Issues Facing Missions Today: 54. Mission as Church
Renewal through a Return to Scriptural Authority
I have recently been writing about mission as Church renewal, particularly as it applies to a mission
to the West. To this end, I have been
examining Biblical texts as they address what we might call a theology of unity and division.[1] Reformation of the Church is, as Protestants
in the 16th century emphasised, accomplished through a constant
revision of ecclesiastical errors by returning to the teaching of Scripture. The Latin phrase, semper reformanda—always reforming—was fundamental for the
Reformation—not just ‘a’ reformation but a continual
reformation of the Church. Why? Because the Church is always prone to error
in human hands. How can the Church be
reformed? By constantly returning to the
Scriptures to see where human interpretation has strayed from God’s
authoritative Word.
Consider now this.
Yesterday, the Church of Scotland affirmed the ordination of same-sex
ministers.[2] In so doing, it has determined to oppose the
clear teaching of Scripture and the consistent witness of the Church throughout
the centuries.[3] Yes, this is the Church of John Knox—the 16th
century preacher who helped to bring the Reformation to the Church of Scotland. Now, Knox’s Reformation Church has set itself
up in opposition to the very Scriptures it once turned to in order to free itself
from error. In so doing, it has plunged
itself into such error that the issues of the 16th century pale in
comparison to those of the 21st century.
At the
time of his first public debate (1547), Knox was examined for his views. His inquisitor continuously stood on the
teachings of the Church, whereas Knox called for reform of the Church’s accrued
teachings on the basis of Scripture. In
Knox’s words, ‘the spouse of Christ [has] neither power nor authority against
the word of God."
Now,
nearly 500 years later, Knox’s own Church has voted to have a Church without
Christ as its pastor because it is refusing to hear His voice in the
Scriptures. The Church of Scotland,
mind, has been in free-fall for a number of years. David Robertson reported the following
statistics for the old Kirk in Christianity
Today last year:[5]
2004
|
2014
|
Decline
|
|
Membership
|
535,834
|
380,163
|
-155,671
|
Baptisms
|
7,745
|
5,147
|
-2,598
|
Elders
|
41,621
|
32,834
|
-8,787
|
Professions of Faith
|
2,661
|
1,273
|
-1,388
|
We might, for that
matter, note that the American daughter church of the Church of Scotland, the
Presbyterian Church, USA, has also jettisoned Scriptural authority in favour of
cultural relativity. It, too, has recently
determined on its own authority that Biblical teaching on sin needs to be
repudiated. It, too, has chosen to take
its convictions not from Scripture or the Church’s continuous witness but from
culture.[6] It, too, has seen steady decline in Church
membership as orthodox believers and churches have fled to other denominations,
especially the newer Presbyterian denominations (the Presbyterian Church in
America, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and now the Evangelical Covenant
Order). As reported in The Layman, membership decline in the
PCUSA is as dismal as that of the Church of Scotland:[7]
Year
|
Total
|
Change
|
%
Change
|
2005
|
2,313,662
|
-48,474
|
-2.10%
|
2006
|
2,267,118
|
-46,544
|
-2.05%
|
2007
|
2,209,546
|
-57,572
|
-2.61%
|
2008
|
2,140,165
|
-69,381
|
-3.24%
|
2009
|
2,077,138
|
-63,027
|
-3.03%
|
2010
|
2,016,091
|
-61,047
|
-3.03%
|
2011
|
1,952,287
|
-63,804
|
-3.29%
|
2012
|
1,849,496
|
-102,791
|
-5.26%
|
2013
|
1,760,200
|
-89,296
|
-4.83%
|
2014
|
1,667,767
|
-92,433
|
-5.54%
|
The real story of these
once thriving Christian Churches is not that this or that denomination has changed its mind on an issue that has
always been taught in Scripture and the Church.
Rather, the real story is that so
many Christians have left the particular denomination because of its
increasingly unbiblical teaching that the heretical minority has become the
majority. One can only wonder what other
core convictions will be forsaken as the Church of Scotland and the PCUSA—and similar
denominations—continue to lose members to other, orthodox denominations.
As for John Knox, there
is no question whatsoever that the very founder of the Church of Scotland would
today be the loudest critic of the mainline Presbyterian denominations that his
reform efforts founded. He would
critique them on the very same grounds that he once called for reform in his
own day. Orthodoxy—what all Christians
have always taught everywhere[8]—is
only possible when what Christians teach is the unchanging revelation of God in
Scripture. As we limp our way to the 500th
anniversary of the Reformation (1517),[9]
we are once again in need of that other reforming principle of Protestants in
the 16th century: sola
Scriptura. Denominations that have
lost this principle have, not surprisingly, lost their essential means for
continuous renewal of the Church.
As John Knox said (to
paraphrase), ‘You can have your Church without Christ as its pastor, refusing
to hear his Word.’ But a mission of
Church renewal requires an authority for such renewal, and that authority is none
other than the Word of God. Mission as
Church renewal in the West will be a reforming movement based on Biblical
authority and teaching. Sometimes that ministry of renewal will be conducted within a dying denomination (since not all believers leave these organizations--and sometimes they stay precisely because they have an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel in them). At other times, the ministry of the Church will move to healthier denominations. While the light
of God’s revelation in Scripture flickers and is finally snuffed out in certain
denominations, the flame of God’s Word will catch light and burn brightly in other places.
[1]
One will never understand Church unity without also understanding the appropriate
time for Church division.
[2] ‘Church
of Scotland Votes to Allow Ministers to be in Same-Sex Marriages,’ The Guardian (21 May 2016); online at: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/21/church-of-scotland-ministers-same-sex-marriages
(accessed 21 May, 2016).
[3]
For this argument, see S. Donald Fortson and Rollin G. Grams, Unchanging Witness: The Consistent Christian
Teaching on Homosexuality in Scripture and Tradition (Knoxville: B&H
Academic, 2016).
[4] As quoted by Peter Lorimer, John Knox and the Church of England: His
Work in Her Pulpit and His Influence on Her Liturgy, Articles, and Parties
(London: Henry S. King & Co., 1875), p. 9.
This is from Knox’s first public debate in 1547.
[5]
David Robertson, ‘Is the Church of Scotland in Terminal Decline?,’ Christianity Today (20 April, 2015);
online at http://www.christiantoday.com/article/is.the.church.of.scotland.in.terminal.decline/52437.htm
(accessed 22 May, 2016).
[6] The
most prominent example of this is the PCUSA’s 221st General Assembly’s
affirmation in 2014 of same-sex marriage.
See online: http://oga.pcusa.org/section/ga/ga221/ga221-marriage/.
[7] ‘PCUSA
Continues Membership Decline 92,433 Members Gone in 2014,’ The Layman (13 May, 2014).
Online: http://www.layman.org/pcusa-continues-membership-decline-92433-members-gone-in-2014/
(accessed 22 May, 2014). The mainline
Presbyterian Church (in its northern and southern church bodies until 1983,
when a merger took place), has been in decline in membership since 1965. This story is typical of other mainline
denominations in the West.
[8]
This is the definition for orthodoxy given by St. Vincent of Lerins in the 5th
century. His point was that the Church’s
orthodox teaching by all, everywhere, and always was its teaching of Scripture. He was not advocating a teaching of the
Church on its own authority. The test
for whether the Church has correctly interpreted Scripture, rather, was the
test of unanimous interpretation.
[9]
1517 was the year when Martin Luther posted 95 theses to the door of the church
in Wittenberg. The theses called for
reform within the Roman Catholic Church of his day. This began the Protestant Reformation in
Europe.