Back to the Basics

Part of my own processing of the situation with the PCUSA and the recent GA decisions led me to explore something that has been seemingly all but abandoned yet remains close to my heart. That is, the Confessing Church movement and its core confessions of "Christ Alone", Scripture Alone" and Holy living. Specifically I looked up the cobwebbed website of the Confessing church movement and found Oakdale's Session resolution. This was important for me as their new pastor since I had transitioned from a confessing congregation in Kansas, knew Oakdale was also a Confessing congregation, but had never read Oakdale's specific statement. I believe it is important to those of us who remain in the PCUSA to revisit our core confessions.

"Session Resolution

The session joins faithful believers throughout the Church in confessing:

- That Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation.

- That holy Scripture is the truine God's revealed Word, the Churches only infallible rule of faith and life

- That God's people are called to holiness in all aspects of life. This includes honoring sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, the only relationship within which sexual activity is appropriate.

We therefore announce our commitment to the Confessing Church Movement nd we implore all Presbyterians who share these historic Christian convictions to:

- Renew their individual commitments to the above confessions.

- Urge their session and presbytery to affirm these confessions and to declare that they will not ordain, install or employ in any ministry position any person who will not affirm them

- Urge the General Assembly to instruct the General Assembly Council to require that all program personnel uphold these confessions and ensure that these confessions are followed faithfully in all programs and policies of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)."



The purpose of these confessions was not to "target homosexuals" or to create division, but to define who we are as a congregation and to set appropriate boundaries within a family that exists with such deep divisions in belief and practice. We exist as a congregation that believes in the Authority and inspiration of Scripture and so we cannot assume that there is a wisdom greater than God's Holy Word for us to seek to govern either our beliefs or our life. Likewise we cannot compromise and name other views of God, no matter how similar, as compatible with our worship of the Triune God revealed in Jesus Christ and through Scripture.

Where sexuality is concerned we believe that Jesus Christ and Scripture together call us to practices which exemplify the life to which we are called by Scripture and not by the world. We cannot say there are a variety of ways to express our sexuality when scripture clearly calls people to avoid adultery, and to live faithfully in marriage, man to one woman, and woman to one man. Any other expression of sexual activity, other than chastity in singleness, is an example of our broken condition and points to our need to have our thoughts, desires, and behaviors reshaped by the Holy Spirit into ways that are obedient to God's Word. Our struggles with desires that are contrary to God's design are a part of God's gracious gift of conscience and conviction which are to drive us to repentance and to simultaneously trust the Holy Spirit's ability to transform us. We have not been called to creatively redefine sin so that we can say we are outside of its influence or effect. The difficulty of the task of trusting God in this only points to the truth that it is a "narrow way" and a "cross" we are called to bear in following Christ.

To remain faithful in the PCUSA, or out of it for that matter we must remain faithful to our core confessions.

In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark

Damage Control

That's the word from some about a letter from the General Assembly of the PCUSA, interpreting the various "hotbutton" actions of the 218th. You can read the letter at:
http://www.pcusa.org/gac/ga218letter.htm and I would love your comments.
I am afraid I find myself in the midst of a storm that I never asked for and wonder how I should proceed. To call this letter damage control is unfortunate but accurate, for damage has been done, damage to the hearts of those who love their church but find their faith betrayed by a new teaching which rises up to say that it is a matter of local preference and opinion; a matter of yes votes to no votes on a session, or a presbytery, regarding right and wrong. We are left to wait two years to see if our Presbyteries will once again say that they really really do want pastors and elders who are faithful husbands and wives or if unmarried remain in relationships that exemplify the sexual purity we strive so hard to teach to our children. We are left to "consider" if Jesus would rather have us with leaders who are called by word and deed to teach the Word of God, who in their own relationships demonstrate the behavior acceptable in the world rather than faithfulness to avoid what the Bible calls sin and to seek to live in obedience to the only trustworthy source of revelation of God's character and Will.
I feel betrayed because I believe in the Presbyterian system of church government. It is a democracy and democracy is in fact the worst system of Government... except for all the others. People tend to behave I believe, in agreement with the reformed belief in total depravity, in mostly self interested ways and as a result a system of majority rule under a constitutional rule of law, with checks and balances, tends to restrain evil as well as any human institution can.
The problem comes when the constitution is amendable and the rock solid foundation for that constitution has been forsaken for the shifting sands of a post modern ethic of amoral pragmatism. Most refer to postmodern ethics as moral relativism yet I would argue that the ethic in result is just as I said, amoral pragmatism. The rule is right or wrong are irrelevant ideas and the highest good is whatever happens to work the best. The problem with this ethic is we are all so short sighted and like even a good chess player our game is not deep enough to see the long term consequences of a choice which seems to do "good" at the moment.
Our solid foundation has for generations been the Word of God and while interpretations of nuances of minor details have always been allowed we have remained faithful to declare that what the Bible calls sin is in fact sin.
Now we have sent to our leaders, to vote, a proposal to replace recently clarified language concerning fidelity and chastity, with language that is in effect nonsense since we have already vowed to uphold these standards at our ordinations. It was to our shame that a few years ago we had to clarify what our sexual ethics were to be since we for generations in the church always understood what was expected of our leaders.
But our denomination tells us to stay in the boat and It'll be alright. If we are in fact in the boat with Jesus this is true. But one must ask, might we be riding in Jonah's boat. Are we embarked with prophets who have departed from their calling to preach repentance and instead are seeking a port of their own choice. Are we the Jonah's ourselves choosing a boat headed in the wrong direction looking for an easy way out and only in a storm because we would rather not choose the path of obedience. Will we have the courage of Jonah to at least choose the fish as the path of our own redemption. Jonah did not know that he would survive the sea, only that the boat would not survive the storm with him aboard.
At the same time I am concerned. I want to remain in the boat because I love the people in the boat. I love my church and so I will remain with my congregation and we will seek together, in faith, asking Jesus what we should do. We will not cry that he does not care that we are perishing, for we know from his word that he does and will when need arises still our storm. But we must seek him and do as he says. The way out of a God storm is through obedience not disobedience to God. Jesus says put faith in Him, follow Him, obey Him. May we do so.
Finally I do not wish to alarm my brothers and sisters who are faithful to Christ. This Blog and and any resulting sermons tomorrow are a result of my heart, in pain for my church, responding to the Scriptures and in light of recent events. It is good and necessary to say what I believe in light of these things and your conversations, should anyone actually read this will help.
In the end damage has been done, may it be healed. May we know which ship we are on and call on Jesus that we may know whether ship or sea is the path of faithfulness. May we not remain as we are and seek Jesus quickly and with faith so we may know His Will for us.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's path,
Mark