Posted on 05/18/2005 1:11:07 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley.
Over the weekend, I heard about what might be called “A Tale of Two Churches.” Each involved an attempt to discipline church members. Looking at the two together gives us a very instructive lesson.
The first case was in Waynesville, North Carolina. In the past week, the East Waynesville Baptist Church split down the middle. The facts are not in dispute. During the last political campaign, the Reverend Chan Chandler told his congregation, “The question then comes to the Baptist church, how do I vote? Let me just say this right now, if you vote for John Kerry this year, you need to repent or resign. You have been holding back God’s Church way too long.”
Subsequently, some of the members, who apparently took offense at the pastor’s statement, were voted out. Now in the midst of the turmoil, the young pastor who made those remarks has been forced to resign. Many have left, and the church is in shambles.
The second example was this past weekend in Saint Paul , Minnesota, where a Roman Catholic priest refused Communion to more than one hundred parishioners. They could not receive the sacrament, he said, because they wore rainbow-colored sashes to church in support of homosexuality as a gift from God. This was an organized protest by a group called the Rainbow Sash Alliance. When the protest was announced, Archbishop Harry Flynn declared these people would not receive Communion because they were defying Church teachings.
Both of these attempts at church discipline are related to cultural questions. But there the similarity ends. What happened in Saint Paul is a very good example of what the Church, both Catholic and Protestant, needs to do. When the teaching of the Church is flouted, the Church has a right, indeed a duty, to discipline its members. In this regard, we evangelicals can learn something from Roman Catholics, who under Pope Benedict XVI show every sign of making Church membership mean something by holding the line on orthodox Church teachings. This is part of a pattern: Over recent months a number of priests and bishops have indicated they would not give Communion to Catholic politicians who vote on legislation in ways contrary to the moral and biblical teaching of the Church. This is an entirely appropriate way for a church to exercise discipline.
But what about the church in Waynesville? In 1986, Chuck Colson wrote a book called Kingdoms in Conflict, arguing that it is the duty of the Church to speak out on moral issues and culture. But at the same time, he argued, a pastor must never make partisan endorsements. Reverend Chandler lost sight of this distinction and went over the line. It is one thing to call members to account for beliefs or behavior that defy the clear teaching of Scripture; it’s another thing to force them out of the congregation because of the way they vote at an election. The lesson from Waynesville is, don’t step across that line.
We are servants of the Kingdom of God before we are servants of the kingdom of man. The Gospel belongs to no political party. The Church stands in judgment of and in service to culture and society, but it must do so without embracing an agenda for purely partisan reasons.
Some people believe a thing is what they say it is, just because they say so. Some people believe that a thing must be good if they have an urge to do it. It doesn't even stand up as logic, much less as Christian doctrine. These people need to repent.
If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.
BreakPoint/Chuck Colson Ping!
If anyone wants on or off my Chuck Colson/BreakPoint Ping List, please notify me here or by freepmail.
Please put me on your PING list. Thanks.
And that goes for Republicans too. Are you listening, Bill Frist? Up or down vote. Now. Scorched earth for any RINO who breaks ranks.
Thank God for giving us Pope Benedict XVI -- St. John Paul II's first miracle!
God Bless this young Baptist Pastor. May he be quickly called to a congregation that appreciates his strong pro-life witness.
Yet it is not legitimately in the province of the government to decide that. Under the First Amendment the government has no business at all deciding how I should vote, or in what terms I choose to express my political opinion. The First Amendment says I have a right to go to church, and it says I have the right to petition the government. It does not say that I can't publicly pray fot the election of a politician if I think it right to do so.But as a prudential matter, Colsen has an excellent point. But it should read, "should not" rather than "must" not.
True. Deacon boards typically hold much sway in Baptist churches, and many a young-pastor has run afoul of an entrenched deacon.
Another aspect of the Waynseville situation is old church members verses young church members (20 and 30 somethings). I can recall a Baptist church in Texas that was taking a controversial (to many) vote (on exchange theater seats for pews), which led to many, many older church "members" who had not attended in years to show up to vote.
oops, You are right of course.
Ping!
Right is right even if no one believes it..
&
Wrong is wrong even if everyone believes it...
It is a reasonable Catholic rule that you cannot receive Communion if you are in a state of mortal sin. First you need to go to confession and straighten yourself out.
I used to be an Episcopalian, and they took a more Protestant approach. You don't have sacramental confession, but you do need to repent and make amendment for any serious sins before receiving, or else you are "eating and drinking damnation unto yourself," in the words of the old Book of Common Prayer.
If you go up to communion not in order to receive the Lord but to make a political statement in favor of homosexuality, that is clearly sinful in itself: because it is in a bad cause, and because it is basically USING God instrumentally for a political purpose. God is to be worshipped, not used.
As for the Baptist pastor, if he had been wiser he would have told his flock that it would be seriously sinful to vote for anyone who supported abortion and perversion, or betrayed his country. That would indicate to most people that they should not vote for kerry, but it much preferable to straight out telling them not to vote for kerry.
Typical.
That's why I'm glad the Catholic Church is not a democracy.
All the people who only take a break from their abortions and fornications on Christmas or for weddings would be the church-ruining swing vote.
"But at the same time, he argued, a pastor must never make partisan endorsements."
A blanket statement that a church figure shouldn't make endorsements of political figures, or condem the actions of political figures is pure political correctness.
There's no sound reasoning for it, it's just something that isn't accepted by secular society.
I think it clearly depends on why the religous figure is directly opposing that political figure. John Kerry gave religous leaders plenty of good reason to oppose him.
He supported abortion. He obviously tried to mislead people about his religous faith for political gain. He showed a complete lack of moral backbone by lying and changing his views to meet the latest polls.
Are we suggesting that the church only talk in abstraction about real world issues of faith and morality, when real world examples are right at hand?
I don't see how any devout Christian who paid close attention to what John Kerry said and did could vote for him.
Because of the IRS regulations and political correctness I saw a lot of linguistic hoops jumped through by church pastors to make that clear, without comming out and saying it directly. When pastors can't speak honestly and openly about matters of faith in their own churches for fear of IRS sanctions, the First Ammendment is not being upheld.
We need to stop this political correct crap and quit hiding our religous views any time someone might be possibly offended by them. Fear of offending people justly leads to moral decay.
As for the Baptist pastor, if he had been wiser he would have told his flock that it would be seriously sinful to vote for anyone who supported abortion and perversion, or betrayed his country.
This may well be what happened. Remember, the truth was filtered through the the old media.
FYI: Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is not a remembrance of Jesus Christ.
Catholics believe it is His body and his blood.
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