New light and God’s Word
The Layman June 2004 Volume 37, Number 2, June 2, 2004
The 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church will meet at a time when the denomination is being lured into culture-worship. Scripture has a word for such occasions: “Thou shalt have no other gods.”
The meeting in Richmond on June 26-July 4 is expected to be the last annual General Assembly since our American Presbyterian ancestors, many of whom shaped their churches’ and the nation’s moral foundations, held their first assembly in 1787. Over the centuries, the faithful witness of American Presbyterians enlightened the world.
But the light is flickering. Christians in emerging nations, whose seeds of faith were planted by American missionaries, are struggling to understand how our once-great denomination continues to raffle off its treasures in Christ.
No Biblical basis
They cannot conceive of how Presbyterians, people of the Word, can sanction abortion, even the murder of a baby as it emerges from the womb. They find no Biblical basis for concluding that homosexual behavior, whether for members or church officers, is compatible with Christian teaching. They are stunned when they find out that some Presbyterian leaders are urging the church to abandon its commitment to strong marriages.
At the 216th General Assembly, commissioners will debate, perhaps with unparalleled intensity, what it means to be a Presbyterian and a Christian in a changing world They have two choices: They can denigrate the revelation of God and the person and work of Jesus Christ and drive the denomination into deeper darkness or they can begin in earnest a ministry of faithful prayer and action toward true Reformation – Reformed and being reformed according to the Word of God.
Pray – and pray fervently
Presbyterians should pray – and pray fervently – that the commissioners will read the signs of the time. Our denomination is becoming inarticulate and ineffective. Our membership is disappearing. Our giving is pathetic. Our commitment to proclaim the gospel is flagging. Our obsession with the “rights” of members often contradicts God’s call to righteousness. Publicly, – and for this we are grateful – few of those whom we seek to influence are listening to the wayward voice of the PCUSA.
The commissioners will be tempted again to compromise the integrity of the Christian faith. They will hear advocates of cultural accommodation speak of their rights, feelings and pain – and they will hear them make claims that they are being led by the “spirit.” They will be urged to follow a “new light.”
But every spirit, Scripture says, must be tested.
The 1978 General Assembly, in its authoritative interpretation on homosexual behavior, realized how high the stakes were. Those commissioners approved a report that included this comment: “The church that destroys the balance between Word and Spirit, so carefully constructed by the Reformers to insure that we follow none other than Jesus Christ who is the Word, will soon lose its Christian substance and become indistinguishable from the world. We have been charged to seek ‘new light from God’s Word,’ not ‘new light’ contrary to God’s Word.”