 A fair question  The Layman Volume 37, Number 1, Posted February 20, 2004
That’s a fair question. I owe much to faithful congregations in the Presbyterian Church (USA). One of those congregations led me to Jesus Christ. Another taught me the Scriptures and the Westminster Catechism. Another counseled with me when I sensed God’s call to the ministry, and the session of that church confirmed my call in prayer. Faithful seminary professors taught me to think theologically and to discern truth from error, using the benchmarks of Scripture and our Reformed standards. Colleagues in ministry have encouraged and corrected me over the years. In many ways, Christian communities that bear the name Presbyterian have blessed me. I love the Church’s faith. Presbyterian congregations that rightly preach God’s Word, administer the sacraments and exercise Scriptural discipline are the Church. Conversely, an institution called the Presbyterian Church (USA) is not the Church. It is an ecclesiastical organization, a corporation chartered in the state of Pennsylvania. It is the product of multiple mergers, an institutional entity that was created by the congregations to carry out their ministries at home and abroad. It is legitimate only as long as it expresses the Church’s faith and life. Therein lies the rub. Revisionists have overtaken the denomination’s infrastructure and displaced Reformed faith with an inane ideology called “inclusiveness.” Their propensity to encompass opposite convictions is an offense to reason, for the first rule of logic is that A and Non-A cannot both be true at the same time. But it is worse than irrational; it is an offense to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is the truth. So why don’t I leave, as my Committee on Ministry suggests? Because I cannot abandon the Church I love to institutional managers who proclaim an alien faith. Scripture assures us that truth ultimately trumps falsehood. The ideology that holds captive our denominational structures today will not last. Presbyterian congregations existed many years before there was a General Assembly or the current plethora of ecclesiastical agencies. Faithful Presbyterian congregations will thrive long after current structures have crumbled. Cascading membership and red-ink budgets tell the tale. The institution, as we know it today, will not survive. I hope I live long enough to witness the rebirth of Reformed faith in our midst. But whether this is my lot is of little importance, for this contest is not – nor has it ever been – about me or the ministry of the Presbyterian Lay Committee that I am honored to serve. It is about the Lord’s Church, and His promise that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Parker T. Williamson is chief executive officer and editor in chief of the Presbyterian Lay Committee’s publications. |
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