WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.339 Thank you very much for inviting me to speak. 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:05.120 It's been a while since I've been in this lecture 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:11.699 theatre. Feels very familiar. Let me just read 00:00:11.699 --> 00:00:15.859 to you what Matthew sent me. He said, consider 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:20.120 the issue of class and ethnicity, class and nationalism. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:23.660 looking at how we speak theologically and practically 00:00:23.660 --> 00:00:26.660 as local ministers, churches and individual believers 00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:29.839 into our increasingly fraught and fractured wider 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:36.719 society. And that's just the first half. So no 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.840 pressure then. I can't possibly give you answers 00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:43.939 to all of these topics, but what I'm going to 00:00:43.939 --> 00:00:46.960 hopefully finish today with is just some reflections. 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:52.880 are arranged around these sorts of ideas as we 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:57.240 look at implications of some of the things we've 00:00:57.240 --> 00:01:02.179 been hearing today. Well, contemporary British 00:01:02.179 --> 00:01:07.099 society is very fractured, isn't it? It's fractured 00:01:07.099 --> 00:01:11.260 around questions of class, ethnicity, nationalism 00:01:11.260 --> 00:01:16.989 and identity. Economic inequality has widened 00:01:16.989 --> 00:01:19.849 over recent decades, while public debate has 00:01:19.849 --> 00:01:23.989 become increasingly polarised. Political discourse 00:01:23.989 --> 00:01:27.569 frequently frames communities against one another. 00:01:28.409 --> 00:01:31.310 Conflict has always made good television and 00:01:31.310 --> 00:01:35.069 now it makes good social media as well. So we 00:01:35.069 --> 00:01:38.010 get urban against rural, working class against 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:41.709 middle class, migrant against native -born, cosmopolitan 00:01:41.709 --> 00:01:46.260 against patriotic. And social media just intensifies 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:52.980 the outrage. We often prefer simplistic narratives 00:01:52.980 --> 00:01:56.920 over patient understanding. And so within this 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:01.060 environment, Christian ministers, churches and 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:04.640 believers are confronted with difficult theological 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:09.819 and pastoral questions. How should Christians 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:14.289 speak into a culture marked by resentment? and 00:02:14.289 --> 00:02:18.710 fragmentation? How should churches respond when 00:02:18.710 --> 00:02:21.569 national symbols such as the flag of St George 00:02:21.569 --> 00:02:25.889 become contested signs associated with exclusion? 00:02:27.069 --> 00:02:30.169 What should Christians make of movements such 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:33.509 as Unite the Kingdom marches, which claim to 00:02:33.509 --> 00:02:36.689 defend national identity yet can also be seen 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:42.080 to communicate hostility towards outsiders? How 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.379 can the gospel be proclaimed without becoming 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:50.479 captive either to partisan nationalism or some 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:55.639 kind of dismissive elitism? Well, as we look 00:02:55.639 --> 00:03:00.819 at class in the 2020s and beyond, I do want to 00:03:00.819 --> 00:03:02.960 comment a bit on the rise of Christian nationalism, 00:03:03.099 --> 00:03:05.560 which is certainly not limited to one class. 00:03:06.490 --> 00:03:09.110 But in popular depictions, it is linked heavily 00:03:09.110 --> 00:03:12.409 with traditionally working class and benefits 00:03:12.409 --> 00:03:17.129 class cultures. And I also want to point out 00:03:17.129 --> 00:03:20.490 these are not academic concerns. They're not 00:03:20.490 --> 00:03:24.629 abstract concerns. I mean, they emerge in local 00:03:24.629 --> 00:03:27.689 congregations. They emerge in neighbourhoods 00:03:27.689 --> 00:03:31.949 where people experience insecurity about their 00:03:31.949 --> 00:03:36.889 housing, about their employment. where people 00:03:36.889 --> 00:03:39.569 are concerned about immigration, about cultural 00:03:39.569 --> 00:03:44.550 change and political representation. Many working 00:03:44.550 --> 00:03:48.349 class communities feel neglected, both economically 00:03:48.349 --> 00:03:53.189 and culturally, and some perceive churches, universities 00:03:53.189 --> 00:03:56.370 and political institutions as dominated by middle 00:03:56.370 --> 00:03:58.849 class voices that are not listening to them. 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:03.430 At the same time, minority ethnic communities 00:04:03.430 --> 00:04:07.599 often experience exclusion. racism and suspicion 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:11.960 in precisely those contexts where national identity 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:16.579 is being most loudly asserted. Churches are not 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:19.959 immune from these tensions. Congregations can 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:23.360 unconsciously mirror the caste divisions and 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:29.399 ethnic anxieties of the wider society. So the 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:32.759 challenge is not merely political but theological. 00:04:36.029 --> 00:04:38.790 must ask what it means to confess Jesus Christ 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:43.069 as Lord in a society increasingly organised around 00:04:43.069 --> 00:04:48.529 competing identities and grievances. The Gospel 00:04:48.529 --> 00:04:52.350 speaks to these questions. It speaks to questions 00:04:52.350 --> 00:04:55.970 of belonging, of dignity, of neighbourliness, 00:04:56.250 --> 00:05:01.319 of justice and reconciliation. But the church 00:05:01.319 --> 00:05:04.920 must learn how to speak these answers in ways 00:05:04.920 --> 00:05:08.920 that are truthful, compassionate and attentive 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:14.980 to lived experiences. Christian witness cannot 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:18.800 be aligned uncritically with nationalism if that 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:23.819 means excluding those whom Christ welcomes. But 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:26.819 it can't dismiss concerns about national identity 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:33.600 if it is to not appear detached from concerns 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:39.199 about economic insecurity. The task of ministry 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:44.259 is always deeply complex and it seems to be getting 00:05:44.259 --> 00:05:50.199 even more complex. Well, how do we understand 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:54.920 these questions of class and ethnicity? Questions 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:59.329 of class and ethnicity are deeply interconnected 00:05:59.329 --> 00:06:04.329 in modern Britain. In public discussion, we can 00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:06.269 treat them separately and they often are treated 00:06:06.269 --> 00:06:09.750 separately, but people's lived experience demonstrates 00:06:09.750 --> 00:06:13.350 that economic inequality and ethnic identity 00:06:13.350 --> 00:06:18.569 frequently overlap. Working class white communities 00:06:18.569 --> 00:06:21.649 can feel economically abandoned and culturally 00:06:21.649 --> 00:06:25.470 mocked. while minority ethnic communities may 00:06:25.470 --> 00:06:27.990 face disadvantage and racial discrimination. 00:06:28.850 --> 00:06:32.629 And political rhetoric sometimes encourages these 00:06:32.629 --> 00:06:36.670 groups to see each other as competitors for resources. 00:06:40.009 --> 00:06:43.730 Class has historically been central to British 00:06:43.730 --> 00:06:47.610 identity. We heard from Matthew this morning 00:06:47.610 --> 00:06:51.069 the way in which industrialisation created strong 00:06:51.069 --> 00:06:56.970 working class communities shaped by labour, locality 00:06:56.970 --> 00:07:01.230 and collective solidarity. And churches often 00:07:01.230 --> 00:07:05.449 stood physically and socially within these communities. 00:07:06.370 --> 00:07:09.449 Parish churches and Methodist chapels provided 00:07:09.449 --> 00:07:13.720 not only spiritual care but also education. welfare 00:07:13.720 --> 00:07:19.019 and social cohesion. But deindustrialisation 00:07:19.019 --> 00:07:22.339 in the late 20th century devastated many local 00:07:22.339 --> 00:07:25.899 economies. Stable employment disappeared from 00:07:25.899 --> 00:07:28.939 former mining towns, docklands and manufacturing 00:07:28.939 --> 00:07:32.800 centres, and in many places this economic dislocation 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:36.439 produced generational unemployment, addiction 00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:42.420 and poor health and social despair. At the same 00:07:42.420 --> 00:07:45.100 time, Britain was becoming more and more ethnically 00:07:45.100 --> 00:07:50.620 diverse through migration from Caribbean, South 00:07:50.620 --> 00:07:56.420 Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. This diversity 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:59.959 has raised questions in a lot of people's minds 00:07:59.959 --> 00:08:03.300 concerning national identity and social integration. 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:07.100 And I'm sure you can remember all the different 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:11.879 metaphors that have been used from... You know, 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:14.800 in what way do we expect people to integrate 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:21.540 into an existing culture? Economic hardship and 00:08:21.540 --> 00:08:25.560 rapid demographic change sometimes occurred simultaneously, 00:08:26.100 --> 00:08:30.100 particularly in poorer urban areas. And so in 00:08:30.100 --> 00:08:33.980 such contexts, frustration about housing shortages, 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:38.000 overstretched public services or low wages could 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:44.129 easily become... It wasn't necessarily that the 00:08:44.129 --> 00:08:48.029 problem was immigration, but it's so easy for 00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:50.970 immigration to become the visible target of people 00:08:50.970 --> 00:08:54.190 who are concerned about other things, about their 00:08:54.190 --> 00:08:59.710 insecurity in various ways. Churches have often 00:08:59.710 --> 00:09:02.750 struggled to address these realities adequately. 00:09:04.029 --> 00:09:07.190 Some churches have spoken prophetically against 00:09:07.190 --> 00:09:10.519 racism. while failing to engage seriously with 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:15.000 class resentment and economic insecurity. Others 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.139 have focused heavily on traditional national 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:21.820 values while neglecting the experiences of minority 00:09:21.820 --> 00:09:26.960 communities. The danger in both cases is reductionism. 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:31.539 Human beings are never only members of one group, 00:09:31.779 --> 00:09:38.009 yet social structures profoundly shape or how 00:09:38.009 --> 00:09:41.029 we speak about social structures profoundly shapes 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:46.950 people's experiences and perceptions. Now theologically, 00:09:47.190 --> 00:09:50.649 Christianity insists on the equal dignity of 00:09:50.649 --> 00:09:53.730 all people because all are made in the image 00:09:53.730 --> 00:09:58.769 of God. All people are in God's image, all people 00:09:58.769 --> 00:10:02.590 are sinners, all people are in need of the redeeming 00:10:02.590 --> 00:10:08.230 death of Christ. This challenges all forms of 00:10:08.230 --> 00:10:12.710 racial hierarchy and ethnic supremacy. Christian 00:10:12.710 --> 00:10:15.429 theology at the same time recognises the reality 00:10:15.429 --> 00:10:18.909 of sin and the tendency in every human heart 00:10:18.909 --> 00:10:21.450 to want to create an in -group and an out -group. 00:10:22.549 --> 00:10:26.409 We want to have someone to look down on. That's 00:10:26.409 --> 00:10:29.950 the essence of pride. And so humans will always 00:10:29.950 --> 00:10:33.669 create ways of excluding someone to look down 00:10:33.669 --> 00:10:38.179 upon. The New Testament church wrestled with 00:10:38.179 --> 00:10:41.440 precisely these tensions. Early Christianity 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:44.279 brought together Jews and Gentiles whose histories, 00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:47.820 customs and identities were profoundly different. 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:52.059 The Apostle Paul repeatedly confronted divisions 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:58.480 concerning status, ethnicity and belonging. In 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:01.480 Galatians 3 .28, he famously declares that in 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:04.019 Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave 00:11:04.019 --> 00:11:08.340 nor free. This doesn't erase social distinctions, 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:11.879 but it rightly relativises them before the greater 00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:16.779 reality of belonging to Christ. And importantly, 00:11:16.899 --> 00:11:22.559 the New Testament vision of unity is not homogenising. 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:26.779 The book of Revelation imagines people from every 00:11:26.779 --> 00:11:30.220 tribe, language and nation worshipping together 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:35.460 before God. Christian unity is not achieved through 00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:40.600 forced sameness. And this has profound implications 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:44.159 for our churches. Congregations should neither 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:48.620 deny cultural difference nor permit such differences 00:11:48.620 --> 00:11:51.700 to become grounds for exclusion or superiority. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:00.429 So, as we experience these tensions, We've got 00:12:00.429 --> 00:12:04.049 both tensions between classes and tensions between 00:12:04.049 --> 00:12:08.350 ethnicities, and those tensions are sometimes 00:12:08.350 --> 00:12:11.970 conveniently made to collide because that suits 00:12:11.970 --> 00:12:15.710 political discourse. In this context, we get 00:12:15.710 --> 00:12:18.210 the rise of something like Christian nationalism. 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:23.769 And nationalism is one of the most powerful forces 00:12:23.769 --> 00:12:27.309 emerging to shape modern political imagination. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:31.799 Now, at its best, something like nationalism 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:36.840 can express gratitude for shared history, a certain 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:43.299 cultural memory and a social solidarity. Love 00:12:43.299 --> 00:12:46.799 of place, language and tradition is not inherently 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:52.340 sinful. Christianity itself values facedness. 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:57.159 Jesus was born into a specific people and culture. 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:01.740 The incarnation affirms that human beings do 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:07.460 belong somewhere. But nationalism becomes dangerous 00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:11.159 when national identity is elevated into some 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:15.460 kind of ultimate loyalty. The 20th century demonstrated 00:13:15.460 --> 00:13:19.879 repeatedly how nationalism can descend into exclusion, 00:13:20.259 --> 00:13:24.539 xenophobia and violence. When the nation itself 00:13:24.539 --> 00:13:28.419 becomes sacred, Outsiders become threats and 00:13:28.419 --> 00:13:34.700 dissenters become enemies. In contemporary Britain, 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.179 nationalism is often entangled with class anxieties. 00:13:38.379 --> 00:13:40.960 Many working class communities feel that the 00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:44.559 political elites have ignored or despised their 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:48.759 concerns. National symbols such as the flying 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:51.179 of the flag of St George can therefore function 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:55.710 as assertions of visibility and dignity. Flying 00:13:55.710 --> 00:13:58.830 the flag may express a desire to reclaim local 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:02.490 identity and pride in communities that feel economically 00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:07.389 and culturally marginalised. But symbols don't 00:14:07.389 --> 00:14:11.549 operate in a vacuum. For many minority ethnic 00:14:11.549 --> 00:14:15.029 Britons, the flag of St George carries much more 00:14:15.029 --> 00:14:20.710 ambiguous associations. Some people may see it 00:14:20.710 --> 00:14:24.070 simply as an English national symbol. Others 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:27.269 associate it with football hooliganism, with 00:14:27.269 --> 00:14:30.009 far -right movements or anti -immigrant sentiment. 00:14:31.289 --> 00:14:35.809 Context matters enormously. A flag displayed 00:14:35.809 --> 00:14:39.490 during a community celebration may communicate 00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:42.250 welcome and belonging. It may be communicating, 00:14:42.529 --> 00:14:46.389 come and join us. The same flag displayed alongside 00:14:46.389 --> 00:14:49.529 aggressive rhetoric about migrants or taking 00:14:49.529 --> 00:14:53.159 back the country. may communicate hostility and 00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:58.899 exclusion. We need to attend carefully to these 00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:03.259 ambiguities. It's too simplistic either to condemn 00:15:03.259 --> 00:15:06.320 all expressions of national identity as racist 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:10.440 or to insist that national symbols are always 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:15.200 innocent. Christians are called to discern the 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:20.980 meanings that symbols acquire in practice. Movements 00:15:20.980 --> 00:15:23.879 such as Unite the Kingdom marches similarly reveals 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:28.480 that sort of complex dynamic. Supporters may 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.860 describe such events as expressions of patriotism, 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:35.759 concern for social cohesion or defence of traditional 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:38.639 values. And I'm sure there are many people that 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:40.919 is genuinely all that they're thinking about. 00:15:41.799 --> 00:15:45.200 But critics can interpret the same march as locals 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:49.779 for being exclusionary nationalism. or coded 00:15:49.779 --> 00:15:54.340 hostility towards migrants and minorities. The 00:15:54.340 --> 00:15:57.820 church cannot respond merely through slogans. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:01.220 Instead, Christians must ask a deeper question. 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:06.259 Who feels included with the imagined nation that 00:16:06.259 --> 00:16:10.600 they're defending? Who feels excluded? What fears 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:14.340 and hopes are motivating participants? And how 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:18.100 does the rhetoric used reflect or distort the 00:16:18.100 --> 00:16:24.580 gospel? One danger for churches is moral condescension. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:27.899 Middle -class Christians may quickly dismiss 00:16:27.899 --> 00:16:31.659 working -class patriotism as ignorant or xenophobic 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:35.379 without listening seriously to experiences of 00:16:35.379 --> 00:16:38.799 economic insecurity, social fragmentation or 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.679 political abandonment. As one who was looking 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:46.320 on as an outsider during the Brexit vote, I could 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:51.269 see this happening over and over again. The demonisation 00:16:51.269 --> 00:16:56.029 of the other side happened continually, but also 00:16:56.029 --> 00:16:58.389 that each side accused the other ones of being 00:16:58.389 --> 00:17:02.590 the ones who were demonising them. And conversations 00:17:02.590 --> 00:17:08.710 would descend into it almost immediately. Given 00:17:08.710 --> 00:17:12.769 that so many of our evangelical churches are 00:17:12.769 --> 00:17:16.250 middle class, we have to be very careful that 00:17:16.250 --> 00:17:20.380 that sort of condescension is not reflected in 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:23.680 the way we talk. That kind of dismissiveness 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:28.259 just deepens resentment and alienation. Christian 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:35.539 ministry requires attentive listening. We can't 00:17:35.539 --> 00:17:41.839 dismiss these concerns about national identity, 00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:45.079 but neither can we baptise nationalism in Christian 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.539 language. Throughout history, Christianity has 00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:51.680 been used to legitimize national superiority 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:56.519 or imperial ambition. And when crosses and flags 00:17:56.519 --> 00:17:59.900 become too closely intertwined, the gospel is 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:05.619 distorted. Jesus consistently refused political 00:18:05.619 --> 00:18:10.019 messianism. Can't say that word. He refused to 00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:14.539 become a political messiah. His kingdom transcended 00:18:14.539 --> 00:18:19.640 political borders and welcomed outsiders. But 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:22.680 the tension is unavoidable in our current context. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.579 Christians belong simultaneously to earthly nations 00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:30.539 and to the kingdom of God. Augustine famously 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:33.819 described believers as citizens of both the earthly 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:38.720 city and the city of God. The earthly city will 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:41.480 be shaped by competing loves and power struggles. 00:18:42.170 --> 00:18:44.950 while the city of God is ordered towards divine 00:18:44.950 --> 00:18:49.130 love and peace. Christians can't withdraw entirely 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:51.809 from national life, but neither can they identify 00:18:51.809 --> 00:18:54.509 the kingdom of God with any particular nation 00:18:54.509 --> 00:18:59.170 state. And by the way, I would recommend reading 00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:02.150 Augustine's The City of God, well, at any time 00:19:02.150 --> 00:19:08.849 really, but especially right now. So as we speak 00:19:08.849 --> 00:19:13.579 into this fraught situation, Let us pay particular 00:19:13.579 --> 00:19:17.859 attention to the kind of language we use. How 00:19:17.859 --> 00:19:20.680 we speak about these issues matters profoundly. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:25.279 Language can heal or wound. In a polarised culture, 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:30.000 speech often becomes performative and adversarial 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:33.920 and social media only plays into this because, 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:37.400 frankly speaking, that's what's going to get 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:40.069 you the clicks and the likes. That is what is 00:19:40.069 --> 00:19:44.049 going to propel the machine. Public discourse 00:19:44.049 --> 00:19:47.589 rewards outrage rather than understanding, and 00:19:47.589 --> 00:19:49.490 churches are not immune from this temptation. 00:19:51.730 --> 00:19:55.410 So ministers are going to face pressures from 00:19:55.410 --> 00:19:59.329 multiple directions. Some of the people in your 00:19:59.329 --> 00:20:03.170 congregations will expect explicit political 00:20:03.170 --> 00:20:06.640 alignment. And we'll see it as a portrayal of 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:09.779 the gospel if you don't explicitly align Christianity 00:20:09.779 --> 00:20:15.680 with one particular group or party. Others will 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:19.279 demand neutrality and see it as a portrayal of 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:23.559 the gospel if you do connect with any particular 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:28.460 political view. And again, social media is just 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:33.859 going to amplify the conflict. So practically... 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:37.140 One thing this means is resisting caricatures. 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.099 It's very easy to portray all expressions of 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:44.740 patriotism as racist or all concerns about racism 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:48.980 as anti -British. And that kind of binary thinking 00:20:48.980 --> 00:20:53.279 just obscures the complexity. Christian ministers 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:56.700 are going to have to cultivate a very nuanced 00:20:56.700 --> 00:20:59.500 public language that acknowledges complexity 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:04.069 and resist. the temptation to give slogans and 00:21:04.069 --> 00:21:10.150 clickbait. For example, churches can affirm that 00:21:10.150 --> 00:21:12.529 many people display the flag of St George out 00:21:12.529 --> 00:21:14.710 of genuine affection for their country and their 00:21:14.710 --> 00:21:18.430 local community. Simultaneously, churches can 00:21:18.430 --> 00:21:20.710 acknowledge that some people experience such 00:21:20.710 --> 00:21:24.190 symbols as intimidating because of their association 00:21:24.190 --> 00:21:28.230 with extremist movements. Both realities can 00:21:28.230 --> 00:21:31.880 be true at once. And pastoral wisdom requires 00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:35.339 holding these tensions together without collapsing 00:21:35.339 --> 00:21:40.180 into the slogans. Similarly, Christians should 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:44.420 avoid language that dismisses entire social groups. 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:49.799 Now, I realise this is difficult. Sometimes terms 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:52.980 such as left -behind communities, white working 00:21:52.980 --> 00:21:55.819 class, immigrant communities, they're convenient 00:21:55.819 --> 00:21:59.700 shorthand. for the complex realities that we're 00:21:59.700 --> 00:22:03.200 trying to talk about. But they can also flatten 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.519 human complexity. We should speak about people 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.619 first as persons made in God's image rather than 00:22:11.619 --> 00:22:17.819 primarily as demographic categories. And we also 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:21.779 need to listen. Effective ministry begins not 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:26.640 with pronouncement but with... No, that's the 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:28.119 wrong thing to say. Sorry, I didn't mean to say 00:22:28.119 --> 00:22:33.960 that. We need to listen to the communities we're 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:38.799 speaking into. Ministers who never enter working 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.220 -class estates or immigrant neighbourhoods will 00:22:42.220 --> 00:22:44.759 struggle to have credibility speaking about either. 00:22:46.299 --> 00:22:48.660 Churches need spaces where people from different 00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:51.279 backgrounds can encounter one another as neighbours 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:56.029 rather than stereotypes. And churches are almost 00:22:56.029 --> 00:22:59.589 uniquely positioned to be able to provide that 00:22:59.589 --> 00:23:05.890 sort of hospitality. As we listen to people, 00:23:06.009 --> 00:23:10.329 it requires attentiveness to pain because working 00:23:10.329 --> 00:23:13.309 class anger is often rooted in real experiences 00:23:13.309 --> 00:23:17.390 of neglect, of economic precarity and cultural 00:23:17.390 --> 00:23:21.789 humiliation. And if you haven't experienced what 00:23:21.789 --> 00:23:23.970 it's like to live on the edge, you don't know 00:23:23.970 --> 00:23:27.690 just how stressful that is. So listen to people. 00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:32.869 Minority ethnic fear is often rooted in real 00:23:32.869 --> 00:23:35.390 experiences of discrimination and exclusion. 00:23:36.230 --> 00:23:38.470 It's not enough to say, well, they prove that 00:23:38.470 --> 00:23:41.349 there's no structural racism. I mean, that's 00:23:41.349 --> 00:23:44.390 not the point. Those particular studies proved 00:23:44.390 --> 00:23:47.220 one thing. But you have to listen to people's 00:23:47.220 --> 00:23:49.480 actual experience of what it's been like to live. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:53.640 And Christian ministry can't afford to validate 00:23:53.640 --> 00:23:57.259 just one form of suffering. Everybody has their 00:23:57.259 --> 00:24:04.220 own forms of suffering. So how do we conduct 00:24:04.220 --> 00:24:07.359 a local ministry in this kind of society? So 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:12.099 far, it's certainly pretty impossible. And local 00:24:12.099 --> 00:24:15.900 ministers do have... a uniquely difficult position 00:24:15.900 --> 00:24:21.539 in some of these issues. So unlike national commentators 00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:25.220 or politicians, the local church leaders minister 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:28.460 among actual people whose lives intersect with 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:32.880 them daily. A single congregation might include 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:36.299 older working -class patriots, recent migrants, 00:24:36.660 --> 00:24:39.220 middle -class professionals, unemployed young 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:42.339 adults, and people shaped by profoundly different 00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:46.680 political narratives. In fact, we would like 00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:49.599 it if our congregations included all those groups. 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:53.759 That's actually what we're aiming for. The minister's 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:57.420 task is not to silence disagreement artificially, 00:24:57.420 --> 00:25:00.859 but to cultivate a community where disagreement 00:25:00.859 --> 00:25:05.180 doesn't destroy fellowship. Now, this requires 00:25:05.180 --> 00:25:08.799 theological depth as well as pastoral patience 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:13.980 and probably a good deal of moral courage. It 00:25:13.980 --> 00:25:17.259 would be much easier just to serve one social 00:25:17.259 --> 00:25:21.940 group at a time. A congregation can easily become 00:25:21.940 --> 00:25:25.559 culturally middle class, even while proclaiming 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:28.920 universal welcome, just because it's easier to 00:25:28.920 --> 00:25:35.130 stick with people like you. But remember that 00:25:35.130 --> 00:25:38.509 we are called to be hospitable and hospitable 00:25:38.509 --> 00:25:42.809 to strangers. And hospitable is not just friendliness. 00:25:43.890 --> 00:25:47.450 Biblically, hospitality involves bringing the 00:25:47.450 --> 00:25:51.970 stranger in. In practice, this may involve churches 00:25:51.970 --> 00:25:54.829 examining whether their styles, their leadership 00:25:54.829 --> 00:25:58.109 structures and social cultures unintentionally 00:25:58.109 --> 00:26:03.579 exclude certain groups. Would a smoker feel comfortable 00:26:03.579 --> 00:26:09.759 inside your church services? You need to deliberately 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:12.940 think of who are the people you would like to 00:26:12.940 --> 00:26:16.380 bring in and what things might they feel uncomfortable 00:26:16.380 --> 00:26:18.759 about. And sometimes you won't know until you 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:21.279 actually start talking to people about what it's 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:27.680 like walking into your church. Ministers have 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:31.430 to preach prophetically. against some of the 00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:35.950 problems we're seeing. We must realise that racism 00:26:35.950 --> 00:26:38.670 contradicts the gospel because it denies the 00:26:38.670 --> 00:26:41.509 equal dignity of human beings created in God's 00:26:41.509 --> 00:26:44.769 image and that class contempt similarly also 00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:49.170 contradicts the gospel. Sneering attitudes towards 00:26:49.170 --> 00:26:52.410 working class culture, towards their accents, 00:26:52.670 --> 00:26:55.920 even towards their patriotism. are profoundly 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:59.240 damaging and often overlooked within educated 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:03.980 church cultures. Middle class good manners are 00:27:03.980 --> 00:27:07.799 not the same as godliness. And this needs to 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:10.420 be addressed overtly because people just won't 00:27:10.420 --> 00:27:14.279 realise. It's so easy if you've always been a 00:27:14.279 --> 00:27:16.700 Christian in a middle class context to assume 00:27:16.700 --> 00:27:19.240 that the nice people around you are models of 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:22.440 what Christians ought to be. But it's not the 00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:26.289 same thing. The gospel will undermine any culture 00:27:26.289 --> 00:27:29.609 and it takes work to work out what exactly is 00:27:29.609 --> 00:27:31.750 the Christian culture that we're aiming for. 00:27:34.029 --> 00:27:37.569 The issue of accents is particularly significant 00:27:37.569 --> 00:27:41.450 in Britain. How people speak remains deeply tied 00:27:41.450 --> 00:27:45.049 to perceptions of intelligence, respectability 00:27:45.049 --> 00:27:50.690 and authority. Received pronunciation still carries 00:27:50.690 --> 00:27:54.269 social prestige. while regional or working class 00:27:54.269 --> 00:27:57.690 accents may be unfairly associated with ignorance 00:27:57.690 --> 00:28:02.529 or aggression. And you can see this in the way 00:28:02.529 --> 00:28:06.609 people's body language even reacts to another 00:28:06.609 --> 00:28:10.930 individual once they hear the accent. Is the 00:28:10.930 --> 00:28:14.349 body language reacting in attention, and this 00:28:14.349 --> 00:28:16.849 is someone I need to listen to, or is it reacting 00:28:16.849 --> 00:28:19.990 in, I'm now a bit suspicious of this person? 00:28:21.930 --> 00:28:24.130 Again, these are issues that need to be addressed 00:28:24.130 --> 00:28:26.289 overtly because people won't realise that they're 00:28:26.289 --> 00:28:32.890 doing it. And ministers must create space for 00:28:32.890 --> 00:28:37.190 difficult conversations. Avoiding controversial 00:28:37.190 --> 00:28:42.069 issues is easier, but it allows resentment and 00:28:42.069 --> 00:28:46.259 misinformation to grow unchecked. So churches 00:28:46.259 --> 00:28:49.279 can become places where fears about immigration, 00:28:49.700 --> 00:28:53.400 identity and economic insecurity can be discussed 00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:56.759 honestly without descending into hostility. Oh 00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:59.859 yes, I know what a big ask that is. I know how 00:28:59.859 --> 00:29:04.099 difficult it will be to curate and to chair these 00:29:04.099 --> 00:29:08.779 sorts of discussions. But the goal is not victory 00:29:08.779 --> 00:29:12.380 in an argument. The goal is mutual understanding 00:29:12.380 --> 00:29:16.920 and discernment. So studying the Bible, having 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:20.079 a shared meal, hearing people's testimonies, 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:23.920 these sorts of things are all part of helping 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:26.279 people actually encounter each other and listen 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:30.200 to each other rather than retreating into political 00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:35.420 abstractions. And all of this needs to be grounded 00:29:35.420 --> 00:29:43.470 in church discipleship. We're not just... creating 00:29:43.470 --> 00:29:47.470 social action for the sake of it. Our primary 00:29:47.470 --> 00:29:51.289 identity is not political, but spiritual. What 00:29:51.289 --> 00:29:54.589 we are trying to do is create mature Christians 00:29:54.589 --> 00:29:59.509 who know how to love. And so we need to gather 00:29:59.509 --> 00:30:02.990 around the word before being engaged in public 00:30:02.990 --> 00:30:06.650 controversy. This matters because it reorients 00:30:06.650 --> 00:30:10.390 what our human identity actually is as sinners 00:30:10.390 --> 00:30:15.619 in need of Christ. Christian unity is not just 00:30:15.619 --> 00:30:20.619 sentimental and it's not just structural. Churches 00:30:20.619 --> 00:30:26.599 proclaim a unity through the shared truth, the 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:29.740 truth that actually gives people identity and 00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:31.980 actually teaches people how to relate to each 00:30:31.980 --> 00:30:36.559 other. And that means that the church can create 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:40.960 an alternative community. So now I'm going to 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:44.240 talk for a bit about... the church as alternative 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:49.039 community. Because we're more than just commentators 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:53.519 on society. The church actually embodies an alternative 00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:56.619 social reality shaped by the kingdom of God. 00:30:56.980 --> 00:31:01.079 It gives people a new peer group to belong to 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:05.519 and to model themselves by. This is not withdrawal 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:08.640 from society, but a faithful presence within 00:31:08.640 --> 00:31:13.420 it. Inviting people to church is astonishingly 00:31:13.420 --> 00:31:15.799 powerful. I think it's easy for us to forget 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:20.140 just how radical a community a church can be. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:25.859 Just by existing as groups of people with meaning 00:31:25.859 --> 00:31:31.380 who show hospitality, we are being radical. Christian 00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:34.119 communities witness powerfully just by being 00:31:34.119 --> 00:31:37.940 Christian communities. In an age of fragmentation, 00:31:37.940 --> 00:31:40.970 these sorts of communities are deeply counter 00:31:40.970 --> 00:31:45.150 -cultural. Society increasingly sorts people 00:31:45.150 --> 00:31:48.609 into homogenous groups based on, well, you know, 00:31:48.710 --> 00:31:50.609 all the different identities they can be based 00:31:50.609 --> 00:31:54.549 on. But churches possess the unique possibility 00:31:54.549 --> 00:31:57.670 of gathering people who would otherwise rarely 00:31:57.670 --> 00:32:01.390 encounter one another. But it's not automatic. 00:32:02.250 --> 00:32:05.329 Many churches sadly do reflect the segregation 00:32:05.329 --> 00:32:09.509 of wider society. Congregations easily become 00:32:09.509 --> 00:32:12.750 overwhelmingly middle class, ethnically homogenous 00:32:12.750 --> 00:32:16.309 or politically uniform because it's just easier. 00:32:16.430 --> 00:32:19.049 It's easier to be with people like you and it's 00:32:19.049 --> 00:32:22.390 easier to walk into a group of people who seem 00:32:22.390 --> 00:32:28.369 to look like you. So it's going to require intentional 00:32:28.369 --> 00:32:34.170 effort. One practical implication involves leadership. 00:32:34.369 --> 00:32:39.880 We've talked a bit about this today. Churches 00:32:39.880 --> 00:32:43.279 do need to be conscious about seeking leadership 00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:46.359 that reflects the diversity of the body of Christ. 00:32:47.140 --> 00:32:50.039 Working class voices and minority ethnic voices 00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:54.720 shouldn't just be included symbolically, but 00:32:54.720 --> 00:33:00.160 genuinely. It's hard to do because in a context 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:02.640 where everyone's busy and resources are stretched, 00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:05.710 it's much easier. to go to the person who by 00:33:05.710 --> 00:33:08.549 their upbringing and background already has confidence 00:33:08.549 --> 00:33:12.369 and public speaking skills and those sorts of 00:33:12.369 --> 00:33:16.490 abilities. It's harder to see the potential in 00:33:16.490 --> 00:33:19.450 someone who didn't grow up that way but can be 00:33:19.450 --> 00:33:23.109 nurtured and taught to have those qualities and 00:33:23.109 --> 00:33:28.990 be a truly biblical leader. But we have to do 00:33:28.990 --> 00:33:33.089 that hard thing because otherwise, well, we're 00:33:33.089 --> 00:33:39.349 not. being faithful to God's witness and we're 00:33:39.349 --> 00:33:44.650 just going to continue to perpetuate our stereotypes. 00:33:46.049 --> 00:33:49.930 So, yeah, genuinely raising up different leaders. 00:33:50.230 --> 00:33:54.470 Another implication concerns mission. Churches 00:33:54.470 --> 00:33:57.410 often focus outreach towards groups that resemble 00:33:57.410 --> 00:34:02.170 the existing members. But the gospel constantly 00:34:02.170 --> 00:34:06.099 moves to... the groups that are not the same 00:34:06.099 --> 00:34:10.719 as the existing members. So if we're going to 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:13.780 look at ministry in more deprived areas, that's 00:34:13.780 --> 00:34:15.960 going to require long -term commitment rather 00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:22.719 than just temporary charitable projects. The 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:25.639 New Testament describes Christians as aliens 00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:27.659 and strangers in the world, and that's an important 00:34:27.659 --> 00:34:31.320 reality to keep hold of. Christians belong everywhere 00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:38.590 and nowhere. And importantly, our mission should 00:34:38.590 --> 00:34:42.250 avoid paternalism. Working class communities 00:34:42.250 --> 00:34:44.949 and migrant communities are not merely recipients 00:34:44.949 --> 00:34:50.489 of church benevolence. They possess gifts, wisdom, 00:34:50.570 --> 00:34:53.929 and they need the gospel. Effective ministry 00:34:53.929 --> 00:34:56.849 involves partnership, not just rescue narratives. 00:34:57.550 --> 00:35:01.429 Don't just provide food for poor people, eat 00:35:01.429 --> 00:35:04.619 with them. Talk with them. Get to know them. 00:35:08.940 --> 00:35:11.719 Jesus redefined community repeatedly throughout 00:35:11.719 --> 00:35:16.360 the Gospels. When he was asked, who is my neighbour, 00:35:16.519 --> 00:35:19.139 he knew he was really being asked, who is not 00:35:19.139 --> 00:35:22.960 my neighbour? And he responded with the parable 00:35:22.960 --> 00:35:25.380 of the Good Samaritan, in which the hero belonged 00:35:25.380 --> 00:35:31.510 to a despised out -group. The parable destabilises 00:35:31.510 --> 00:35:35.449 our natural tendency towards tribalism by insisting 00:35:35.449 --> 00:35:38.670 that neighbourliness transcends ethnic and social 00:35:38.670 --> 00:35:43.849 boundaries. It transcends people like you. Now, 00:35:43.869 --> 00:35:46.989 this does not require Christians to abandon local 00:35:46.989 --> 00:35:50.949 or national attachment. It's okay to love your 00:35:50.949 --> 00:35:54.710 country. It's even okay to be sad that it's not 00:35:54.710 --> 00:35:59.050 the same as it used to be. That's okay. But it 00:35:59.050 --> 00:36:01.769 means that these sorts of attachments must always 00:36:01.769 --> 00:36:06.809 be subordinate to the command of love. A Christian 00:36:06.809 --> 00:36:11.250 may value English culture, Welsh identity, Scottish 00:36:11.250 --> 00:36:16.610 tradition, even Northern Ireland. But at the 00:36:16.610 --> 00:36:19.809 same time, you have to reject hostility towards 00:36:19.809 --> 00:36:24.619 outsiders. The problem emerges when Christian 00:36:24.619 --> 00:36:27.820 faith becomes fused with nostalgic nationalism. 00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:33.260 Nostalgia often idealises an imagined past of 00:36:33.260 --> 00:36:37.659 cultural homogeneity and social order. Yet such 00:36:37.659 --> 00:36:40.599 narratives frequently ignore the bad things that 00:36:40.599 --> 00:36:43.500 happened and the fact that it kept on changing. 00:36:45.610 --> 00:36:48.670 So we need to approach national history carefully 00:36:48.670 --> 00:36:51.769 with truth rather than sentimentality because 00:36:51.769 --> 00:36:57.050 every nation contains both beauty and sin. Gratitude 00:36:57.050 --> 00:37:00.989 for one's heritage must coexist with realism 00:37:00.989 --> 00:37:05.110 and it must also understand that all nations 00:37:05.110 --> 00:37:11.280 will fall. This world is not ultimate. At the 00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:14.579 same time, churches need to understand why national 00:37:14.579 --> 00:37:18.079 identity appeals so strongly, especially during 00:37:18.079 --> 00:37:23.360 periods of rapid change. Insecure society often 00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:26.139 seeks stability through symbols of continuity 00:37:26.139 --> 00:37:30.420 and belonging. And ministers who just dismiss 00:37:30.420 --> 00:37:33.360 those emotional needs entirely risk alienating 00:37:33.360 --> 00:37:35.739 people who already feel culturally displaced. 00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:42.610 The only... What's going to be the solution to 00:37:42.610 --> 00:37:45.670 this ultimately is remembering where does our 00:37:45.670 --> 00:37:49.409 stability lie? It's never in a national identity. 00:37:50.070 --> 00:37:54.469 It's in the God who is God of all cultures. He's 00:37:54.469 --> 00:37:57.929 the only one who does not change, who will not 00:37:57.929 --> 00:38:01.110 let us down, who is entirely trustworthy and 00:38:01.110 --> 00:38:06.530 faithful. Not any nation, certainly not any government. 00:38:11.530 --> 00:38:14.309 This all comes back to the call to practice hospitality. 00:38:15.210 --> 00:38:19.130 It's hard, of course. Hospitality is messy and 00:38:19.130 --> 00:38:23.170 hard work and scary. That's because people are 00:38:23.170 --> 00:38:27.670 hard work and messy and scary. It's not easy 00:38:27.670 --> 00:38:30.289 to do the day -to -day of getting to know people 00:38:30.289 --> 00:38:33.369 and listening to people and being with people. 00:38:34.010 --> 00:38:37.869 There are a million excuses. But what about if 00:38:37.869 --> 00:38:40.610 I have to do this or if this is more important 00:38:40.610 --> 00:38:43.829 or I just don't have time? But that's ministry 00:38:43.829 --> 00:38:45.630 for you. What did you think you were getting 00:38:45.630 --> 00:38:52.389 into? So what are some practical ideas we can 00:38:52.389 --> 00:38:57.130 have to finish off with? How can churches and 00:38:57.130 --> 00:38:59.869 individual believers respond practically within 00:38:59.869 --> 00:39:04.969 our increasingly fractured society? Well, do 00:39:04.969 --> 00:39:08.269 consider investing seriously in deprived communities. 00:39:10.010 --> 00:39:13.210 Evangelical Bible preaching churches are overwhelmingly 00:39:13.210 --> 00:39:16.789 middle class. Well, of course, it's good when 00:39:16.789 --> 00:39:18.710 middle class people are saved. Everyone needs 00:39:18.710 --> 00:39:23.389 to be saved. But it means that the good Bible 00:39:23.389 --> 00:39:26.590 preaching faithful churches tend to be in middle 00:39:26.590 --> 00:39:30.250 class suburbs. Can a person without a car get 00:39:30.250 --> 00:39:35.219 there? Those sorts of practical concerns have 00:39:35.219 --> 00:39:38.079 to be considered when we're thinking about our 00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:40.219 mission, our church planting, about where we're 00:39:40.219 --> 00:39:45.059 going. We need churches where people are. It's 00:39:45.059 --> 00:39:48.019 too easy to stay in the nice churches with people 00:39:48.019 --> 00:39:51.920 like us. We need to go and live and plant churches 00:39:51.920 --> 00:39:54.360 with the people who don't have that contact. 00:39:57.119 --> 00:40:00.860 Churches can teach political humility. No political 00:40:00.860 --> 00:40:03.840 movement perfectly embodies the kingdom of God. 00:40:04.280 --> 00:40:07.579 Christians should resist both cynical disengagement 00:40:07.579 --> 00:40:11.739 and total ideological identification. We don't 00:40:11.739 --> 00:40:13.800 withdraw from society, but we don't think the 00:40:13.800 --> 00:40:16.519 politicians are going to save us. The church's 00:40:16.519 --> 00:40:21.940 loyalty to Christ remains primary. Believers 00:40:21.940 --> 00:40:25.619 should practice disciplined speech. Social media 00:40:25.619 --> 00:40:29.260 encourages reactive outrage and tribal signalling. 00:40:29.960 --> 00:40:33.840 But Christians should model patience, factual 00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:37.880 honesty and refusing to dehumanise other humans. 00:40:38.900 --> 00:40:42.340 And remember, we are against gossip, but what 00:40:42.340 --> 00:40:45.099 exactly does that mean? And when was the last 00:40:45.099 --> 00:40:47.539 time your church taught the congregation what 00:40:47.539 --> 00:40:51.179 gossip is and how to avoid it or other sins of 00:40:51.179 --> 00:40:55.179 speech? This includes challenging misinformation 00:40:55.179 --> 00:40:59.519 and conspiracy thinking. Fear and resentment 00:40:59.519 --> 00:41:02.480 often flourish through distorted narratives about 00:41:02.480 --> 00:41:05.260 whatever group it is what we're currently feeling 00:41:05.260 --> 00:41:09.760 afraid of. Christian commitment to truth requires 00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:15.300 careful discernment. And churches should equip 00:41:15.300 --> 00:41:18.119 believers theologically. Many Christians lack 00:41:18.119 --> 00:41:20.079 the frameworks for thinking about nationalism, 00:41:20.239 --> 00:41:24.320 race and class beyond the partisan media narratives. 00:41:25.320 --> 00:41:27.800 And preaching and discipleship needs to address 00:41:27.800 --> 00:41:30.000 these issues directly. It's not going to happen 00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:33.599 automatically. In other words, we need to know 00:41:33.599 --> 00:41:37.300 more doctrine. We need to understand what the 00:41:37.300 --> 00:41:39.760 gospel celebrates, what the gospel challenges 00:41:39.760 --> 00:41:44.360 in any culture. We need to understand a doctrine 00:41:44.360 --> 00:41:47.519 of the fall. We need doctrine of suffering and 00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:50.579 its significance. We need to understand eschatology 00:41:50.579 --> 00:41:54.019 and how not to over -realise it. Most of all, 00:41:54.039 --> 00:41:56.360 we need to understand that life now is preparing 00:41:56.360 --> 00:42:00.000 us for eternity, and so eschatology will tell 00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:05.360 us what really matters now. The local church 00:42:05.360 --> 00:42:08.139 can't solve every structural problem within society, 00:42:08.559 --> 00:42:12.280 but it can become a sign of another possibility. 00:42:14.219 --> 00:42:18.960 So, what of the future? Despite the seriousness 00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:23.420 of current divisions, Christianity remains fundamentally 00:42:23.420 --> 00:42:28.099 a religion of hope. The gospel doesn't deny human 00:42:28.099 --> 00:42:30.579 conflict. It doesn't deny that there's prejudice 00:42:30.579 --> 00:42:34.920 and injustice. In fact, it tells us why those 00:42:34.920 --> 00:42:39.980 things are there. But through Christ, God reconciled 00:42:39.980 --> 00:42:43.239 to himself all things, whether on earth or in 00:42:43.239 --> 00:42:45.440 heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 00:42:46.400 --> 00:42:50.329 Sinful humanity can be reconciled to God. And 00:42:50.329 --> 00:42:53.269 this flows out in reconciliation between communities. 00:42:54.170 --> 00:42:57.210 Paul writes in Ephesians that Christ has broken 00:42:57.210 --> 00:43:00.329 down the dividing wall of hostility between peoples. 00:43:00.750 --> 00:43:04.170 Through the cross, enemies may become members 00:43:04.170 --> 00:43:08.230 of one household. Now, of course, the church 00:43:08.230 --> 00:43:11.190 has often failed to embody this vision fully. 00:43:12.309 --> 00:43:16.269 Christians have participated in racism, in imperialism, 00:43:16.269 --> 00:43:18.949 in class oppression and nationalist violence. 00:43:19.710 --> 00:43:22.170 And sometimes it happens because Christians are 00:43:22.170 --> 00:43:25.809 too willing to go with the flow to accept whatever 00:43:25.809 --> 00:43:32.449 the moral majority decides is the morality of 00:43:32.449 --> 00:43:36.349 the time. Honest acknowledgement of these failures 00:43:36.349 --> 00:43:43.340 is necessary. But the gospel is still true. In 00:43:43.340 --> 00:43:45.980 contemporary Britain, hope can begin in small 00:43:45.980 --> 00:43:49.119 and local ways. A parish meal where refugees 00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:51.599 and lifelong residents share their stories with 00:43:51.599 --> 00:43:55.239 each other. A congregation where accents associated 00:43:55.239 --> 00:43:59.780 with different classes are equally valued. A 00:43:59.780 --> 00:44:03.099 minister willing to listen patiently to fear 00:44:03.099 --> 00:44:08.960 without endorsing prejudice. Churches choosing 00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:12.539 knowledge of God. over culture war rhetoric. 00:44:14.300 --> 00:44:19.599 Now, such practices can appear very small, but 00:44:19.599 --> 00:44:21.920 the kingdom of God often begins in these small 00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:27.239 acts. Importantly, Christian hope is grounded 00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:31.460 not in optimism about human nature, but trust 00:44:31.460 --> 00:44:35.920 in God's transforming grace. Left to ourselves, 00:44:36.260 --> 00:44:39.119 we will drift towards tribalism and resentment. 00:44:40.010 --> 00:44:43.369 But the gospel interrupts this pattern by creating 00:44:43.369 --> 00:44:47.250 new forms of belonging. We've already talked 00:44:47.250 --> 00:44:49.889 about the vision in Revelation 7 -9 where John 00:44:49.889 --> 00:44:52.570 sees people from every nation, from all tribes 00:44:52.570 --> 00:44:56.349 and peoples and languages. And this is reflected 00:44:56.349 --> 00:45:00.469 in the reality of our churches. We can gather 00:45:00.469 --> 00:45:04.849 people from all tribes and peoples and languages. 00:45:05.469 --> 00:45:08.449 And they come not because they're naturally alike. 00:45:09.070 --> 00:45:11.690 not because they naturally get on, but because 00:45:11.690 --> 00:45:14.909 they have all received mercy. And that vision 00:45:14.909 --> 00:45:18.789 challenges contemporary society profoundly. Modern 00:45:18.789 --> 00:45:21.530 culture often teaches people to define themselves 00:45:21.530 --> 00:45:25.570 primarily through opposition to others. But we 00:45:25.570 --> 00:45:29.429 know that identity is received as a gift through 00:45:29.429 --> 00:45:34.659 relationship with God. The longing that so many 00:45:34.659 --> 00:45:37.139 people are showing for something real, something 00:45:37.139 --> 00:45:39.699 understandable, something stable and something 00:45:39.699 --> 00:45:43.380 trustworthy is a longing for God. We need to 00:45:43.380 --> 00:45:45.920 preach what the truth is and where it's found. 00:45:47.039 --> 00:45:50.380 We also need to preach that the perfect world 00:45:50.380 --> 00:45:54.780 won't be found yet. No social system will heal 00:45:54.780 --> 00:45:56.980 the problems of sin. That's been the major problem 00:45:56.980 --> 00:45:58.860 of, well, since the Enlightenment, certainly 00:45:58.860 --> 00:46:01.769 throughout the 20th century. We cannot build 00:46:01.769 --> 00:46:04.409 heaven here on earth. Whatever political system 00:46:04.409 --> 00:46:07.489 we have, whatever laws we have, whomever we let 00:46:07.489 --> 00:46:10.530 into the country or exclude, it will not be perfect. 00:46:10.690 --> 00:46:16.250 The answers do not lie here. The church's calling 00:46:16.250 --> 00:46:20.789 in a fractured society is faithful witness. We're 00:46:20.789 --> 00:46:24.329 called to speak the gospel. It's the gospel that 00:46:24.329 --> 00:46:27.809 saves individuals. The gospel undercuts and subverts 00:46:27.809 --> 00:46:31.420 any culture. and will challenge any culture. 00:46:32.519 --> 00:46:37.119 Therefore, go, make disciples of all nations, 00:46:37.420 --> 00:46:39.860 baptizing them in the name of the Father and 00:46:39.860 --> 00:46:43.079 the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe 00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:46.639 all that Jesus commanded us, and he will be with 00:46:46.639 --> 00:46:50.019 us to the end of the age. Thank you.