St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Future Faithful

The Bradford Diocesan
motto, as launched by
Bishop David James

I must confess to being a bit of a cynic about logos, designs and marketing exercises (despite being keen on getting the church into the press, writing Christian songs to secular tunes, and so on). When I first saw Bishop David's "Future Faithful" logo and lapel badge, I had genuine doubts, and maybe my article last August (p11) reflected that?

But, having heard him speak on the subject and thought a bit more about it, I think I was wrong. It's true the phrase "Future Faithful" isn't in the bible, but it expresses a lot of truths which are in the bible.

In the first five books of the bible, God says he is a God of covenant love. To Noah he promises that despite people's sin he will never again wipe them out from the face of the earth. To Abraham he promises that the chosen people will be a source of blessing for all nations, because God is the God who cares about everyone. And to Moses he promises that he will remain faithful to the covenant which stands between himself and his people.

And then, the rest of the Old Testament is about how the people continually let God down, turning aside to worship other "gods" that weren't gods at all, and becoming little better than the nations round them. And it poses the question: how can God really stay faithful to a people who constantly go astray?

In the Gospels we have God's answer. God gives up his own life in order to ransom his people from the punishment we deserve. He knows we are weak and feeble in our attempts to live his way, yet he never gives up on us. In the words of Jesus he promises to those who hear him and follow him: "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no-one shall ever snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28).

And the rest of the New Testament bears this out. St Paul, who went through a lot of difficulty, can write "Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:38-9). Many Christians have discovered the same for themselves, in many different kinds of difficulties. And I'm one of them.

Do you want someone who is faithful in the future, as well as faithful now? If you do, I recommend Jesus to you, because I've found he has been faithful to me.

John Hartley