Unpopular

Christianity has some quite popular beliefs. We believe in love, joy, peace (Gal 5:22). We believe that we are supposed to take care of the needy (Matt 25:31-40). We believe we're supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:39). These are really nice things.

Christianity has some extremely unpopular beliefs. Well, do I have to list some of them? You know ... stuff like "sex outside of marriage is sin" (Heb 13:4) and "there are only two sexes" (Matt 19:4) and "marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman" (Matt 19:5). Those kinds of things. There are, of course, more. Like "No man comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6) or "the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it" (Matt 7:13). The problems of exclusivity and the threat of eternal punishment are really unpopular ... bordering on hate speech in the minds of many.

The Church of England is the established church in England and, therefore, has political ties. So when the "Conservative MP" of the House of Commons writes a letter to the Church of England asking them to change their beliefs on same-sex marriage, it isn't a foregone conclusion. (I put that phrase in quotes because the MP in question cannot be classified "conservative" in any meaningful way.) They just might be willing to change their doctrines to match the public demands. But a church body that reforms their beliefs by going against the sole authority on matters of faith and practice -- God's Word -- has nothing on which to stand but opinion and public sentiment. And if it is true that "the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so" (Rom 8:7), it must be assumed that a truly biblical Christianity will have components and doctrines that offend those minds set on the flesh. The church that seeks to remove them, then, would put that church in opposition to the God who put them there. And that is not a safe position to take. Which should serve as a fair warning to churches elsewhere as well.