Get into the Boat

(This is the first response to the invitation to other Presby bloggers to write to me with their articles. Saralynn sent this from her team blogsite Presbyterian Blogging. It was written by Paul Boal)

"Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die."

--The Rev. Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
June 28, 2008

When I read this letter discussing the recent decisions regarding PC(USA) ordination standards, Rev. Parsons' quote struck me as both inspirational and pragmatic. As Presbyterians, we seek discernment; we consider; we send out to committee for assessment; we pray and ponder. Eventually, we make decisions that formally express to others how we see the Word brought to life in the world around us. When we decide is when I'm most energized, but in the consideration and discernment, I'm most proud.

I hope that Rev. Parsons will forgive me for parsing his quote, but here is my application of that message to the situation we are in:

Get into the boat...
There's a good chance that some individual churches might consider this a crucial time to consider the future of the continuity of the denomination or specifically their own membership in the denomination. No matter how much many of us wish this were the end of the discussion, the exact opposite is true. The point at which decisions are made is a time for renewed dialogue rather than a time to end open relationships. We're all in this boat together.

Go across the lake...
This is a time for us to go on a journey together and arrive at the destination together. We may disagree on the destination, what path to take, who should row and who should steer; but in the end, it is in being together in right relationships with each other (rather than contentious or confrontational ones) that we're able to experience hesed. We must journey together as one.

There will be a storm...
I believe that we can only truly know ourselves after experiencing turmoil and questioning what we think we know? Life is alive because of the storms that we experience: internal strife debating what is right to do, external factors forcing us to make hasty decisions, confrontation with others after intended or unintended offenses, disagreements on which direction is most correct or least wrong. As the narrow margin of the vote indicates (54 / 46), we as a denomination are not of one single mind on the issue. People with many different perspectives will come together, clash, and settle... and change. Come together, clash, and settle... and change.

You will not die...
Change happens only through a journey. And the end of each journey is merely the beginning of another. This action of the GA is about going on a journey together. One that changes the way we discuss ordination and the ways in which God calls us together. If we don't change the way in which we discuss the issues that our current societies must address, then our discussion cannot be effective. The only situation in which we "die" is when when fail to change, when we choose to stop journeying together.


Some churches have begun posting information about their push to intentionally and methodically divide the denomination, creating relationships between our churches that are explicitly more separate. I hope that, instead, we can continue the dialogue together: as a denomination, as individual churches that will be inevitably divided in opinion; as a nation; as communities; and as humans. Times of contention are times for coming together to build relationships that will make us stronger and more able to survive the inherent turmoil in our current situation and the other storms that we are sure to encounter in the future.

As a denomination and through our representatives and leaders, we have discerned and studied and voted and changed. We are at one ending... and another beginning. In spite of our differences on whether the changes are consistent with teachings or not, I would expect us to agree that we are taught to build relationships that bring us closer together rather than further apart (especially in situations that naturally divide us).

Blessings!

(If you want to send articles for this site, write to me at pastor@erinpresbyterian.org. Put Presbybloggers in the subject line of your email.)

Sunday Devotions: The Quiet Life

Paul urges us to lead a quiet life, minding our own business, and working with our hands. It's a Christian pipe dream, because the world always invades our space. In China, a Christian businessman has been arrested for national security reasons because he was letting other Christians worship there. The crime is punishable by death.

Podcast version here

1 Thessalonians 4:11 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you.

It sounds like the ideal way to live a Christian life. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all just get along together? Leading a quiet life and minding my own business seems like an idyllic way of existing. No squabbles, no arguments, no worries, and no concerns. Just keeping your head down, working at your business, and getting on with life. It would be heaven on earth.

But then reality invades my world and I realize that this is just a Christian pipe dream of Paul’s. Life is far from quiet and is in fact much too noisy. No matter how hard I try to mind my own business, someone always says or does something that affects me. And often, when I go to do my work, something occurs which changes my schedule and I have to set aside the projects I wanted to accomplish. I would love for Paul’s Utopia to exist, but unless I joined a silent monastery in a far off place, I’m never going to accomplish it.

I’m also reminded that Christians around the world don’t have it so easy either. Take Alimujiang Yimiti for example. He was quietly working at his business in Uyghur, China in September last year, when Chinese government officials closed it down. They stated that he was using his business as a cover for “preaching Christianity among the Uyghuri people.” Four months later, Alimujiang was arrested and accused of “subversion of the national government and endangering national security.” This crime is punishable by death. Ali has been in prison for six months awaiting trial.

So much for just living a quiet life and working with your hands! Ali became a Christian more than ten years ago and has been an active member of the growing Uyghur Church.

We Westerners get so upset in our churches when things don’t go our way, but I really wonder what we would do if we were threatened with arrest for national security reasons just because we are Christians? The things that are perhaps important to us pale into insignificance when we put them beside what Alimujiang and thousands of other Christians in China are enduring.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we all want our lives to be smooth and trouble-free. We want our needs to be met and our desires to be fulfilled. Sometimes we forget that our wishes and ways are not what You ask of us. Sometimes we need to be reminded that faith isn’t a leisure pursuit or a group activity; it’s a serious life commitment and one that others are being imprisoned, tortured, and even killed for, across the world. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to: pastor@erinpresbyterian.org

Do Not Lose Heart

2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. NIV

At this time last year, our church underwent some serious trouble. One of our staff members had terrible personal problems, which in turn affected the whole congregation and created a small division. It took a great deal of focus, energy, and determination to endure and overcome the fall out. A lot of prayer was said and eventually the tide turned. We lost eight members, but by the end of the year, we still managed to have an overall gain of eighteen people. God’s mercy enabled us to carry on our ministry and mission at Erin Presbyterian. Through His grace, we did not lose heart.

Since then, we’ve undergone recovery. We’re still picking up the pieces and are only beginning to restart some projects that fell by the wayside. For the first time in a long time, we’ve let God carry us, as well as lead us. It’s been a humbling experience, but in the end it will prove to be a worthwhile one.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians so long ago, he was addressing them as someone who had been through a lot of trouble, grief, and pain. He had been beaten up for his faith, cast out of different cities, shipwrecked, and almost lynched on several occasions. He had also been arrested, thrown into jail, and was now awaiting trial. If anyone had a right to lose heart, it was Paul, but he also relied upon God’s mercy to get him through the bad times, as well as the good ones.

He was also writing to a church that had its share of problems. The Christians at Corinth were going through a cultural war, where members of the congregation were struggling with adhering to Christ’s demands, as opposed to accepting the world’s ways. They wanted to be holy, but not different; they aspired to be faithful, but not unfashionable. Paul reminded them of their special calling in order to help them get back on the right track. And even though he was hundreds of miles away from them, Paul embraced them in his heart and loved them back to the Gospel.

Today, you may be doubting yourself, your faith, your church, your purpose, your personal ministry and mission. Remember that God is merciful and that through Christ, He will sustain you. Do not lose heart, for remember, He who called you to do His will is patient, gracious, faithful, and forgiving.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we feel so unworthy, so unprepared, and so faithless at times to fulfill the ministries that You ask us to undertake and accomplish. We get frustrated and impatient, bedeviled and beguiled by our fears, our doubts, and our problems. Grant us Your grace to sustain us through our worst experiences and most troublesome of times. Lead us by Your love, so that we will not lose heart, nor let go of our calling. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Stushie writes the daily devotional Heaven's Highway, which you can link to from the blog listing on the right of this page. He also went on Blogachute #5 on the website, which turned out to be quite informative and exhiliarating...