It is never easy returning home after working for some years in another country. Reverse culture shock can be far more disturbing than the shock of moving into a foreign culture. Those who spend time abroad in the service of the Lord will be conscious, however, of other challenging experiences when they return to their homeland. In particular, it will not be easy for them to settle back in their home churches, especially if they have been ministering in places that are enjoying great spiritual prosperity.

My wife and I have spent nearly nine years in Africa, the last five years in Zambia where I was immensely privileged to be the pastor of Lusaka Baptist Church. The religious scene in Zambia is very different from that of the UK. Many of the Reformed Baptist Churches are growing remarkably as they see a steady steam of conversions. There were very many unconverted people in my Sunday morning congregation and I was, therefore, tremendously encouraged in my gospel preaching. I found many other wonderful opportunities for reaching needy souls, with people of all ages giving careful attention to the gospel. Also, many of the beloved saints of God are very serious in their attendance upon the means of grace and in their personal devotion to the cause of the gospel. The years we spent in Zambia were very wonderful and very elevating for our souls.

Obviously, we felt quite bereft when we first returned to the UK. Suddenly we were no longer in that spiritually rich and invigorating fellowship. We were also conscious of other feelings that, though now modified by our experiences over the past six months among the churches, remain fundamentally the same. I would like to share some of these with you.

Every Christian deplores the state of contemporary society. Over recent years, Christians have watched with dismay as the ethical standards, handed down to the nation from the days when evangelicalism exercised great influence, have been steadily and systematically dismantled. We have seen the idea of moral absolutes being treated with contempt, and even the concept of ultimate truth cast aside. On returning from Zambia, we have been particularly oppressed by the way in which British society has, with great determination, rejected anything that might have even the remotest connection with the Bible. This is projected continually by the media, especially the BBC. It seems that no opportunity can be missed for promoting any idea, no matter how foolish and far-fetched, that is contrary to the Word of God. Every suggestion, however tentative, that might come from the proponents of evolution is seized upon and reported as increasing our knowledge of how things began. We have seen too the dreadful way in which the media has wickedly portrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, insisting that they must promote such things for their artistic merit!

This process has drastically affected the thinking of ordinary people. Today, people in Britain are generally prejudiced against the gospel. Many refuse to allow their children to attend Sunday school or other meetings in the church. They now regard the Christian gospel as subversive to their liberties and rights, and want nothing of it. They regard with incredulity those who devote themselves to the work of Christ’s kingdom.

It came as quite a shock to us to realise the extent to which society, in general, is not prepared to give a hearing to the message of the cross.

During the six months we have been back in the UK, I have been privileged to preach in many Reformed Baptist churches. I am very thankful for these delightful opportunities of ministering God’s Word and enjoying very rich fellowship with many of the Lord’s people. We have been impressed by the genuine devotion of many esteemed Christian friends to the Lord and his kingdom. In particular, we have been challenged by the faithfulness of many of the Lord’s servants who have continued over the years, preaching the gospel under very difficult circumstances. We have found brethren still labouring on, looking to the Lord, yet seeing no fruit for their labours. Such brethren also continue ministering faithfully to tiny and sometimes dwindling groups of believers.

Although we have been among some churches where there are evident signs of the Lord’s blessing and where a younger generation of zealous servants of the Lord is emerging, we have been deeply troubled by the very serious situation that our churches in the UK are generally facing and also the lack of an appropriate response to it.

The salvation of sinners

Firstly, it seems that although many faithful pastors, elders and other brethren in the churches are grieved by the lack of gospel advance in the nation, church members often seem to regard the present situation as normal. They seem untroubled by the almost total absence of conversions from among the unsaved multitudes all around, and by the phenomenal decline in the churches over the past 50 years. There are even those who regard the present situation as hopeless. Perhaps they have decided that the unbelief of our nation is the judgement of God, and there is nothing for us to do. Perhaps they see the ungodliness and hard-heartedness of the men of this world as being so great, that nothing but a mighty awakening will bring such sinners to repentance. Until such a revival comes there is not much to be done.

It is extremely important that we face up to our predicament. We all believe that the Lord is able to bring the sinners of this world to true repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is rarely seen in the majority of our churches. Churches may well visit their neighbourhoods, distributing literature, inviting folk to gospel services etc, but the results are minimal. Very occasionally, the Lord brings someone into his kingdom from outside the life of the church, but it is exceptional. For centuries, and through various difficult times, the cause of Christ has advanced in our land as the Lord has blessed the work of his servants. Now it seems to be in sad decline. It is, no doubt, good to pray for revival but we need the regular, normal work of the Holy Spirit making the weekly gospel ministries of the churches fruitful.

One would have expected churches to recognise this and the members to gather very frequently for earnest, fervent prayer. If there was ever a time for seeking the face of God and searching our hearts, this is surely it! Also, it would help and uplift many pastors who feel thoroughly discouraged by the absence of conversions, if the whole situation could be properly defined. Many of the Lord’s servants wonder what is wrong with them, and they feel liable to criticism because their preaching is apparently unfruitful. If the churches in general could see that these are exceptionally difficult times, and that there needs to be a wholehearted and humble beseeching of the Lord, it would relieve many pastors of their heavy burdens.

There is also the very evident danger that Christians will, in these difficult times, turn to unbiblical practices because these may seem to be successful, regardless of the doctrinal implications. We are familiar with the American church growth movement, in which church life and practice are designed around the felt needs and appetites of various segments of society rather than in accordance with Scripture. There are signs that such thinking is creeping into our church life in the UK. Sadly Reformed Baptist Churches are crossing boundaries in their worship styles, particularly by importing the music culture of the charismatic movement. We have been deeply dismayed by the way in which some churches are raising their young generation with no appreciation of the great body of English language hymnody. This is in marked contrast to our experience in Zambia, where young Christians rejoiced to worship God with the glorious hymns and appropriate music that God has made our heritage.

Upon returning from Zambia we were made aware of two other disturbing trends that we had not previously met. The first follows our previous comments about the style of worship. We have discovered that there is teaching circulating among some of the churches that the New Testament knows nothing of corporate worship in the local churches, and that the assemblies of the church are only for the edification of the saints. We believe that this is contrary to Scripture and potentially very damaging to church life. The local church is, first and foremost, a worshipping community of the people of God. If it ceases to worship God in its assemblies it will be failing in its highest duty and will inevitably fade away.

Our spiritual reverse culture shock has been far from easy. We are thankful for faithful brethren who have clarified matters for us and who share our anxieties. Many will not agree with our conclusions and we do not want to be pessimistic or spread discouragement. We are, however, facing a very perilous time in which we must cleave to Scripture and search our hearts before God. These days call for churches to make prayer a great priority, perhaps reassessing their weekly programme with this in mind. So often church prayer meetings are held late on a weeknight evening, when people are weary and thoughts are hard to muster. The bi-monthly days of prayer and fasting in many of our Reformed Baptist churches in Zambia have opened my eyes to the very special blessing that the Lord imparts when his people take time to worship him, rejoicing before him in the wonders of his grace, confessing their sins, and praying for the honour of his Name in the preaching of the gospel.