 People
in the pews prove  By Craig M. Kibler, The Layman Volume 35, Number 1, Posted February 8, 2002 We live in an age of false perceptions, perpetuated through repetition by those who should know better. Unchallenged, untested and unquestioned, the false perceptions of this “conventional wisdom” little by little have infiltrated almost every facet of our society – politics, economics, government, faith – until they appear comfortable talismans with which to gauge our daily lives as we try to make sense of today’s helter-skelter culture. Such conventional wisdom pops up everywhere in our society, rearing its untested head wherever serious discussions about the issues of the day take place. “Man will never fly.” Remember that one? Or how about, “Man will never land on the moon.” These examples show that the distinguishing characteristic of conventional wisdom is its superficiality – wrapped up in a Rube Goldberg-like contraption of speculation, innuendo, gossip and cant. Any challenge, any test exposes conventional wisdom for the flimsy, specious and contradictory canard that it is. No, the follies of conventional wisdom are abundant, as we all know, and perhaps nowhere more visible than in discussions about religion. For years now, to take one example, members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have been told that liberals control 15 percent of the denomination, conservatives 15 percent and the moderate middle the remaining 70 percent. Presbytery votes, because they reflect a specific issue, only are superficial indicators of such conventional wisdom, not an affirmation. There’s never been any way to legitimately measure those figures – until now, with the Confessing Church Movement. When the movement was launched, it was criticized and dismissed by the punditocracy – those talking heads who have turned the dissemination of conventional wisdom into a cottage industry – as a simplistic approach to the ills besetting the PCUSA. The three tenets of its confession were hastily drawn up, they opined, and would never attract a sizable following. Now, nine months after it began, the Confessing Church Movement is proving, once again, the follies of conventional wisdom. This grassroots movement is comprised of nearly 1,200 congregations representing more than 400,000 Presbyterians in 46 states and Puerto Rico. It has blown past the 15 percent mark and continues its steady growth – averaging four congregations and more than 1,300 members per day. In the process, that spectacular growth has forced the punditocracy to jettison its Plan A conventional wisdom in favor of Plan B – that the Confessing Church Movement is a threat to the peace, purity and unity of the church that only can result in schism. For the record, please note who is screaming the loudest – the punditocracy. The members of the Confessing Churches, on the other hand, don’t care about the conventional wisdom. Instead, following as the Spirit leads, they are trying to preserve that peace, purity and unity by proclaiming Jesus Christ alone as the way, the truth and the life. The next step in that ongoing preservation – designing the building blocks that will transform the denomination locally, regionally and nationally – will take place during the National Celebration of Confessing Churches. Don’t be surprised if, after the celebration, the punditocracy wheels out a Plan C. Craig M. Kibler is director of publications for the Presbyterian Lay Committee. |
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