Guest commentary:
How evangelicals lost the PCUSA: The authority crisis
By Noel Anderson, May 26, 2011
The greatest philosophical problem of the past century involves authority. You and I both have authority problems. We all have issues with the question of what authorizes one person or thing to hold legitimate superior position over another. Authority is the chief issue behind denominational conflicts over sexuality, and perhaps behind the decline of Christianity in the west altogether. As affects the Presbyterian Church (USA), the crisis over gay ordination reveals the root issues, which all involve authority; specifically, Biblical authority, political authority and moral authority. Even a cursory glance at these reveals why the evangelicals lost the PCUSA.
1. Biblical authority
The authority of Scripture is confessed by Protestants across the board, so why are there so many different and divided Protestants? Denominations are precisely those communities that have coalesced into agreed-upon interpretations. The Bible only carries authority within communities where there is agreement on what the Scriptures say. If all Protestants interpreted Scripture the same, there would be one Protestant denomination.
The PCUSA is made up of (at least two) opposing interpretive communities, both of which maintain their confession of Biblical authority. In terms of the sexuality arguments, the appeal to Biblical authority is irrelevant unless and until agreement on the texts can be reached. The only reasonable alternative is division, which is the DNA of Protestantism. Better to allow two groups to operate independently of each other in good conscience while maintaining their mutually-exclusive definitions of Biblical authority than to throw out Biblical authority in favor of some substitute (and certainly inferior) bonding principle. In the PCUSA, as regards sexuality, the appeal to Biblical authority is sadly invalid.
2. Political authority
While some evangelicals have departed the PCUSA, others continue their attempts to stand firm in their understanding of Scripture against the movement of the sexual revolution. Like protesters in front of a bulldozer with their backs to the edge of a cliff, they rage, wave the Bible and mount insignificant campaigns to stop the machine’s movement from pushing them over the edge into utter irrelevance. They have none of the political authority they once enjoyed.
The politics of the PCUSA is all left-of-center and has been for at least a generation. Liberals have control of the flow of legislation and the bureaucracy. They are likely to lean on it pretty hard as long as they can. When political authority is a trump card, loyalism is a cardinal virtue – neither faith, nor piety, nor spirituality, nor scriptural competence, nor intellectual prowess – just denominational loyalty. Leaning exclusively upon political authority is a losing prospect for any church. It does not work; by numbers it has already been not working for decades.
Evangelicals seem to know better here. Even at the cost of the denomination’s demise they will not commit themselves to activism in the higher governing bodies. The appeals to do so have fallen upon deaf (or wiser) ears for decades. Political authority is the only way in which the liberals have been winning, but it has accomplished little for us.
3. Moral authority
Here is the key: the PCUSA is in crisis because of an absolute dearth of moral authority. When and where we agree upon Scripture, moral authority issues from the Bible. In such cases we say together: “It’s in the Bible,” and the matter is settled. When there is conflict, or in new territory (like sexuality issues) authority is difficult to establish.
When it cannot be established by Scripture, moral authority is established in one of two ways: through suffering or sacrifice.
From the left, pro-gay advocates have leaned heavily on the realities of bullying, bashing, rejection and exclusion to establish moral authority to their position. This works. We would all agree that there can be no rational Christian justification for hatred. The left must constantly harp on abuse issues if they are to keep their cause above the messy waters of mere sexual gratification, for the moment they find themselves defending a pleasure principle, moral authority drains away. GLBTs [gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender] who campaign for their own benefit lack moral authority whenever their agenda comes off as self-serving.
From the right, evangelicals have failed to establish moral authority in the dialogue. They hold up (their interpretation of) the Bible, but there is no movement toward consensus. They have no moral authority because holding their position costs them nothing. They are “sitting pretty” with cozy lives, calls and families – sacrificing nothing, suffering nothing – so what does their opinion matter? Nothing. In place of moral authority they present success. Their churches may be healthy and wealthy, but this is no substitute for moral authority. Evangelicals use money in the same way liberals use political clout.
Large churches with monstrous budgets are big sticks, but size and dollars do not establish moral authority, and it is foolish to think they do. Evangelicals who stay in the PCUSA will remain stuck in the impotence of rage until they find a way to reestablish moral authority.
Moderates and centrists have no moral authority, since they neither suffer nor sacrifice in these discussions. Their opinions, one way or the other, remain largely irrelevant.
Restoring moral authority
The first 19 years of my ordained ministry I was single and celibate. I had moral authority. When I spoke on the floor of the Baltimore General Assembly, I could rightfully point out the double-standard which sought to allow GLBTs sexual liberty while expecting a functional celibacy from single heterosexuals. I was heard.
Marriage put me into a new category from which I cannot speak with moral authority. This category may be called “the realm of righteous sexuality” or heterosexual marriage fidelity. The perception now is that I am just another of the “haves” reeking criticism against “have nots.” My words are empty unless I restore moral authority through either sacrifice or suffering.
Evangelicals who wish to influence the outcome of these conflicts can only gain moral authority through sacrifice. Until evangelicals make meaningful sacrifices in their own lives, their word is worth little. Sacrifice is the lingua franca of integrity. A season of collective, prayerful abstinence could serve the point, as could a deluge of financial support for One-by-One or Exodus International ministries. If it isn’t costly, it isn’t worthy. PCUSA evangelicals have failed in that they have attempted to wield Biblical authority without establishing moral authority otherwise. The result is our ongoing stalemate.
Political liberals may see no need to establish moral authority when political authority serves their purposes, but the demise of the denomination will awaken many to the reality that purely political battles produce only Phyrrhic victories. Conscientious liberals typically gain moral authority through acts of mercy and charity to those that suffer. This is their legitimacy, but when justice is dumbed-down to political terms, listeners check out. When justice is really about God’s justice, and it costs us something in terms of discipline or righteousness, then it gains moral authority and becomes winsome across the board.
A sad note
Sa
dly, there are those Presbyterians who have had moral authority all along and who have been silenced or degraded in these discussions. Abused GLBTs have been paraded forth and put on display to bolster the liberals’ political influence. While those who have suffered abuse have integrity, those who use them to win arguments have none.
There are others who credit the Gospel of Jesus Christ for their deliverance from homosexuality. These have been degraded by the left and largely ignored by the right. While these individuals could wield preeminent moral authority on these issues, their word goes largely unacknowledged. We should be listening to them.
Unity
If there is to be any hope for unity in the PCUSA, it must be through mutual campaigns of mutual sacrifice. In sexual matters, nothing carries more moral authority than celibacy. One celibate homosexual carries more moral authority than a thousand practicing gays. One celibate heterosexual has more moral authority than a thousand straight couples. Sacrifice is the speech of integrity. Unless and until both sides begin speaking it, there is little hope for meaningful dialogue, and no hope of a truly united PCUSA.
Noel Anderson is the senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Upland, Calif.