Dear Bishops with seats in the House of Lords,
Today is the vote in the Lords on the redefinition of marriage. There’s pressure on you not to attend, and not to vote against it if you do. People are making the point that if you stand against this measure, there may be moves to deprive the bishops of your seats in the Lords. You’ve been made well aware that by convention only two of you vote on any one measure. And some of you, of course, don’t want to oppose taking marriage out of its biblical context and definition anyway.
But for those of you that do want God’s good purposes for his creation to be mirrored in our society’s laws, please make today a day when you are not influenced by pressure, controlled by calculation, or directed by convention. As Christians, we are all called to stand for Christ in the places he has called us to. One of your places is the Lords. We are all called not to give in to pressure, nor to court popularity for its own sake.
It is better for you to stand up for God’s views on marriage today, and lose your Lord’s seats tomorrow, than to keep quiet today and keep on compromising tomorrow. After, all, our Lord Jesus, when he stood in court and faced the political leaders of his day, did not prioritise the maintenance of some vestige of influence. He did not keep quiet in order to protect his position, so that he could keep quiet again the next day in order to protect his position once again.
He declared that he was the Son of God. He declared that ultimately, his judgment is all that matters. And he did so knowing that he was signing his death warrant. He carried a cross.
Unlike thousands of our brothers and sisters around the world, today you are not being called to lose your life for the sake of Christ. Perhaps you are being called to lose your position in the House of Lords, your popularity in the media, your respect in the corridors of power. Count the cost. Carry a cross. Please don’t compromise.
Today, you have a wonderful privilege: the opportunity to risk losing out by serving the Lord who lost all for you. Please be willing to quite literally stand up and be counted.
Carl is Editorial Director at The Good Book Company and is a member of Grace Church Worcester Park, London. He is the best-selling author of The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross and God's Big Promises Bible Storybook, and also serves as series editor of the God's Word for You series. Before joining TGBC, he worked as a journalist and then as a teacher, and pastored a congregation in Hull. Carl is married to Lizzie, and they have two children. He studied history at Oxford University.
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