Dr Paul Allen

Why This Issue Matters I’m a pastor. My concern is with the church—what she believes, what she celebrates, and what she proclaims. Achieving some legal and political end is not my primary calling and yet, I’m concerned that many younger Christians—ironically, often those most attuned to societal transformation and social justice—do not see the connection between a traditional view of marriage and human flourishing.  Many Christians are keen to resurrect the old pro-choice mantra touted by some Catholic politicians: personally opposed, but publicly none of my business. I want Christians to see why this issue matters and why—when same-sex marriage became the law of the land—the integrity of the family was weakened and the freedom of the church was threatened. I know this is an increasingly unpopular line of reasoning, even for those who are inclined to accept the Bible’s teaching about marriage. Perhaps you believe that homosexual behaviour is biblically unacceptable.  And yet, ...

QUESTION : A Christian man, husband, and father who lives in Sweden writes in with today’s question.  I live in Sweden, a coercive country — socialist in a lot of ways. Homeschooling exemptions for religious convictions were outlawed here not long ago. We must send our children to school, or the government threatens to take them away from us. The state forces children to begin preschool when they’re just six years old. Christian schools are practically illegal, and a school may have a ‘Christian profile,’ but it’s a meaningless title. These few Christian schools are still not allowed to be ‘religious’ or teach a Christian worldview. They’re still forced by law to abide to the same teaching plan as secular, atheistic schools to give children a secular education and must even teach our children LGBTQ as a positive norm. In such a country, Pastor John, how should we parent?” ANSWER : Let me try to build up a case or an understanding from the more basic and broad principle to the immed...

In November 2020, the State of Washington instituted a government mandate which read “congregational singing is prohibited.” Just last week (Jan 11, 2021), they now only permit up to 15 people to sing together indoors and each singer must stand nine feet from others making it unrealistic for congregations to sing indoors.  The Bible both commands and commends congregational worship. So how should Christians respond when their governing authorities prohibit (or now severely restricts) something that the Bible commands and commends? There are at least four examples of this that come to mind.  My point in writing this is not to compare COVID restrictions to being burned in a fire (Daniel 6), but rather to closely examine the Scriptures and draw Biblical principles that we can then apply to our individual circumstances. Example One: Daniel 1 – Defying Dietary Instructions Daniel was a young man who was deported to Babylon where, “The king appointed for them a daily ration from the...

As a new president is inaugurated next week, here are some suggestions for how Christians can pray for our nation, our political leaders, and ourselves as we pursue Christ through an increasingly political culture. Consider using these verses in your own personal prayer time, or to help structure a small group or church service devoted to prayer for our nation. 1. Pray for our own peace and joy in the midst of change “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4–7 Politics uniquely combines attempts to persuade others who do not agree with you, as well as a polarization/demonization of those who do not agree with you. Thus, politics can be addictive...

The Queensland Government of Australia has passed a law requiring pastors to violate and report any confession and report any instances of confessed child sex abuse or face up to three years in prison. The legislation arose as a result of recommendations from the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which recommended in 2017 that clergy and confession no longer be exempt from mandatory reporting. Similar laws have already been passed in the states of Victoria and South Australia as well as in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. Australian media reports that the legislation received bi-partisan political support but that one elected Queensland politician, Stephen Andrew an MP with the One Nation party, spoke out against the new law. “The bill poses a real danger for public trust and cohesion in our community,” Mr Andrew said. “Many priests and bishops have publicly stated that they will go to jail before obeying these laws,” he conti...

The  editorial  in  The Age  last month could scarcely contain its enthusiasm that the Andrews government in Victoria had recently decided to end Special Religious Instruction (SRI) in school hours and replace it with lectures on domestic violence and respectful relationships. The editor writes: "At last, classrooms in the government school system in this state will be used for what they were intended: academic teaching and not religious instruction. Some 143 years after Victoria's Education Act made clear that education must be free, secular and compulsory, the Andrews government has committed to abolishing special religious instruction classes during school hours. That is as it should be. The Age has consistently argued over decades that, beyond reading, writing and arithmetic, there should be room for lessons about various belief systems and for discussion about ethics and social awareness. But the school hours funded by the taxpayer should not be used...

Civil government is a means ordained by God for ruling and maintaining order in communities. It is one of a number of such means, including ministers in the church and parents in the home. Each such means has its own sphere of authority under Christ , who now rules and sustains creation, and the limits of each sphere are set by reference to the others. In our fallen world these authorities are institutions of God's " common grace " (kindly providence), standing as a bulwark against anarchy and the dissolution of ordered society. With reference to Rom. 13:1-7 and 1 Pet. 2:13-17, the Westminster Confession explains the sphere of civil government as follows: God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates, to be, under Him, over the people, for His own glory, and the public good, and, to this end, hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil doers ...

The New Testament gives us some broad principles on how we are supposed to respond to government. For example, Romans 13 elaborates on the origin and institution of government as something that God ordains. The great theologian Augustine said that government is a necessary evil, that it is necessary because of evil. And most theologians in the history of the church have said that human evil is the reason even corrupt government is better than no government at all. The function of government is to restrain evil and to maintain, uphold, and protect the sanctity of life and of property. Given this function, the Christian understands that government is ordained of God, and so Christians, first of all, are called to respect whatever it is that God institutes and ordains. For God's sake we are called to be model citizens.  For God's sake we are called to be model citizens. We are told to bend over backwards to honor the king or be obedient to the civil magistrates. That doesn...

Icon depicting the First Council of Nicaea. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Persecution is the reality for much of the Christian world . There are many places in the world where churches are not legal, evangelism is banned, and Christians are regularly beaten by their governments . In Egypt, Christians are martyred for their faith, probably even today. In Bhutan , Nepal , Afghanistan, and elsewhere, if the police show up at a church, they are there to shut it down—and arresting and/or beating everyone in attendance is likely as well. China probably has more Christians than any other nation. Many of these believers suffer imprisonment and significant pressure from the government; they are evidence of the fact that 2,000 years after the Great Commission , it is still not legal for Christians to worship together in much of the world. This is why western believers really need to come to terms with the fact that persecution is on the horizon. Christians see persecution as something th...