Sacred or Secular
By now, most people have heard of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan doing something that has left most of us dumbfounded. They presented a slate of one (1) nominee for bishop, who is a Christian/Buddhist. If you have not read the article in the Living Church, you may find it here. It is no secret that I have many non Christian friends. Most of whom have been shocked at my outrage over this turn of events. The common refrain I hear is: This is why the churches are hurting- you're too rigid in your beliefs!
Well, yes. Yes, we are. One cannot parse the words of Jesus the Christ when he said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) That is pretty darned clear. NO ONE. Meaning salvation relies solely on Christ. To assert any other idea would make it un-Christian. The Episcopal Church seems to have this growing populist idea that Christianity does not have hard or fast rules. We had the woman priest who claimed to be both Muslim and Christian. Bp. Wolfe of Rhode Island thankfully inhibited her, because clearly one cannot be both. One cannot be Christian and Buddhist either. If Buddha is the master/enlightened one- what does that do to Christ who is God incarnate? What about the idea of the illusion of soul and reincarnation? One cannot honestly nor fully be both Christian and Buddhist at the same time without modifying the core beliefs of one or both.
I remember during my first year of seminary-I got into a heated argument with Fr. Tom Ward (then chaplain of Sewanee) over his criticism of my bishop's plan for the goal to increase numbers in the Diocese of Texas (See Bishop Claude Payne's book Reclaiming the Great Commission). Fr. Tom's assertion was that the church should not worry about numbers but we should "be the church." At that point in time, I didn't agree with Tom. I was also only a mere junior lingering in ignorance. By the time I was ready to graduate from Sewanee, I understood what Tom had meant. Yes, we have to make disciples of all nations, but we shouldn't sell out our core beleifs in order to become more easily accepted by society. Let me also state, Bishop Payne didn't say we should sell out, either. Rather, he was making a point that the church had been too long in "Maintenance mode" rather than "Mission mode" and that we needed to start making disciples, rather than committees. But the Episcopal Church seems to be on this track that we need to sell out sacred doctrine to become a secularly tolerant group. I'm going to state my belief in black and white: The Church should not follow society- Society needs to follow the church.
The church founded on the Gospel of Jesus Christ has its own share of problems. I'll give you that. But if you take the basic idea of Christianity in its simplest form: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind" and "Love your neighbour as yourself" - that being accepting Jesus as the only way and loving one another as he loved us- that gives society a clear and moral path to follow. Loving one another means agreeing to disagree and to accept that not every person is going to accept Christ. THat also means that the Church does not change Her beleifs to suit that person who isn't willing to accept Jesus. We stay true to the God who created us, loved us and redeemed us by the blood of Jesus.
We are called to be tolerant of those who do not share our beleifs, but we're also called not to surpress the Gospel that we believe in. We are called to remain true to the faith that has been passed on, and even died for, by the saints who came before us. We are called to remain sacred- not secular.
Well, yes. Yes, we are. One cannot parse the words of Jesus the Christ when he said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) That is pretty darned clear. NO ONE. Meaning salvation relies solely on Christ. To assert any other idea would make it un-Christian. The Episcopal Church seems to have this growing populist idea that Christianity does not have hard or fast rules. We had the woman priest who claimed to be both Muslim and Christian. Bp. Wolfe of Rhode Island thankfully inhibited her, because clearly one cannot be both. One cannot be Christian and Buddhist either. If Buddha is the master/enlightened one- what does that do to Christ who is God incarnate? What about the idea of the illusion of soul and reincarnation? One cannot honestly nor fully be both Christian and Buddhist at the same time without modifying the core beliefs of one or both.
I remember during my first year of seminary-I got into a heated argument with Fr. Tom Ward (then chaplain of Sewanee) over his criticism of my bishop's plan for the goal to increase numbers in the Diocese of Texas (See Bishop Claude Payne's book Reclaiming the Great Commission). Fr. Tom's assertion was that the church should not worry about numbers but we should "be the church." At that point in time, I didn't agree with Tom. I was also only a mere junior lingering in ignorance. By the time I was ready to graduate from Sewanee, I understood what Tom had meant. Yes, we have to make disciples of all nations, but we shouldn't sell out our core beleifs in order to become more easily accepted by society. Let me also state, Bishop Payne didn't say we should sell out, either. Rather, he was making a point that the church had been too long in "Maintenance mode" rather than "Mission mode" and that we needed to start making disciples, rather than committees. But the Episcopal Church seems to be on this track that we need to sell out sacred doctrine to become a secularly tolerant group. I'm going to state my belief in black and white: The Church should not follow society- Society needs to follow the church.
The church founded on the Gospel of Jesus Christ has its own share of problems. I'll give you that. But if you take the basic idea of Christianity in its simplest form: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind" and "Love your neighbour as yourself" - that being accepting Jesus as the only way and loving one another as he loved us- that gives society a clear and moral path to follow. Loving one another means agreeing to disagree and to accept that not every person is going to accept Christ. THat also means that the Church does not change Her beleifs to suit that person who isn't willing to accept Jesus. We stay true to the God who created us, loved us and redeemed us by the blood of Jesus.
We are called to be tolerant of those who do not share our beleifs, but we're also called not to surpress the Gospel that we believe in. We are called to remain true to the faith that has been passed on, and even died for, by the saints who came before us. We are called to remain sacred- not secular.
Leave a comment