Luke 24:45-48 Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
The Motion to remove Amendment B has been defeated for a third time and we are all witnesses to the wounds that this has cost our beloved denomination. We have crucified ourselves with polity and policy, but this time there is no victory or resurrection for the Body of Christ.
The arguments will continue and as usual each side will affirm their positions. The church will be torn asunder and the motto for the next GA should be something like: “Battling Again in 2010.”
Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be as rare as unity and connectionalism. The letters PCUSA may as well stand for “Putting Congregations Under Separation Anxiety” as we will all be in a theological war zone for the next three years.
And as we rip ourselves apart, the world looks desperately for a Christ who cannot be seen because of all the Christians, on both sides, who get in the way.
Maybe instead of looking to theologians and scholars, radicals and reactionaries, lobbyists and laymen to help formulate our opinions, we should all retreat to an Upper Room and ask Jesus to open our minds. Our hearts are closed to each other, so only His truth will set us free.
If we expect to be witnesses of the faith, then we have to try something different. This going back and forth to the General Assembly and Presbyteries is mass suicide for the denomination. It’s also a definition of insanity - of doing the same thing again and again, expecting the results to be different.
We need a Year of Discernment and to be open minded to Christ. I’m ready to try something new – aren’t you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
