The PCA Worth Having
As the founder of the National Partnership[1], I've been careful to avoid the sense that I was creating a tribe in the PCA. If anything, the NP represented a tribe that already existed, a broad tribe that loved our denomination and believed in its mission. A tribe who believed that, if the PCA was in trouble, it was in trouble in the same way that their friends and neighbors were in trouble: because of powers and principalities at work in the world. I’d like to speak to two groups, both of whom fear the PCA is drifting.
I want to speak to those who have deep stakes in the denomination, who were discipled by Sproul, trained by Frame and Pratt and Kelly and Calhoun, received your church’s Sunday school curriculum from Jack Scott, were taught by the likes of Randy Pope, Frank Barker, James Boice, Jonathan Seda, Carl Ellis, Wy Plummer, Louis Wilson or Robert Rayburn, Ligon Duncan, Jim Baird, Paul Kooistra, Charles McGowan. You joined the PCA because it was a voice for orthodox Biblical belief in a world with constantly shifting values and truth commitments. The denomination did not hesitate to speak with clarity on the issue of creation, of divorce and remarriage, the valuing of human life, and was willing to speak powerfully about the sin of racism in our past. You knew that the PCA advocated for the Scriptures without compromise, and it had a place in the Kingdom of God that made you proud.
The PCA has been the denomination of Reformed University Fellowship and church planting, and a global witness that has helped stoke the revitalization of the Church in the countries where it once flourished, and established footholds in countries where disciples still meet in secret. This has been a denomination with an incredible commitment to world-wide evangelism and local discipleship. You knew that the next issue of Table Talk was going to help you, and your church, stay in the word. Your kids had a reliable choice for a college where Christ is Pre-Eminent on Lookout Mountain, GA. And if you sent them to a secular school, they probably had a PCA-affiliated campus ministry available to them. I want to tell you that everything that made you proud to be in this corner of the Church, remains. And there is absolutely nothing in the winds that will change that. This denomination will continue to be an institution both theologically orthodox and Kingdom-minded.
How do I know? Because in the PCA, theological liberals depart. Many of the articles you might read concerning troubling happenings in the denomination involve churches that have already left us, having taken an unbiblical view of, for instance, human sexuality, and find that they cannot hold those views and stay. While some take this as proof that the fruit is rotten at the core, I would say it is direct evidence that the PCA continues to exercise a healthy confession. We continue to maintain a rigorous structure for upholding Biblical fidelity, a good burden that our pastors willingly carry—even into suffering. While some publicize distrust of “city church” culture, you may not hear about the pastors in some of those city churches who have unique styles of community engagement and who might belong to a more culturally progressive wing of the church, suffering in their communities for holding to a Biblical ethic. These are pastors who have the difficult conversations with visitors looking for a community that will obey their tribal commitments instead of the Scriptures. Some of those pastors not only lose dear friends and congregants, but even officers in their churches. I hear of these costs being paid daily. These culturally progressive ministers may have differing views on the merits of social justice emphasis, they may be circumspect about critical race theory. They may hold minority opinions on American politics, but they are -- first -- devoted to the means of grace. In a rapidly de-churching nation, these pastors and elders are engaging in foreign missions on American soil. Their faithfulness is inspiring, and costs them perhaps a great deal more than the price their critics pay in their own churches.
I recently caught a social media exchange where Tim Keller was being questioned concerning his view of a Biblical sexual ethic[2] by skeptics and theologians across the denominational landscape. While those outside the PCA on the thread considered him to be too conservative, it is clear that within the PCA some would call him too liberal. But Keller’s theological conservatism is foundational to his philosophy of ministry, it deeply channels the currents of his writing, cultural engagement, and church work. While Keller is maligned as a theological liberal in his own denomination, he is the one engaging thousands on Twitter defending a biblical and historical view of human sexuality. Even our alleged theological “progressives” are committed to Biblical fidelity.
For further evidence you might look at the recent work of our Human Sexuality Ad-Interim Committee, a report enthusiastically scriptural, confessional, compassionate, wise. If ever there was a time when the erosion of Biblical Fidelity would show, it would be that report. But look at the product[3]. Look at the authors spanning across the divides in our denomination. I continue to be thankful for statements like this one (p.24):
It is crucially important that our churches communicate to same-sex attracted believers experiencing same-sex attraction that faithfulness to God’s call to discipleship upon their lives is possible. An unclear understanding of the Reformed position that sinful temptations themselves, as well as sins of the will, are to be repented of might reasonably lead some to believe that faithfulness is impossible and pursuing holiness is an exercise in futility. We should be clear that while every Christian’s obedience remains imperfect and tainted by sin in this life, there is still a very real and important sense in which through Christ all Christians have been equipped for real and progressive obedience to God that brings him honor and is worthy of rejoicing in (WCF 16.6). This remains true even if their attraction to the same sex does not go away.
In that committee our church represented itself extraordinarily well. Any concern about the "drift" of the PCA ought to require evidence from what we produce when we gather together. Not only is the judgment that the PCA is "going liberal" without evidence, even the concern is without basis in fact.
There will be a considerable amount of discussion over a court case in the Missouri Presbytery this year. And the same contrary voices are again harvesting the anxiety of faithful pastors and elders who wonder if the cultural tensions they experience in their neighborhoods are sledgehammering the pillar and buttress of truth in their beloved denomination. Let me be one voice telling you no. The process of the case—apparently the record is almost two thousand pages long—is indicative of the presbytery's commitment to honoring their vows to maintain Biblical fidelity, it is an indicator of our higher courts' willingness to exercise oversight of that fidelity, and it is an indicator of the pastor-in-question's commitment to the oversight of his own Biblical fidelity. When the record of the case is finally released, I believe we will see that far more can be accomplished by a constitutional process than by extra-judicial blog-justice. We should all be grateful to see that the buttress is alive and well.
There is an option for ending the discord and the anxiety feeding this cycle of crisis and distraction. And it involves an ethic of both engagement and disengagement. Engage in the process. You have to show up at General Assembly and clarify who we are as a denomination[4]. Vows to the broader church should be honored, and that's partly what it meant when you promised to uphold the purity and peace of the Church. Voting commissioners at the Assembly typically number 1200-1400. We have more than five thousand pastors, let alone thousands more elders who would be eligible voters. We have to re-orient our understanding of what it means to pastor or shepherd in this denomination. Are we truly faithful in the things the Lord has given us if we neglect a major court of the Church to which we’ve taken a vow? It cannot be a temporary sense of duty; we are not General Assembly reserves who are called up to duty when some crisis strikes. This is our court together, and it is disingenuous to claim our collective victories, and mourn our collective defeats, while declining the work. If we want to see the PCA continue to flourish and to speak with clarity in a time of confusion, we simply have to be willing to carry the legacy we’ve been handed by so many faithful men and women who have taught the Scriptures, opened the churches, held the late-night session meetings, officiated the weddings and funerals. The ones who baptized you, catechized you, and gave your family a theological home. Let us be faithful to the work of churchmen. Engage.
And what do I mean by disengaging? Now is the time to let go of the accusatory and cynical voices encouraging distrust. The news blogs and podcasts. An industry of discord can only thrive if we consume it. ByFaith will keep you up to date. Your presbytery clerk keeps you up to date. Participate in the process; there is no shortcut out there to wisdom, and sometimes "hearing all sides" is damaging if the voice you're hearing is the scoffer (Ps.1.1). We tend to think relativism comes from outside the church, in. But the church, when it disparages and minimizes the importance of our manner of disagreement, has relativized from within. Perhaps the Central Indiana Presbytery’s overture on electronic communication and slander will provide some clarity[5]. After all, in the PCA, as elsewhere, a rumor circles the globe twice before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. It's time for the wise to know which is which. The Scriptures give us permission to let go of those who would derail us from the work that's ahead of us. There's simply too great a harvest to spend our greater energy grinding the plow.
The idea that contrary voices help us keep balance in the denomination might as well be engraved on our General Assembly name tags. But this can be a self-defeating falsehood if the voices are not merely contrary but contradictory to our constitutional standards. Contrarians can be unhealthy for the life of the church if they are not aligned with the mission and convictions of the church. Seeking balance between some arsenic and no arsenic can still kill you. A balance fallacy requiring that we accept or promote some unhealth, for the sake of keeping things balanced, ultimately sickens our church. Both the progressive agitator and the conservative agitator have produced incredible damage. But the progressive agitator tends to leave. The conservative agitator threatens to leave, but more often stays. For example, for all of the vocal disruption the new strict-subscription denomination, Vanguard Presbytery, promised, it produced stunningly few exits. At the same time, those to the left of our middle were leaving quietly in greater numbers. Seeking balance between a “left” that has no stomach for church wars, and the “right” that has organized its angst, means that what we now may see as the middle of the road will be the path that slowly heads us for the ditch.
I also want to speak to those who are concerned that the PCA is being led astray by a cultural trend of fear. Those faithful brothers and sisters who are feeling too conservative for the liberals and too liberal for the conservatives. Those who are committed to the idea that our constitution in the PCA actually gives us safe passage through and for our culture rather than refuge from it, to engage without fear. I’m speaking to those of you who are seizing opportunities to grieve with those who grieve and to own the ethic of Jesus publicly, to love, in public. When you joined the PCA, or grew up in it, you saw hope that you could hold to a beautiful orthodoxy, truth that could be compelling in a culture of dehumanization. That you could be proud of pastoral work, or shepherding a church that binds up the wounded and preaches to the dry bones. You have been committed to the idea that the Great Commission leads us into obedience in all that Jesus taught, and that obedience will lead you out into the streets, from time to time. But you wanted to pursue that mission in a denomination that took the Word of God seriously, Confessionally, faithfully. You believed that your denomination could be an example of that kind of sacred calling. That’s the Church you hope for and long to help lead. I want to tell you: that PCA is both here now, and still to come.
How do I know?
The battle, for the soul of the denomination, is over. It was over when Good Faith Subscription was overwhelmingly approved in 2002 after being passed by more than two-thirds of our presbyteries and two consecutive General Assemblies. These now-constitutional statements made clear that we were settled on our determination to be a confessional denomination as defined by Scripture, and we were not going to allow the work of the Church to be hindered by a thousand debates over phrases that could not be affirmed biblically. Good Faith Subscription cleared the decks, establishing our fidelity to the confession within our greater fidelity to the work of the Kingdom, so we could move forward on mission together. The difference between this year’s battles and the wars of the past generations in the PCA is that some are trying to advance an approach to polity that never had constitutional standing in the PCA. Having had the door to strict subscription bolted shut, they seek to re-open the debate by referencing supposed church erosion whose main proof is on news-blogs raging with commentary rather than in our courts ruled by biblical standards of evidence and justice.
The PCA is not going back to 2001. Rewriting our constitution is not going to happen, not only because no party has sufficient numbers to accomplish that, but also because there are too many men and women committed to a biblically defined Confession and the great commission who are located in contexts that are more diverse, more agnostic and apathetic, more questioning and less steeped in a church tradition while being more hospitable to Gospel conversations than ever. Every year we plant dozens of new churches in an age of de-churching. When I began in ordained ministry in 2006, in Columbus Ohio, outside the traditional region of the PCA, we had three churches in a city of more than two million. Now we have seven, with more on the way. Every year RUF takes on scores of campus ministry interns seeking to learn how to minister the Gospel in a pluralistic society. The Unity Fund produced 48 minority ordination scholarships last year. Even the places where the PCA was born have been changing, and there is no going back because the harvesters in the white fields are not who they once were. Friends, this PCA is not going away as long as you are on mission. But preserving it will not only require your good will, it will require your work.
If there is a reason for concern for the future of the PCA, it is that our energy devoted toward ecclesiastical purity is not rewarded with ecclesiastical courage. Our energy to conserve is greater than our energy to cultivate. This will not do. The PCA will not hide its talent in the ground. This pattern will lead to the PCA's devouring, eating its own tail, and wearying its shepherds and teachers. The PCA cannot sustain its Great Commission heritage if it lives as a confederation of suspicious, loosely-connected cultural tribes. So what do we do? I believe that work continues by trusting one another. Moving toward a denomination that refuses to be dragged into cycles of nervous and destructive cynicism or dread. We have to decline prophecies of doom from all corners. After all, while God has not promised to preserve the United States of America, or her culture, He has promised to preserve the Church. She is safer than any homeland, and more deserving of our best belief, charity, love, sacrifice.
Will we have battles and discouragements in the years to come? Of course we will. Part of living together in a denomination is the need to sharpen one another; we need to be challenged year to year by one another. That's different than the kind of wasteful fighting borne of ungodly innuendo and fear-mongering. One leads to wisdom, the other, to folly. To love, and learn from, one another is a test that a diverse denomination brings us, but its fruit are unquestionably good. We need the disagreements, as long as the disagreements are worth it. And I believe they will be.
I came into this denomination from the outside, the son of a hippie single-mother and a Jewish immigrant. My first exposure to the PCA was a church plant meeting in a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Orlando, Florida. My first catechism was a teen sunday school where we watched Ligonier VHS videos featuring R.C. Sproul, wearing some energetically-colored sweaters, talking about the solas. In a world of real insecurity the PCA offered something solid, sacramental, joyful and true. It's an experience I continue to see replicated in my own recently particularized church. The PCA is a dream I'm not ready to give up; and thankfully, because this denomination is going to continue to move toward the Kingdom of God through the Great Commission, I won't have to.
How will we know when it is time to worry about the PCA? When we stop planting churches and sending missionaries. When we stop raising up new ministers out of old stories of pain and prejudice. When the grandfathers in Korean presbyteries stop ordaining their grandchildren in the Presbyterian Church in America. When we stop honorably retiring men who have begun and finished the race as ministers of the denomination that taught them to believe the Scriptures. When we stop wrestling in prayer to bring God’s healing order to bear in this world. When we stop being reformed by the Scriptures. None of this will change the minds and hearts of those who are committed to believing in the decline of the PCA. That's why I haven't written this letter with those voices in mind, but yours: those who will continue in this denomination to seek the worship of the King, in the hearts of the unconverted, and the children of the Covenant, for as long as the Lord gives us.
Notes:
For those who are not aware, the National Partnership started as a group of friends trying to make sure we all understood how the polity in the PCA worked, as young ministers seeking to be involved. The membership grew organically to a few hundred who would talk about issues facing the denomination in a confidential email list. The hope was that people could work through their questions about the PCA healthily without worry about an aggressive censorious minority who might, for instance, blog about their half-formed ideas.
While this is an “evergreen” statement of sorts to guide us for coming assemblies, 2021 is a challenging year to gather. I believe everyone should be guided by love of neighbor and their own conscience as to whether they feel they can gather during the pandemic. Please hear me saying that those of you who feel bound to stay home this year remain my brothers and sisters of good faith and courage.