I just saw on Facebook that there is a group called 'No God' bus adverts should be banned. I wrote some thoughts on this issue a while back, but had a quick thought this morning.
To say the least I am not overly happy about the bus campaign & wish it hadn't even happened. But I think it is a dangerous thing for Christians to call for it to be banned altogether. I think this direction holds the risk of biting ourselves in the butt concerning Christian (& religious) advertising in general.
I think that this poster campaign is more evidence to an issue Tim Keller points out; That society is becoming both more secular & more Christian. Non-Christians are becoming more secular & anti-God, & Christians are becoming...well...stronger in their faith & more devoted to the things of God.
Lets think about the implications that could come from Christians calling for the banning of this campaign.
When we get down to basics; atheism is a religion, people are living in a belief that we are a result of an accident & of evolution, not the result of a creator.
Therefore this campaign is a religious campaign, that although anti-christian, is indeed an active way of proselytising; reaching out to people who are lost in a belief of God which binds them into moralistic living & seeks to win them to the freedom that comes with not believing in a god.
So at the basic level a call for the banning of this form of outreach, is at root a call to ban religious advertising & proselytising. This is not something I for one want to see banned, as my Lord told us to spread the Gospel & reach the lost & we enjoy relative freedom in the UK to do this.
Let me, again make it clear that I am not happy about this campaign against God, I long to see everyone know & love Jesus as Lord & Saviour. I believe that, unless they repent, the people behind this will face Christ one day in judgement & He will punish them for their campaign against Him.
The Example of the early Church
When we see the early church in Acts, we see a group of people who knew that the only right they had from the rulers was to be on the receiving end of fierce persecution. Yet they didn't blog about getting the other religions banned, they didn't phone radio shows to complain or petition the Roman rulers. They continued preaching Christ!
That is the response that I would suggest; that we continue steadfast in love & faith with Christ & in declaring the Gospel to those around us. And as well as having an answer prepared for those, who may sit on the bus stop beside us, & ask what we think when a bus drives by with this poster; may we also live lives that cause people around us to ask us for an answer for the hope that lies within us.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
About Boaly
Gary has been involved in printing the Scriptures for 20 years, enjoys photography and rambling online
6 comments:
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AMEN!
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9:34 am
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Well said that man!.....we need to stop trying to fight spiritual warfare with fleshly weapons, and legal restrictions, laws and bannings are the latter....and on top of that it is about the best case of shooting yourself in the foot I can think of...or to use another analogy, it is cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Anyway....its is just about the weakest argument for atheism I have ever seen...probably!...and oh so timely.....just think, your marriage is going to the dogs, you're on your way to a chemotherapy session, your house is in negative equity because of the credit crunch etc...etc...but hey there's probably no God, enjoy life!
Pathetic.
PS...the wee man was right to not drive the bus...and I particularly like that he said that might cost him his job...so be it.....I'm fed up with Christians standing up for their Christian rights and then when they have to pay the price going to the courts to try and get their jobs back.....sometimes that may be correct, but I'm afraid that running to the human rights act is the wrong way to go about things, isn't that what everybody else does...and that has got us into the mess we're in.....a flesh weapon.
Ought we not to have the spirit of the Apostle?
2 Corinthians 4:17, 18 “17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Yes stand up, loose your job, get another job....are we prepared to pay the price, or do we just want to make a stand but then moan when that stand costs us?
Thank God Bunyan and Cranmer paid the price!
Rant over,.... for the time being. -
9:51 am
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Thanks guys for your encouragement, I was very hesitant in posting this after I wrote it this morning. My finger hovered over the button for ages while I asked God if my mind was going crazy or if anyone else would think i was making sense.
Reformed I love your rant, so so true.
I think sometimes we need to do just that, think! We don't want to cut our nose off to spite our face.
I think the day will come when the government does place a ban on us, but lets not help them get there! -
10:10 am
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Linked to your post through Twitter. Not sure I can agree that atheism is a religion because it has no POSITIVE belief system - only an anti God one. (Not even solely anti-Christian). However, I agree that we shouldn't waste time fighting with fleshly weapons. In my latest book, A Painful Post Mortem, I've written (something I've used many times before when speaking): You can't stamp out the dark; you can only bring in the Light.
I blogged on the bendy buses ads only a week or so ago. Mel Menzies, author of A Painful Post Mortem -
10:24 am
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Fair enough disagreements Mel as to whether athiesm's a religion.
I love what you say:
"You can't stamp out the dark; you can only bring in the Light." -
10:45 am
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You're exactly right....
And to further your NT reference, think about one of the worst anti-Jesus campaigners, and what God was able to do through him, after meeting him on the road to Damascus....
I appreciate how you've thought this thing through, and believe you're exactly right in your approach. It is grievous, for sure, but with God all things are possible. "What man intended for evil, etc. etc...." -
5:00 am
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