The declaration is packed with helpful lines of thought for preachers to plunder and start using in their preaching, for Christians to absorb into their thinking and impress upon their children, and for us to start using in our conversations with a world very, very confused and on this issue.
The Greater Love Declaration is a statement drafted by a bunch of British evangelicals. And it is absolutely superb. I know that of the making of public statements by evangelicals there is no end; it’s easy to switch off! But I think this declaration adds something very significant to the public witness of the church. And I’d encourage every Christian reading this to get behind it.
Back in 2017, lots of US evangelicals produced the Nashville Statement, which helpfully addressed the same issue. But in my opinion, the Greater Love Declaration does an even better job. It manages to speak clearly to the sexual confusion in our culture by directly applying the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ to the subject. It’s not a statement that just tries to “keep it positive”. It doesn’t fudge the issue, but you finish reading it, and think: “isn’t the gospel of Christ wonderful?”. It conveys the sheer goodness of what Jesus is doing in the gospel.
I wouldn’t describe it as an “aggressive” statement, but it models Paul’s strategy in 2 Corinthians 10:5—“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ”. It’s not just a defensive statement, which is often how the church ends up sounding on this topic, but it gets forward on the front foot.
Here are some excerpts: