The Grace of Judgment: Is Hell Consistent with the Love of God?

God has appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged; but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil (The Westminster Confession of Faith, 33.1).

It seems a bit strange for the Westminster Confession of Faith--such a joyful and God-rejoicing document--to end with a chapter on judgment. Yet, it is not that grace is lacking in this text. There is plenty of peace here. For instance the next section of the Confession speaks of “the manifestation of the glory of His mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect,” and “the fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the presence of the Lord” (see 33.2). And yet we remember that this is a Puritan document. And so it is quite fitting that this great confession, as it was originally written, ends with a stern warning to obedience and faith. For this reason we are not surprised to hear of hell mentioned in the closing words as well.

Is the concept of hell consistent with a loving God? It is.

Jonathan Edwards explains why:

“The crime of one being despising and casting contempt on another, is proportionally more or less heinous, as he was under greater or lesser obligations to obey him. And therefore if there be any being that we are under infinite obligations to love, and honor, and obey, the contrary towards him must be infinitely faulty. Our obligation to love, honor, and obey any being is in proportion to his loveliness, honorableness, and authority…But God is a being infinitely lovely, because he hath infinite excellency and beauty…So sin against God, being a violation of infinite obligations must be infinitely heinous…and therefore renders no more than proportional to the heinousness of what they are guilty of.”[1]

The Christian faith is no “lollipop religion.” It is not the chaff of popular self-esteem banter. It is not the easy-to-digest frivolity of “do it yourself” religion. And the Westminster Confession of Faith makes no pretensions of recommending such glitter. The Christian faith does, however, remit serious warnings of judgment as often as it promises incomprehensible rewards; often in the same breath. And so the Confession ends here, a bit like the Apostle John ends his first epistle, with a staunch reminder of the sheer weightiness of the matters presented within the rest of the document.

When we decide to worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ with our lives, we have also decided to worship and serve the one who will judge us on that last day (John 5:22, 27). This is wonderful news. The one who will judge us is also our Savior!  If our own judge took off His garments of honor and nobility to condescend to be our Savior, how much more then will His judgment be according to His own mercy.

As we consider the sternness and mercy of God today, let us pray with the Reformer John Calvin regarding this great and terrible doctrine of the judgment,

“Almighty God, our heavenly Father, grant us the grace that, being warned by so many examples of Your wrath and vengeance (in the Bible), the memory of which You have willed should endure until the end of the world, we might learn thereby how redoubtable and terrible a Judge You are against the obstinate and those who have hardened their hearts. Grant us also the grace that, today we might not be deaf to this doctrine which we have heard from the mouth of your prophet. Rather, grant that we might apply all our studies in order to appease You and find favor in Your sight, and, abandoning all hope in mankind, present ourselves directly to You. Moreover, being supported by Your loving kindness alone, which You have promised us in Jesus Christ, may we never doubt again that You are our true Father. May we be so touched by a spirit of repentance, that, even if we have been bad examples for one another, and scandalized each other, we might rather become banner-bearers, or guides, to the right way of salvation. And may we strive to help our neighbors by living a good and well-ordered life, so that all together we might attain that heavenly and happy life which Your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, has dearly acquired for us by His blood. Amen.”[2]

I have sitting on my desk a tiny trophy that I “earned” for playing T-ball as a young boy. T-ball is the kind of baseball that is played before children are able to hit and pitch the ball on their own. The baseball just sits there on the tee waiting for the batter to strike it. At the end of my first season playing for the “T-ball Tornados” the coach handed us each a small, itty-bitty trophy no higher than six inches. It sits modestly on a 1-inch high pedestal of plastic. What seemed to me a more than generous reward for my efforts as a child, now seems to me a humorous reminder of the irony of my achievements. Our earthly trophies are so small and ignoble compared to the righteousness of Jesus, aren’t they?

Often I have found that the more I can meditate on the day of my own judgment, the more I am able to ferret out the wood and hay before I am foolish enough to try to build something out of them.  Philippians 2:12 warns us to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” We fear, not because we are concerned that God will destroy us, for there is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1); rather we fear because our hearts have been regenerated in order to love Him more and more. Our fear is not that we would ourselves be condemned, but we fear that we would live in such a way that the honor of God is tarnished. Similarly, we tremble not because we are afraid of punishment, but with the ground-shaking responsibility of carrying His name-plate on our hearts. 

The above has been adapted from Matthew Everhard's book, Hold Fast the Faith: A Devotional Commentary on the Westminster Confession of 1647 (Reformation Press, 2012). Matthew is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

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[1] Jonathan Edwards, quoted in John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. (Sisters OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2003) p. 60.

[2] John Calvin, quoted in Steven J. Lawson, The Expository Genius of John Calvin.  (Orlando FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007) p. 127-128.

Reflections on the Reelection of President Obama

There we sat in the comedor (cafeteria) of the Shalom Children's Home in Santiago Texacuangos, El Salvador on November 6th. We were huddled around the dinner table around 10:30pm after a long day serving the orphans, eagerly waiting to check our smart phones on a hit-or-miss WIFI connection.  The agony of waiting for the results of the election was both thrilling and excruciating (mostly because I would not allow the mission team to check the news sites until AFTER our corporate worship and Bible study).

And then came the result: Obama Wins Reelection.

I don't think any of us will soon forget that night. Walking back to our dorm rooms on the orphanage campus, some of the team members were visibly frustrated. Some had hoped that this might be the beginning of a change of trajectory for our nation. Apparently, that moment has not yet come.

But now, ten days away from Obama's reelection, I have had time to process the result and distill my feelings into a few bullet points. Here are a few random thoughts in bullet-point format.

1). God remains sovereign over the whole course of human affairs. Scripture says, "Kingship belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations" (Psalm 22:28). It also reminds us that God "works all things according to the council of His will" (Eph 1:1), and that "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will" (Proverbs 21:1). 

No, Obama's reelection does not mean the end of God's reign, nor the cession of Christ's Kingdom on earth. The Kingdom of God and the United States of America are NOT one and the same.

Our confession states as much about the sovereignty of God over all things (including presidential elections): "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established" (WCF 3.1).

We may not like it: but God has ordained that this particular world leader have a second term. Note: this does NOT mean God approves of Obama's rule or policies. It only means that God has deemed it necessary to fulfill His plan.

2).  It does seem evident, now, that our children will grow up in a very different moral climate than their parents. Our children will grow up in a world very different from the one in which we grew up.

• Our children will be raised during a time when heterosexual marriage will be increasingly seen as irrelevant, puritanical, and outmoded. 
• Sexual mores will be increasingly skewed and distorted such as that no boundary lines will be visible at all (at least in the public square). 
• Even work and labor, a duty given to Adam before the fall into sin, will be increasingly viewed as optional as undesirable. 
• Public education will likely slide further and further left, as tax dollars are spent by the millions to shape children's worldviews. 
• The church will be increasingly shoved to the sidelines of public life.

All of this will demand greater diligence on our part as Bible-believing Christians to catechize our children and bring them up under the instruction of the Lord. 

3). Christianity often waxes strong where it exists as a persecuted minority, and wanes shallow when it enjoys a majority. This is counter-intuitive. For instance, while the Church was arguably strongest during first and second century times of oppression, church historians have often identified a correlation between the weakening of the Christian church in the fourth century and the ascension of the first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine.

The marginalization of the Christian Church today may actually result in a more vivacious, nimble, athletic, and serious brand of evangelicals. Like the "underground church" in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's day, being driven out of sight may actually strengthen the resolve of the committed believers to refuse to be co-opted by the secular state.

This is good news, if we have eyes to see it. In this coming century, the smaller confessional Church will likely have more in common with the Early Church, the Reformers, and the Puritans than the shallow evangelicalism of the late twentieth century that produced such things as televangelists, mega-churches, the seeker-sensitive movement, and Joel Osteen.

4). Viewing Obama's reelection as a "sure sign of the apocalypse" is myopic and lame. Yes, I have heard that Obama's reelection is a sure sign of the end times on more than a few occasions in the last ten days. But that seems to suggest that the United States of America is the central pin on God's eschatological map. I don't think it is.

It also seems to smack of our inextricable self-centeredness to suggest that this must surely be the end of all history because our sitting President is leading from a secular worldview. Many of our Christian brothers around the world have suffered tremendously under the brutal regimes of far worse and evil men: Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Nero, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Kim Jong Il just to name a few. 

Let's be sure not to add our names to the ever-growing list of fools who predicted the end of the world based on current events they read in the newspapers. Jesus warned us not make such predictions at all (Matt 24:36).

This point came across to me strongly on the Wednesday after the election. We went out in a pickup truck to feed the poor of a tiny village called Oasis. The community centered around one central running water connection that supplied hundreds. An octopus of hose connections ran water to some (but not all) of the dirt-floor homes. There were no working toilets to be seen. Most came filthy and dirty--yet joyful--to eat a meal consisting of rice and beans.

As I watched a people stricken by a poverty that I have never personally experienced myself, God struck me with a profound thought: Only an American would believe the whole world is ending because the stock market is down and the tax code is up. 

We press on. 


Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida.

As Providence Church Celebrates its First Communion, We Ask: What is the Lord's Supper?

Sunday night, as usual, we will gather to sing praises to God, pray, and hear teaching from God’s word. However, this Sunday night (11/4), we will do something very special! For the first time, Providence Church will celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Some call it Communion, the Lord’s Table, or maybe even the Eucharist, depending on your background… but what is the Lord’s Supper? Before we break bread together, let’s make sure that we are all on the same page when it comes to this very special event in the Christian faith.

1. Our Beliefs About the Lord’s Supper are Sumarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 29.

Our church heritage dates back nearly 500 years to the Protestant Reformation. The church in those days had become corrupt, and God moved in the hearts and lives of men to “reform” the church of Jesus Christ and to “protest” against the teachings of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. Providence Church is protestant and reformed in our doctrine. This doctrine (or teaching) dates back to the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF), written in 1647. We believe this document is an accurate summary of the Bible’s teaching. We live in a culture that changes constantly. We change our minds, and present “new ” ideas that all too often lead to old results. The WCF has been a rock for many churches over for many, many years. When the windsand waves of liberalism and sin beat upon her, she did not move because her foundation was built entirely upon the Word of God. While the WCF is certainly not authoritative or infallible in the way the Bible is believed, we are nevertheless grateful for it’s guidance and precision. Leaders in the EPC (our mother church) have taken vows to this document, myself included. In the same way, military personnel take vows to defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States. We believe the Westminster Confession of Faith. I recommend it to every serious Bible student.

2. It’s Not JUST a Memorial

For the sake of simplicity, we can say that most churches hold one of three different views of the Lord’s Supper. First, and perhaps most popular in our time, is the idea that the Lord’s Supper is most like a memorial. It is done frequently, sometimes casually, and does not impart any extraordinary benefit for the believer outside the physical demonstration and remembrance of the gospel. It’s a popular view, and it avoids much of the superstition that has sometimes accompanied the Lord’s Supper throughout the history of the church.

The second view, and perhaps opposite end of the spectrum, concerning the Church’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper is a position that we will call the Catholic view. While the Lutheran Church holds a variation of this doctrine, it is commonly known to Catholics as Mass. During the Mass, a priest sets apart the elements by incantation, and through a bit of hocus-pocus, the bread and the wine (according to Catholic doctrine) ACTUALLY become the body and blood of Jesus Christ. If the words said by the priest are not exact, the transubstantiation does not occur, and the Mass cannot be taken! Concerning this kind of superstition, I think the WCF says it best, “The teaching that the substance of the bread and wine is changed into the substance of Christ’s body and blood … is objectionable not only to Scripture but even to common sense and reason”. It just doesn’t make sense, but sadly it is the result of hundreds of years of man’s teachings set on the same level as God’s Word.

The third and final position is what we will call the Reformed position. The Reformed position (our position) sees a “real presence” of Christ in the Lord’s Supper; not the physical presence of the Catholic and Lutheran views, but more than a mere memorial, noted above. Christ is present spiritually, and the believer feeds upon His body and blood in a spiritual, but real way. For the believer, this is what we call a “means of grace”. In other words, we believe that through the participation in the Lord’s Supper, God’s children are spiritually strengthened by the actual presence of Christ. It’s a marvelous teaching, and one that encourages believers to look forward to breaking bread with our Lord and Savior.

3. The Table is Open, but Fenced

At Providence Church, the Lord’s Supper is an “open table." By this, we mean that our table is not closed to other traditions, other denominations, or even visitors from other churches. This is not a Presbyterian table. This is a Jesus table. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have repented and put your faith in Him, if He has become your treasure, then this Lord’s Supper is open to you and offered to any who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. It’s inclusive in the sense that ANY believer may participate. However, there are some important words of warning that must be made.

Have you ever stood in line waiting to ride a roller coaster? Maybe it’s because I’m a sign maker by trade, but do you ever pay attention to all of the warning signs along the way? WARNING: Do not ride this roller-coaster if you are pregnant, have any injuries, lower back pain, high blood pressure, etc, etc. Does it scare you a little? That’s a natural response. The point is, we need to listen carefully to the warnings. They are posted for a reason. In a sense, this is what we mean when we say that The Lord’s Table is “fenced”. The Lord’s Supper is exclusive in the sense that it does have some restrictions to it, but they are for our safety. Here are some of the restrictions based on what scripture teaches…

1. The Lord’s Supper is for believers ONLY.

Regardless of any pressure felt to conform to the group or person you are with, please do not take the elements unless you have truly repented and put your faith in Jesus Christ. Taking the Lord’s Supper as an unrepentant enemy of the cross is a grave offense and sin against Christ. It is for your own sake that we ask you to abstain from the Lord’s Supper. That said, just because you walked into the church as an unbeliever does not mean that you must come to the table as an unbeliever. It is possible that the moments leading up to the Lord’s Supper have driven you to a real and saving faith in Jesus Christ. If this happens, praise God! We rejoice with you, and welcome you for your first Christian sacrament. Please let us know by filling out the communication card or talking to Greg after the service.

2. The Lord’s Supper is for children who have confessed their faith to an elder of the church.

Children of believing adults will eventually share a desire to participate in the Lord’s Supper. This is a good thing! We believe that since they are children of the covenant of God’s grace in Christ, they should be brought to the table and share in the sacrament alongside the rest of their family. That said, it is important that children understand what it is that they are doing when they eat the bread and drink the wine (juice). In other words, it’s not just snack time. They should be able to (in a simple way) confess their need for a savior, their faith in Jesus, and be able to confess personal sin through prayer. If a child can do this, then we welcome them to the table. If you would like to have your child partake of the Lord’s Supper, please see Greg after service.

3. The Lord’s Supper is for REPENTENT believers.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 states,

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Corinthians 11:27-29 ESV).

These verses make it clear that before we take the Lord’s Supper, we must first “examine ourselves” to be sure that we are taking the bread and drinking the cup in a way that is worthy of the gospel. Now, this can really freak some people out. I am one of them! Sometimes when I heard this early in my Christian walk, I would say to myself, “how could I possibly confess every sin or become worthy enough to come to the table with Christ Himself?” I think I missed the point of the warning. The meaning that the Apostle Paul is trying to convey is one of holiness. God knows that we are sinners and that we are not perfect. He knows that we sinned yesterday, today, and we’re probably going to sin some more tomorrow. Coming to the table in a worthy manner does NOT mean “clean yourself up” and somehow become good enough to eat this meal.

Discernment means that we are humble before the majesty and holiness of God, grateful for the heroic work of Christ on the cross, and dependent upon the grace of God to cleanse us from all sin. We confess our sin, our sin nature, and the sin we cannot remember or even see. Then having our conscience cleansed by the gospel, we are free to enjoy this meal with thankful hearts to and for the glory of Christ.

Are you excited about taking the Lord’s Supper? When you come Sunday, remember that the real presence of Christ is with us.
 
If Jesus invited us to dinner at His house, would that not be THE highlight of our weekend?


Matt Johnson is an ordained deacon at Faith Church (main campus) and is an integral part of the planting team at Providence Church in Spring Hill, Florida. 

Good Tree, Bad Trees, and the Profession of the Gospel

The Westminster Confession of Faith, in Chapter XVI, states “…good works, done in obedience to God’s commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto…

In my experience, Christians tend to have a hard time fitting good works into their lives and theology. Most protestant, evangelical believers understand that salvation, if it is anything, is ”not by works” but it is “the grace of God”. Thankfully, I think that’s clear, but does that mean we are off the hook from all charitable acts? Yes!  I mean, No? … Well…  In fact… I think that entire way of thinking is off. Let me take my schizo pills and explain…

When Jesus talks about good works, he uses an analogy that I think is very helpful and very simple. He says, “a bad tree cannot bear good fruit, and a good tree cannot bear bad fruit”. Get it? If a tree has been made good (saved, born-again, redeemed, regenerated), then it will necessarily produce good fruit. It cannot NOT bear good fruit. In like manner, a bad tree (someone who remains in his/her sin) cannot bear good fruit.

By the way, there is an important distinction that should be made here. When we talk about good fruit, we are not talking about the plastic kind that sits in a bowl on your kitchen table. In other words, real fruit (the kind Jesus is talking about), is not just good deeds, charitable giving, and service to the poor… but it’s ALL of those things SO THAT God may be glorified.

Any other motivation falls short. Any other motivation is like rotten or plastic fruit that may look nice on the outside, but on the inside it is incapable of being consumed and therefore incapable of glorifying God.

Atheists give money to the homeless in Haiti. Buddhists feed the hungry.
What makes you and I different from an agnostic philanthropist? The glory of God. We do good works, we feed the hungry, we care for orphans and widows, and we are generally good citizens… why?  To earn God’s favor? No, He already loves us perfectly. Because we love people? Yes, but it can’t stop there. If our motivation is because we love people, then we have made people, not God, our object of ultimate worth and that is called idolatry. No, we do all of these things because God is the singular treasure of our lives and whatever makes Him happy makes us happy.

Only good trees enjoy producing this kind of fruit. Fruit without joy is religion.

How do our genuine good works “adorn the profession of the gospel”? They adorn the gospel, because when people see us doing as Jesus did, they get it. They know we are truly His people by the way that we love one another and by the way we love the unlovable. To quote one of my favorite professors, Dr. Steve Brown, it makes us “smell like Jesus”. If they cannot smell Jesus on us, then there’s a good probability that they will not listen to us when we admonish them to repent and believe the gospel. Why should they, honestly? The world is full of religious hypocrites as far as the eye can see. I know, I am one. But, is it possible that the reason why our message is not heard by our culture is because on one hand they hear, “Jesus is Lord and Savior”, but on the other hand, they really know we love football, politics, and tradition much, much more?

Ok, that’s the problem, but what’s the answer? Jesus, of course. He’s always the answer. Be a good Sunday School student and just say “Jesus”, and 9 times out of 10 you’ll be right on the money. What can we do to produce good fruit and therefore adorn the profession of our gospel witness? Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2), and again He said, “apart from me you can do nothing”. I take that to mean that branches that do not bear fruit (bad trees or false converts) will eventually fall away. However, those whom God has chosen to redeem and regenerate WILL bear more and more fruit if we keep our eyes on Jesus. It’s not about us, it’s all about Jesus! Legitimate fruit will adorn the profession of our gospel, and our churches will become full of fruit-bearers who will influence a community that desperately needs to hear the gospel from people who live it daily.

Are you doing your good works to adorn the gospel and glorify God?

If not… it’s time for a root-check.

Matt Johnson is an instrumental part of the Providence Church plant in Spring Hill Florida, and a deacon at Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Matt works in the new product development department of Accuform Signs. Reprinted with permission from www.providencespringhill.org. 

Justification: The Absolute Center of Biblical Christianity

Here is a ridiculous hypothetical. Suppose that earth was visited by aliens from a distant world. And suppose further that their job was to observe life on Earth to determine whether or not it was intelligent. The aliens would probably watch an episode of "Swamp People" or "Duck Dynasty" on the Discovery Channel and suspect that they had landed on the wrong planet!

But suppose that they began to survey our beliefs and fixed their attention on Christianity: What would they discover to be the central core belief of our faith?

Let me turn that question on you for a moment. What would you say is the central article of faith of Christianity?

Some might say “Upholding a certain set of values. Voting for this party or that.” That is important, but Christianity is not a political movement. Others might say “Being a good person; kind, loving, and warm. After all, Jesus told His followers to ‘love their enemies.’” But Christianity is not a social theory. Still others might say, “Obeying the Ten Commandments; living in accordance with God’s moral Law.” Oh how critical! But Christianity is not just an ethical system—it is so much more!

Here is what I would say: “At its absolute center, Christianity is a way (THE ONLY WAY!) for unrighteous sinners to be reconciled to a holy and just God.”

The Westminster Confession of Faith defines justification as follows:

Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, on account of the righteousness of Christ imputed (placed upon) to us, and received by faith alone (WSC #33).

Some say, we don’t need theology, just our Bibles; yet this term, "justification" is thoroughly Biblical and is central to Paul's theology in Romans. It is found five times in Romans 3:21-31 for instance. Justification is a legal word drawn from the courtroom of Paul’s day. Literally, it means “to declare to be just.”  God does this, of course, only on the basis of His grace given us through the cross of His Son (vs. 23-25).

Historically, teaching on justification has lit churches up with power, grace, forgiveness, worship, mission, giving, and service! Listen to some of the all time great Reformers:

• Martin Luther (1483-1546): “This is the chief article from which all other doctrines have flowed… It alone begets, nourishes, builds preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the Church of God cannot exist for one hour.”

• Thomas Cranmer (1489-1566):  “Whosoever denies [the doctrine of justification] is not to be counted for a true Christian man… but for an adversary of Christ.”

• John Calvin (1509-1564): “Where ever the knowledge of [justification] is taken away, the glory of Christ is extinguished… [Justification] it is the main hinge on which salvation turns.”

Brothers, let us not forget to preach justification to our people. It is central to historic Christianity, central to the message of the Gospel, and central to revival.

Matthew Everhard is the Senior Pastor of Faith Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Brooksville, Florida. Follow on Twitter @matt_everhard

In Defense of Connectional Polity

By Matthew Everhard

With the close of another large General Assembly this week, the world of Presbyterianism begins to wind down what has been a very active summer of business meetings. Many of these meetings have been heated. Some have even been vitriolic. Each has spawned thousands of blog articles and Twitter posts. 

The gavels have been busy. The podiums, once polished, have since been worn dull. The overtures—both ascending and descending—have been, well, ascending and descending for most of June and July.  Most of the microphones have now been unplugged. 

Let’s look at what has been accomplished…

One assembly (PCA) dissected the theological ramifications of intinction, taking communion by dipping the bread in the cup rather than receiving the elements in two sacramental acts. Another (ARP) spent their energy debating their relationship to an academic institution’s governing board. A third (EPC) made a political statement on a few clauses in the “Obamacare” act. A fourth (PCUSA) voted on whether to invest or divest in corporations doing business in Israel. 

A brief survey of some of these more “interesting” matters debated may cause the uninitiated to ask: What is the point in all this? Indeed. What is the point? 

I freely admit that my role as a Teaching Elder in the EPC comes with far more desirable responsibilities than reviewing sub-committee minutes. I would rather preach or baptize a baby any day. For that matter, I’d even prefer a church disciplinary hearing! 

Nevertheless, I’d like to state a few reasons that all of these organizational structures are still part of the work of the Kingdom of God. 

First, the Body of Christ by definition is an organic living connection of various parts, all in submission together to our Head, Jesus Christ. Paul makes this argument in 1 Corinthian 12. Of course, one of the best ways that we show our unity in Christ is by actually meeting together to worship. At each assembly, worship is an integral part. All the assemblies that I know of received communion as a major focus of the event. The worship and sacraments tend not to get much press, but are central to our summer meetings.

Second, meeting together as believers on a regional (presbytery) national (assembly) or even global scale is a biblical act. Acts 15 is the account of the Jerusalem council where one of the most pressing theological questions of the day was settled, that of the inclusion of the gentiles. This meeting took place by way of gathering the apostles and elders of a number of first century churches. By meeting to discuss the relevant theological controversies of our day, we are carrying on that biblical process of discernment, even though the councils of men do sometimes fail (WCF 1.10 and 31.3). 

Ironically, these meetings that often display our disagreements are intended by God to show our unity. Anyone who says that the church of Jesus Christ shouldn’t have serious disagreements about weighty issues simply hasn’t read Paul’s epistles carefully. Don’t forget that another metaphor for the church is a family. Do you know any families that never argue? 

Third, is there really any alternative? Sure, a church could refuse to participate or even to choose independence. Non-denominational churches have the advantage of pointing out the foolish decisions of other believers’ councils. But what does that communicate to the unbelieving world? That non-denominational local churches can’t get along with anyone at all?

 

I am not sure that independence or non-participation better communicate “unity” to the unbelieving world than rowdy business sessions on a late Friday afternoon. 

The Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 31 details the full theological underpinnings of our reasons for meeting together. There we read these wise lines: 

It belongs to synods and councils, ministerially to determine controversies of faith, and cases of conscience; to set down rules and directions for the better ordering of the public worship of God, and government of his Church; to receive complaints in cases of maladministration, and authoritatively to determine the same; which decrees and determinations, if consonant to the Word of God, are to be received with reverence and submission; not only for their agreement with the Word, but also for the power whereby they are made, as being an ordinance of God appointed thereunto in His Word.

Call me a glutton for punishment. Sentence me to death by long boring meetings. But I still believe these words in our confession. I am still Presbyterian despite some of our lengthy debates and bone-headed decisions. 

I will see you next year in Denver!

Matthew Everhard is the pastor of Faith EvangelicalPresbyterian Church (EPC) in Brooksville, Florida. Follow him on Twitter @matt_everhard or friend him on facebook at www.facebook.com/pastor.everhard