I’m sure most are aware that in recent weeks there has been quite a bit of woke ridicule and opprobrium directed at one of Melbourne’s local churches, City on a Hill – because of a couple of sermons that were on their website from about five or six years ago. The newspapers and nightly news broadcasts, as well as commentators, politicians and so on have just gone to town criticising the church and its senior minister, Guy Mason, for their (shock, horror!) “controversial views” concerning homosexuality, gay marriage, sexuality, abortion and so on.
It seems that their name “City on a Hill” is destined to have the adjective “controversial” associated with it for as long as our leftist media outlets (which is, most of them these days) have breath. Our state premier, in particular delighted in sticking the boot in when he called the churches “controversial views”, “… absolutely appalling. I don’t support those views; that kind of intolerance, that kind of hatred, bigotry is just wrong,” that’s word for word - in just one press conference. (The Age, Oct. 4, 2022)
The Age in the same article said, “In sermons published on its website, the church likens abortion to a concentration camp, and says practising homosexuality is a sin”, and they quote from a couple of sermons, “Whereas today we look back at sadness and disgust over concentration camps, future generations will look back with sadness at the legal murder of hundreds of thousands human beings every day through medicine and in the name of freedom,” (a 2016 sermon). Another sermon from 2018 said: “Lust is a sin, sex outside of marriage is a sin, practicing homosexuality is a sin, but same-sex attraction is not a sin.”
I mean, how controversial can you get? Oh, the “bigotry” of God’s holiness! (Yes, I am being sarcastic.). the facts are that the church did not liken abortion to concentration camps – at all. Just read what The Age themselves quoted. See the sleight of hand there? In another press conference (and reported in the Financial Review of Oct. 6, 2022) Premier Andrews spoke similarly adding that “I’m a Catholic. I send my kids to Catholic schools. My faith is important to me and guides me every day.” Well, the Premier’s own church and kids’ Catholic school have far more stringent views on all these issues than does City on a Hill.
Our woke media seems to delight in miscontextualising anything contrary to their woke agendas in order to control the flow and content of public debate and the respectful exchange of ideas, by mercilessly lampooning it, or cancelling someone. The woke approach is anything but civil – it is out and out bullying.
Controversy and the Church is nothing new! Jesus was controversial! City on a Hill is no more controversial than 80% of any other Christian churches in this nation and around the world. Mr Andrews saw the Essendon footy club debacle – and that’s what it is - as an opportunity to exercise cancel culture bully tactics and garner some handy votes in the lead up to the state election.
In my humble opinion we have arrived at a place in our land where blatant immorality of all colours is now so uncontroversial and normal that the Word of God and God’s holy standards are what is controversial. Of course, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah also believed the same way – even when God’s personal representatives were standing right there in front of them.
Noah was considered so controversial in his day when he began building a huge watercraft in the arid region of what is now modern-day Iraq. He was mercilessly mocked, ridiculed and even threatened by his opposers. His faith took a hammering, and his reputation, too. That is, until the rains came … and kept on coming. Then, suddenly all those mocking voices and critics fell silent as they realised a new reality was about to hit them - hard.
Every genuine, bible-believing church is as “controversial” as City on a Hill on all these issues mentioned above. It’s just that certain people were able to particularly target them with a couple of specific references that were then deliberately misrepresented or woke-hit in order to continue to sideline voices speaking righteously and prophetically in our day. The wokey, lefty critics have plenty to say – even about the bible and Christian faith of which they know almost nothing. We, too, are living in the “days of Noah”. Jesus prophesied this age in His day …
Matthew 24:37-39 (NIV)
[Jesus] “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. …”
Two quick things here. One, as God’s people, we must remain faithful to His Word and continue to grow in holiness – despite the ridiculous pontificating of critics who are so ready to accuse is of being controversial – because we are assured of where all this will land, just as Noah was. Two, none of this foreknowledge entitles us to any smug self-righteousness or schadenfreude at the fate of those who reject Christ and “get their just desserts”. Not at all. We have a responsibility to continue in holiness and grace, putting up with the ridicule for the sake of Christ so that God releases His fragrance from us to them, that some might be saved from the second flood – the wrath of God - and graciously and intelligently express our faith as wisely and lovingly as we can.
City on a Hill have not recanted of any of their views and neither should they (contrary to more misrepresentation by The Age). A couple of lines in a couple of sermons were deliberately misrepresented and/or woke-slammed, and these messages have been removed with, maybe, the realisation that these could have been worded a little more carefully so as to avoid their intentional misuse of wokeists. Such is the lot of preachers. That’s just sensible. Any church intent on pursuing Christ and holiness is going to be seen as controversial in our day – because holiness is a fixed and pure thing that cannot change, and is therefore so completely opposed to humanistic morality that is inherently hostile to God and ever changing.
Romans 8:7 (NIV)
“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.”
Just a few decades ago the immorality and rampant evil we are seeing today, that was controversial back then. This is no reason to lose hope, however. But it is a sign that the end is coming sooner than we think.
Luke 18:7-8 (NIV)
[Jesus] “And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
Think on these things, be wise as serpents and gentle as doves – and keep the faith, controversial as that may seem to others ...
Ps Milton