Parker T. Williamson
Executive Editor
Consider the following scenario: You employ a
contractor to build an addition to your home according to a
blueprint supplied by your architect. On a visit to the
construction site, you note that one of the carpenters is
building 35-degree angles instead of the specified 90-degree
angles. “How can this be?” you ask the contractor. “I
thought you agreed to follow this blueprint.”
“I did,” replies the contractor.
“Then tell your carpenter to straighten out those
angles.”
“I can’t. He has a right to his opinion. I respect
his freedom of conscience.”
That is precisely what happened at the February General
Assembly Council meeting. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has a
standard, dating at least back to the Reformation. That
standard is Scripture, which declares that Jesus Christ is
Lord of the universe. There is no other.
But in his “What’s the big deal about Jesus?”
speech at a denominational conference last summer, the Rev.
Dirk Ficca implied that Jesus Christ is optional. Ficca’s
view that other choices may be equally valid constitutes
nothing less than a denial of the gospel.
That incident led 21 sessions and more than 1,500
Presbyterians to ask that the General Assembly Council require
all of its curriculum writers, program managers and conference
planners perform their tasks in accordance with Scripture. But
the council – like our proverbial contractor –
declared that while it affirms Jesus Christ is Lord, it has no
intention of binding the consciences of those whom it employs.
A curious form of adolescence has overcome many who claim the
ecclesiastical spotlight. One would think that persons who are
privileged to wear the mantle of Christian leadership would
display a deference toward the faithful witness of their
forebears, many of whom died for the truth they passed on.
Instead, they exhibit a pubescent propensity to defy
tradition, thrashing against its boundaries in search of a
beguiling “cutting edge.” What we have here is the
cult of the imperial self, defining itself by defying the
Church’s faith.
Presbyterians now face an integrity issue. Contributions
dedicated to Jesus Christ are underwriting those who deny him.
When given an opportunity to correct the problem, the
denomination’s elected leadership, the General Assembly
Council, steadfastly refuses to do so.
The officers of every Presbyterian congregation in this
country should docket this matter for careful and prayerful
consideration. Nothing could be more important, for it cuts
right to the heart of the gospel. Do we believe that Jesus
Christ is what he and centuries of Christian witness claim he
is? Is he “the way, the truth and the life?” Or have
we finally succumbed to the notion that one’s religious
faith is a matter of multiple choice?
By eschewing the Church’s standards, Presbyterian
leaders are reducing this denomination to a collection of
individuals, each doing his or her own thing under the banner
of “diversity.” That kind of carpentry may build a
tower of Babel, but it will not construct the household of
faith.