Two July church conferences, 3,000 miles apart, show that the theological chasm within the PCUSA is at least that
wide and deep.
Robert L. Howard, Chairman
Presbyterian Lay Committee
Caption Text
In Orange, Calif., a unit of our denomination sponsored a “peacemaking conference” with the theme “Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a Diverse World.”
The official PCUSA News Service reported that a featured conference speaker “espoused a radical brand of ecumenism, calling into question the common Christian assumption that Jesus is the only way to salvation.”
That report also directly quotes the speaker as stating: “God’s ability to work in our lives is not determined by becoming a Christian … So what’s the big deal about Jesus?” as well as questioning whether the purpose of God’s people should be to “create Christians.” Radical indeed is such ecumenism, but Biblical, Reformed or historic Presbyterian it is not!
During nearly the same time, Presbyterian-Reformed Ministries International (PRMI), one of the 15 independent renewal groups within the PCUSA, sponsored a five-day prayer gathering at Montreat, N.C., on the theme: “Pentecost 2000: Prayer that Shapes the Future.” While the timing, attendance (more than 600), and diversity of the two conferences was nearly identical, the messages were radically different.
At Montreat, the featured preacher was the Rev. James Logan Jr., PCUSA pastor from Charlotte, N.C. He boldly proclaimed the need for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit “because we have lost our moral compass and are mirroring society at large. We need a fresh outpouring that will pull us back to our first love. We need to stop this love affair we have with the world and fall in love with Jesus again. The church cannot be like the world. We’ve lost our ability to witness to Jesus with integrity.”
Two simultaneous events, one planned by denominational leaders, the other by out-of-favor, non-establishment Presbyterians, who passionately seek to reform and renew this declining denomination.
Logan did not have an advance copy of the text from the California event. Surely, then, he was inspired by God to offer the precise antidote for the poison uncorked in California which weakens the body into cultural accommodation and political correctness. For as Logan also said, “We’ve wandered too far, we’ve compromised too much, we’ve winked at sin, we’ve been tolerant to the point of grieving Christ.”
St. Paul evangelized the Gentile world by proclaiming that Christ is the way, the truth, the life. Paul believed the Great Commission meant exactly what Jesus said. Paul was not ashamed to make disciples of all nations because he was not ashamed of the Gospel. Neither is Jim Logan!
Why aren’t the Jim Logans of this church (and there are many of them) featured at our denomination-sponsored conferences and events? If this church would stay on message in accordance with the Great Ends of the Church and consistently proclaim the Gospel at denominational gatherings, we wouldn’t need Louisville’s damage control and we wouldn’t be dwindling into irrelevancy.
Robert L. Howard of Wichita, Kan., is chairman of the Presbyterian Lay Committee.