The Commentary

‘Truly marvellous!’ ‘I stopped where I was and thanked God.’ ‘We could hardly believe it!’ These were the kind of reactions described by many Christians as they heard the news of the Government’s defeat in the Commons over the Religious Hatred Bill at the very end of January.

There still is a Religious Hatred Bill, but much curtailed in its scope, as the Government was forced to accept changes it did not want. The recent conviction of the radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza shows that there were laws in place already able to deal with real incitement to religious hatred... but with those historic words, ‘The ayes to the right 282 the noes to the left 283’, surely God himself is saying something to us. The old adage, ‘God plus one is a majority’, is still true (even if in a sense, with the Prime Minister being absent from the crucial vote, the ‘one’ is ironically Tony Blair himself).

There are lessons in this which we Christians need to take seriously in coming days.

The power of God

Who could possibly have thought that, with a Commons’ majority of 60 or more, this prime piece of New Labour legislation could have been defeated so early in the new Parliament? But God’s people prayed and God clearly answered. This signals to us in a concrete way that ‘with God nothing is impossible’, even in our day. Evangelicals may be a despised minority in Britain, but it is ‘not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty’. God is encouraging our faith. For a God who is supposed by many not to exist, it was a pretty astonishing result! Therefore, let us look to our God to be real, and trust him for the furtherance of his kingdom through our own lives and local congregations. Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Fellowship of believers

Unity across the spectrum of Bible-believing Christians played a great part in this victory. In particular, white middle-class evangelicals are very much indebted to our black and Asian Christian brothers and sisters who formed the majority of those who persisted wonderfully in protesting outside Parliament. And one cannot but suspect that the New Labour rebel MPs listened to them in a way it would not have listened to others of us.

The Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship, the Christian Institute and a dear converted Muslim lawyer, were instrumental in informing Christians and bringing believers together to make our voice heard. Scripture tells us that where God’s people dwell together in unity, there the Lord commands the blessing.

The challenge to preach

Under God, we have seen free speech preserved. We have fought for this so that the gospel may be freely preached in our land. Surely God is saying to every church and every Christian: ‘I have given you the freedom to evangelise, so make sure you do!’ What a disaster it would be if, the window of opportunity remaining open, we failed to use it as we should. What is your church doing by way of outreach? The distinguishing mark of the people of God throughout history is the Word of God. We have witnessed what can be accomplished if, with trust in God and the gospel of Christ as our priority, Christians are unafraid and unashamed to do what is right. This momentous victory points to our living God who acts on behalf of his people who trust and obey no matter what the opposition. If we honestly learn that simple yet profound lesson, I can yet see, not an easy, but a bright future for evangelicalism in this country.

John Benton

© Evangelicals Now - March 2006
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