Theology should shape and instruct polity. Yet, in the church today, polity is often found instructing theology. Therefore, any attempt to bring renewal to the church must be attentive to polity. We first must restore proper governance so that theology and pastoral care may reassume their proper place in the church.
In order to restore theology and polity to their proper relationship, there are three areas that need to be addressed:
1) Presbyterian government is self-government. That means there is an implied requirement that our leaders demonstrate fitness for the exercise of their offices before they are ordained and installed. Fitness for leadership at the most basic level means a demonstrable knowledge and acceptance of God’s Word revealed in Scripture, knowledge and acceptance of the doctrines of the church as expressed in the Book of Confessions and of our form of government found in the Book of Order.
2) Our form of government is designed to give lower governing bodies free and open access to higher governing bodies to hold them accountable, to redress wrongs, and to facilitate changes to advance the mission of the Gospel.
3) Our form of government requires that higher governing bodies hold lower governing bodies accountable to the Gospel which is given expression in our Confessions. Teaching must be sound and practice must conform to teaching.
What are the problems that are hindering us from reaching these three goals? Let us begin with 1) An assurance of fitness for leadership on the session and presbytery level. We will address the General Assembly level in the next issue of Theology Matters.
Assurance of Fitness for Leadership on the Session Level
1. Instruction in Reformed faith. How can we instruct all church members in our common faith? Charles Colson quotes a distressing Barna poll that found two-thirds of the American people believe there is no such thing as absolute truth and “53 percent of those claiming to be Bible-believing, conservative Christians said there is no such thing as absolute truth. A majority of those who follow the One who says, ‘I am the truth,’ profess not to believe in truth” (The Body, p.178). Even those of us who consider ourselves evangelical Christians are swimming in the sea of postmodernism’s autonomy and relativism far more than we realize.
2. Examination of elders. We must be assured before ordaining and installing elders that they know and accept doctrines of the Reformed faith expressed in the Confessions, and the governance of the church in the Book of Order.
One Presbyterian church has written a “Biblical Standards for Christian Leaders” statement that includes sections on Personal Standards, Spiritual Standards, and Leadership Standards. The session requires that all those being considered for leadership positions, even Sunday School teachers, sign the statement. A copy of the statement is available on the Theology Matters’ web site theologymatters.com.
3. Teaching and Pastoral Care Ministry in the Christian Moral Life. Has there been adequate teaching that the proper response to the Gospel is to lead an obedient life in conformance with Scripture’s standards? How can we help our congregations minister more effectively to those caught in the cultural moral confusion of our age?
Assurance of Fitness for Leadership On the Presbytery Level
1. Examination of clergy. Some presbyteries are ordaining clergy and allowing clergy to be received into the presbytery without adequate examination of their theology and their knowledge and acceptance of the Constitution. Half of our commissioners to General Assembly are clergy. In the next section Dr. Philip Keevil presents some suggestions for improving this process.
2. Election of GA commissioners. Some presbyteries. that have voted consistently on amendments in support of biblical ordination standards, nevertheless send commissioners to General Assembly who do not support those standards and instead advocate for changing them. How can we work for reform of the presbytery election process so that we who vote have knowledge of the theological and moral positions of those on whom we are voting?
Examination Responsibilities
We all have moments in our lives when the issues of the times seem to come together. I had such a moment a few years ago during a Presbytery meeting. A candidate was asked how a person became right with God There was an awkward silence followed by, “I suppose everyone has to answer that for themselves.”
The purpose of this section is to discuss the role we play in the examination of clergy candidates by the Committee on Preparation for Ministry(CPM), the Committee on Ministry(COM) and the Presbytery. There are three major concerns: Seminary education and its possible deficiencies; the readiness of the candidates to confront the moral questions of our times; and, their readiness to function in the context of a reformed faith. There are other questions too: What are people actually ready for? What do they believe they are called to accomplish? What will they preach? What are they preaching now? How will putting them into a pulpit further the great ends of the Church? Is there an agenda at work in their lives inconsistent with this call? What have been the resources for their spiritual nourishment for the past several years?
In order to properly evaluate a candidate’s readiness for ministry, presbyters need to know the doctrines of the church as witnessed to by our Confessions. We need to be aware of the current attempts to make the third person of the Godhead the new focus, so that religious experience and spiritual illumination take the place of the mighty deeds of God in Jesus Christ. Salvation through spiritual knowledge or personal “revelation” apart from Scripture is not consistent with Scripture’s teachings and the Confession’s witness. If the Spirit’s revelatory work in comparative religions takes the place of Christ, or if experience becomes the hermeneutic or prism through which and by which truth is determined then we are Gnostics rather than Christians. CPMs and COMs, and commissioners to presbytery need to be aware of these trends.
Presbyters must evaluate a candidate’s willingness to live in conformance with the standards for sexual behavior in the Book of Order G-6.0106b. This paragraph directs us to the Confessions. The issue of sexuality should be raised in the context of the larger question of the individual’s relationship with these foundational documents. What does it mean to be guided by them? How do they instruct us? There is also the question of accountability. Will this individual submit herself to her peers?
On the question of sexual behavior it is always best to be direct. “Does your life conform to the standards required for ordination as set out in this paragraph?” It is also important to emphasize repentance. As people of Reformed faith, we place such weight on confession that our worship of God begins with it. Is the candidate willing to confess and acknowledge his/her sin and brokenness. We are in peril of legalism if our concern is to merely catch people in bad behavior. Our concern is always redemptive.
We should avoid theological abstractions. Our questions must be specific. For example, someone may affirm the resurrection, but understand the word to mean something far removed from what most of us intend by it. The same is true for other doctrines. “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Is Jesus Lord of all? Do you believe in the incarnation? Tell us what you mean when you say that Jesus died for our sins”
The post-modern culture around us claims that words are signs without referents and therefore all language is semiotic metaphor. Everything is subjective. Nothing has objective reality outside the constructs of individuals and the groups to which they belong. As a result, abstractions tell us nothing about where a person stands on any of the theological questions of our time. James reminds us that the demons believe God is one (Jas 2:19). Questions need as much specificity as possible.
Here are suggestions on how we might ask questions:
- What happened to the body of Jesus following His death and burial?
- A member of your youth group says, “The Trinity is a great way to think about spiritual things. Of course, we don’t take it literally do we?” How would you respond?
- I like your statement on baptism, especially that you believe in infant baptism. The question I have is this: If someone should grow up to repudiate their baptism, are there consequences; if so, what are they?
- If a person refuses to believe in Jesus, are there any consequences? If so, can you describe them?
- If someone on the street should say, “Why do we have to believe in Jesus? Why isn’t it enough to believe in God and try to live by his laws?” What would you say?
- Is there any part of the Bible you would not regard as God’s Word? Could you name it?
- The moderator of the 2000 General Assembly said that the core of the Christian faith was the statement of Paul in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” What does that statement mean?
- How is a person saved? What do we need to be saved from?
- How can I know my sins are forgiven?
- When the tradition affirms that Jesus of Nazareth was two natures in one person do you believe that is literally true?
- If I had been there when Jesus rose from the dead what might I have seen?
- You are an Associate Pastor in a large congregation. The evangelism committee on which you serve as a staff member wants to canvas the community to invite people to a special service of introduction to the church. One person asks you into their home. During a conversation she says, “I used to go to church. I have always tried to live a good life, and recently I began a journey which has taken me to Buddhism. I still believe in Jesus, but I see no need to go to church. After all, the only thing that matters is that we are sincere, right? You are not a fundamentalist are you?” How would you respond?
Examinations on the Floor of Presbytery
When someone arrives on the floor of the Presbytery it is usually too late to determine if she/he is qualified or ready to receive a call. For this reason some presbyters conclude that there is no point in asking questions. Presbyters, however, can make a difference even when the process of preparation has reached this stage. We need clarity on our goals. They should include the following:
- Alert the Presbytery to a potential problem.
- Alert CPM and COM that certain things will not be tolerated; demonstrate where some of the members of Presbytery draw lines.
- Help to ensure that in the future important facets of a person’s thinking or life-style will be taken more seriously by the committee of jurisdiction.
We also need to dispense with the myth that presbyters may not inquire into the theology of inquirers who are being examined for candidacy. This simply is not true. An inquirer becomes a candidate by demonstrating that he/she has received a call. A part of the process by which that is determined involves his/her understanding of the nature of call in the Reformed faith. That itself opens up a large area of theological discourse. Further, the literature that inquirers submit to move from inquirer to candidate involves reflection on at least one aspect of their theology. Questions might include:
- Tell us how your understanding of the nature of Scripture affects you in hearing and responding to the call of God in your life.
- As a candidate for the ministry you are responding to the call of Jesus Christ; some people claim that Jesus is just one path to God among others, and that all the religions of the world are authentic manifestations of saving truth inspired by the one Spirit. Do you believe this?
Serious examination of those who are being considered for leadership in the church is a responsibility which should not be dismissed or taken lightly. The refusal to ordain and/or install into leadership those who are not adequately prepared is not an act of wrath but mercy, “so that the great ends of the Church may be achieved, that all children of God may be presented faultless in the day of Christ” (D-1.0103).
This article first appeared in Theology Matters, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Jan/Feb 2002).
