What can Christians learn from 2024?

What memories will stay with you from the last year?

Perhaps it’s Rishi Sunak announcing the general election in a torrential downpour, a fitting image for the UK’s coolest summer for a decade. Or Donald Trump somehow dodging the assassin’s bullet. Or it might be the UK postmasters, led by Alan Bates, celebrating outside the High Court following their hard-won victory.

Here are six defining news stories I’ve chosen from 2024, that deserve a second look.

The Cass Report highlighted the tension between expertise and belief

In April 2024, a report by Dr Hilary Cass, commissioned by NHS England made waves. It was complex with many recommendations, but overall, it was highly critical of the increasing trend to offer under-18s gender transition services based, it seems, on dangerously thin evidence.

It found that there was a tendency by our NHS to offer puberty-blocking drugs and gender transition therapies without probing the broader complexities of mental health or long-term impacts on children. The report called for a holistic, cautious approach, including investigating conditions such as anxiety, depression, and autism alongside gender-related distress.

Notably, the Tavistock Clinic, which had been at the heart of delivering these services, closed its doors in 2024.

What can we conclude?

Whether you believe that gender is always biological or can be fluid, this report demonstrates how society, organisations and government can be swept along by a vocal minority claiming moral and social superiority. If you disagree with them, you are labelled a bigot, or cancelled.

The rush by some professionals to diagnose under-18s with gender dysphoria may have had more to do with their personal beliefs than professional opinion. Some medics appeared to put a social agenda ahead of careful clinical diagnosis.

But there’s a second learning point here. Sometimes we do that too – our Christian beliefs should impact our secular work, and our work and faith will sometimes be in conflict. Navigating the tension between Christian belief and professional duty requires wisdom and courage. The Cass Report reminds us why.

BBC images

The Southport riots and the price of misinformation

In July, the tragic stabbing of three schoolgirls at a Taylor Swift dance class in Southport shocked the nation, sparking riots across UK cities. It’s easy to blame far-right agitators, but there is more to this than thugs behaving badly.

Ordinary individuals spread misinformation on platforms like Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp. Angered by the brutal murders, many falsely blamed a “Muslim asylum seeker.” For days, vilifying anyone fitting that label became commonplace, leading to buildings set on fire and attacks on police.

In reality, the attacker was born in Cardiff and is no more Muslim than I am.

Polarised thinking thrives when we are upset or angry. It’s easy to caricature and scapegoat those different from us as somehow dangerous. This thinking is aggravated by the fragmented ways we now get our information. Fewer and fewer of us tune in to watch the News at Ten; instead, we increasingly rely on online sources. Ofcom reports TikTok is now the UK’s fastest-growing news source, and, in the fight for our attention, spreading misinformation often wins.

The opposite trend, shutting down discussion, is equally harmful. We need a balance between the far right’s misinformation and the far left’s rush to cancel discussions on topics like immigration, asylum, or gender. We must reject both misinformation and the refusal to engage.

Listening to those different from us is hard, but transformative. A recent study featured on The Happiness Lab podcast explored “binary thinking.” An American Ph.D. student brought together people from opposing sides of three deeply divisive US debates: gun control, immigration, and climate change. Despite fears of heated conflict in the discussions, that didn’t happen. Instead, participants listened to people they had never encountered before. And curiosity led to empathy. They didn’t change their opinion – they didn’t need to — but they stopped blaming the other side.

Listening to those not like us sounds easy, but we rarely do it.

Guardian / Getty images

AI is leaving us amazed, and unprepared

If you ever doubted our hyper-dependency on technology, just remember the worldwide computer crash on July 19. A botched software update by CrowdStrike (ironic name!) took down 8 million computers, disrupting banks, airlines, hospitals, and businesses worldwide.

More concerning, however, is our rapid adoption of AI “off the radar”, in work and church. We seem to be caught in a paradox – we are simultaneously amazed at what AI can do, and fearful at what it might do. Meanwhile AI development continues at breakneck speed. As Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said recently, “the AI we have today is the dumbest it will ever be.”

A medical study reported in November revealed something striking: AI working alone significantly outperformed human doctors in diagnosing complex conditions. But that wasn’t the surprise – AI will profoundly impact all work that requires reasoning or information recall. No, what stood out was that the AI also performed better than doctors using AI. Why? It seems the human doctors didn’t know how to use AI, or simply disbelieved what it told them!

This highlights the need to learn to use AI well within work, church, and beyond. “Silent adoption” isn’t enough — we need to discuss and develop good guidelines for when and how to use AI and, equally, when to reject AI. Churches, charities, and organizations must ask deeper questions and pursue thoughtful integration.

Good practice, for Christians, must also celebrate what makes us uniquely human, made in God’s image: our humour, empathy, life experience, and even our fragility. After all, being a good doctor, or good leader or caregiver or anything else, is about more than just making the right diagnosis.

There were also a host of stories in 2024 worth celebrating. Here are three of my favourites.

The death of new atheism

Five to ten years ago, we had reason to be worried by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchins and co. I was often drawn into debates (usually good-natured!) with atheists in connection with online articles. That happens rarely these days, and the New Atheism, with its aggressive, mocking tone and misrepresentation of Christian faith, is fading away. Fundamentally, it offered no convincing alternative to belief in God …. or, if it did, where have all the new atheists gone?

In their place, thinkers like Jordan Peterson and Tom Holland are showing that Christianity continues to stand up to intellectual scrutiny.

There’s also a rise in public thinkers becoming Christians. Prominent atheist Aayan Hirsi Ali has become a Christian and even Dawkins says he identifies as a “cultural Christian” (whatever that is!)

I strongly recommend Justin Brierley’s recent podcasts on this topic:

The surprising rebirth of belief in God — podcast

A renewable energy milestone

While we still have a long way to go on renewable energy, every win counts. In 2024, for the first time, the UK is on track to generate more electricity from renewables (wind, solar and hydro) than fossil fuels over the entire year. Admittedly, some of this wind power is due to the extreme storms that now seem commonplace, but even that is a silver lining.

It’s progress and one more step toward stewarding our planet sustainably.

Memorable sport and memorable witness

Football didn’t come home in 2024. England’s men lost the Euros, and, let’s face it, it was a complete fluke we made it to the final. But what a show of faith from England’s men, with several sharing their Christian faith boldy and openly.

Eze: “God is at the centre of my life” — Saka: “God has my back”, Images by Reuters

We also had a memorable Olympics in France. And I don’t just mean that peculiar opening ceremony with athletes in their ponchos, or the portrayal of The Last Supper that caused offence to so many. More importantly, we celebrated the faith of athletes and their willingness to talk about it.

Looking ahead

2024 has been messy, challenging, and hopeful all at the same time. But let’s remember that the news of this world is never the final word. May the year ahead bring you peace, joy, and countless reminders of God’s goodness. Happy New Year!

If you enjoyed reading this, try listening to my story here.

This article was published by Premier Christianity. All Chris’s work for Premier can be found here.
his article was published by the Baptist Times. All Chris’s work for BT can be found here. (please select Advanced Options and then Sort by Date)