Dear Friends,
As persecution goes, there are perhaps worse things than being prevented from fostering children. That’s what has happened to the Christian couple Eunice and Owen Johns from Derby. They have been told they can no longer foster children aged five to ten, even though they have a good record of fostering almost twenty children over the years. Why? In their own words, “We are Christians with normal, mainstream Christian views on sexual ethics … All we were not willing to do, was to tell a small child that the practice of homosexuality was a good thing.” As a result, High Court judges have backed Derby city council in blocking Mr and Mrs Johns from fostering children because of their views.
I say that there are worse forms of persecution, and so there are. But we must be careful: how are we to know how tough this has been for the Johns? How tempted were they to compromise their beliefs in order to continue fostering, or to react angrily and violently to the ruling? Each of us can only stand up to the persecution that comes our way.
And we don’t get to choose the ground where we have to make a stand. Which of us would choose to take our stand here, on sexual ethics? Wouldn’t we much rather fight for the truth that Jesus is the Son of God, or something like that? But God’s truth is a whole, a seamless robe, and we don’t get to choose the bits we like, or the bits we will be called on to defend.
One thing is sure: “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12, NIV). We don’t know when, and we don’t know for what. So, let’s pray that we’ll be ready when it comes to us, and that we’ll stand as firmly, clearly and graciously as the Johns seem to have done.
Chris Hobbs
Vicar