Same Words, Different Worlds
Minister's Letter February 2024
Dear Grace Church,
Grace & peace to you all!
When I look back over the last month at Grace Church, the high point was Sunday 18th, when Hamish Sneddon joined us for the day. We have prayed frequently and consistently for Hamish and his family. Therefore, to have him preaching the word for us so clearly was a deep delight and we give thanks to God for that.
The end of next month is Easter weekend. The plan is to have the same format as last year. More details will be coming your way soon.
On Monday, Time published an article on the history of self-immolation. This is when someone sets themself on fire as an act of protest. Recently an American soldier did this outside of an Israeli embassy. In seeking to explain the history of this form of protest, Time made this strange claim:
Anyone with a modicum of knowledge around the early church knows that the fiery trials they were under were not self-inflicted. This would be like saying the residents of Pompeii buried their own graves. Christians suffered severely at the hands of numerous Roman emperors and regimes. They were burned alive because they refused to recant their faith in Jesus.
This article in Time is an example of religious illiteracy, which is what I would like to consider briefly this month.
The title of this letter comes from a book by Leonardo di Chirico. It refers to a different discussion than what we are exploring but it captures the dynamic that we can often find ourselves in. Imagine you met someone from the 1500s. If she called something awful, you might think she is speaking of something terrible and horrible. But if she heard you say the word, she might think you are referring to something that inspires reverence and wonder. You might be using the same words, but you are describing different worlds.
Religious illiteracy is growing. More and more, people are unaware of even basic facts about Christianity or the Bible. Like the university student reading a Gospel for the first time and thinking Christianity believed in mythical creatures. In fact, it was just Jesus speaking with a Roman Centurion (not a centaur).
As the church increasingly moves towards the margins of contemporary western society, we will find that when we use a word, others might understand it in a very different way.
One of those words is ‘conversion.’
The two essential elements of conversion in the Bible are faith and repentance. They are the two sides of the one coin. To repent is to turn away from idols and the world and turn in faith toward the living God. Faith includes knowledge of the gospel, assenting to its truth and personal trust in Jesus. Repent involves knowledge again, regret and a volitional turning away.
That word volitional is key. This is something we choose ourselves. In fact, from the very first years of the Free Church, our denomination has affirmed that people cannot be forced to believe. No one should or can be coerced into becoming a Christian. We saw that clearly in Ezekiel 18 recently. We proclaim the word clearly and faithfully and it is the responsibility of each individual to respond.
There is one key example of religious illiteracy in Scotland right now. The Scottish Government is currently conducting a consultation on “Ending Conversion Practices in Scotland.” It is being presented as criminalising conversion therapy. In the popular imagination, this will elicit horror stories of psychological and physical coercion. And we condemn those.
But the proposed legislation goes beyond that. Following the lead of similar legislation enacted in Victoria, Australia recently, it seriously over reaches. It puts churches and parents in jeopardy for teaching and counselling from the Bible. They are seeking to define conversion practices as anything which attempts to change or suppress an individual’s sexuality or gender.
Yet that is a flat and ideologically driven definition of conversion. And it is certainly not how we understand it, which is turning toward God and embracing him as our Heavenly Father. It is a new way of life, one of freedom, peace and joy.
The Public Engagement Group of the Free Church has put together a response to this consultation. I commend it to you:
https://freechurch.org/conversion-practices-scotland-group-response/
And let’s pray that God’s will is done and his word proclaimed and lives transformed to his glory.
In Christ,
Ciarán R. Kelleher
February Treats
Below is a informative and helpful series exploring Christianity in Japan: