The battle for truth, especially in the Middle East (tackled elsewhere on this site), just got a little hotter on our own doorstep.
Boris’s battle-ground
A 71-year-old street preacher was arrested and detained overnight for quoting parts of the Bible deemed offensive to some. Pastor John Sherwood actually focused on a passage from Genesis, chapter 2, about God’s plan for marriage and family.
The irony is that this shameful incident took place in Uxbridge, West London, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is now under investigation over the truth behind the funding of refurbishing his flat.
Only weeks ago, in an Easter message, Boris stated unequivocally that Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life”, quoting the Saviour’s own words recorded by the Apostle John (John 14:6). Such a claim rings rather hollow in light of the arrest of someone for holding to the absolute authority of the Bible, attested by Jesus himself when he prayed to his Father: “Your word is truth” (John 17:17).
“Alarm and distress”
Mr Sherwood was manhandled by police officers who then took his Bible off him and added insult to injury (he was bruised in the process) by handcuffing him and leading him away to a police car.
The police say they were acting on complaints of people being offended and accused him of contravening section 5 of the Public Order Act by causing “alarm and distress” to the public. Bystanders also accused him of being homophobic and of employing “hate speech”. He was eventually (after 21 hours) released without charge, but a file has now been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service for review.
Significantly, Peter Simpson, who accompanied Mr Sherwood, pointed out to officers that they would presumably have no issue with a Gay Pride march in the vicinity which would cause offence to many Christians.
Society’s crumbling foundations
More to the point, I suggest, God himself is grossly offended by the new laws we have passed which allow people of the same sex to wed – turning the divine order of life on earth on its head. For as the pastor pointed out, it was God’s intention from the beginning of time that we should be fruitful and multiply – and the only way to do that is through the cleaving together of a man and a woman as one flesh.
But the foundations of our society are truly crumbling beneath our feet and we are in dire straits.
But in our brave new topsy-turvy world, good (i.e. Christian values) is seen as evil, and evil good. The prophet Isaiah called out the ancient Israelites for the same sin. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isa 5:20).
Still inscribed in Latin on the floor of our Houses of Parliament are the words of the psalmist: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
But the foundations of our society are truly crumbling beneath our feet and we are in dire straits. Unless we repent and forsake our sickening woke ways, we will not have a future worth hoping for. We will be rocked by a succession of further plagues, pestilences and pandemics before poverty (both material and spiritual) finishes us off.
Assault on freedom of speech
I would say that Boris was sailing rather too close to the wind of our own hate speech laws by declaring that Jesus was both the way and the truth. If he is the truth, why is a man arrested for proclaiming the very truths that our Lord himself acknowledged.
Dealing with divorce, Jesus plainly repeated the teaching of Genesis:
“…At the beginning of creation God made them male and female. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh…Therefore what God has joined together, let no-one separate” (Mark 10:6-9).
As Peter Simpson said in an article for The Conservative Woman, this incident represents a “dangerous assault” on our freedom of speech and the State has no right to designate some parts of the Bible as no-go areas. He said one officer had spoken to him about the need to avoid any homophobic statements.
“I explained that to uphold God’s moral law and to speak about the dangers of sin in respect of LGBT issues implies absolutely no hatred or unpleasantness towards any individual or group of people. Indeed, it is an act of love to one’s neighbour. Nevertheless, the Bible’s description of homosexuality as sinful is plain and clear-cut.
This incident represents a “dangerous assault” on our freedom of speech and the State has no right to designate some parts of the Bible as no-go areas.
“To this the policeman responded that some matters simply cannot be referred to in public places, because there is no freedom to make statements which offend people. I responded that the police would have no objection whatsoever to a Pride parade being held in Uxbridge, yet that would be highly offensive to Bible-believing Christians. The officer did not appear to appreciate the logic behind this argument. And there is no law stating that people have a right never to be offended.”
Ready to stand for truth
Even an atheist listener came to Mr Sherwood’s defence during an interview the pastor had with Nick Ferrari of London-based LBC Radio1, saying he had a right to free speech.
Our country prides itself in having brought untold blessing to millions through the preaching of the gospel around the globe. But as St Paul warned the first century Ephesian Christians,
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Eph 6:12f).
Are we all as ready to stand for truth in these evil days as our brother John Sherwood?
Endnotes
1. LBC Radio, 29th April 2021. Sources also include Christian Concern (28th April 2021), The Conservative Woman (27th April 2021) and The Daily Mail (29th April 2021)
