Brexit: The Gospel Conversation I Am Not Seeing

Let me start by being very honest. I can't make head or tail of the Brexit issue! I have read numerous articles and arguments, spoken to campaigners on the street, talked with people on both sides of the argument, and I simply do not know which way to vote. I do however have a question that I am finding generally unaddressed by Christians and it causes me great discomfort that there is so little conversation about this among Christians. The question is this:

"What difference will remaining or leaving the EU have on the freedom of Christians in the UK to worship Christ and proclaim the gospel in Europe and across the world?"

I see Christians, along with everyone else, talking about sovereignty and immigration and economics, etc. But I don't see Christians talking about the possible effect on the gospel. It isn't that these other issues are unimportant, but the gospel issues must surely (I dare not say trump!) take priority over them.

So, for instance, what is the trajectory of the law likely to be around religious freedom if we stay in the EU compared to if we come out? Many current university students are "no-platformers". That is, rather than allowing people they disagree with room to speak so they can be engaged and debated with, they prefer to prevent them from having a platform to speak in the first place. (It isn't all of them, but vocal minorities have proven they can change policy.) These very students will become MP's over the next few years. Is this also true in EU countries? To a greater or lesser extent? Could we be facing a far more serious clamp down on free speech? Would this be more likely in or out of the EU? This should concern the Christian community more than the future of East London's "silicon roundabout" or even the employment prospects of our children. Again, it isn't that these other topics are unimportant, clearly they are. But for the Christian the gospel must be the priority.

How will staying in or leaving the EU effect the work our theological colleges do? Will leaving make it much hard to train people for ministry from EU countries, or will it make it easier to train people from outside the EU. Will staying in the EU mean we can train pastors from Europe, but not Nigeria, China and Brazil? Will leaving make it easier to train the non-EU nationals, but harder to train the EU nationals?

How will staying or leaving effect the work of mission in this country? Will better regulation of boarders with Europe mean we can receive missionaries into the UK more readily from USA or South Korea or Zambia? Will it slow the help we receive from the continent, Germany, France, Spain? Will leaving mean it is more difficult to send missionaries into Europe while making little difference to our sending to the rest of the world?

I don't have answers to all these questions, but it strikes me that, more than economics and issues of sovereignty, we should be concerned how this vote effects the worship of Christ and the declaration of his gospel in the UK and beyond. As those who owe our lives to Christ, his kingdom's priorities, and not the priorities of the kingdoms of the world, should govern our decision when poling day comes.

"...seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matt 6:33

Misplaced treasure and Unaswered prayer

On Sunday we were looking at an overview of the sermon on the mount. Reading it again and thinking about teaching the message of the whole sermon I noticed how much Jesus returns to the theme of God as our "heavenly Father". It had always struck me as he teaches us to pray in chapter 6, but actually from the end of chapter 5 onwards the sermon is full of this reality of our Father in heaven.

It is perhaps most striking when you come to the section at 7:7, titled in most Bible's something like "Ask, seek, knock." Here is that section:

^"7 ‘Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ ‘Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰ Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹ If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Jesus's point is very clear. Our Father in heaven is not like us, who have a serious problem with evil. That problem is made clear by all his teaching from 5:21 to this point. We are complicated; we have serious purity of motivation issues, but we still know how to give good gifts (and do other good things). However our Father in heaven is not like that. There is no evil (sin) that infects him at his core. So how much more will he, our Father in heaven, give good gifts to those who ask him!

By the same token I assume this means if we ask for bad gifts he won't give them. If we ask for a stone or a poisonous snake to eat he isn't going to say, "Here you are?" He will withhold from us anything that will do us harm.

Now keep this in mind and look back at the section most translations call something like, "Treasure in heaven." It is at chapter 6:19-21. Here it is:

¹⁹ ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

A simple way of thinking about this would be, don't look for reward now but reward then. Jesus is specifically talking about money here - don't pile up bank balance, property, possessions now. It is uncertain and does you no good in eternity. Instead, by how you live and what you set your heart on, store up the reward of heaven, the joy of your Father in heaven. As he is about to say in 6:33 "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness".

I take it then seeking treasure on earth is a bad thing, but seeking treasure in heaven is a good thing. Asking God for treasure on earth will not see our Father in heaven joyfully throwing out gifts. It would be like giving his children stones and vipers to eat. But when we are seeking treasure in heaven, when we come to him asking for heavenly treasures, then it is his delight to rain down gifts on the children he loves with an undying love.

Now, Jesus, perceptive as ever, notes "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". And if your heart is set on misplaced treasure your prayers will continually be seeking what is bad for you. You will find again and again your Father's response will be akin to "of course not!" Why would I give you something that will only take you further from me. James (4:2-3), in his letter, is as blunt as ever:

"You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

If we are finding that our prayers are going unanswered, and by that I mean effectively our Father is saying no, it may well pay us to think about where our treasure is. Because if we are aiming to store up treasure on earth, whether money or property or reputation or promotion or perfect children or a big score on that computer game or.... , then our treasure is misplaced and so our heart is misplace, and therefore, most likely, (though we may not see it straight away,) we keeping asking our Father for stones and vipers! Misplaced treasure = unanswered prayer.

Some thoughts from Psalm 30

Psalms 30:1-5 NLT

I will exalt you, lord , for you rescued me.
You refused to let my enemies triumph over me.
O  lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health.
You brought me up from the grave, O  lord .
You kept me from falling into the pit of death.
Sing to the lord , all you godly ones!
Praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime!
Weeping may last through the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

How many times has the Lord kept me from falling into a pit, and usually of my own making. I  fall so easily onto a path that can only ever lead to bad things happening, in my own life or others; what the Bible calls evil though we dislike that term. "The broad road that leads to destruction" is just so much easier to walk down. The narrow road calls for courage, discipline, self control, self sacrifice, love and above all faith; real trust that his favour lasts a lifetime and joy comes with the morning. The wonder for me is that every time I send my life careering towards yet another pit, he does enough to get my attention and remind me to cry out for help. Though I may find myself in circumstantial trouble, or spiritual trouble, or both at the same time, he lifts my eyes enough to remind me that my help comes from him. As John says, "If you confess your sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness," because the Lord himself consumed the destruction of the pit for all who cry out to him for rescue. He refused to let our enemies triumph over us to the length of allowing those enemies to triumph over him,  though their victory was always in reality his victory. Surely God is holy, and his anger is justly aimed at evil, but his holiness just as surely issues in rescue and favour and joy the moment anyone heading for the pit cries out to him for rescue. So I  will him who rescued me and with his holy ones I will sing to the Lord.