Monday, December 18, 2006
If You Love Me, Heal My Church
It's no secret that the PC(USA) is dying - slowly, painfully. A Classical Presbyterian has a rather good rant about just the latest step we have taken towards our doom. Many question why I stick around, many are leaving. Well, I think the title of this post says much of the reason. I believe in the Christ and His church and I believe the PC(USA) is a part of it, not to be discarded, but to be loved, and to work to heal it.
There are a couple of great things in CP's post worth considering:
Some of it is indeed power plays by those in the higher levels of the church structure, forcing the congregational voice, from which policy is supposed to flow, into ever larger and less listened to echo chambers. Yet another is the increasing professionalization of the denomination, leaving little for elders to do.
But mostly it is we the members, deacons and elders. We live our lives wrapped in ourselves and do not do the hard work, nor have the hard love of the church that is necessary.
Another point:
But there is one thing I think disagree with CP on
Related Tags: PC(USA), optimism, hope, church, energy, laity
There are a couple of great things in CP's post worth considering:
And yet, the few leaders who do have the nerve to stand for biblical truth and Presbyterian principles are now under assault from the forces of institutional malaise!That phrase "institutiobnal malaise" is a wonderful one. A conversation I was having with a well-placed denominational leader the other day said mouthfuls. He said that in essense, denomination matters less and less to the average parishoner. He is so right - there is a malaise about the judicatories which has allowed them to go so long without correction. The key question is "Why?"
Some of it is indeed power plays by those in the higher levels of the church structure, forcing the congregational voice, from which policy is supposed to flow, into ever larger and less listened to echo chambers. Yet another is the increasing professionalization of the denomination, leaving little for elders to do.
But mostly it is we the members, deacons and elders. We live our lives wrapped in ourselves and do not do the hard work, nor have the hard love of the church that is necessary.
Another point:
In other words, to keep as many people within the church as possible and to try to avoid conflict at all costs, we sowed the seeds of limitless conflict and ensured our own eventual demise!We do avoid conflict too readily and to energtically:
Prov 27:17 - Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.Conflict is the crucible through which we are refined, both individually and corporately. The avoidance of conflict is not productive, the problem is how we do conflict. It is possible to have conflict without personal destruction, but we seems to have forgotten how. We need to learn it again.
But there is one thing I think disagree with CP on
Yet, I would also argue that our rising crisis is just the fruits of a flawed constitution,...Flaws in the constitution of the church there are, but those flaws are not fundamental, they were put there, through the amending process - THEY CAN BE REMOVED AS THEY WERE INSERTED. We just have to stand up and do it. CP is very pessimisstic, and perhaps he is right, but I am an optimist, I prefer to think God has great things in store for us.
Related Tags: PC(USA), optimism, hope, church, energy, laity
