The first thing to note about the document is that is is graciously written and utterly immersed in Scripture. The vocabulary is profoundly Christian. I think that there is a lesson to be learned by those seeking a more inclusive approach. It would be hard to imagine language such as \u2018submission\u2019 and placing ourselves under the \u2018rule of Christ\u2019 among those seeking to be more inclusive. Yet there is no reason that it shouldn\u2019t. Radical inclusion will only be truly Christian if it is so because it is the will of God, if it is what Jesus calls us to.<\/p>\n
The statement recognises that we are fallen and in need of salvation. \u201cThe Gospel shines into the darkness of our fallen hearts and cultures, and gives us the transforming knowledge of God\u2019s mercy and grace in the face of Jesus Christ.\u201d It recognises that we are called \u201caway from idolatry, injustice and immorality\u201d. I think this is so important. One of the things that has shocked me in recent months is descriptions I have read of Love Island. A programme that not only encourages casual sex but publicises it. We all know that pornography is too easily accessible and read horror stories of the number of young people watching it. In one school I worked in a colleague had to try and identify the six Year 10 boys filmed while a female pupil performed oral sex on them in turn. The world so desperately needs \u201cthe life-changing goodness of [Christ\u2019s] \u2018amazing grace\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n
There is a strong and deeply biblical section on grace, and a wonderful sentence reminding us that \u201cIn establishing Christian communities the apostles \u2026 did not teach doctrine without discipleship, faith without formation, or grace without godliness.\u201d We talk a lot of discipleship. With my educational preference for teaching that is knowledge based, rather than simply experiential, I value this call to link discipleship with doctrine, formation and godliness. We don\u2019t talk nearly enough about how our lifestyles should be different because we are Christians.<\/p>\n
The next section highlights the special gifts of marriage and singleness. The marriage section is strong, as we might expect, but could have been more. Working with young people I have always struggled to know how to promote marriage as a vocation. So many young people have no direct experience of lifelong marriage in any members of their family or friends. It is hard to praise marriage without sounding critical of their own families.<\/p>\n
It is the section on singleness that I think is stronger, Again, this is desperately needed in a culture which imagines that to be a single is a failure.<\/p>\n