Building Community by denying Christ
January 1, 1998
Building Community by denying Christ?
Building Community Among Strangers is now being circulated as a “churchwide study document” (see stories, pp. 1, 16). It should be read by all who are concerned about the PCUSA’s present and future theological direction. It documents the inevitable outcome of misguided theologies that continue to mark so much of denominational officialdom. Consider, as just one of many possible examples, the assertion “It is up to us to choose how we read the scripture” (p. 29). That statement summarily dismisses almost 2,000 years of study and comment by faithful Christians and assumes acceptance of the deconstructionist premise that written texts have no inherent meanings, but mean only what the reader wants them to mean. (One wonders if the study’s authors expect their words to be taken literally and their instructions to be followed as they intended) This Presbyterian study is based on philosophical relativism, which replaces the revelation of God with individual choice.
Abandoning Jesus as Lord
Sadly, the authors insist that participants begin this study by embracing theological pluralism: “Be careful not to argue about the relative value of different religions … there are no ‘right’ answers, only different perspectives” (p. 23).
Not surprisingly, the study takes a dim view of those Christians who proclaim the good news that “Jesus Christ is Lord” and thus obey Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations. It effectively concludes that human community cannot be built until Christians abandon the evangelistic efforts implicit in the biblical pronouncement “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10-11).
An important opportunity
Following the 1993 ReImagining conference, the 1994 Wichita General Assembly declared, “Theology matters. … We affirm, again and again, the faith once delivered historically expressed in the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds, and the other historic confessions of our church.” That statement is in irreconcilable conflict with Building Community Among Strangers, which, in opting for universalism, refuses to confess, with our creeds and confessions, Jesus’ words, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
As the Wichita Assembly observed of the uproar that followed the PCUSA’s funding and defense of ReImagining’s ideologies, “One of the problems … came from the incomplete and late statements of the General Assembly Council. … the perception created by the council’s initial response increased the strong feelings and exacerbated an already difficult situation.”
The 1998 GAC has an important opportunity to learn from that mistake.
At its February meeting, this GAC should publicly concur with and enact the assessment of its own Evangelism Subcommittee: “We do not recommend this material for further use in the PCUSA.” By immediately terminating this study and thereby making certain that it never becomes the basis for General Assembly policy, the GAC would assure all Presbyterians that it affirms the integrity of Scripture, the PCUSA’s fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ, and that “Theology matters” was not merely a transitory, placating catch phrase, but is instead an ongoing reality.
Theology certainly still matters to Presbyterians in the pews. Their reaction to the ReImagining conference showed their still-present capacity and inclination to make known their concerns. By distancing itself – quickly and unequivocally – from Building Community’s jettisoning of Jesus’ exclusive claim of Lordship, the GAC would signal to watching presbyteries and sessions that it continues to affirm the faith “once for all entrusted to the saints.”
Their action, or inaction, will indicate the theological direction in which they aspire to lead the PCUSA.