How do we work out what ‘knowing the times’ means at the moment, particularly for the UK?

By the grace of God.

That we live in a post-Christian culture is often expressed, but how did we ever get to be a ‘Christian’ culture? Why does God’s blessing seem more evident in some nations than others? How is it that a relatively small island group off the coast of Europe has had such a huge direct and indirect influence through the rest of the world, to the extent that English is accepted as the global language, and ideas and principles originating in Britain have proved the finest marks of human progress?

It's not because we’re good people or somehow better than the rest! It’s fundamentally because we’ve somehow, by God's grace, been able to get closer to His kingdom principles than others. This has not been easy – it’s happened through weakness, suffering and sometimes the shedding of blood – note King Alfred, John Wycliffe, the Lollards, John Bunyan, William Tyndale, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, William Wilberforce, William Carey, David Livingstone, Hudson Taylor – the list goes on.

The degree to which we follow His ways is the degree that any nation flourishes or diminishes.

Other nations could have done all this, such as France and Switzerland through the influence of Calvin; German states through Luther; Bohemia through the Moravians, and so on – but other men chose not to. There are, of course, the helpful factors of resources, raw materials and geography, but it still takes a heart for God to determine what will happen.

God’s profound love

God has a profound love for the British nation, as He does, indeed, for every nation. He wants us to prosper, to provide good laws, good economic structures, community and family well-being, churches worshipping and teaching. The degree to which we follow His ways is the degree that any nation flourishes or diminishes.

This has certainly been true of our history, which has been one of great blessing, and through Him being a blessing to others. Christians are spiritual descendants of Abraham and Jacob, to whom God said: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Gen 22:18, 28:14).The Orb and Sceptre symbolise the monarch's authority as given by God, exercised under the reign of God. Image by Granger - Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo

God wants to be at the centre of everything in His joy and love, and it’s amazing that the Orb and Sceptre are seen as the most definitive symbols of Monarchy (the last to be taken from the Queen at her burial). Leaders in the past recognised, however imperfectly, that the Cross was over the world, and that they held civil power only as delegated from Him; and so they put themselves under Him.

Healthy civil society

This created the civil conditions where democracy could grow; and thus merit and ability were rewarded, not feared or suppressed. Science flourished as the Creator was understood to be ordered, rational and benevolent, not capricious and vindictive. The economy grew as the trustworthiness of finance houses was established, allowing abundant investment in infrastructure and trade, at home and abroad.

This created the civil conditions where democracy could grow; and thus merit and ability were rewarded, not feared or suppressed.

Education for all was the best in the world. Social ills were addressed by many from the Christian viewpoint of every person bearing His image. Wilberforce pushed through the most history-shattering project – to end slavery around the world! Marx was spreading revolution in London at the same time that Spurgeon was preaching grace – there was no revolution.

Not all was good, and nor was every motive, but an overwhelming amount was, because most influencers adopted a Christian world-view, even if not ‘born-again’ themselves. That helpful Christian worldview had to come from somewhere.

Colonialism and Christianity

British colonial history is much-maligned today and we have all probably been made to feel ashamed of it. But perhaps we have also begun to question this as we read factual or well-informed fictional accounts of what actually happened, by writers such as James Fenimore Cooper (Last of the Mohicans), Joseph Conrad (Nostromo), and R. L. Stevenson (In the South Seas) – all of which tell a different story.

These attacks on Britain are not motivated by the past but by social activism in the present.

Oxford Professor Nigel Biggar has just published ‘Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning’. This paints a much more principled picture than the current anti-colonialist outlook and shows that Christian ethics undergirded much of the enterprise, which was founded on trade, grounded in a sense of service when involved in government, and asserted the equality and dignity (but not deification) of existing inhabitants.

The book refutes in detail many of the charges brought against British colonialism. The fact that even writing the book provoked hostility from some shows that the message we’ve been given is not necessarily objectively truthful or value-free. As Biggar notes, these attacks on Britain are not motivated by the past but by social activism in the present.

God at the centre

In God’s economy we all share the same mission and need a growing sense of what God wants to do in our nation; and we need to be prepared to give ourselves for it. It’s a fact that we are literally the only hope for our country, which is manifestly failing on all the measures mentioned above: financial trust, education, economy and productivity, genuine equality, respect for life, science (note: Covid; the climate agenda), and even crumbling political and democratic institutions, including law and policing.

We are literally the only hope for our country.

Obviously, there is a huge amount that can be said about all these issues, but it will involve challenging ungodly laws and practices. Christians are often at the forefront of that today – with many paying a significant price.

None of this takes away from the primacy of people being born again. As Spurgeon says: “To attempt national regeneration without personal regeneration is to dream of erecting a house without separate bricks.” That is always our mission and focal point, but being true to Him and challenging evil means we bring, sometimes unintended-by-us, blessing to those around. This is notable, for example, in the work of William Carey and David Livingstone.

Church and civil institutions

God is no respecter of persons or their institutions. Latimer, Cranmer and Ridley were killed by the state. The Puritans experienced persecution after the Act of Uniformity in 1662, with Puritan clergy being expelled from their Anglican churches and other non-conformists like John Bunyan imprisoned. John Wesley was forbidden to preach in Anglican churches. Will something similar happen again in our time?

God is not constrained by man’s pride and power-lust but is active and loving “to seek and to save that which is lost” (Lk 19:10), even when we have long ago lost sympathy. He has bought renewal to parts of the established Church, so we need to pray for it, as indeed we need to do for the government.

God has given a mandate to the civil institutions to punish evil and reward good, and Christians have a prophetic duty to help them discern one from the other in practical policies.

This is the root of separation of Church and state – to keep the state out of the Church as much as vice-versa.

Dr Joe Boot in his recent book ‘Ruler of Kings’ recovers the principles of ‘Sphere Sovereignty’ as described by Abraham Kuyper: God is sovereign over all; all peoples derive from Him as Creator; His covenant word-law applies to all science and society; and all beings have a right to exist and thrive to fulfil their purpose in Him.

This means that each sphere (civil, church, family, individual) is responsible to God to carry out His mandate for it, and these spheres should not unduly interfere with each other. This is the root of separation of Church and state – to keep the state out of the Church as much as vice-versa.

So we can see that God is intimately involved in all of life; He has called us to serve Him responsibly in different ways, but always under His sway.

Part 2 of this article will explore some practical approaches.

Jon Sharp has worked as a software dev and latterly as a cultural apologist. He is founder of the website Knowing the Times