Wise as Serpents; Innocent as Doves

The Marginalisation of Christianity in Australia & How the Church Should Respond

Daniel Gill

• Publisher: Daniel Gill
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9780646840314
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

In the last few decades there has been significant religious, social and political change in Australia. The Christian Church which once was at the centre of society has now been moved to the margins. Many Christians not knowing how to respond to the change have either compromised their beliefs in order to be more relevant or have tried to militantly fight back by signing petitions and lobbying government or have just sat at home silently watching not saying or doing anything. "Wise as Serpents; Innocent as Doves" gives us another option. This book does not claim to provide a final or definitive answer to this problem, rather it is intended to start a conversation that can help the Church respond more adequately. A conversation that is based on the Bible. In this book we will look at some important scriptures that address issues regarding how we as a Church can accurately understand, critique and lovingly respond to the religious, social and political changes we are experiencing. This book aims to help you understand how you can be both wise and innocent in your response.

CHAPTER 1

UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES

“From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”
– 1 Chronicles 12:32a

IN 2017 POLITICAL COMMENTATOR Andrew Bolt wrote, Christians, prepare for persecution. Open your eyes and choose stronger leaders for the dark days. I am not a Christian, but I am amazed that your bishops and ministers are not warning you of what is already breaking over your heads.¹

Bolt’s message was, and is, a very timely warning. It is clear that we live in tumultuous times. Significant and rapid political, social and spiritual changes are taking place in our country; but the Church, for the most part, doesn’t seem to have noticed. We are experiencing political uncertainty, decreasing Church attendance, declining morality, anti-biblical legislation and the beginning of persecution in this country, yet very few people seem to be talking about it. And the few people that are talking about it, are not being taken seriously by the majority of Christians in Australia.

A pressing need exists for the Australian church to begin thinking through some of the issues and coming up with practical and biblical responses to these changes. It is imperative that pastors and Christian leaders awaken their sleeping congregations to the reality of what is already going on around them to equip them to live in the days ahead, and the first step in this process is learning to understand the times in which we live.

1 Chronicles 12:32 is often used to tell people why they should be interested in studying the end times. However, the men of Issachar where not commended for understanding the end times; they were commended for understanding the time in which they lived. As we look at the context of this passage, it becomes evident that their understanding of their times was in regards to the social, political and spiritual needs of their nation.

The context to this verse is that Saul, the first king of Israel, had died in battle, and David was then made king of Judah, while Saul’s son Ishbosheth was made king of the rest of Israel. This resulted in a civil war during which Ishbosheth and his military commander, Abner, where both killed. At this point, the various tribes of Israel come to David to anoint him king over all Israel.

With this context in mind, it’s apparent the nation of Israel had been through a tumultuous time because of the political and social uncertainty that comes with civil war and the ushering in of a new dynasty. In addition, though Saul had begun as a godly king he begun to trust in himself over time; as a result, spiritual decay was rampant. It is in this setting that we are told these particular men of Issachar “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” That means, in the midst of uncertainty, they understood the social, political and spiritual state of the nation and were able to perceive that David was the right king to steer Israel back to where it needed to be socially, politically and most importantly spiritually.

Throughout the rest of this chapter, it is my intention to highlight a few important developments in the social, political and spiritual framework of our nation that will hopefully help you, the reader, be able to accurately understand the times in which we live and also what we, as the church in Australia, should do.

THE DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY IN AUSTRALIA

In his book, The Death of Western Christianity, Patrick Sookhdeo states,

The Church in the west once blazed strongly. For centuries the Bible was at the heart of European culture and the cultures of North America and Australasia. Society at all levels recognized God at work in the world and gave allegiance, even if nominally, to the Lord Jesus Christ. From the stronghold of Christendom, the gospel was carried across the globe.

The fire is now dying. The flame is faintly flickering. It has burned down to the embers, though not extinguished.²

Sookhdeo states, in much more elegant terms than I can, what most of us already know, but is of such importance that it needs to be stated nonetheless. Namely, that the church in Australia, and throughout the western world, is in rapid decline.

The very first census ever taken in Australia was in 1911. At that time, almost 97% of the population identified Christianity as their religion. In 1966, 55 years later, there had been a noticeable decline, with just over 88% of Australians identifying as Christians. In 2016, another 50 years later, there had been a much more significant decline with just over 52% of Australians identifying as Christian.³

On the other hand, on the same 1911 census, just 0.2% of Australians said they had no religion. By 1966, the number had climbed slightly with 0.8% saying they had no religion. By 2016, the number had increased exponentially with just over 30% of Australians saying they had no religion.⁴

Here is a very basic table comparing Christianity, other religions and no religions according to Australian Census material:

However, I think most Australians would agree that the census statistics are not particularly accurate in assessing people’s commitment to their religion or their relationship with God. Obviously, we can’t accurately measure how many people are genuine followers of Jesus; but other statistics, which I think are more indicative of the true spiritual situation in Australia, paint an even dimmer picture.

According to research done by McCrindle in 2011, the Australian population doubled between 1966 and 2011, but the number of Australians that attended church each week dropped from 2.6 million to 1.6 million with just 9% of Australians regularly attending Church.⁵

These numbers highlight the fact that Christianity is no longer central to Australian culture and society. Instead, what I think will become clear as we move through the rest of this chapter is that Christianity is increasingly becoming a despised and marginalised religion that is being replaced by another worldview, namely secularism.

THE RISE OF SECULARISM

As stated above, alongside the decline of Christianity a rapid increase as occurred among those identifying as having no religion according to the census statistics. But, based on what we said about the actual number of Christians likely being much lower than the census statistics indicate, I think we could also make the case that the number of people who do not follow any of the traditional religions is much higher than the census statistics indicate. Although most Australians do not regularly attend any type of church or religious gathering and may identify as having no religion, everyone has some set of beliefs and ideals, everyone has some type of worldview, even if it is an unconscious or underdeveloped one. So, the questions must be asked, “What do all these people that don’t believe in God actually believe? What are their values? What is their worldview?” Obviously, it would be impossible for me to know what every individual in Australia believes, but I do believe that most Australians (unfortunately even many professing Christians) adhere to a worldview, although often unknowingly. It is often referred to as a secular worldview and, although it has been heavily influenced by other worldviews such as humanism, atheism and cultural Marxism, I will, refer to it in this book as secularism for the sake of clarity.

The modern secular worldview can be hard to define. As Alex Deagon writes,

There are many varieties of secularism which exist in the world and continuing contestation and change regarding the secular. The word is notoriously shifty, sometimes used descriptively, sometimes predictively, sometimes prescriptively, sometimes ideologically, sometimes implying hostility to religion, sometimes carrying a neutral or positive connotation.⁶

However, if we look at some of the statements made on secularist websites, we can begin to piece together a philosophy and a worldview.

Secularism has two prominent and underlying assumptions upon which everything else they believe is built:

1)God does not exist.

2)Mankind can solve their own problems without a God.

You can find these views expressed in just about any secularist publication. I will give just two examples here, the first from the Secular Party of Australia website and the other from the Secular Humanism website.

The Secular Party claims as its heritage the philosophy of the Enlightenment…These thinkers explained the importance of finding human solutions to human problems, without resort to notions of the supernatural.⁷

Secular humanism begins with atheism...secular humanists maintain that humans must take responsibility for themselves.⁸

The National Secular Lobby makes clear some of the other fundamental beliefs of secularism through the political policies they advocate. For example, they promote abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage. They also have a clear agenda to control the education system, with policies that include getting rid of school chaplains and religious instruction, withholding funding from schools that teach creationism (including private and religious schools), and prohibiting religious-based homeschooling.⁹

It also becomes clear that not only do secularists not believe in God, but they generally despise those that do, with the exception of those that are willing to limit their religious practices to those practices that fit within the framework of secularism. The Secular Party of Australia states that they are not anti-religious, but further down on the same page they make the following statement:

We concede that in providing psychological consolation and inspiring charitable works, religious belief and practice may be beneficial… Religions are on balance harmful to society. We doubt they are necessary. In the 21st century we can aspire to do better.”¹⁰

So in short, secularism, although very diverse in the way individuals interpret it, is at its core almost the opposite of Christianity. They reject any belief in God or the supernatural. They believe that man is inherently good and able to solve his own problems. Their values and beliefs are in most instances contradictory to the Bible. And they do not tolerate true, uncompromised forms of Christianity.

THE MYTH OF SECULAR NEUTRALITY

Secularists unwaveringly maintain that, due to the fact that they are secular, they are therefore neutral. But as I have just shown secularists, just like followers of any other religion, have certain values and beliefs to which they hold that are clear enough for them to define in documents such as the Secular Humanist Declaration. Also, a number of comments that they make in defining themselves sound very similar to statements that might be made by a lot of Christians, such as this statement found on the Secular Humanist website “Free Inquiry”: “Secular humanism is comprehensive, touching every aspect of life including issues of values, meaning, and identity.”¹¹ Secularists will argue that because they do not believe in God, they are not a religion. However, a number of well-recognised religions do not believe in any god, such as Theravada Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. So, the idea that secularism is neutral is simply not true.

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

In recent times, secularists have been able to take a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Understanding the Times
• Chapter 2: Wise as Serpents; Innocent as Doves
• Chapter 3: A Letter to the Exiles
• Chapter 4: Blessed Are the Persecuted
• Study Guide: Becoming as Wise as a Serpent and as Innocent as a Dove
• Bibliography