I had the joy earlier this week of lunch with two old school friends – one a believer, the other a polite agnostic. As is always the case with old friends, conversation flowed easily and we spent a lovely few hours putting the world to rights.

Discussion turned to what Voice for Justice campaigner Lynda Rose has rightly called the ‘perfidy’ of the BBC, in particular its unceasing promotion of LGBT propaganda. I brought up its recent advertising of multi-person relationships, wondering how my agnostic friend would react.

Anticipating some kind of politically correct response from her, I quickly rehearsed in my head a kind, biblical comeback. It has become habit for me to be a bit tentative when broaching these subjects with other people, not knowing quite how they will react.

To my utter surprise, she was aghast. I didn’t have to argue my case – off she went about how much of a mess the country is already in, that people didn’t need more instability and hurt in their relationships, etc. All my mental arguments disintegrated – I simply didn’t need them.

The point I want to make is this: many ordinary people in this country still have a decent enough sense of right and wrong. They don’t have everything right, but they certainly need no persuading that the nation is in a deep, fundamental mess – they just can’t understand why and have no solution for it. When we open up and share in solidarity, their eyes light up: they don’t feel so alone. And we are able to provide them with the hope for which they are searching.

In my limited experience, those outside of Church are often a whole lot less tainted by politically correct liberalism than those inside the Church – not always, but often. They are far quicker and more willing to recognise that the emperor has no clothes. As things get tougher in the nation and the world, they are already looking for answers. We need to be on hand to provide them. When we speak the truth in love, sensitively but not timidly, we may find the ground more fertile and better prepared than we had first imagined.

Author: Frances Rabbitts