Christians in the West in the 21<sup>st Century are in an odd position. For hundreds of generations, Christianity has been the default religion and Judeo-Christian ethics have been seen as normative (even when not fully practised). This is no longer the case.
We are now firmly in post-Christendom. Some Christians, especially in the Anabaptist tradition see this as a good thing. They are suspicious of any attempt by the Church to seek secular power and see the Gospel as deeply compromised by Christians attempting to use political and legal systems to enforce Christian morality.
On the other side, a group of think tanks, legal organisations and high-profile media commentators have sprung up to defend what they see as 'Christian values'. From summer schools to court cases, media appearances to rallies, these groups mourn the passing of Christendom. Any liberalisation of laws on areas such as homosexuality and abortion is castigated.
In truth, of course, most Christians don't fall solidly into either of these camps. We're busy living our lives, raising our families, working hard, giving time to our churches and so on. For those of us in the middle, we need to know when is the right time to raise our heads, make a fuss, and if necessary, take action against a social or political reform to which we object.
This was thrown into focus this week by the row in the UK over Easter eggs. The National Trust and Cadbury's were accused by the Archbishop of York of 'spitting on the grave' of Cadbury's founder John Cadbury, by removing the word 'Easter' from the title of their 'egg hunt' event. 'Easter' was still prominent on the publicity material, but the fuse had been lit and a storm raged on social media – even dragging in the Prime Minister to comment.
There's little point rehashing the arguments here, save to say that the British Humanist Association's assertion that this was a 'storm in an eggcup' probably summed it up best.
Yet this incident brings us back to the question raised above. When is the right time for us as Christians to protest and resist?
A few years ago the leading evangelical scholar and writer NT Wright told me that he felt Christians were often prone to dying in the wrong ditch. In other words, protesting, resisting and even refusing to comply has its place – but it has to be over the right issue – and often we haven't chosen the right issue.
He's right. In a post-Christendom society, the Church has lost much of its privilege. Given the small number of people who attend church in the UK, that's a reasonable state of affairs. So, while the Church retains some of its institutional clout and good deal of 'soft power' we simply don't have the ability to influence society by a 'command and control' model. Instead, we need to be winsome, positive, pro-active and campaign for the common good, rather than our own sectional interests.
Jesus once said we should be 'as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves'. That's the spirit of discernment we need when deciding whether to wade into an issue or not.
The problem with this week's brouhaha over Easter Eggs isn't just that there are bigger issues (Saudi Arabia's human rights record, for example, where the Prime Minister spoke about the egg story; or Cadbury's tax avoidance practices). The main problem is that it risks making us look small and petty – detracting from the brilliant work being done by local churches up and down the land – as well as the high esteem in which leaders such as the Archbishop of Canterbury are held by the media and the population at large.
We have to choose the 'right ditch to die in', because you can only die once! We need to carefully assess what is most important to us and to the flourishing of our society, rather that hitching our wagon to every faddish protest movement. Jesus came that we might have life in all its fullness – where that is being denied, especially to the most vulnerable – we have a right and even a duty to speak out. But when it's just a case of us feeling a bit annoyed or uncomfortable, then maybe it's time to keep quiet and instead redouble our efforts towards mercy, justice and sharing our faith.
Follow Andy Walton on Twitter @waltonandy
