It’s been a little while since the recent riots I wanted to take the opportunity to comment on them without being seen to be reactionary.

 I was on holiday in Sussex during the riots and I watched the news reports along with the whole country. I was shocked and saddened by the rioting across so many of Britain’ cities.

Rioting is not new. Going back a few years we had the Poll-Tax Riots and the Miners Strikes. Here in Liverpool we had what the press called the race riots of the 80s.

It’s been said that the latest riots were not ones of protest, but simply an excuse for theft and robbery and violence. Banks, computer and jewellery shops were targeted – mainly by thugs with an oversized sense of entitlement to benefits and “why should I work for a living” attitude.

In the aftermath the politicians and social commentators have mentioned about the enormous and apparently growing inequality in British society.

The PM as used phrases like ‘broken society’ & ‘moral collapse’

But what about some of the other wider issues that go beyond the rioters with like …  the MP’s expenses scandal…  bankers’ scandal…   accusations against police… phone hacking … the madness in the application of Human rights…. political correctness…. health and safety…. Benefits society…. ‘my rights culture’… poverty…  homelessness…  unemployment… racism… single parents…  poor education… violence… lawlessness…

David Cameron said there are ‘no quick fixes’. David Millband accused the Prime Mininster of looking for ‘superficial answers’ instead of lasting solutions.

 Many people had long felt that there was something very nasty lurking beneath the placid waters of British society. The sudden, mindless violence that erupted in cities over the last few days was an unpleasant demonstration that this potential for nastiness was not only real, but closer to the surface than anybody feared. I’m not too surprised at the scenes witnessed as we see a break down in our society… the roots go deeper than politics and economics.

 JJ John says ’What if our nation as lost the Christian faith that, in a quiet and unnoticed way, acted as the glue that has held the British social fabric together. For two generations it has been fashionable to sneer at Christianity and to consider it unnecessary for a modern civilised society. The result has been a moral vacuum and amongst the noise of sirens and breaking glass ……’

Much as been said about how the police responded to the riots. What they did and did not do. We could talk about whether the police should have used baton rounds and water cannon sooner. Some would then talk about authoritarianism or totalitarianism – it’s accepting civil society in which gang culture is not acceptable.

As we watched the continual live news updates the riots were brought directly into our living rooms. We watched a riot where masses of people have become excited, uncontrolled, angry and rebellious, overturning cars, setting them alight, breaking windows and stealing. It must be scary to be an observer. One can so easily get caught up in the trouble when they’ve had nothing to do with it!

So how should the Church respond? Prayer walks; brushes and gloves to tidy up the mess perhaps. Certainly that seems to have been the response from some churches across the nation. But not exclusively the church, as other faith groups as well as those with little or no faith have responded in similar ways. There as been a real opportunity to reach out into our communities practically which is appropriate.

But as so often with this approach the social agenda simply papers over the cracks at the expense of the Gospel’s agenda. It doesn’t get to the root cause. Whatever social commentators and politicians believe to be the causes of the latest riots, the real problem, which the Christian should recognise, is the sinful condition of humanity. This is a reality that cannot be denied.

People today have generally moved on from moral absolutes. It’s like nobody knows what’s right and wrong for certain, it’s like nobody knows about God for certain.

We all have to decide for ourselves and not be held to others standards. Some of the problems flow out of the fact we believe in human rights and the dignity of the individual. We don’t see the individual as unclean, defiled, evil. We think of human nature as basically good.

 According to Jesus in our natural state were unfit for the presence of God.

Could it be that we find ourselves in a state today that is sinful, quite independent of guilt? In other words, we live in a world now where we don’t believe in judgement, we don’t believe in sin, and yet we still feel that’s there something still desperately wrong with us.

We can’t cut out our heart. No matter what we do or how hard we try external solutions don’t deal with the soul. As the church we have been give a message of HOPE that speaks and demonstrates a Saviors love… It’s a message never more needed by all than today… So come on church lets take the message to the people

Romans 8:1-2 (NLT)

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

Absolutely the Church needs to speak out against violence. This is a time for Christians to be truly salt and light, merciful and loving, forgiving and redeeming. Those of us who pastor inner-city churches need to help communities heal and rebuild. However, it’s not just about practical action with brooms and gloves, and helping shop owners affected by the disturbances.

The bottom line is we all need a Saviour.