 The main thing  The Layman – Volume 37, Number 1 – Posted February 20, 2004
Lots of us – individually, in our jobs, or in our churches – start out with a statement of our mission, but not too far down the road we get diverted from it. In each of its 66 books, the Bible tells us that glorifying God is the Main Thing. In Hebrews 12, we see a particularly vivid picture of running the race before us, throwing off everything that hinders and entangles us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. In each of its 66 books, the Bible shows us how men and women, even with the best of intentions, quickly and completely lose sight of the Main Thing. One of the most startling examples of this deviation is illustrated when King Josiah orders that the Temple in Jerusalem be repaired (2 Chronicles 34). As the priests are cleaning out the building, they “find” the Book of the Law and take their discovery to the king. After Josiah hears what the book says, he tears his clothes, seeks God in prayer, and eventually leads God’s people to renew their covenant to “walk after the Lord … with all their heart and soul.” Josiah led them to affirm the Main Thing. As we read about this incident, we need to remember that the king and priests were not sitting around doing nothing in the years before they found the book. No, they were busy with work, but not with The Work. The story brings home the truth that we can be working hard to climb the ladder, but the ladder may be leaning on the wrong wall. The story tells us to keep the Main Thing the Main Thing. From the days of Zwingli and Calvin, our Reformed tradition has stated the Main Thing as Christ Alone (as the person who redeems us), Grace Alone (as the reason we are saved), Faith Alone (as the means by which we receive salvation), and Scripture Alone (as the authority we are given to know truth). In 1965, twelve people started the Presbyterian Lay Committee because they thought that the Presbyterian Church had taken its eyes off the Main Thing in proposing the Confession of 1967. Language in that confession suggests that the Scriptures are the words of men and not the God-given rule to direct us in glorifying and enjoying him. In the 39 years since then, we in the Lay Committee have tied our ministry to the Main Thing. We have lifted up the Biblical standards as the rod to measure the ideas and actions put forth within the PCUSA, so that everything is evaluated by God’s Word. The Lay Committee has often been criticized for the stories we have reported, as though we had concocted the events or the Biblical values that were violated. Our critics have tried to silence us, but, by the grace of God, they have not succeeded. Five times our critics have caused General Assemblies to examine our ministry; five times those assemblies have exonerated our work. Now the Presbytery of Western North Carolina is trying its hand at denigrating our ministry with the intent to derail it. At the presbytery meeting on January 31, it was astounding to see the fiery darts launched at us. The Committee on Ministry ignored all practices of due process – there was no fair notice of “charges” and no standard of evidence for proof. What actually was denigrated was not the ministry of Parker Williamson or the Lay Committee but the name of Jesus in which these things were supposedly done. We will appeal. Please pray for us as we do, and for the PCUSA as the effects of this pernicious action work through our denomination. What happened in Western North Carolina is a serious event in the life of the Lay Committee: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.” The main thing is for us to keep running this race to glorify God and to keep looking to Jesus. He endured the cross for the joy that was set before him – sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God. We will look to that which is before us – the words “Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.” Peggy Hedden, a ruling elder in Columbus, Ohio, is the chairman of the board of directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. |
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