On boiling frogs!

Prelude: I write what follows as a happy and fortunate man. My faith sustains me, my family support me, my congregation inspire me. Suffice to say, with eyes fixed in the parish, life could hardly be better. The church flourishes, God blesses us and we are growing in strength and number. And yet what follows is bleak and gloomy. So what makes someone so personally happy, speak with such heaviness of heart…the answer lies in the wider church.

Not only is it plagued by in-fighting and in a most terrible mess…but the problems seem to worsen by the day. Bhuddist Bishops, departing orthodox friends, flimsy Codes of practice…all combine to ring notes of serious alarm! Thus I offer the following that we might open our eyes and see. Let none of us belittle the challenges before us. Let none of us under-estimate the ability of God to transform. And so to the post:

Let me share an interesting fact orginally discovered by 19th Century scientists. Frogs can be boiled alive without ever protesting! Scientists discovered this absurdity when testing froggy nervous systems, hoping to observe how they react to changes of temperature. Et Voila!.. ” whilst a frog will justifiably leap out of hot water, the same frog can be boiled alive, without struggle, if only the temperature is raised at a tiny rate of 0.002°C. per second, leaving Kermit dead within a couple of hours.

This theory has been used as metaphor for what can be done by those in authority. Only fools usher in change in spadefuls- it leads to protestation and unrest. Rather change things incrementally- allowing time for adjustment- and by this process you can move a populace to previously unimaginable places. No prizes for guessing what’s coming next!

There are many, myself included, who believe that the adherents of secular philosophy have infiltrated the Anglican Church. Furthermore they are applying this ‘boil a frog’ method to transform the church in our day. By process of little change here (say, the illegal ordaining of women in the 70′s) and further change there (say, the consecration of a divorcee opting to live as a practicing homosexual), the reformed and Catholic tradition is made into something new. A Christianity-lite emerges that can embrace the individualism of this age. Politically correct and ‘right on’ it may be….faithful and orthodox it is not!

Only this morning a parishioner commented that a person arriving home, after 35 years in confinement, would not recognise Anglicanism at all. It has changed beyond measure. Such a person arriving back in the fold would need to embrace; the loss of the prayer book, inclusivised liturgies (as if the old ones weren’t!!), a watering down of biblical teaching and much more besides. What a shock it would be! In one ‘hit’ such changes would surely seem bewildering. A Church, once admired for breadth and compassion, would be found shrinking and heading for Schism.

I imagine this person might ask why our heritage was sold down the river, simply to appease the secular mindset? Would they find it strange that a Church- built on scripture and tradition -was abandoning both to appease modern man? Such a person might further ask- did nobody protest? To which I would show them…. a hot little frog!

Only, praise God, the boiling is not quite going to plan! Though a majority, being bred on compromise and cowardice will ‘carry on regardless’ no matter the change, a significant minority will not. One by one people are protesting. Some by staying and fighting, others by leaving for pastures new. Throughout the communion a voice is rising- the battle cry goes up! Will YOU ‘stand up for Jesus’ in the face of oppression? Will you speak out for true faith as Anglicanism teeters on the brink of collapse? Perhaps enough of us will, leading to genuine revival! Let us hope so; an authentic solution for biblical Christians, within the current structures, is most certainly desirable for all.

Or maybe God will call us, individually or (preferably) corporately, to go somewhere new? This is certainly the answer many good people have reached. How many priests and people has the C of E lost to this silent but dignified exodus? We can only guess the number, but unseen and unreported, a stream of believers is steadily leaving the fold. In a more high profile manner we might consider the decisions of both Anne Widdicomb and Tony Blair in recent years.

Unless those in authority stop this hemorrhage by decisive action and a return to biblical faith- the Church of our youth will be lost. And the stream will then become a flow, as every true Christian i left with no choice but to reject the re-imaging of the church in our day. Any church intent on worship of man, instead of obedience to God, will find itself a branch without fruit. For cut from the vine, it withers and dies.

The Arch-Bishop of Canterbury warned this week that God would not intervene should the folly of man destroy the environment. I could not help but wonder if he ought to look closer to home! For if things continue as they are- history will judge him as the man who fiddled whilst Rome burnt. A seemingly intelligent man of prayer, who nevertheless refused to admonish the heterodox or defend the traditional faith. His ‘abstention’ in the vote on Women Bishops currently seems an apposite if sorry statement on his leadership skills.

As the darkness of Holy Week approaches let us admit a stark and harrowing truth. That the historic Church of England lies in its deathrows, heaving final, shallow breaths as it is slowly boiled from within….then let us pray for a miracle of resurrection. Because even now we must not lose hope! Even now we can salvage something honourable!

I have no idea if our future lies in Anglicanism or not? Though I suspect that if it does it will now require some form of amicable seperation, as both the Bishop of Chichester and London have suggested in slightly different ways. I have no idea if such reform will prove possible or if God will call the faithful elsewhere instead?

What I do know is that we must pray as never before. And amongst these prayers should be a request for faithful leaders – to guide the lost and bring hope to the hopeless. God will not abandon those who are faithful. But that is not to say the future will be easy.

My brothers and sisters, the likelihood as we look to the future suggests a rocky ride. Let us embrace it then and dare to be bold. After all our path is no rockier than that which faced the apostles in the upper room on Good Friday. The same apostles, who empowered by Christ, went on to witness to the faith with such courage and joy!