|
VOW
|
THE ESSENTIAL TENETS AS MARGINS
In defending the decision of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Southern New England to uphold the election of Wayne Osborne to the session of First Presbyterian Church, Stamford, Connecticut, lead counsel John Harder said, "We understand we are bound to adhere to the essentials. Of course, they (the General Assembly) never define them." Oh really? When I read Mr. Harder's assertion, my mind — although sometimes fuzzy during this particular time in my life — began to search its "data base," trying to remember a particularly important part of the Book of Order. To help me think a little faster, I turned to a jewel of a resource that every Presbyterian should have on her/his bookshelf. Written by Jack Rogers, it's called Presbyterian Creeds, A Guide to the Book of Confessions. And guess what? I found what I was looking for. On page 23, Rogers states unequivocally that our Constitution "gives significant guidance on what it is essential to believe" (emphasis mine). Citing Chapter II of the Book of Order, he warns us of the "serious nature" of the confessional standards, which although subordinate to Scripture are nevertheless standards. He then reminds his readers that "The church is prepared to counsel with or even to discipline one ordained who seriously rejects the faith expressed in the confessions" (G-2.0200). Next (pages 23-24), Rogers lists ten doctrines that are essential and necessary. "Two are noted as shared with the church catholic, or universal: the mystery of the Trinity, and the incarnation of the eternal Word of God in Jesus Christ. Two are identified with our affirmation of the Protestant Reformation: justification by grace through faith, and Scripture as the final authority for salvation and the life of faith. Six are declared to express the faith of the Reformed tradition...The six themes stated in The Book of Order as characteristic of the Reformed tradition are God's sovereignty; God's choosing (election) of people for salvation and service; the covenant life of the church, ordering itself according to the Word of God; a faithful stewardship of God's creation; the sin of idolatry, which makes anything created ultimate, rather than worshipping only the Creator; and the necessity of obedience to the Word of God, which directs us to work for justice in the transformation of society."Having identified these ten essentials, he creatively describes their function in ordering and shaping the life and faith of the Christian church. He calls this section, "Setting the Margins," and illustrates his point by referring to his computer. Rogers writes: "A word processor or personal computer has preprogrammed margins, on the left and on the right. Within these margins, we have complete freedom to write what we want, changing and experimenting at will. We can also alter these margins, making them wider or narrower. But we cannot function without some kind of margin on either side. Neither can we in our denomination live peaceably together and move forward in mission unless we know what is essential and necessary for us and what is the area in which we have freedom of individual conscience."In his analogy, Rogers explains one reason why we are experiencing such deep and vexing problems in our denomination. Fourteen short years after Rogers wrote this wonderful resource, we have an elder declaring in a court of the church that we Presbyterians functionally have no essentials to which we are bound because the General Assembly cannot or will not define them. Well, Mr. Harder, the General Assembly doesn't have to define them because they are already stated clearly and succinctly in The Book of Order. Again, Rogers teaches, "these ten doctrines are the result of prayer, thought, and experience within a living tradition reflecting on the Word of God. It is essential and necessary that Presbyterians understand, reflect on, and act out their convictions regarding Trinity, Incarnation, Justification, Scripture, Sovereignty, Election, Covenant, Stewardship, Sin, and Obedience."These essential tenets — and in particular, "Scripture as the final authority for salvation and the life of faith" — must be the touchstone of what is genuinely Presbyterian. Further, we will be successful in finding unity in the midst of our diversity only to the degree that they establish the margins of our conversations. |