Divided Britain

Reading the news over the last couple of weeks it has struck me that Britain is more divided than ever. We may pride ourselves on being a multi-cultural society but actually the big division in Britain is not in terms of ethnicity or culture it is still in terms if class. British society is divided between the have a lots, have more than enoughs and the not gots.

Sadly I think as churches we have taken our eye of the ball here. Looking at the resources which are bring produced in increasing volume for the Church and Christians in Britain they are all aimed at the middle class. Our church services are mostly aimed at the middle class. Why do I say that? Because they require a high degree of literacy - we are a people of the book and rightly so because that is how God has spoken to us, but how do we therefore reach the illiterate, or less literate?

Tracts, have the obvious draw back that they require literacy, books likewise. Much of our preaching and evangelism likewise requires good listening skills and are pitched at undergraduate level. Now I am not for a second arguing that intelligence is class based, but that we need to think through in Britain how we reach those for whom that is an alien means of conveying information, let alone information as important and life changing as the gospel.

Many of the things we put on appeal to the needs of middle class because that is what we are and what we know, but the gospel calls us to take the great news of Jesus to every soul in our area regardless of social status.

Because "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, [and in modern Britain no middle class and lower class] for you are all one in Christ Jesus.