Photo by Jeff Lemond on Unsplash
The book of Kings contains the strange story of a prophet, a man of God from Judah, who went to Bethel to prophesy against Jeroboam whose Kingdom had rebelled against the Lord. When the man of God gave his word to the king, Jeroboam, in turn, ordered his soldiers to seize this holy intruder, but by God’s power the hand the king stretched out in judgment against the prophet was withered. That could have been the last word for the man of God, a happy ending to a mission that the man, empowered by the Holy Spirit, had fulfilled. That was not to be.
Having fulfilled his mission, the prophet left for home, and God gave him one more word to keep in mind: “You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came” (1 Kings 13:11). He remained obedient to that word and headed home.
On his way home, a second prophet heard about what had happened and invited the visitor to his house to eat, but he was promptly informed that God had told him to go straight home. The old prophet then lied, telling him that God actually told him something different than what the man of God had first received. And the unfortunate man believed him. He left the road he was on and followed the prophet to his home. Only after he eats does God speak and reveal the truth he should have known: “You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God gave you. You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore, your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.” On his way back to Judah, a lion met him on the road and killed him.
The man of God from Judah spoke truth to power. He brought the Word of God to the Kingdom of Israel in the north, yet the fulfillment of his mission did not keep him safe from destruction when he disobeyed the Lord who sent him. He heard a different voice than what he had known, and he listened to that voice and died in the wilderness.
The Church across the world is now encountering this same voice, one that seems to come from modern-day “prophets” within the Church. “Did God really say that? Well, he told me something different. Come in! Sit down! Have a bite to eat…” But if the leaders of the Church listen and deviate from the words of God they originally received, they are then in danger of being devoured by lions through disobedience. The Apostle Peter warned that we should be “sober, vigilant, because your adversary the Devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
This is precisely the predicament that the Church of England finds herself in this week. She once held on to the Word of God, brought the Gospel to the ends of the earth, fulfilled her mission. But now from within her own ranks, she hears the voice of false prophets inviting her to sit down to eat with them. The recent news of the Church of England’s probable rejection of same-sex marriage but acceptance of blessings for same-sex couples has left most confused and upset. For those who are biblically-faithful, the Word of God is clear, so why is the Church looking to bless what God has not? And how can it make sense to say that committed, long-term relationships can be blessed but somehow marriages cannot be blessed? By trying to have their feet in both camps, the Church of England’s leaders have already chosen a new path, a new way forward.
On the other hand, the progressive prophets of our day are equally upset. They issued their invitation to come in, sit, and eat with them. What’s taking the Church so long? Sure, they’re looking in the right direction, but they’re not moving fast enough. For them, human sexuality and the right to individual expression has become an issue of justice. To give same-sex couples blessings but not marriage is an insult, a denial of equality. BOTH sides see the Church damning their position with faint praise.
The Church around the world must continue to walk the ancient path set before her by God. If the history of the Episcopal Church and other western churches like them have shown anything, it’s that the spirit of the world eventually wins out if we let our guard down. It leads to sitting down and eating with false prophets in a house that’s not our own, eating strange food at a strange table we’ve never seen before.
Will the Church continue on this path of destructive insanity? Will she officially adopt same-sex blessings and the rites that accompany them? Will they turn away from the pearl of great price that they inherited from their forefathers, and will they choose to end their ministry in disobedience and shame? One glance at the proposed blessings reveals the most probable answers. Barring a miracle, on this path ahead there is no freedom, no truth, no blessing, no clarity. There are only lions.
