Evangelicals are unwelcome

I'm sorry to say that I didn't enjoy the meeting of the Presbytery of Aberdeen on Tuesday night one little bit.  I felt that the meeting was not at all remarkable for graciousness.  A particular agenda item created a good deal of heat and, in my view, a good deal of unpleasantness.  Meetings of the Presbytery are open to the public.  I do know someone who planned to attend.  If she did so, I hope she was not too dismayed.  I will have to ask.

I must be frank.  I am not convinced in the slightest that there is a welcome for evangelical Christians in our Presbyteries, and by that I mean that our Kirk has no time or love for us.  I am not looking for sympathy.  If you are an evangelical parish worker, you will be spared rough treatment, as a general rule.  It cannot be guaranteed, but there is usually a collective sympathy for the young and the non-ordained.  If you are an evangelical minister who is intent on speaking and contributing, then stand by for a rough and tempestuous ride.  

In Tuesday night's meeting, one contributor complained that evangelicals are trying to impose their will on the Kirk, and this cannot be allowed.  Evangelicals know that he speaks for many in the Kirk, perhaps the majority.  And here is the nub of it all.  Evangelicals are granted space at the table as long as they choose to agree with more liberal opinion.  They must play the game.  They can swell the numbers and contribute to the finances, but they must keep their mouths shut when contentious matters arise.

Of late, evangelicals have felt that enough is enough, that the spiritual health of the Kirk is in grave danger and that our calling, as a National Church, to offer something to Scotland that is distinctive is being attacked and destroyed.  There is agreement that the glory of God and his holiness is being challenged and dismissed by many.  But notice this, as soon as evangelicals dare to disagree with the theological left, proud and intolerant, all hell breaks out.

Here is where things presently are: the bonds of unity in the Kirk are at breaking point.  Already, some churches are engaging in forms of civil disobedience.  Others may follow.  Those that have not yet withheld finances agree that a chasm has opened up within the denomination.  They believe that the root cause is a rejection of God and the way in which he has revealed himself in Christ and in the apostolic tradition of the scriptures, that those who reject the God of the bible have erected a false pick 'n mix god within the Kirk itself.  Evangelicals will not bow down to it.

Believe me, the Kirk is a pretty painful place for evangelical believers right now.  Many have simply abandoned Presbyteries and do not attend meetings.  They feel that no good thing can come out of them.  We feel decidedly unwelcome.  Our options seem few in number.  We try to remain focused on more positive things, but it is a hard furrow to plough.  We continue to pray.  God has yet to act, but he will.

Through it all, God is making us like his Son, and after suffering...glory!

Soli Deo Gloria