Waking the giant - Interim, May 2005

May 2005

Waking the giant

Rev. Roy Hamel

I recently had the pleasure of dining with a pastor who has been in ministry for some 50 years. I asked him if he agreed with my observation that local churches seem to be silent on the great moral issues of the day. He was silent for a moment before he said, “I’m afraid you are right. The churches are avoiding the moral issues.” A short time later, I addressed the same question to Joe Boot, a prominent apologist with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He responded that he and his colleagues were very concerned that the churches seem to be ignoring the great moral issues of our time.

On Feb. 1, 2005, the Liberal government introduced Bill C-38 in the House of Commons. This bill redefines what marriage has always meant, by expanding the definition to include same-sex couples. This is one of the defining moral issues of our time and it will drastically affect Canadian society on every level. There is every reason to believe the legislation will pass by the end of June 2005. Unless … unless …

Unless the “sleeping giant” were to wake up. What if the church were to wake up to her calling to contend for truth and morality? What if the church were to wake up to God’s call to love fellow Canadians and to see that this love demands that she defend marriage?

But will the church take her stand on truth? She largely did not stand with blacks in the civil rights battle of the 60s, she again was muted during the abortion debate and now she continues to be silent as a tiny minority seeks to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. The church, in its function to be salt and light to the culture, has of late proven to be an almost complete failure. Many reasons might be adduced for this failure, but one stands head and shoulders above them all: church leadership from the denominational hierarchy to local pastors and priests have bought into the naļve notion that to defend marriage is to risk alienating people who have a different opinion. And so, in the interest of “niceness,” multitudes of leaders and lay Christians have abandoned God’s mandate to speak truth on marriage. Tragically and lamentably, the fear of offending misguided people has led pastors and people to offend God, by muting truth and hiding it under a basket.

Some churches believe they cannot be involved politically in any fashion or else they will risk losing their charitable status. Not true. According to Dave Johnson of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, churches have latitude by law to spend the equivalent of 10 per cent of their financial resources on issues they consider relevant to their mandate. To be sure, they cannot directly instruct congregants who to vote for during elections, but churches are certainly free to engage in the political process without danger of losing their charitable status. Is there any evidence that the giant may be waking? A recent flurry of statements by Roman Catholic leadership holds promise. Among Catholics, at least, there is clear vision from the hierarchy that love of society demands the church be involved in the political process.

Evangelicals have not been totally silent on the issue, either, although it appears that most of their voice is channeled through the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Nevertheless, to my knowledge, no evangelical denomination has condemned the government plan of marriage redefinition. To be sure, some local churches are awake, but lamentably, I have reason to believe that thousands upon thousands of Christian congregations are yet sound asleep, and have said and done absolutely nothing to defend marriage, despite the political attack upon this venerable institution. Priests and pastors must boldly preach on marriage, as well as on the biblical view of homosexuality.

Congregants should be encouraged to vote only for those politicians who will defend traditional marriage. Christians everywhere should write letters to the editor. Congregations could sponsor pro-marriage ads in local papers or on buses. Governing boards should draft a letter in the name of their church and send copies to the local media, the prime minister and their MPs. And finally, though Christians must act, above all, they must pray: for Canada’s leaders, for those who misguidedly seek to change marriage and for an end to the nation’s moral slide. It appears certain that a federal election will shortly be called. If ever an issue deserved to be an election issue, it is this folly of seeking to redefine marriage. I plead with pastors and priests to find your voices. I implore you to fulfill your godly mandate to speak prophetically to this wayward culture. And if somebody becomes offended, why so be it.

Jesus never promised his followers a rose garden. The gentle giant, called to be light and salt, called to be loving, yet truthful, must stir herself and fulfill her role. Traditional marriage can still be saved for future Canadians. But only if the church wakens to her prophetic calling.

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