Easter: ‘Jesus did not conform to society, he went to the cross’

Churches which choose culture over Christ ‘fundamentally misunderstand’ the Easter message, a long-serving MSP has said.

Writing in The Scotsman, Murdo Fraser said that if Jesus “had conformed to the opinions of society at the time” he would never have gone to the cross.

Instead his message of sin and salvation was so “offensive to the powers that be that they felt they had to kill Him”.

‘Counter-cultural’

Fraser highlighted the attacks SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes withstood for her evangelical Christian faith, and that giving into such pressure “offers nothing but misery in the longer run. As Jesus Himself put it: ‘What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?'”

The MSP explained: “There are those today, even in the Church, who seem not to understand this, who argue that the church should conform to the social mores of the day, whether in the UK or elsewhere.

“This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the message of Christianity, which has always been counter-cultural.”

He reflected: “It is perhaps no surprise that those churches which have been most ready to abandon Biblical standards in a rush to be ‘relevant’ to today’s society are usually also those which have seen the steepest decline in membership.”

‘Confidence’

Fraser highlighted the “horrific persecution” Christians suffer for their faith in countries such as in Nigeria, one of the most dangerous places to be a Christian.

the prize of eternal life in Jesus Christ is worth every pain

He said: “Persecuted Christians are sustained in their faith by the message of Easter, that life follows death, and that darkness turns into light.”

The MSP added: “It is the essential confidence in the truth of that message that means that Christians will bear any trouble or torment because the prize of eternal life in Jesus Christ is worth every pain.”