Repost from jonathan hays' blog.......

In the unlikely event that I have some readers who don't visit firstfloorflat.com, I've decided to repost Jonathan Hays' blog....... we had a really good long e-convo the other day and this entry really sums it up nicely...... I've been suffering from some serious emotional blockage lately... and if I could get over that, I'd think I'd be expressing something similar, so here it is..... inerrant in it's original format.


I just read the farewell letter that Bill Boniface wrote to his congregation where he was until that time Senior Warden. It is very sad and on the long side (14 pages)…I don’t agree with everything said, but it is still very sad. It will be linked at the end of this post.
As I read the letter, my heart again broke for my little Episcopal church in Alaska. This is a small church that has contended for the faith for decades, has many good Christians and a solid Priest, but is sitting in the path which the “Liberal”-Fundamentalist bulldozers are coming down. There is no way that it can survive within ECUSA…it will be gobbled up and sold off so that the National Church can live off of its capital. However, there is good news is that they are affiliated with the Network (which is the only recognized Anglican body in the US by 15 of the 30-something Provinces of the Anglican Communion). If and when the Episcopal Church (USA) does cut the cord with Canterbury, those Network parishes shall most likely become the new Anglican presence in the USA.
What we are seeing play out in ECUSA, and will probably see play out in the UMC and PCUSA in the next decade is the gnashing teeth of a “liberal fundamentalism”. A group of activists, intellectuals, and so forth who are quietly preying on these already-dying bodies. It is interesting, for example, that in these groups that pride themselves on diversity and openness Jesus Christ, Paul of Tarsus, John Chrystostom, Augustine, John Calvin, John Wesley and many others could not be ordained because of their positions on women’s ordination. There is something wrong with that picture. If the mainline church has decided to accept women’s ordination in the past 50 years (in direct contradiction to 1900 years of church tradition and I would argue, Scripture itself)…don’t you think that the affirming and inclusive thing to do would be to continue to allow men whose consciences are bound on this issue into the clergy? Yes, I think that would be the most inclusive thing to do. But take the Church of Scotland for an example…what two things must a man or woman believe in and adhere to if they are to be ordained?
The Trinity? WrongThe Diety of Christ? Wrong again!Ummm…maybe just belief in God? Nope! Sorry!
No, the two things that you must adhere to and accept to be ordained in the CoS are: Infant Baptism and the Ordination of Women.
Frightening, isn’t it?
What is going on in these mainline churches reminds me of a portion in Joel 3 where YHWH is talking about what has been done to his people Israel…2b …And I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
This selling of children is a perfect picture to what is happening in the church.
But what do we do? Well, for most of my readers who are more conservative Protestants…what do we do? We laugh, we split churches quickly over non-essentials, we deride. It’s like that song by Derek Webb…
T-Shirts- From “I See Things Upside Down”they’ll know us by the t-shirts that we wearthey’ll know us by the way we point and stareat anyone whose sin looks worse than ourswho cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare
they’ll know us by our picket lines and signsthey’ll know us by the pride we hide behindlike anyone on earth is living rightand isn’t that why Jesus diednot to make us think we’re right
choruswhen love, love, loveis what we should be known forlove, love, loveit’s the how and it’s the whywe live and breathe and we die
they’ll know us by reasons we divideand how we can’t seem to unifybecause we’ve gotta sing songs a certain styleor we’ll walk right down that aisleand just leave ‘em all behind
they’ll know us by the billboards that we makejust turning God’s words to cheap clichéssays “what part of murder don’t you understand?”but we hate our fellow manand point a finger at his grave
What we like to do, I argue, is just as sick as ignoring God’s Word…we pretend that it is our own. We study it so that we can “be right”, and then our theology becomes our righteousness. At least it does for me. I sit on high stones and cast down judgements on all those quasi-Christians below who do not have it as put-together as I do in the theology zone. I like to make fun of people who are “more liberal” or “more conservative” than I am behind their backs, because it makes me feel good about myself. And that is what my answer to number 5 of my list of questions would be. “I feel inherently superior to someone… when I am more right than them.” And I hate that.
Now before I get grenades lobbed at me, what I am not saying is that there is not a Truth to be defended. What I am saying is that it is not our Truth, and we should not make knowing about that Truth our righteousness and use it as our stick to smack down others and to pat ourselves on the back with. The Truth of Jesus’s redeeming work is one that should bring us to love more and to understand that Sanctification is a process. And it is not a process that is helped by other people (going through the same process) acting as if they are in better shape than others.
The fact is we’re broken, even in the super-Godly PCA. I mean, how many people voiced objections on that Racism letter of a few years ago? Come on! We need to be reaching out to each other in our “pure” denominations (there is no such thing in this already-not yet, so stop daydreaming about it) and reaching out to other brothers and sisters in whatever denomination they may be with the good news of Christ. And if you haven’t heard it today…let me preach it to you right now.
We’re all broken. We’re all loved.
Christ’s death and resurrection, and the benefits of forgiveness, transformation, and eternal life are offered to you right now. If you’ve tasted from them before, drink deeply of his grace again. Quit relying on your own theology, your job, your family, your good deeds, your whatever to save you. And for those of you who are like me, who like to beat yourselves up…as if that could make you holy(!)…realise that it is much easier to be a penitent sinner trying to create his own righteousness through his penance than it is to be a free saint in Jesus’ righteousness. I’m not here to save you, just to point to Jesus and say…believe and cast your burdens on him. And it is not actually easy to do that…because most of us struggle with believing that God is actually as good as he says he is, that he is trustworthy, that he exists! But if we surrender ourselves to Christ’s hands and his love…through His Spirit and His Word, He promises to change us.
I can’t stand that, because I want to be in control. Plus, I have some reservations on how trustworthy God is. Lord, help our unbelief!
You see, these “fights” are not going to be won by Picket lines, petitions, law suits, church courts, or whatever (although the last has its place)…they shall be won by the Spirit if they are to be won. We have an “evangelical” church with little evangel, but only a rulebook…and we have a “liberal” church with little evangel, but only a rulebook. The rulebooks are just different. The fact is, both sides need the evangel…the pure unadulterated Gospel, preached in their churches. When we are hearing every week that we are worse off than we could ever imagine, but more loved than we could ever hope…our attitudes change…and we are changed. We become more open to others who are different than us…who have different sins, and we are encouraged to encourage each other…both as paupers. We start seeing each other on the same path as people picking up different stones to put in our pockets to weigh us down. You’ll start to see me as one who collects rocks with the words “Being Right” and “Sensuality” written on them…and I’ll start seeing you as someone who picks up “Unity At Any Cost” and “Being Liked” rocks. And the Gospel, which tells us that we are both sinners…encourages us to be open about what rocks we like to pick up to weigh us down. And it encourages us to ease each others burden by talking each other out of our stones with the words of Christ.
I’ve gotten off the main point, but as I was sitting and writing this…this is where it went, and that is what you always get with me…less structure, more fun!