 One Word; different language  The Layman Volume 38, Number 1, Posted April 12, 2005
On March 6, I preached to a burgeoning Nairobi congregation. Hundreds of Kenyans packed the sanctuary, some of whom had traveled more than three hours to attend the service. The occasion was an ordination, a sacred ceremony in which African leaders were being commissioned by their church to represent Jesus Christ to the people. No one here sees ordination as a right. They understand it as a great privilege and sacred responsibility to live and lead God’s people under the tutelage of his holy Word. Kenyans are baffled by ordination games now being played by Presbyterians in the USA. They cannot understand how any human could claim entitlement to this sacred rite. Nor can they comprehend how persons who flagrantly violate God’s Word would dare assume the mantle of authority in Christ’s Church. Kenyans shudder at the very thought of homosexual behavior. In fact, they deem such acts unutterable, for the Swahili language has no word to describe the things that homosexuals do to one another. What the Africans can say – and they say it very clearly – is that Jesus Christ is Lord; there is no other; and those who claim him are obliged to obey Scripture, which is nothing less than the Word of God. Dr. David Githii, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, has minced no words in conveying that message to Presbyterian Church (USA) officials. “You brought the gospel to us,” he says. “You taught us Scripture. Do you no longer believe it?” Good question. It is one that African Anglicans are also asking of the Episcopal Church (USA). Enraged by that denomination’s “consecration” of Gene Robinson, a man who left his wife and children and took up with a homosexual lover, African Anglicans refused to take communion with representatives of the Episcopal Church (USA) when they joined worldwide leaders of the Anglican Communion in Ireland, Feb 22-26. Previously controlled by the West, the Anglican Communion experienced a seismic shift at that meeting. African, Asian and Latin American primates, who represent the vast majority of its 77 million members, wrenched control of the agenda from the clutches of American and Canadian bishops, who represent barely more than 3 million members, and they voted to ask American and Canadian representatives who bless same-sex behavior to withdraw from their governing council. Githii and his Presbyterian colleagues are paying close attention to what Nigerian Peter Akinola and other African leaders are saying to the Anglican Communion. A published author with an earned Ph.D., Githii is offended by former Presbyterian Church (USA) Moderator Susan Andrews’ dismissive suggestion that he and his people are “adolescents.” With great intellectual firepower, Githii finds the liberals’ slurs deeply demeaning, and he has not hesitated to tell them so. Moderator Githii will visit the United States in June when he takes the podium as a keynote speaker at “Following Christ into the 21st Century,” a New Wineskins conference. There, in a move that is not unlike what the Anglicans have accomplished, Githii and other worldwide Presbyterian leaders are expected to talk about relationships with Presbyterians around the globe. Committed to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they take no heed of pronouncements that emanate from Presbyterian Church (USA) headquarters, and they are open to forging connections with Presbyterian congregations that have not bowed the knee to Baal and unequivocally declare “the faith once entrusted to the saints.” Historic Reformed faith was once entrusted to the West. Those who have abandoned that fiduciary responsibility have breached a sacred trust. But the Lord who governs this universe will not allow his trust to fail because his trustee proved unfaithful. He is raising up Africans, Asians, Latin Americans and Middle Easterners, Christians whose language may sound strange to Western ears, but whose message rings true to the gospel. As these new leaders assume the mantle that has been forfeited by the West, we are reminded of Scripture’s promise: “The Word that goes forth from my mouth shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that for which I purposed it.” Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 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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