An image that has profoundly spoken to me of late is one with which most of us will be familiar. It is regularly emblazoned across our TV screens in the countdown to the BBC News and depicts the juxtaposition of a church spire with Broadcasting House.

The spire, an architectural gem built to complete John Nash’s iconic design of London’s famous Regent Street, is none other than that of All Souls, Langham Place, widely regarded as the cathedral of evangelical Christianity.

Its next-door neighbour, the BBC, was also once a supporter of the gospel, and helped to build our nation on the solid rock of Christ’s teaching, but sadly now stands in stark opposition to it.

Symbols of the battle

As the Beeb now enters its centenary year, these two structures represent the battle for truth that has now come to test all of Western society. It’s a very fierce conflict for which victory will not come without great courage – something sadly lacking in the halls of Lambeth Palace (I will come to that shortly).

It might appear that the broadcaster, influencing millions across the globe with its left-thinking liberal agenda, has the upper hand.

All Souls, and others who believe in the Bible’s absolute authority and in Jesus’ ultimate triumph over evil, may seem to be cowering on the ropes and fast losing their composure. But that’s not the end of the story. The knockout punch has yet to come, and it surely will.

Betrayal of founding principles

Writing in this week’s Radio Times, Melvyn Bragg makes a stout defence of the BBC which has been much criticised in recent years – most significantly, in my opinion, for its bias and anti-Semitism, though Bragg doesn’t mention these.¹

He is more interested in what he refers to as its positive impact on culture and the arts, but that too is where they have gone astray, reflecting lifestyles which previous generations of broadcasters wouldn’t dream of depicting as the new normal – promiscuity in general, and perverted sexual preferences in particular.

Bragg mentions the ambition of its founder Lord Reith “to reach all of the people some of the time and many of the people all of the time” but fails to discuss its founding principles as enshrined in a Broadcasting House plaque, referencing St Paul’s ambition to think about “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy” (see Phil 4:8).

Airbrushing the Creator from his Creation

Does the frequent use of strong language, violence, swearing and blaspheming fit into any of these categories? True, programmes like Songs of Praise continue – generally speaking – to reflect some of the gospel’s glory, not only in song but by testifying to its transformative power. But when all is said and done, God has been effectively airbrushed out of our mainstream media with the BBC leading the exodus.

This is nothing to brag about, and is perhaps epitomised by its obsession with David Attenborough and the idolatrous worship of ‘planet earth’. The new series on plants will no doubt be spectacular, but the truly shameful aspect of all this focus is that the Creator never so much as comes near to getting any credit for it.

The new series on plants will no doubt be spectacular, but the truly shameful aspect of all this focus is that the Creator never so much as comes near to getting any credit for it.

Terry Payne, in a Radio Times feature, quotes series producer Rupert Barrington as saying that our vocabulary hasn’t kept pace with our understanding of the plant world, adding: “In some ways our language isn’t adequate – we struggle to know what to call this thing, which isn’t intelligence as we understand it, but something that’s a lot more sophisticated than previously thought.”²

There’s a clue in the opening words of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen 1:1) God beautifully designed even the seemingly simplest things with immense complexity.

Putting man before God

Millennia later, St Paul castigated the Roman world for exchanging the truth of God for a lie by worshipping the creature rather than the Creator, which in turn had led to all kinds of degrading activities and “shameful lusts” (see Rom 1:18-32), like so much that we see in today’s woke world.

We have become a nation that idolises man, not God, and even the institutional church has taken this position. The latest shock is the announcement of the Archbishop’s new Appointment Secretary Stephen Knott, who is ‘married’ to Maj-Gen Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, Governor of Edinburgh Castle.

We have become a nation that idolises man, not God.

In calling for national repentance, Voice for Justice UK said: “Those who believe in the Bible can no longer, with integrity, follow these warped and blasphemous teachings that make a mockery of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.”³ Judgment begins at the house of God.

The hope of the gospel

But there is hope – and it’s our only hope: a revival of the kind of true Christianity that has restored compassion to our nation in the past.

Some 150 years ago Britain was in the grip of a mighty gospel-inspired movement that brought a torrent of social upliftment to society at a time when the poor were living in squalor and degradation. It was a revival that also touched other parts of the world including South Africa, the USA and Ireland, and which brought hospitals, nursing care, education and other huge social benefits in its wake.

Preachers need to convert their pulpits from the fire extinguishers that they have too often become into a veritable blaze of holy glory that truly magnifies our Messiah.

As one Victorian lady is reputed to have put it, “Something explosive seemed necessary to divert the thoughts of the middle classes from their growing prosperity and complacent accumulation of wealth.”⁴ It was the stirring proclamation of the gospel that roused an indifferent and sleepy populace to action. Today we have a similar opportunity for bringing hope to a dispirited people. With many traditional jobs being replaced by new technology, compounded by a crumbling economy struggling to offset the dire effects of the Covid pandemic, there is an urgent need for hope.

And it won’t come through the ‘Great Reset’ advocated by the World Economic Forum. Only a regeneration of hearts and minds stirred by the gracious gospel of Jesus Christ offers real hope for the future.

Preachers need to convert their pulpits from the fire extinguishers that they have too often become into a veritable blaze of holy glory that truly magnifies our Messiah.

O Lord, Send the fire, that we might touch the world afresh with your life and power!

Notes

¹Radio Times, 8-14 January 2022
²Ibid
³Voice for Justice UK, January 11th 2022
⁴Michele Guinness in Grace, the life of her husband’s grandmother, Grace Grattan Guinness, culled from her letters and diaries, published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2016.