When gay activists set out on their destructive path some 50 years ago, few of us could have foreseen the decadent picture of today’s society.
Like apocalyptic scenes of dead soldiers strewn across a bloody battlefield, much of family life in Britain lies tattered, broken or severely wounded by decades of politically correct poison.
The past two generations have constantly changed step to fit in with the drumbeat of wokedom. And the Church – once regarded as the pillar of society – has been lending a hand at unpicking the foundations of Christianity built around the God-ordained family.
The high-profile break-up of Matt Hancock’s marriage will, I hope, serve to bring fresh focus on what’s really important. Hypocrisy over breaking his own social distancing rules is one thing, but adultery is quite another.
An essential foundation
Statistics have long demonstrated that marriage is the most stable environment in which to bring up children.
Marriage is the basic building block of a stable society, and we undermine it at our peril. But, as yet another brick of foundational family life is cast aside, many will take the safe option of socially distancing themselves from the uncomfortable issue of fidelity in order not to offend woke sensibilities.
Indeed, every effort is being made to avoid facing the stark truth of the matter. Statistics have long demonstrated that marriage is the most stable environment in which to bring up children. As Edward Davies wrote in The Spectator last week, “If we care about kids, we should care about marriage.”1
New analysis of the Family Resources Survey, carried out by the Centre for Social Justice, has found a clear correlation between marriage and wealth – among the wealthiest fifth of UK white families, 84% are married, whereas only 19% of the poorest fifth are married.
We are in the situation today where the ultimate privilege in life for children is having a live-in father.
There is also a direct correlation between marriage rates and school achievement, the Census has demonstrated. As Davies put it, talk of marriage may be considered moralising and uncomfortable, but… “There is no other form of relationship that offers anywhere near the same level of stability in any thriving culture in the whole of human history.”
Yet we are in the situation today where the ultimate privilege in life for children is having a live-in father. Davies added: “If a drug showed the sort of effects as marriage, correlation or not, it would be in our children’s systems faster than you can say Oxford-AstraZeneca.”
Rebellion against God
Better than a drug is the wonderful plan God set in store at the beginning of creation when he designed man and woman to be joined together in one flesh (Gen 2:24). But we have rebelled against our Creator and decided instead to make up our own rules, leading to foolish and futile choices as we “invent ways of doing evil” (Rom 1:30).
Although it is plainly obvious that the earth was created by a loving God, we convince ourselves that it was not so – or else we would be answerable for our actions.
Darwin’s theory of evolution, denying the hand of God in creation and published in 1859, gave unbelievers the excuse they were looking for. But in that same year, a global revival brought fresh life to the Christian testimony of Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again to re-invigorate those who have lost hope in a world spiralling out of control.
Jesus promised that those who build their lives on the rock of his teaching would be able to withstand the storms of life (Matt 7:24-27).
The Methodist ‘Great Awokening’
Tragically, the Methodists have also capitulated to the woke culture driven by LGBT pressure groups. For they now recognise same-sex marriage, having dispensed with the biblical teaching of their founder John Wesley.
According to Sydney-based Scots evangelist David Robertson, their God in Love Unites Us document “relies more on Stonewall than Scripture” and is, in effect, “Alice-in-Wonderland, post-modernist theology where words mean ‘whatever I want them to mean’.”2
For example, he asks how Psalm 139’s teaching that we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made” can be seen as justification for same-sex marriage or co-habitation. And their claim to have been guided by the Spirit to go against what the Spirit guided the early church “is about as near to blasphemy as you can get”.
The Great Awakening sparked by the Wesleys is being turned into the Great Awokening, he said.
The pain caused by capitulation to LGBT agenda
“Inventing ways of doing evil” was a description of the Roman culture in which the early Christians lived out their testimony. Many were thrown to the lions for refusing to fit in, and similar threats no doubt await those holding steadfast to the faith of Christ today.
Who would have thought the day would come when our MPs would be discussing the plight of ‘trans widows’ whose spouses have chosen to change their gender amid proposals to ease transition by dropping the requirement for a spouse’s agreement.
It is reported that most women feel their husbands have died after choosing this route, since the necessary hormone and drug treatments have a huge impact on personality traits.3
Boris Johnson, and the political class in general, should take heed ... If they can’t run their own households, how can they be expected to lead a nation?
We do not wish to condemn those whose marriages have failed – there are times when only a miracle can save a marriage, especially in extreme circumstances. But that doesn’t change the fact that in society in general, rebellion against God, and all authority, is at the heart of our troubles. Boris Johnson, and the political class in general, should take heed, having long maintained that what politicians do in private is entirely their own affair. Not so. If they can’t run their own households, how can they be expected to lead a nation? (See 1 Tim 3:5)
In any case, Matt Hancock was exposed very publicly by an affair which the whole nation has now witnessed. What utter humiliation for his family, who deserve our prayers and sympathy!
The sanctity of marriage needs urgent repair and restoration – both in the churches and in the community at large. And Christians have a responsibility to lead by example, and by actively and practically supporting marriages4.
Notes
1Forget race or class, marriage is the big social divide, The Spectator, 23rd June 2021
2The marriage madness in Methodism, Christian Today, June 25th 2021
3'Trans widows' fear being trapped in loveless marriages,The Telegraph, 20th June 2021
4Links to resources to support marriage in different contexts from different organisations are available here from the Marriage Foundation
