|
VOW
|
STANDARDS
Let me ask you a question. When it comes to choosing a new doctor for yourself or for your family, do you decide on some criteria beforehand – or do you merely open the yellow pages to “Physicians and Surgeons,” stick in your finger, and pick any old one at random? If you are anything like me, you will want to know that your prospective physician went to a good school, that s/he didn’t graduate last in his/her class, and that s/he has a generally clear record relative to malpractice suits. How about when you take a prescription to be filled? Do you take it to just anyone, or do you want to make sure that your pharmacist operates according to the highest professional standards possible? If you are anything like me, you do some checking around before you pick someone to fill your prescriptions. You want to make sure that the person you choose uses chemicals that are pure, that they’ve been tested properly, and that the FDA has approved them for the treatment of the particular set of “issues” that took you to the doc in the first place. What about your drinking water? What about the food that you buy at the grocery store? You have standards relative to these things, too. If you are like me, you support and depend on federal and state laws that protect you and your family from tainted meat and bacteria-ridden fruits and vegetables. You read the Health Department reports on local restaurants that are published in the newspaper, and avoid the ones that rate low. But, how many of us have the same high standards when it comes to making sure, before we give it, that the money that we give to mission is used the way that we expect it to be used? More specifically, how many Presbyterian Women take the time and expend the energy to determine that their standards are met relative to the money that they give so faithfully – month in and month out – to the national PW organization? Even more specifically, how many of us are sure that the money we give – trusting that it will be used to hand the faith on to the next generation of young Presbyterian women – is being used for that purpose? Let me give you an example of where my standards haven’t been met. One of the grant recipients for the 2003 Birthday Offering is called The Cleveland Campus Mosaic. It is a ministry to university students. At first blush, it sounds like a worthy recipient of a PW grant. After all, who among us doesn’t want our young people to be nurtured and challenged in the Christian faith as they live through this part of their lives? However, if you were to take the time to study their website (http://www.cwru.edu/orgs/UPCaM/home.htm ), to look carefully at their mission statement, and to read the various position papers written by their leaders, you would probably discover that the Mosaic doesn’t not live up to your standards, either. The philosophy and theology that the Mosaic teaches will, most likely, trouble you. Clearly, the Mosaic has its own standards, but my guess is that they are not the same biblical and constitutional standards that are held by the majority of Presbyterian Women. So, what can you to do? Well, it is your right as a member of Presbyterian Women to expect the highest of standards when it comes to the way in which the national organization spends your money. Presbyterian Women has a wonderful history of supporting the mission of the church of Jesus Christ. But today, in some cases, that standard is no longer being met. Whose problem is that? It’s each of ours. But, you must take the responsibility to gather sufficient information upon which to decide if the current standard governing PW’s mission giving is one that you are willing to continue to support. As for myself, I can no longer support the Birthday Offering.
And, I will continue to be unable to support it until I am guaranteed that
the money I give will go to advance the historic faith of the church –
not some skewed and warped version of it. Sometimes the women in
my circle look a bit askance at me when I don’t pony up, but that’s a price
I’m willing to pay in order to live up to my standards.
When it comes to your physical well-being, you expect the highest standards. When it comes to the food that you eat and the water that you drink, you expect the highest standards. The time has come for you also to expect the highest of standards for your spiritual well-being and the well-being of our college young people as well. The words of Paul to his beloved child, Timothy, apply to us today no less than they did in the first century – “Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
|