How will the world know we are Christian - obsession with sex or love for the poor?

Rev. Dr Augustine Tanner-Ihm is Assistant Curate and Director of Outreach and Small Groups at St. James and Emmanuel Church, Didsbury, in the Diocese of Manchester.

AS DEBATES over same-sex relationships continue in the Church of England, evangelicals are looking more and more out of touch, says OTN trustee Rev Dr Augustine Tanner-Ihm.

He believes the focus should be put back on the issues Jesus and the early Church cared about.

In the last few weeks, evangelicals have been publicly discussing the Church of England’s teaching on identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, due to debates within its governing body, General Synod, on proposals to bless same-gender couples.

“This conversation on sexuality is important, but I’m concerned about the resources evangelicals are pumping into it.”

Prominent leaders have written articles and tweets, created well-produced videos, made speeches and donated to organizations that would keep a ‘traditional’ understanding of marriage and relationships. Organisations like the Evangelical Alliance, Christian Concern and The Church of England Evangelical Council has devoted much time and money to their own conservative theological view.

Conservative evangelical Christians are obsessed with homosexuality. It has become an idol, a golden calf of disruption to true worship of God. The Gospel and orthodox Christian teaching have been co-opted by a group of people who want to change the Gospel into something else completely.

As an evangelical minister in the Church of England, this has caused hurt. Not only because of my own sexuality - I’m a gay man and a survivor of conversion therapy - but because of the amount of resources devoted to banging the drum on this cause. As an American, I hope English groups do not go the same way as in America, where leaders within the evangelical world have made a career out of combating the equality of LGBT+ people, as books, conferences and speaking tours make a multi-million-pound industry.

I’ve lived in England for almost ten years, and I have seen a decrease in church attendance, two economic recessions, a continued disruption of the health service, four Prime Ministers, record inflation, growth in strikes, and increased economic inequality. While discussing doctrines around sexuality is important, it’s not the good news that evangelicals should be known for. There are bigger issues to be talking about.

Yes, churches have supported food banks, and charities such as Christians Against Poverty (CAP) do amazing work. But too many evangelicals have ignored the core issues facing our nation. Many are instead obsessed with culture wars (critical race theory, gender, homosexuality) rather than the real issues happening around us (poverty, child abuse, inflation).

I wonder if most English evangelicals are out of touch with the reality of their own country? This conversation on sexuality is important, but I’m concerned about the resources evangelicals are pumping into it. I know speaking about sexuality is much ‘sexier’ than attempting to care for orphans and widows.

Throughout the gospels. Jesus continues to warn people about money and greed. At the very heart of the Gospel Jesus preached, and that his evangelists recorded, is first a proclamation of the coming reign of God, a situation in which justice and peace would be the norm, when the promises found in the prophets of Israel would be realized. This message involved both a message of hope and a trenchant critique of the world as it is.

The Church throughout history, throughout the world, has been marked by two things, love for one another and care for people ’on the outside’. Christians set up schools to educate poor children who has no access to education. The church created hospitals because they believe Jesus is the healer, and food banks as a radical way to combat rising poverty.

The gospel offered a message of hope and a prophetic critique of the rich, and it also issued a call to radical generosity and to a rejection of involvement with wealth and the corruption that it produced. The option for the poor is a central theme in the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, and is emphasized in the earliest Christian gospel, the Gospel of Mark. Jesus frequently spoke about caring for the poor, healing the sick, and showing compassion to those in need, and these teachings formed the foundation of the early Christian community's commitment to serving the marginalized and oppressed. The late evangelical Anglican bishop David Shephard continued this tradition with the publication of his book Bias to the Poor in 1983.

I spent most of my childhood in a homeless shelter in Chicago, and my family struggled to obtain the most basic human needs. I know many evangelical leaders will see my perspective as liberalism, pragmatism, postmodern thought, or just wrong. But as you write from your warm house and your assurance that you will eat another day, think about all those who are not as privileged as you. Attempt to put as many resources as you do to protect ‘traditional’ marriage in a country where most people do not care about the institution into serving your community in practical ways.

If our Christian relevance is only known by arguing against equality in the public square, then maybe we don’t have long left.

A version of this article was published by Premier Christianity magazine in February 2023.