The Wager

(January-February 1998)

Presbyterians are wagering high stakes. Each contest defines more clearly the players’ strategies and the assumptions on which they stake the future of the Presbyterian Church (USA).On one side of the divide is culture and those who believe that its trends determine denominational destiny. This is the world view that says with Carl Sagan that the universe is "all there is." This is the view of World Council of Churches leaders who claim that the world "sets the agenda" for the Church. This is the view of a multiculturalist choir in Louisville this Christmas that titled its performance "Joy from the world."

If that is what one believes – tragically, some who inhabit the Presbyterian Church (USA) hierarchy and its policy-making groups still do – then demographics tell the tale. Hire a sociologist, and bet on "the trend."

Long-haul theology

During the Covenant Network’s Chicago meeting, several members predicted that Amendment A would lose in 1998 but win in future years. Witherspoon Society President Eugene TeSelle, a Covenant Network strategy group leader, suggested that losers be "gracious" when Amendment A goes down to defeat in their presbyteries. "We’re in this for the long haul," he said.

And what do TeSelle and his associates believe will happen in the long haul? They are betting that given enough time, culture’s growing acceptance of homosexual behavior will convert the Presbyterian majority.

If one believes that culture rules, then the wager proffered by the Covenant Network and its allies is understandable. Promoting promiscuity is daily fare on network television. Government-funded "art" celebrates sexual aberrations. Major universities have amended chapel policies to include same-sex nuptials. And many politicians are afraid to disparage diversity in the public square, no matter how depraved. Accepting cultural debauchery as a given, Amendment A’s supporters assume that somewhere down their proposed alphabet of constitutional revisions, they will win the day.

A sure bet

But those who know and follow Scripture are not persuaded by such arguments. They know that it was not by following fads that the early Church overcame one of the world’s most debased cultures. Jesus Christ was so cataclysmic an entry into human history that history stopped, and the world’s calendar started counting all over again.

Faithful and obedient Christians know that disciples of Jesus Christ are not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. We live by faith, not merely by sight, reminding those who are tempted by the tangible that Christian faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

That is the dividing line in the present wager. Citing cultural trends, Amendment A supporters gamble that their campaign will eventually prevail. But those who stand with Scripture know that the grass withers, and the flower fades. The Word of God endures forever.

Speaking of trends

Actually, if Covenant Network leaders were paying careful attention to trends, they would not waste their time perpetuating what is passé. The culture on which Amendment A rests its case is doomed. Intellectually discredited and experientially sterile, its post-modern assumptions areclearly in decline. Public infatuation with its dogmas is fading, and "spirituality issues" are moving to the fore. Although sundry versions of this newfound spirituality offer a different challenge to biblical faith, at least they recognize the futility of perpetuating a culture whose tenets have destroyed families, transmitted diseases, enervated the human spirit, trivialized education, and undermined the national character.

And in the Church – including the Presbyterian Church (USA) – fresh winds are displacing a moribund theology. A generation of clergy that cut its teeth on the Death of God and celebrated the advent of the Secular City is now retiring from leadership. Many of our new ministers are graduating from non-denominational seminaries whose curricula are committed to scriptural authority and faithfulness to the Reformed tradition. In our denominational seminaries, increasing numbers of our students identify themselves as evangelicals, and they are unwilling to accept the ruminations of tenured academics who deny biblical faith. Congregations have turned away from curriculum resources that undermine the gospel. Post-modern mantras have lost their authority.

A clear contest

What struck us as we attended Amendment A rallies in Chicago and Dallas was not only the numbers (140 applauding Amendment A and 1100 determined to defeat it) but their composition. Chicago represented the last vestige of a crumbling infrastructure. Clearly frustrated in their public tone, those who gathered in Chicago must know they are losing ground. But Dallas was different. The vigor and optimism was palpable. Presbyterians on fire with the gospel gathered in search of new leaders. They do not believe that those whose policies have cost the denomination more than a million members since 1965 define a trend worth following. They see in the gospel something that is distinctly counter cultural, and they are willing to accept the discipline required to pursue it.

173 presbyteries are now voting on the future of the Presbyterian Church (USA). We believe that Scripture will win a decisive victory, and that evangelical gains this year will be greater than those that were recorded for last year’s Amendment B. So for those who need a trend to follow, might we suggest a second look at the gospel? We’re willing to bet that’s where the future will be found.