Bournagain

There has been much wringing of hands amongst Western Christians over the “secularisation” of society, but I experienced something today which was another indication that we have been misreading the signs of the times.

In New Zealand April 25^th is ANZAC Day, which commemorates the battle waged by Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli in Turkey during the first world war, and by extension those who died in combat during the various wars of the 20^th century.

You’d think that as the last old returned servicemen passed on, interest in marking ANZAC Day would wane. Well, we were in for a surprise. Our children have been studying the world wars for history, so we thought we’d give them a real “kiwi” experience and bundled them all into the van before sunrise to attend the Dawn Parade. This ceremony is enacted in most large towns all over the country, where returned servicemen and women parade through the streets before dawn to the Cenotaph – a war memorial monument, where a service of remembrance is held.

When we arrived at the Cenotaph, we could barely find a place to park, and we were amazed to see so many people, of all ages. It was amazing seeing such a crowd of my supposedly “secular” contemporaries listening in reverent silence as Psalm 139 was read out, followed by hymn singing and public prayers of thanksgiving for God’s blessings and for those who gave their lives, and prayer for those in authority. It finished with the singing of the national anthem, in Maori then in English – “God of nations, at thy feet in the bonds of love we meet. Hear our voices we entreat, God defend New Zealand…”

Sure, there have been calls to change the national anthem to make it less Christian and more “inclusive”. There has been heated debate about the custom of opening parliamentary meetings with a prayer. Even the Bishop of Auckland, who has recently “come out” as an agnostic, has questioned the suitability of public prayer in our “secular society”. (By the way, our friend Michael Hewat has written a superb article on this issue.)

But as I looked up at the Southern Cross in the pre-dawn sky, and looked around at this solemn scene, it confirmed to me again that people are longing for that sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves, something to help make sense of the folly of this life in which so many hundreds of thousands of young lives can be snuffed out fighting wars of uncertain purpose.

It’s not that people aren’t interested in the gospel. The problem is not with society being too “secular”. It’s with us Christians – with the way we communicate the message.

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