I've been discussing the issues present in my blog with several close friends quite a bit lately, and have been reminded of some very important points.
1. Just because someone is within or outside of your own Christian midst does not mean they are or are not at the same point in their walk with God as you are. We all come to faith at different times in our lives, we come across different trials no matter how similar they might seem, and we are able to weather these trials in various stages of spiritual strength. Acquiring Biblical knowledge is yet another part of a Christian's walk. Therefore, we much never forget that regardless of how much a brother in the Lord agrees or disagrees with your own convictions, he must never be regarded as unteachable. Likewise, we must never forget that our own walks are yet to be finished, and even in the areas where we feel most confident, we are not yet made perfect. We may believe ourselves wholly right, but we must not use our intellectual prowess to belittle or discourage, but to inspire and encourage one another!
2. Whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not, labels have nothing to do with how we should view each other in the sight of God. In the words of my friend, I do not believe that Christ would have wanted us to resort to simplistic monikers in place of personal discussions amongst each other. Just because it is easier to get to the root of what we believe or do not believe by waving around our affiliation to a particular denomination does not mean it is best. We should all keep in mind that, regardless of our man-made borders, we still belong under one umbrella of God's Kingdom. We should desire to know everyone in God's Kingdom intimately. We are, after all, supposed to be family. Blood is thicker than water, and our Christian bonds to each other should be stronger still.
3. The church was not made for man. It was made for God. When we lose sight of this, we become petty and selfish and become distracted by trivial issues. We allow ourselves to become divided over things because we insist on everyone seeing things our way, because somehow, that is so much more important than encouraging one another and furthering God's kingdom. We are convinced that above all else, WE are the most important part of the church. Reminded ourselves that even if we didn't show up in the pews for church each Sunday, God would still be glorified.
4. Allowing a sin to continue simply because we do not see a possible way out proves a desperate lack of faith and an even greater laziness. I recall my pastor speaking on the subject of sin. The thing about sin is it never stays the same. It is either defeated or it grows. If we believe that these problems within the church cannot be changed, then we are not just allowing the sin to continue, we are encouraging it to grow.
I should remark here that there are efforts being made amongst certain pastors and congregations, but I do not believe it should stop there. We must all feel a personal responsibility to heal the rifts that have been caused rather than simply delegating the tasks to our Church leaders alone.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Questioning Authority
My church, although more than 10 years old, is still in the stages of being a mission rather than a fully independent Church. Because of this, we had a missions committee meeting this afternoon for the purpose of checking our "vitals" as a congregation.
It is so hard to know precisely the right time in which to say everything you desire to express, everything that you find important enough to discuss in the company of your brothers and sisters in the Church. Even though so many issues are weighing heavily on my heart, so many questions burdening my mind, I asked only two today. They were not received well, and in my humble opinion, they went greatly unanswered.
I can admit to you all, the Reformed Church is beginning to disgust me. I hold it so near and dear to my heart, and yet it is disappointing me in so many grave ways.
I have always been taught to respect my elders, to admire those men in the pulpit who have the hardest, most frightening jobs in the Church of all, and to submit as a women to the men in the Church. I have never minded doing any of those things. I am not a secret feminist, I do not crave power in the congregation. But today, I wanted to call a man of power out on the carpet.
I will tell you brothers- research for yourselves those differences that divide the PCA, OPC, RCUS, and URC and you will find little more than OPINIONS! Some LIKE the Heidelberg over the Westminster Catechism. Some WANT Communion more fenced off than others. Some THINK the power structure should be designed one way and some think it should be done another way. And yet, when asked why we, as a congregation cannot encourage another small PCA mission just down the street from us, I received a scoffing LAUGH.
A brother approached me soon after the meeting. He is a young seminary student attending Westminster. He encouraged me for asking my questions and told me he thought all these divisions were truly the achilles heel of the Reformed Church. I couldn't agree more!
He went on to say that if we truly wanted to follow scriptures, we wouldn't hesitate to join with that Mission Church down the street to unify as a single body. Amazing! He could not have said it better!
After the meeting, we broke for lunch. Other than the young seminary student, I was not approached by any other member of the congregation- even to be challenged. I feel at a complete loss, utterly discouraged.
So what are we to do?
As for the RCUS, we are in great danger of disappearing as a denomination entirely. Young seminary students are not interested in us or our churches. We do nothing to evangelize even in our surrounding neighborhoods. We are content to sit in isolation. Several pulpits stand empty for various reasons, and I cannot help but think that this is God giving us precisely what we want. We REFUSE to associate with surrounding churches, we are picky in our selection of pastors to the point of exhaustion, and we do nothing to encourage more youth to join our community. We are pleading on hands and knees for God not to let our denomination to die out, but we do nothing to prevent it. If we could put aside that label for one minute, we could give up our petty pride and intermingle with other struggling reformed churches and work towards building up GOD'S church!
I am knocking around a few ideas in my head. As soon as I get one moving and working, I will post more.
It is so hard to know precisely the right time in which to say everything you desire to express, everything that you find important enough to discuss in the company of your brothers and sisters in the Church. Even though so many issues are weighing heavily on my heart, so many questions burdening my mind, I asked only two today. They were not received well, and in my humble opinion, they went greatly unanswered.
I can admit to you all, the Reformed Church is beginning to disgust me. I hold it so near and dear to my heart, and yet it is disappointing me in so many grave ways.
I have always been taught to respect my elders, to admire those men in the pulpit who have the hardest, most frightening jobs in the Church of all, and to submit as a women to the men in the Church. I have never minded doing any of those things. I am not a secret feminist, I do not crave power in the congregation. But today, I wanted to call a man of power out on the carpet.
I will tell you brothers- research for yourselves those differences that divide the PCA, OPC, RCUS, and URC and you will find little more than OPINIONS! Some LIKE the Heidelberg over the Westminster Catechism. Some WANT Communion more fenced off than others. Some THINK the power structure should be designed one way and some think it should be done another way. And yet, when asked why we, as a congregation cannot encourage another small PCA mission just down the street from us, I received a scoffing LAUGH.
A brother approached me soon after the meeting. He is a young seminary student attending Westminster. He encouraged me for asking my questions and told me he thought all these divisions were truly the achilles heel of the Reformed Church. I couldn't agree more!
He went on to say that if we truly wanted to follow scriptures, we wouldn't hesitate to join with that Mission Church down the street to unify as a single body. Amazing! He could not have said it better!
After the meeting, we broke for lunch. Other than the young seminary student, I was not approached by any other member of the congregation- even to be challenged. I feel at a complete loss, utterly discouraged.
So what are we to do?
As for the RCUS, we are in great danger of disappearing as a denomination entirely. Young seminary students are not interested in us or our churches. We do nothing to evangelize even in our surrounding neighborhoods. We are content to sit in isolation. Several pulpits stand empty for various reasons, and I cannot help but think that this is God giving us precisely what we want. We REFUSE to associate with surrounding churches, we are picky in our selection of pastors to the point of exhaustion, and we do nothing to encourage more youth to join our community. We are pleading on hands and knees for God not to let our denomination to die out, but we do nothing to prevent it. If we could put aside that label for one minute, we could give up our petty pride and intermingle with other struggling reformed churches and work towards building up GOD'S church!
I am knocking around a few ideas in my head. As soon as I get one moving and working, I will post more.
The First of Many Observations
Hello,
My name is Annie Walker and I am a young adult living in Orange County, Ca. While I fully intend on this blog to be about the church, fellowship, scriptures, and pretty nothing about myself, I figured giving you a brief-ish background so as to better explain why it is I find this issue so incredibly important would be wise.
I have grown up in the Reformed Church all my life. The first church I ever knew was a decent-sized OPC. Coincidentally, it is there that I also experienced my first taste of division within God's church. There was a very brutal and nasty church split that derived mainly from various disagreements over pato-communion. My pastor, who my family and I had grown quite close to, was asked to leave. We followed him for a short time, but soon enough, my parents noticed a significant bitterness in the pastor's attitude and decided enough was enough.
From there, we church hopped for what seemed like forever. We visited every sort of church you could possibly imagine. Baptist churches with hard, wooden pews that made my butt sore, big tacky churches with lots of loud music, non-denominational churches with altar calls, and finally a barely budding PCA church tucked away in an office building. We stayed there where the teaching seemed familiar. This, I suppose, is truly the church I grew up in. The church grew in numbers and I grew too- right into rebellion. Unfortunately, that rebellion went widely undetected until it was too late. When I was caught in my sin, it had grown so large and dug so deep that I broke my parent's hearts. It was then that I was made to go to meetings with the pastor and counseling sessions with his wife and, of course, I was refused communion. It was then that I discovered what it felt like to be a pariah. I found out what it was like hate going to church. The pain experienced over those months of "recovery" are some of the most painful moments of my life. I won't go into detail here, but if you are a teen struggling in church, I would be happy to correspond with you in private. No one should ever have to go through that kind of loneliness within the church. Ever.
I left that church. Alone. My parents, though displeased with the church as well, felt committed to stay for the time being, and my sister and her husband believed the church to be in the right.
I discovered my old pastor from my beloved OPC church was preaching in a new RCUS church just down the street from me. I found my new church home there. I am still a member to this day.
Where in the past I grew in age and intelligence, I found a church where I could grow in my faith. It was a painful process, but it was the good kind of pain- the pain of being pruned by God's careful hands. I still look back on that first year with incredible thankfulness and excitement.
Of course, every church has it's bumps in the road, and my new church was no exception. The first problem I witnessed was in the form of a greatly troubled family and blossoming argument over pato-baptism. A few families left the congregation and have never returned. The youth group practically disintegrated and I remembered how hurtful it can be when a church becomes fractured.
Soon after I recovered from my incredible, sinful stupidity I decided it was time to test my wings by moving eight hours away from my home in order to attend a college I had only dreamed of studying at. It was here that I discovered what a modern day spiritual desert looks and feels like.
I was in an incredibly liberal area, which means there were very, very few reformed churches. I began attending a tiny OPC, but was feeling rather unsatisfied by the preaching. It was not what I had become accustomed to in my home church and I began missing my home church desperately.
It was nearly an entire year before I discovered that there were small Bible study groups that were held on campus. Well, I should point out that I knew they were being held, but that I doubted their effectiveness. I had grown up to believe that reformed faith, Calvinist doctrine was the only way to go. Everything else is watered down and perhaps even heretical. I didn't dare step out of my reformed bubble and give something new and dangerous a try!
But, as it happened, halfway through my second semester of living in a suburban, farming town with hardly a friend to speak of drove me to some forms of desperation- that form in particular manifested itself in daring to step foot in one of those crazy non-denominational Bible Studies!
This is where I learned that even if you don't believe in Predestination or prefer praise songs over the old hymns or think your pagan friend is a little good deep down inside- you can still love God and be a christian. What's more is that you can even teach a theology hound like myself some new things about God's word! This is where I honestly learned about true, Christian fellowship. And it was amazing. I have never met a more inspiring group of people in my life. There I was traipsing through my desert, feeling thirsty and starving and they ran up without a single pretense and gave me everything I had been craving since I left home and more.
When I did return home I ached for that fellowship among my peers in the worst way. I was back in my home church, but youth were few and far between. It was then I began attending Bible Studies at various reformed churches in my area.
I discovered a particular youth group at a URC that seemed fairly welcoming. It was here that I discovered how sheltered the reformed youth can be. It was a shocker and frustration. They were brothers and sisters in Christ, but I found myself coming home angry and imbittered toward their narrow and, often-times, calloused attitude toward the non-Christian community as well as fellow Christians outside their denomination. They had no desire in their hearts to incorporate any outsiders.
Shortly thereafter, one of my very good friends invited me to his own college group. I held back for a few weeks knowing he came from a Lutheran church with very few roots in any original reformed theology, but then I remembered my college friends and took the plunge. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised and richly rewarded.
It is this group of eager guys and gals who have encouraged me to start this blog as well as to start moving toward something that has the potential to be powerful.
God has blessed me with a church background not many have. With that blessing, I truly believe God has given me a vivid image of how distorted our picture of God's church has become.
This isn't just a problem in the reformed church- though I would say boldly, and without remorse, that we are the biggest culprits. With approximately 10 denominations in the United States alone, we have become enamored with getting things more right than the other guy rather than encouraging one another.
Accuracy should always be considered highly important and vital to a church's growth, but when we begin to divide ourselves over trite matters that have little to nothing to do with salvation, but deal largely in preference (i.e. communion being served once a week vs. once a month) we miss the mark so terribly. So where does it end? And why are we not encouraged to fellowship with each other regardless? Why are we building these borders amongst ourselves? And who decided we should turn a cold, disgusted eye on those outside of the reformed church instead of a welcoming spirit of brotherhood? Who decided Evangelical Christians were unteachable and deserved to be treated with disrespect?
The Church is the Bride of Christ. The Spirit moves through the Church- speaks through the pulpit- stirs the hearts and minds of the congregation. The Father is to be worshiped and glorified by the Church. Who of you believes these fractures and quarrels that exist today achieve anything healthy?!
I will admit that there are two conferences that promote reformed church unity. However, even then there must be a division between the more liberal reformed churches vs. the more traditional ones. Also, these conferences are held every 4 YEARS and are held in various countries all over the world. Is this the best we can do?!
I will leave you with what is, in my opinion, a rather convicting verse:
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
My name is Annie Walker and I am a young adult living in Orange County, Ca. While I fully intend on this blog to be about the church, fellowship, scriptures, and pretty nothing about myself, I figured giving you a brief-ish background so as to better explain why it is I find this issue so incredibly important would be wise.
I have grown up in the Reformed Church all my life. The first church I ever knew was a decent-sized OPC. Coincidentally, it is there that I also experienced my first taste of division within God's church. There was a very brutal and nasty church split that derived mainly from various disagreements over pato-communion. My pastor, who my family and I had grown quite close to, was asked to leave. We followed him for a short time, but soon enough, my parents noticed a significant bitterness in the pastor's attitude and decided enough was enough.
From there, we church hopped for what seemed like forever. We visited every sort of church you could possibly imagine. Baptist churches with hard, wooden pews that made my butt sore, big tacky churches with lots of loud music, non-denominational churches with altar calls, and finally a barely budding PCA church tucked away in an office building. We stayed there where the teaching seemed familiar. This, I suppose, is truly the church I grew up in. The church grew in numbers and I grew too- right into rebellion. Unfortunately, that rebellion went widely undetected until it was too late. When I was caught in my sin, it had grown so large and dug so deep that I broke my parent's hearts. It was then that I was made to go to meetings with the pastor and counseling sessions with his wife and, of course, I was refused communion. It was then that I discovered what it felt like to be a pariah. I found out what it was like hate going to church. The pain experienced over those months of "recovery" are some of the most painful moments of my life. I won't go into detail here, but if you are a teen struggling in church, I would be happy to correspond with you in private. No one should ever have to go through that kind of loneliness within the church. Ever.
I left that church. Alone. My parents, though displeased with the church as well, felt committed to stay for the time being, and my sister and her husband believed the church to be in the right.
I discovered my old pastor from my beloved OPC church was preaching in a new RCUS church just down the street from me. I found my new church home there. I am still a member to this day.
Where in the past I grew in age and intelligence, I found a church where I could grow in my faith. It was a painful process, but it was the good kind of pain- the pain of being pruned by God's careful hands. I still look back on that first year with incredible thankfulness and excitement.
Of course, every church has it's bumps in the road, and my new church was no exception. The first problem I witnessed was in the form of a greatly troubled family and blossoming argument over pato-baptism. A few families left the congregation and have never returned. The youth group practically disintegrated and I remembered how hurtful it can be when a church becomes fractured.
Soon after I recovered from my incredible, sinful stupidity I decided it was time to test my wings by moving eight hours away from my home in order to attend a college I had only dreamed of studying at. It was here that I discovered what a modern day spiritual desert looks and feels like.
I was in an incredibly liberal area, which means there were very, very few reformed churches. I began attending a tiny OPC, but was feeling rather unsatisfied by the preaching. It was not what I had become accustomed to in my home church and I began missing my home church desperately.
It was nearly an entire year before I discovered that there were small Bible study groups that were held on campus. Well, I should point out that I knew they were being held, but that I doubted their effectiveness. I had grown up to believe that reformed faith, Calvinist doctrine was the only way to go. Everything else is watered down and perhaps even heretical. I didn't dare step out of my reformed bubble and give something new and dangerous a try!
But, as it happened, halfway through my second semester of living in a suburban, farming town with hardly a friend to speak of drove me to some forms of desperation- that form in particular manifested itself in daring to step foot in one of those crazy non-denominational Bible Studies!
This is where I learned that even if you don't believe in Predestination or prefer praise songs over the old hymns or think your pagan friend is a little good deep down inside- you can still love God and be a christian. What's more is that you can even teach a theology hound like myself some new things about God's word! This is where I honestly learned about true, Christian fellowship. And it was amazing. I have never met a more inspiring group of people in my life. There I was traipsing through my desert, feeling thirsty and starving and they ran up without a single pretense and gave me everything I had been craving since I left home and more.
When I did return home I ached for that fellowship among my peers in the worst way. I was back in my home church, but youth were few and far between. It was then I began attending Bible Studies at various reformed churches in my area.
I discovered a particular youth group at a URC that seemed fairly welcoming. It was here that I discovered how sheltered the reformed youth can be. It was a shocker and frustration. They were brothers and sisters in Christ, but I found myself coming home angry and imbittered toward their narrow and, often-times, calloused attitude toward the non-Christian community as well as fellow Christians outside their denomination. They had no desire in their hearts to incorporate any outsiders.
Shortly thereafter, one of my very good friends invited me to his own college group. I held back for a few weeks knowing he came from a Lutheran church with very few roots in any original reformed theology, but then I remembered my college friends and took the plunge. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised and richly rewarded.
It is this group of eager guys and gals who have encouraged me to start this blog as well as to start moving toward something that has the potential to be powerful.
God has blessed me with a church background not many have. With that blessing, I truly believe God has given me a vivid image of how distorted our picture of God's church has become.
This isn't just a problem in the reformed church- though I would say boldly, and without remorse, that we are the biggest culprits. With approximately 10 denominations in the United States alone, we have become enamored with getting things more right than the other guy rather than encouraging one another.
Accuracy should always be considered highly important and vital to a church's growth, but when we begin to divide ourselves over trite matters that have little to nothing to do with salvation, but deal largely in preference (i.e. communion being served once a week vs. once a month) we miss the mark so terribly. So where does it end? And why are we not encouraged to fellowship with each other regardless? Why are we building these borders amongst ourselves? And who decided we should turn a cold, disgusted eye on those outside of the reformed church instead of a welcoming spirit of brotherhood? Who decided Evangelical Christians were unteachable and deserved to be treated with disrespect?
The Church is the Bride of Christ. The Spirit moves through the Church- speaks through the pulpit- stirs the hearts and minds of the congregation. The Father is to be worshiped and glorified by the Church. Who of you believes these fractures and quarrels that exist today achieve anything healthy?!
I will admit that there are two conferences that promote reformed church unity. However, even then there must be a division between the more liberal reformed churches vs. the more traditional ones. Also, these conferences are held every 4 YEARS and are held in various countries all over the world. Is this the best we can do?!
I will leave you with what is, in my opinion, a rather convicting verse:
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
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