Dear COA Family,

This week we are hit by the devastating news of the unprecedented resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby over his failure to act to protect the children in the Church of England from a sadistic child abuser. As a result, the Church of England’s standing has been irreparably damaged and the gospel of Christ brought to disrepute. We, in Singapore, are not spared from the effects of guilt and shame on the basis that we are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion which originated from England.

It is therefore important that we learn the right lessons from this and proceed in the right direction. This is the only way we can grow from this heartbreaking incident.

One key lesson from this episode is the need to ask the vital question: Who are we serving? In other words, are we doing the work of the ministry for God’s glory or for our own self-benefit? Are we concerned about what people think of us or what God wants us to do?

It would appear that the negligence of the Church took place because the Archbishop and leaders who knew about the cases of abuse chose to cover up the incident, instead of taking the offender to task. They were more concerned for the reputation of the Church (and by extension their own reputations) rather than the justice and welfare of those whom they are given oversight of. As a result, the abuser was allowed to carry out his heinous acts for more than forty years across three separate countries. Hundreds of young boys have since been greatly affected and deeply scarred by the abuse.

John the Baptist had a specific warning for religious leaders: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8).

In other words, it is not what words we say or what image we project that is important, but what we ultimately do. We cannot claim to be Christ’s followers while being involved in works of darkness. We cannot claim to be serving God while doing acts of harm to the ones God loves. We will not be able to escape the coming wrath of God.

The heart of our actions boils down to whose praise we are seeking. Are we seeking to be justified by God or secretly seeking for self-promotion and benefit through people’s praises? They will lead to two drastically different outcomes.

Beloved, God is a totally just God who will not tolerate sin or injustice. He will not hesitate to remove a church if the church fails to live according to his ways, no matter how illustrious its history. (See Revelation 2:1-7.) Seeing the impartiality of God, let us all determine to serve God for his glory alone and not seek for any self glory or benefits. This is the only way we can fully please God and also survive and grow as his church.

Blessings,
Revd Ian