‘Why can’t these reform-minded people just leave non-reformed churches alone?’
The title of this short piece is a variation of an objection that is often raised, directed at reform-minded people, as to why these ones are introducing and seeking to impose a certain novel system of theology (i.e. predestinarianism, and all that that entails these days) within their respective churches that are, well, non-reformed to begin with. This is a good and valid objection to be raising. If indeed the body of doctrine being championed is novel, strange, and foreign to the churches in question, then an unwelcome infiltration is afoot!
If this is the case, and this is something that could easily be verified by an involved reading of a church’s history and doctrinal symbols (e.g. statement of faith), then I am all for supporting the objection. In such cases, I would myself be counseling these reform-minded people to just leave their non-reformed churches alone.
As a church planter at heart I am all for the starting of new churches that are reformed and, if it could be helped, confessionally presbyterian. This is my own preference, although I must now also register my full commitment to the Church’s catholicity. I am fully committed to sharing the table with all fellow professing believers who love the Lord Jesus and are baptized members, in good standing, of a church that faithfully preaches the biblical gospel.
Having said that, the situation of some reform-minded people who are trying to get their churches to be more reform-minded (e.g. trying to persuade them to embrace the so-called doctrines of grace as biblical) is probably similar to my own experience. I first started out to plant a reformed church in partnership with our original sending church, which was no longer reformed at the time, although their roots could verifiably be traced back to the missionary efforts of reformed people in the East Asian motherland.
That our sending church back then was no longer reformed in the same sense that I was was actually because their non-reformedness was introduced by non-reform-minded people in their church over the years. Actually, the novelty was not mine — because I was being true to the original identity and theology of my sending church — but those who had, whether inadvertently or intentionally, introduced non-reformed patterns of thinking, theologizing, and doing church to this originally reformed church.
To be fair, the church’s Operations Manual (as far as my research could ascertain) simply affirmed that the church’s doctrinal basis was the doctrine of the Apostles’ Creed. This is a very broad symbol indeed. So, technically the latter non-reformed folks who introduced non-reformedness did not actually run afoul with the church’s official documents. But neither would a true blue reformed guy like me be running afoul for planting a reformed church under those terms. Which I did!
This, I suspect, is the case with many who are currently in the crosshairs of those who are crying foul over their reforming efforts in their quote non-reformed unquote churches. Perhaps a deeper review of these respective churches’ histories and doctrinal symbols might be the better way forward. After all, nobody wants to be labeled as a church splitter. A church planter? Yes. A church splitter? No way.
So, here’s my advice to the reform-minded ones regarding this question:
Step 1: Find out what your church’s history and doctrinal symbols say.
Step 2: Ask yourself if you are going against your own church’s history. If you are, stop it! Leave them alone and get yourself to a church that is more aligned with your convictions. If you are in a position to do so, plant one! Other people (who are probably much wiser than me!) would disagree with this advice but I think it’s the best thing to do, all things considered. Be a church planter, not a church splitter.
Step 3: Ask yourself if you are going against your church’s doctrinal basis. If you are, stop it! Leave them alone and get yourself to a church that is more aligned with your convictions. If you are in a position to do so, plant one! Be a church planter, not a church splitter. If you are not going against your church’s doctrinal basis, then keep calm and carry on, calmly. And charitably. And patiently. And gently.
Again, calmly, charitably, patiently, and gently, please.
