 Compound fractures  The Layman Volume 37, Number 2, Posted June 2, 2004
How can this be? After all, aren’t we the denomination whose confessions call for connections? How can it not be? Once held together by Jesus Christ, the Word of God incarnate, who meets us in the Word of God written, we were known as people of the Word. But Presbyterians in high places have separated the Word incarnate from the Word written. They have made Jesus Christ a mere “christ-concept,” an ethereal mascot for their own, ill-conceived and hopelessly human ideologies. His miracles having been denied and his teaching debunked, this impotent “christ” bears no resemblance to the Triune God. And what has been done with the Word of God written? The American Psychological and Political Science associations are accorded greater authority than Scripture when denominational advisory groups counsel our members in matters of personal and corporate behavior. Talking heads have replaced the truth in our moral discourse, and we are the poorer for that substitution. Once held together by polity, Presbyterians respected constitutional authority. Now, sessions, presbyteries and synod courts rule that people can ignore portions of the constitution that are not to their liking. Postmodern Presbyterians – aided and abetted by a General Assembly stated clerk who will not defend the constitution against its assailants – assign their own meanings to the text. For Christians, real estate is hardly the tie that binds. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa is telling us that it doesn’t want any of the dollars pledged to it by National Capital Presbytery. Although they are in great need, they would rather forfeit U.S. Presbyterians’ money than their own integrity. Presbyterians in the United States have been leaving our denomination in large numbers for years. Now, entire congregations are beginning to go. Told by their presbyteries that they cannot take their property with them, some are willing to pay the price. Others are on the edge, just waiting for a precipitating event. Jesus said, “This is my body, broken for you.” He could also have said, “This is my body broken by you.” Our unfaithfulness is responsible for the fractures that have torn us asunder. As commissioners to the 216th General Assembly gather in Richmond, let us pray that they will attend to the plight of this shattered communion. May they hear the voices of our African brothers and sisters, a congregation in Pittsburgh, and thousands of Christians who have been driven into exile by our pursuit of a compromised faith. One assembly cannot knit these broken bones. But that’s where “This is my body, broken for you” enters the picture. Jesus Christ is, after all, the divine physician, and by his stripes, we can be healed. There is still a chance for wholeness in the Presbyterian Church (USA) if the 216th General Assembly will repent, turn to the Lord Jesus and choose leaders who obey God’s Word. A column by Parker T. Williamson, chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor in chief of its publications. |
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