The Vicar Writes
July 2008
Faith into Action Frustrated by Secularist Agenda?
This headline sounds like a crossword puzzle clue. A report was published last month that claimed that the Church of England's attempts to be involved in welfare provision to both young and old are being frustrated by the government. The report seems to suggest two main weaknesses on the part of our political leaders. The first is that a secularist approach to society wants to keep the Church from being involved and certainly from having influence. A second weakness is that where it takes faith seriously, it only results in discrimination against Christianity in favour of the minority faiths such as Islam.
The Cambridge academics who did the research amongst both political and church leaders reported that, 'We encountered on the part of the Government a significant lack of understanding or interest in the Church of England's current or potential contribution in the public sphere.' They also said, 'The Government is planning blind and has no convincing moral direction.'
Thankfully, the criticism within the report seeks to be constructive. It is suggested that within the government there should be a minister for religion. This person, it is suggested, might serve as the Prime Minister's faith envoy, helping each government department to value the contribution of faith to national life at every level. Also, money should be made available to study the contribution that theology and spirituality make in motivating people towards acts of charity. In addition, the archbishops of Canterbury and York should set up an 'Anglican Philanthropy Fund' to assist donors in putting their money to good use.
The report was commissioned by the Church of England's Bishop for Urban Life and Health, the Bishop of Hulme, the Right Reverend Stephen Lowe. The response on the part of the media seemed generally sympathetic, though this might just have been because it gave another opportunity to criticise the present administration. If that is the reason, it doesn't help the Church much.
What we need is a willingness on the part of all sections of society to acknowledge that the vast majority of this country's people regard themselves as Christian (72% according to the last census) and that support for the work of the church is both legitimate and beneficial to the whole of society. One suspects that governments are cautious about such an approach as much for fear of upsetting the media (often cynical and undermining of establishment) as for a secularist agenda.
We can hope that the report succeeds in provoking discussion and even some soul searching on the part of those with influence amongst politicians and within the media. Both reason and humility should help them to accept that the Church and its message can help to make lives better where secular agencies fail.
The Example of Christ
The New Testament gives a very clear impression of Christ's view when it comes to helping others in need. He did plenty of it himself: healing the sick, freeing people of their demon possessions and anxieties, and sharing life-transforming teaching. With the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25ff) he responded to a lawyer's pedantic and heartless question, 'Who is my neighbour'. In being charged to love our neighbours as ourselves we have to realise that any fellow child of God is our neighbour.
According to St. Matthew's Gospel (Matt. 25:31ff) Christ will make it clear that when we have served a person in need, we have served Christ himself. When we haven't responded, we have denied Christ; 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it for one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it for me.'
Throughout the past twenty centuries people have been motivated by their Christian faith to help those in need. At one level this is perhaps considered to be a natural human instinct. There are many non-Christians and people of no faith who do the same. But there is no getting away from the fact that an active, living, life-transforming Christian faith motivates people to care about others. The recent report suggests that 50,000 Christians in this country are involved in faith-based charity initiatives and another 50,000 Christians are actively supporting other charities. This could easily be an under estimate in both cases.
Thank God for welfare provision
Before being too critical of our society, it is worth remembering that welfare provision, though not perfect, is a good and godly thing. It is also worth remembering that it was originally motivated by Christian people seeking to respond more adequately to the needs of the neighbour. Now life-enhancing care is provided through a system to which the vast majority contribute through taxation. It doesn't take much imagination to begin to see that God might just be at work through all of this!
The Mistake of Babel: charity without worship doesn't work
Before secularists conclude that a state-based welfare provision makes the need for faith and faith-motivated charity redundant, the mistake of Babel needs to be learned. Genesis 11 bears witness to a people who thought that by their own efforts alone they could build their way up into heaven. There are many people nowadays who think that all the answers to the world's ills, including the problems of climate change, can be solved by solely human cooperation and endeavour.
Genesis 11 speaks of God confusing the language and thereby the partnership and cooperation of the people. The point is that the 'secularist', 'humanist' project always fails. Without God humanity can never become what it was born to be, it can never achieve perfection. As well as being active in charitable endeavours the Church needs to proclaim this truth from the housetops and remain faithful in its worship. Charity without worshipping God doesn't work!
With every blessing,
John.