What our suicide problem says about our society.

Why are young men in Britain killing themselves at the rate of 17 every day? It is a national scandal that has rattled the Government, hence the announcement this week of the appointment of a Minister for Suicide Prevention.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the appointment of Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price to the new role will help tackle the stigma surrounding suicide. She was speaking on what has been designated World Mental Health Day, and she also announced increased funding for the Samaritans and for schools’ mental health work among children.

Mental health is a worldwide issue of immense proportions, especially in Western nations. In the USA nearly 45,000 people killed themselves in 2016 – more than double the homicide rate. In Britain severe mental illness has been rising steadily since the beginning of the 1990s and has become the biggest problem area for the NHS. Women are now more prone to severe mental disorder than men, but men under the age of 49 are more likely to take their own lives.

It is this particular problem of suicide among young men that is troubling mental health experts. The train I was due to take to London last week was cancelled due to “an incident on the line”. Yet another young man had jumped from a railway bridge in front of a train. I did not know this one but I did know a young man who did the same thing recently. I knew his wife and two young children. He had become unemployed and introverted so no one could communicate with him. He was just 36.

The particular problem of suicide among young men is troubling mental health experts.

We probably all know similar tragedies that are happening in families throughout the land, creating untold misery, hardship and poverty. It is, of course, those left behind who suffer most – regret and self-recrimination are hard to live with when tragedy has hit a family. The first suicide funeral I had to conduct is still a vivid memory when I too suffered personal blame. She was a beautiful young woman in my church congregation and I had deep regret that I had not been aware of her problems. But is there something as a society that we can do?

Understanding the Symptoms

We all need to become more aware of the symptoms of mental health problems – stress, anxiety and depression are all signs that should alert us to the difficulties that someone is facing. It’s when we ignore these signs that we blame ourselves later on. Being more alert and more caring for others would undoubtedly save lives. But we are all too busy, too self-centred on our own little world to bother with other people.

The number of young people you see today walking the streets with their eyes glued to their smartphone and unaware of what is going on around them is a vivid expression of the level of individualism and unreality that now afflicts a whole generation. Many young people live in a virtual world where they have hundreds of contacts but very little personal interaction – a situation exacerbated by social media, which has been linked to numerous mental health problems.

Many social studies show that loneliness is suffered by millions in the population, even when they are living in densely populated cities. Of course, much of this is due to the breakdown of family life: once, large families cared for each other and interacted with other similar families, providing plentiful opportunity for friendships to flourish. Today, we lack community and live in a virtual world.

Individualism and unreality now afflicts a whole generation, with many people living in a virtual world.

Another big culture change that has particularly hit young men is a loss of masculine identity in a world where women demand equality and sameness. Men were once proud to be the breadwinners and take care of their young wives while they were nursing children. Today, career women employ nannies and childminders so that they can become the breadwinner, pursuing their ambitions to make it to the top in their professions.

Lack of Peace with God

Human beings have immense adaptability and no doubt men will adjust to their new status in society, but we are clearly in a transition period which places extra strains, anxieties and insecurities upon individuals. The social changes we have been experiencing in the past two generations have coincided with the loss of faith in God and the abandonment of our Judeo-Christian heritage that provided fundamental security in the lives of individuals and whole communities.

It is the lack of this sense of being at peace with the God of Creation who made us in his own image that is the most serious absence in our modern culture. If we really want to understand the problems in our society we need to read the first chapter of Romans, where the Apostle Paul offers a penetrating analysis of social change. He says that once we suppress truth, we are driven by the powers of darkness that lead from one degree of corruption to the next.

Jesus taught his disciples the cure for anxiety. He said “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.” He also said “My command is this: love each other as I have loved you” (John 14:15 and 15:12).

The combination of family breakdown, bringing the loss of fatherhood to millions, together with the loss of the Fatherhood of God, is the devastating product of our postmodern, atheistic, humanistic world.

If we really want to understand the problems in our society, we need to read the first chapter of Romans.

The only cure for all the ailments in society, especially the anxieties and insecurities that lead to black despair and suicide, is the rediscovery of the Gospel, biblical truth and the Fatherly love of God for each of us his children. The Bible tells us that “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence for ever” (Isa 32:17). In the New Testament Paul tells us that “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).

It is being at peace with God that transforms our whole worldview and our interaction with other human beings. Paul urged the Christians in Rome “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2). This is the message that the new Minister for Suicide Prevention needs to understand if she is to make any real progress in her work of transforming society.

Is the latest American Civil War a threat to Britain? Dr Hill tackles a controversial subject.

What started as a minor dispute in North Carolina has become a battle raging across the whole of the United States. It has the potential of threatening the social stability of the nation and is likely to spread to Britain.

A national debate has been in progress for some time in the USA on 'transgender rights'. President Barack Obama's administration issued a statement on 13 May declaring that all public schools must allow transgender students to use the bathroom (toilets, locker rooms and showers) of their choice. The statement was accompanied by a threat to withdraw federal funding to schools, colleges and universities that did not comply with this regulation.

States Sue the President

North Carolina accused the President of carrying out "a massive social experiment". They objected on the grounds that this was putting children at risk and the Obama Government threatened to withhold $1.4 billion in federal funds from the University of North Carolina. This triggered a lawsuit against the Federal Government from eleven US States, led by Texas. They were joined by Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona and Maine.

A lawsuit has been triggered against the Federal Government from eleven US States.

The lawsuit said that the Obama administration had "conspired to turn workplace and educational settings across the country into laboratories for a massive social experiment, flouting the democratic process, and running roughshod over commonsense policies protecting children and basic privacy rights." The Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, said "We are willing to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to".

Protection

Transgender rights advocates argued that it is transgender people who need protection, particularly transgender women who are disproportionately the victims of assaults, and would be forced to use men's toilets if states succeed in forcing people to use toilets matching their sex at birth.

Opponents say that if the Obama administration succeeds in enforcing this regulation nationwide it would mean that children who are dissatisfied with their gender could use any school facilities of their choice: a boy wishing to be a girl could use the girl's toilets, locker rooms and showers.

Child Abuse

Adults ought to look at this issue from the point of view of a child. It is a perfectly natural thing for some girls to say they wish they were a boy or vice versa. My own daughter went through a phase of joining in the boys games and inviting all the naughty boys to her parties but today she is a fashion-conscious young lady and would doubtless be embarrassed to be reminded of what she was like at age 10! To allow boys or girls to choose the toilets of their choice would certainly be disastrous and would lead to endless accusations of assault.

It is a perfectly natural thing for some girls to say they wish they were a boy or vice versa.

The whole of this battle is going under the heading of 'anti-discrimination' and linked with race and community relations legislation such as the banning of hate speech. As such it represents a fundamental threat to the stability of society and needs to be seen, not just in its social context, but in terms of the moral and spiritual implications for the whole of Western civilisation.

'Bathroom Battle'Inclusive Rest Room

This 'bathroom battle', as it's known in the USA, is the latest stage in a philosophical/spiritual war that has been raging for more than 30 years. Back in 1971, the Gay Liberation Front (as the political action arm lobbying for homosexual people) published a manifesto in which they stated their long-term goal as:

To rid society of the gender role system which is at the root of our oppression. This can only be achieved by the abolition of the family as the unit in which children are brought up. We intend to work for the replacement of the family unit, with its rigid gender role pattern. Children must be liberated from the present condition of having their role in life defined by biological accident: the commune will ultimately provide a variety of gender free models. [emphases added]

Replacing family and marriage

Their objective was, and still is, to replace family and marriage with a Communist-style 'commune' that is entirely gender-free and free of all rules and regulations regarding sexual activity. This would make even paedophilia a normal activity. The strategy for achieving this objective is based upon the Marxist philosophy of breaking down social norms to promote moral anarchy and to reach a point of breakdown of the social order which would enable the establishment of a new social order to take place.

The gay lobby's strategy for achieving their objectives is based upon Marxist philosophy.

There is a strong religious motive underlying this – a hatred of the biblical account of Creation, in which is rooted the distinction between male and female, that is perpetuated through the establishment of a marriage covenant as the means of procreation, which is tightly bound by promises of faithfulness and prohibition of adultery. The biblical regulations also state that homosexual practices are "detestable" to God (Lev 18.22).

Hatred of God

Underlying the desire to destroy family and marriage is a hatred of the God of Creation portrayed in the Bible, and this has become a driving force in the whole secular humanist movement that has been growing within Western civilisation since the 1960s. The latest attack on gender is portrayed as a measure to 'eliminate sex-discrimination', but it is an attack upon the whole biblical basis of Creation. Unless this is recognised it will lead to accelerating family breakdown and child abuse, and it will undermine the foundations of our Judeo-Christian civilisation.

The secular humanist movement has been growing within Western civilisation since the 1960s.

Church's Record

Sadly, the church's record of leadership in this area has not been good. Back in 1998, the Church of England published a report on family and marriage entitled Something To Celebrate. It made the astonishing statement that "the church should abandon the phrase 'living in sin' and respond with understanding and discernment to the widespread practice of cohabitation" (p117). The same report commented "A great many gay and lesbian people grow steadily in fidelity and in mutual caring, understanding and support, whose partnerships are a blessing to the world around."

At the time of publication I said in the magazine Prophecy Today, "With teaching like this it is small wonder that the nation is confused and we live in a moral maze driven by the forces of evil and with no spiritual anchor to hold the nation steady when storm-force winds of change are blowing". Of course we should love and care for ALL people but that does not mean abandoning biblical values.

Perhaps the greatest need today is to pray for eyes to be opened and for Christians to build up a wall of prayer around the word of God, as the Jews in captivity in Babylon built up a wall of prayer around the Torah that enabled them to hold fast to their faith. Pray also that the word of God is faithfully and lovingly presented to the nation, "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty" (Zech 4:6).

Today's Christians need to build up a wall of prayer around God's word, just as the Jews in Babylonian captivity built up a wall of prayer around the Torah that helped them remain faithful.

As mental health issues are given huge media attention this week, Clifford Hill reflects on depression: is it a purely individual problem, or does it also have something to do with wider trends in society?

Mental health issues have been given a lot of media attention during the past week. A report by a task force set up by NHS England reported that every year a quarter of the population suffer some form of mental health problem, but three quarters of these do not receive any help.¹

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus upon mental health issues and promising additional funding.

An Issue Close to Home

The BBC screened a programme on Tuesday this week (16 February, BBC1), still available on iPlayer, which I found particularly harrowing as it featured a young mother whom I've known personally for a number of years - the daughter of one of my friends (he also spoke movingly on the programme). Although a qualified paediatric nurse and a committed Christian with a vibrant faith, after the birth of her first baby she suffered from a rare form of post-natal depression.

Mental health services are the Cinderella of the NHS and the Prime Minister has responded by calling for greater focus on mental health issues.

It is known as 'post-partum psychosis', from which 1 in 500 mothers are said to suffer. Her condition was so severe and caused such powerful mood-swings that she was actually suicidal and had to be admitted to a specialised mother and baby unit. She has now made a remarkable recovery and her baby is doing well, for which the whole family are giving thanks to God.

The Prime Minister chairs a meeting of business leaders to discuss mental health issues in the work place, 15 February, 2016. See Photo Credits.Of course, there are many different forms of mental health issues. By a strange coincidence, two other friends have contacted me during the past week concerning mental health problems with their children. One of these has been struggling to deal with a mixture of aggression and depression in his teenage children since their mother left home to live with someone else.

The Cost of Family Breakdown

The suffering caused by family breakdown is immeasurable. The effects upon physical health and mental and emotional well-being are having life-changing outcomes for millions of children. More than half of all children in Britain will experience a broken home before they leave school.

The unsettling effects of domestic disputes and the disruption of family life affect educational attainment and future life-chances. They also create psychological problems such as aggressive behaviour, which teachers have to deal with in school, and barriers to relationships of love and trust with others that can affect their adult life.

A report last week from the Relationships Foundation said that the cost of family breakdown to the economy of the nation has risen to a staggering £48 billion annually, which means a cost to each taxpayer of £1,820 a year.² Health, education and the economy are all affected by the strength or weakness of family life and our human relationships.

The cost of family breakdown to the national economy is a staggering £48 billion annually - and its impacts on physical, mental and emotional well-being are life-changing for millions of children.

It is in the family that character and personality are developed. If family life is unstable or aggressive it will inevitably affect the children and their relationships with other children. It is no wonder that, with family breakdown so prevalent in Britain, half of all mental health problems are established by age 14, rising to 75% by age 24.³

Rise in Cyber-Bullying

It is quite incredible how cruel children can be to each other and sadly, social media now gives them even more opportunity to spread mischief, lies and hate messages. The other friend who contacted me this week is a single mother whose 15-year-old son is suffering from depression, brought on by migraines as a result of cyber-bullying. His condition has become so severe that he cannot face going to school and is having to be home-schooled in preparation for his forthcoming GCSE exams.

Social media often encourages aggressive behaviour by providing an anonymous environment in which cyber-bullies can operate. The faceless senders feel they can swear, insult, threaten and intimidate their victims, with no thought of the extreme damage and distress being caused. Victims often become frightened and withdrawn – not knowing for sure who is threatening them, and feeling powerless to prevent it. They often suffer depression and related mental health problems - their 'real' relationships suffer – and some are even driven to commit suicide.⁴

Pippa Smith of SaferMedia, in a statement for this magazine, said:

The Internet is a breeding ground for abusive trolls, pornographers and paedophiles, yet children are spending several hours a day on their mobile phones and have easy access to social media sites which is making them vulnerable to dangerous messages. From the comfort of their own bedrooms, unbeknown to their parents, they can be groomed for sex, bullied and even driven to suicide by anorexia sites, suicide sites, and by those who hide behind anonymity to attack and exploit. Facebook, Twitter and others need to act urgently to introduce tighter security settings such as proper vetting and a tougher registration process to protect the vulnerable.

Rev Lynda Rose, Convener of the Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group also gave us a statement:

It's a difficult crime to pin down and police powers are inadequate, while the social media has been notoriously slow to respond to complaints and protect victims. This is why the Parliamentary Group is calling for Parliament to strengthen the law governing social media. We want to see victims protected, with dedicated police units set up to deal quickly and efficiently with offenders.

Civilised Society?

Protecting children should be one of the chief objectives not only of government but of the whole population in a civilised society. Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children. He specifically spoke about those "who cause little ones to sin" (Matt 18:6). Clearly Jesus was speaking about those who harm the minds of children: what today we would call 'grooming', so that their understanding of right and wrong becomes blurred.

Some of the hardest words Jesus ever spoke were directed against those who cause harm to children.

Many of the different forms of depression afflicting millions of people in the nation result from the enormous pressures we put upon each other in a competitive, acquisitive and affluent society. The whole of our Western civilisation has become self-centred. We view everything from the standpoint of our own self-advantage, which affects all our human relationships. When sinful human relationships get into the family, family life breaks down.

This is where dealing with many forms of depression really starts. We should all be taking the family relationships test to discover how much we care for others. Paul describes ideal relationships within the family. He says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Does this describe your love relationship with each member of your family? When family relationships are right, righteous relationships in the nation are restored and so too are the health and welfare of each individual.

Finally, the widespread prevalence of depression in the nation should lead us to recognise how we have abandoned our Judaeo-Christian heritage and that only by embracing the word of God will we be brought into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father. The apostle John says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (1 John 3:1). Being firmly in the Father's love gives us the security to deal with anything that happens to us.

References

1 The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health. A report from the independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England, February 2016.

2 Counting the Cost of Family Failure: 2016 update, Relationships Foundation.

3 See 1.

4 The 2015 UK Annual Bullying Survey (Ditch the Label) reports that 43% of young people experience bullying, 62% of which have been cyber-bullied. That means that over a quarter of young people in Britain have been victims of cyber-bullying.

Britain is in the midst of a mental health crisis, with as many as 1 in 4 suffering from some kind of mental affliction, including depression.¹ How on earth have we got here? What is at the root of our troubled minds? Is there any way back?

Hardened hearts

It is now clear that we are beginning to witness the effects of God handing our nation “over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Rom 1:28). Tragically yet wilfully, our nation and its leadership have hardened their hearts towards God and his laws of love, and God is now hardening hearts further. We must understand that this process of hardening is part of God’s sovereign will, being designed to encourage repentance, though it is currently difficult to see any signs of godly sorrow.

The hardening of hearts has mental repercussions- the darkening of the mind. As I have prayed over the last year, one of things I feel that God has revealed to me as being part of his manifesting wrath is the spreading of a plague of mental illness. I believe we are seeing- and are about to see -an unprecedented rise in mental affliction, particularly depression.

"The hardening of hearts has mental repercussions- one I feel God has revealed to me is a plague of mental illness."

When I first thought I heard the word ‘plague’ from God I drew back with horror, but I have learnt to understand that the plague is not God-inflicted, but rather a natural result of the rejection of God and his love. I think that many of those who will be touched by it will be those who have been gravely sinned against in the past, but there will also be others affected who have wilfully chosen a path of disobedience.

150 Die in Plane Crash

I had been wondering and praying about whether or not to share this word, when the shocking news about the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz and the Germanwings flight disaster hit the international headlines. This pilot, who deliberately took all his passengers and fellow crew members to their deaths in the Alps, had a history of mental illness. I felt this was a confirming sign from God, one that should make the world sit up and think.

Root causes

In the UK, so much of the rise in mental illness comes as a result of family breakdown and its subsequent fallout. The breakdown of marriages, and the even higher rate of breakdowns between co-habiting couples, causes untold damage to mental wellbeing, especially where children are involved. Statistically, children from 1-parent families are twice as likely to have a mental disorder as children from 2-parent families,² and 72% of children in care have a diagnosable behavioural or emotional disorder.³

What God has made plain about the true nature of marriage, family wellbeing and sexual ethics has been shunned, rejected and even overturned, and the consequences for the nation’s mental health are very serious. God’s heart truly grieves.

The negative and damaging effects that this has had on at least two generations of young people and children is now beginning to emerge. We are witnessing rises in:

• Self-harming amongst children and young adults. Between 1 in 12 and 1 in 15 young people actively self-harm,⁴ and the UK has one of the highest self-harming rates in Europe, at 400 per 100,000 of the population.⁵
• Serious eating disorders. Hospital admissions due to eating disorders rose by 8% in 2012/2013, with the biggest rise being amongst young people.⁶
• Suicides and attempted suicides, overdoses etc (including high-profile celebrities regularly reported in the media). The NSPCC has reported a 117% rise in ChildLine counselling sessions about suicide between 2010 and 2014.⁷
• Bullying in schools and online, causing much anxiety and depression. 70% of young people have been victims of cyber-bullying.⁸
• The need for counselling (putting mounting pressure on counsellors, who end up suffering themselves).
• Intense feelings of loneliness and, consequently, depression, the severest form of which affects 80,000 young people in the UK.⁹

In addition to this, and often connected into the issue of family breakdown (though not always), we are seeing rises in depression relating to:

• Huge financial debts.
• Homelessness and poor housing.
• Horrendous child neglect and child sexual abuse.
• Sexual immorality, perversions and the struggles over sexually transmitted disease.
• Devastating addictions, particularly to pornography, alcohol, drugs and gambling.
• Poverty and gross inequality.
• Crime and being the victim of violence, including domestic violence or cruel financial scams.
• Low self-esteem and self-worth; this affects hundreds and thousands of young people daily.

Much of the above I have come into contact with in my work as a local pastor and university chaplain. But I sense it increasing significantly, with more and more people being affected, which is why I sensed the Lord speaking from his grieved heart about “a plague.”

Looking forward

Currently, it is estimated that as many as 1 in 4 of the adult population will suffer some kind of depression or mental illness during the course of a year.¹⁰ The mental health of our nation will become an almost daily topic and I feel the Lord is revealing that our NHS services will be completely overwhelmed (mental health care already costs the NHS and social services £21 billion a year¹¹). Much of it is already at breaking point- 74 out of 96 NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups have cut or frozen their Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services budgets since 2013.¹²

Please pray about this. NHS staff themselves will likely become victims of depression due the immense stresses and strains of their workloads.

"Can a brave prophetic voice rise up from the Church urging the nation to return to God?"

The hardening of the heart towards God is clearly having significant mental repercussions upon the wellbeing of our nation. What is the solution? Can a brave prophetic voice rise up from the Church urging the nation to return with repentance to the God whose first commandment is to love him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength (Mark 12:30)?

The Solution

The healing from such a plague comes through being reconciled to God through Christ- this is what the Church must implore upon the nation. With God it is possible to know “the peace that passes all human understanding [which] will guard your hearts and minds in the knowledge of Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). The mind can be lovingly renewed and healed by the Holy Spirit and lives can be made whole, so that they start to correspond to the mind of Christ. What an offer- and how much we need it!

Healing is possible, but so is further hardening (remember Pharaoh in Exodus 7-14). Lord, in wrath, remember mercy.

References

1 Mental Health Statistics: UK & Worldwide, Mental Health Foundation.

2 Sedghi, M, 2015. What is the state of children's mental health today? The Guardian, 5 January.

3 Mental Health Statistics, Young Minds.

4 Ibid.

5 Mental Health Statistics: Self-Harm, Mental Health Foundation.

6 New agencies, 2014. Eating disorder increase among young people, The Telegraph, 30 January.

7 Huge increase in suicidal feelings amongst young people. NSPCC, 31 October 2014.

8 The Cyber Bullying Report 2013, Ditch the Label.

9 See note 3.

10 Ibid.

11 Yew, M L, 2010. Cost of mental ill health soars to £105bn per year. The Guardian, 4 October.

12 See note 2.

'Build houses!' That is the cry of politicians today in the run-up to the General Election. Each of the political parties is pledging to build more houses. But why the sudden rush?

The Conservative Party said they would build 100,000 new houses, so the Labour Party said they will build 200,000 houses and the Lib Dems capped them all by saying that they will build 300,000 new houses.¹ Why is all this rush to build more houses?

None of the politicians like to admit it, but there are two reasons why we need so many new houses. The first is family breakdown; and the second is immigration.

Politicians don’t like speaking about either of these issues. But it is a plain statement of truth. 450 children in every 1000 suffer the traumatic experience of family breakdown before they leave school.² Every family that splits creates the demand for more houses.

Wise Advice

This is just a little glimpse of the huge social problems in our nation today. But the demand for more houses is not new. “Build houses!” This was the first piece of advice sent to the people who had been captured in Jerusalem and taken to Babylon in 596 BC. The people were utterly depressed and saw no hope for the future. They were forced to live in a hostile environment where they had nothing in common with their neighbours – they didn’t even speak the same language or worship the same God.

The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles saying:

Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. (Jer 29:5-6)

This was wise advice because the little community in Babylon could very quickly have been wiped out. Jeremiah wanted to see a strong and vibrant community of people, whose faith would not only survive the testing times in which they lived but would grow and mature. He foresaw the time when the faith of these people would be so attractive that their neighbours would want to embrace it. In the words of Isaiah they would become “a light for the Gentiles” (Isa 42:6).

Change of Attitude

For this to happen, the exiles in Babylon had to change their attitude towards their neighbours and the city where they were now living. Jeremiah’s letter also told them that God’s word to them was:

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. (Jer 29:7)

Jeremiah knew that the people would hate to hear this message so he added by way of emphasis, “Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says” (Jer 29:8).

Learning to Prosper

In Britain today we are not facing the brutal opposition the Jews faced in Babylon. But Christianity is no longer the religion of the whole nation and the church no longer has a privileged position. We have to learn to be careful how we express our faith and not to provoke unnecessary opposition. The older generation of Christians need to heed the advice of Jeremiah to the exiles: to learn to prosper in a changed social environment.

In particular, older Christians have to learn how to support their children and grandchildren who live and work and study alongside others who have no knowledge of the Christian faith and who do not share the same values.

Building Households of Faith

Mature Christians have to build houses: but not with bricks and mortar. It is ‘households of faith’ (Gal 6:10) that are needed – households where there is love and security for all members of the family, especially the young ones who may be the only Christian child in their school class. These children have to learn how to be different but still maintain friends. It is not easy for them and they need much tender loving care.

"Those who build 'households of faith' are the greatest asset to this nation today"

Praying, caring parents and grandparents who build houses, ‘households of faith’ for the whole family, are the greatest asset in the nation today. They are the house-builders who will provide ‘a hope and a future’ (Jer 29:11) for the next generation.

References

1 Manifesto watch: Where parties stand on key issues, BBC News, 25 February 2015
2 Cockerell, J. UK in family breakdown ‘epidemic’, The Independent, 29 December 2012