its doctrinal convictions and then embraces ambiguity and tolerates heresy, it undermines its own credibility and embraces its own destruction.
The Church of England refuses to take a stand over controversies such as gender and sexuality. But such things are not the cause of the church’s decline, only the symptoms of a far deeper theological disease.
Hamilton’s closing words ought to ring loud and clear: “The Church of England was founded as a political act against the wishes of much of the population and is now dying out of political irrelevance and popular unconcern. History, as we know, moves on, taking no prisoners.”
As I read Hamilton’s testimony about the decline of the Church of England, I could not help but to think of the man who had been healed by Jesus in John 9. Jesus had healed a blind man and when the authorities had heard about it, they questioned him extensively. As he shared with the authorities his testimony on what Jesus had just done for him, his faith progressed and his knowledge and understanding of Jesus became clearer to him. Here is how his faith grew:
1. “The Man” – v. 11. Having just been healed by Jesus, all that the blind man new of Jesus was that He was “the man.” It was “the man” who is called Jesus, who made clay and anointed my eyes.
2. “A Prophet” – v. 17. Now as the questioning intensifies, so does this man’s faith. In verse 11, Jesus was “the man,” now in this verse, Jesus is “a prophet.” You see the progression? You see the growth in wisdom? It is gradual, slow, but steady. This is what Jesus meant when He said to His disciples, “When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and authorities, do not become anxious about how or what you shall speak in your defense, or what you shall say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12:11-12). The healing of the blind man in John 9 is a perfect example of what Jesus promised.
3. “Lord” – v. 38. After being thrown out of the synagogue (v. 34), Jesus meets up with him and reveals who He is. The healed blind man then calls Jesus, “Lord.”
Again, notice this man’s progression of faith – “the man,” to “a prophet,” to “Lord.” This is what makes a Christian strong and churches as well. It is when their faith progresses to the conclusion that Jesus is Lord!
What will kill a church? Simply put: It is when the faith of its leaders and members instead of progressing forward, it digresses. One’s faith may have started out recognizing Jesus as “Lord,” but due to a lack of obedience, a lack of maintaining a close relationship God, a lack of personal and biblical conviction in the authority of the Scriptures, a person who once believed Jesus to be “Lord,” now sees him as “a prophet.” Then the decline continues until now Jesus is nothing more than “the man.”
This is why the Church of England is where it is spiritually. It has lost its way. It may have begun believing Jesus as Lord, but now in the hearts of its leaders, Jesus is only “the man.” And if I see Jesus as merely “the man,” what kind of association am I obligated to give to him? Very little! After all, he is only “the man,” like any other man.
The duty and obligation of every believer is to make certain that Jesus is “Lord” in their hearts. We do not make Jesus Lord, HE IS LORD, but we recognize who He is and we don’t ever forget it. And then we adjust our lives to His authority and see ourselves as slaves serving and living under Him.
What His heart beats for so must ours; what His eyes see, so must ours; what His passion is, so must ours; what His mission is, so must ours be as well.
The Man
A Prophet
Lord
Who is Jesus at this point of time to you? Let the Holy Spirit move you to seeing Him as Lord. Once there, keep that focus by having your devotions daily, pray often and above all, obey Him in everything.
The Church of England is a prime example of what happens to all churches and Christians alike who allow their faith in God to digress.
