Paul's Passing Thoughts

I have been following the Southwood Presbyterian disaster for several months now. As in the ABWE missionary kids scandal—talk, lots of talk, more talk, and even more talk. As in the latter mentioned case, Southwood is talking about bringing in the Christian version of the United Nations: Peacekeeper Ministries. Whether PM, The Institute for Christian Conciliation™ (ICC), or G.R.A.C.E, these organizations are equal to the United Nations in their effectiveness. Stated plainly: they are worthless.

Why? Read all of their literature, and then add to it all of the endless statements from every type of committee trying to deal with these situations; there is one word missing in all of it. Read, read, read more, I just might be willing to give one, no, five dollars for every time you can find the concept: TRUTH.

There are a lot of battered/confused sheep among us because we are still naive enough to think that the vast majority of those who lead us care about Scriptural truth. If I am wrong, where is that word in anything they say? Strange, while on the one hand, the Scriptures make it clear that unity must be based on truth; on the other hand, PM and all the various committees called upon to bring peace to these situations never talk or write about truth. All they talk about is: finding sin within yourself; forgive the way Christ forgave you; recognize that we are all totally depraved, and therefore, stuff happens, que, sera, sera; and unity for the sake of unity.

Come now sheep; let us be completely honest with ourselves. The church, at least in this country, is being run by those who see themselves as the spiritual elite. The sheep are totally depraved, and must be saved from themselves. Yes, leaders believe they are totally depraved also, but also predestined for a certain enlightenment to lead. Therefore, they shouldn’t be questioned. This is one reason the “truth” word never appears in their vocabulary—truth is bound up in their authority.

Outrageous notion? Really? Let me demonstrate it from the Pastoral Care Committee of Providence Presbytery statement for the Southwood situation. Other than the fact that the word “truth” never appears in the document, the words for “heretic” does. In the Bible, unity is always linked to truth, and divisions are always linked to false doctrine. In the document, the biblical concept of heresy is exclusively leveled at the congregation and the leadership is completely excluded:

The Committee acknowledges that this report and these recommendations may meet resistance from any of the numerous factions currently at Southwood.

“Factions” is one of the English words for “heretic” in the Bible. The biblical definition of a heretic in the Bible is: a person who is part of a group or party that causes division through the use of false doctrine. I wrote a lengthy article on this subject here.

Elsewhere:

When Jean Larroux walked into Southwood for the first time as its Senior Pastor, we believe he entered into an environment that had the seeds for difficulty.  Actions and reactions within that environment led the Church to where it is today.  The SAHC sees four key factors in the decline of your church’s peace.  These factors in our report were: Issues within the Session, Communication, Reaction to Conflict by all parties, and Theological Misunderstanding.  The SAHC has communicated this in full to the Session.

Notice the fact that Larroux assumed the position without full disclosure (especially in regard to him thinking that he was bringing a “scandalous” gospel into Southwood) is nowhere on the committee’s radar screen. The committee again refers to the factions at Southwood as “parties,” another English word used to translate “heretic” from the Scriptures. I think this is by design. The “heresy” is not submitting to the leadership regardless of whether they are teaching truth or not. That’s because “truth” is bound up in their authority. This can be solidified with the fact that even after….

“We estimate that we have had hundreds of discussions, phone conversations, and email exchanges and have met regularly through the month of February.”

….charges of teaching false doctrine that was even called out by a thirteen-year-old visitor were summarily dismissed. And the existing leadership was given a sabbatical for the purpose of rest in anticipation of their future return to leadership. By the way, this is the exact same protocol being used by SGM to return serial sheep abuser CJ Mahaney to his presidency at SGM. The doctrinal concerns of the elders who resigned were also summarily dismissed in the document. Why? Because truth is bound up in the survival of the leadership. This is a serious problem that appears in Reformed theology from time to time in history: authority = truth.

Therefore, truth as perceived by the parishioners is irrelevant—because they don’t have the authority. Think my thesis is wrong? Note that there is no doctrinal error that even a thirteen-year-old (please, somebody send me her address so I can send her a bunch of stuff) can see, but only….

….Theological Misunderstanding

I have read many of  Larroux’s messages; this is an outrageously offensive statement. Other than the fact that Christians are supposed to love the truth, and separate from those who don’t teach it (because a little Levin leavens the whole lump), I just don’t like the fact that we sheep ARE PAYING FOR ALL OF THIS! The message from the Presbytery, whether Baptist or otherwise, is:

Keep you damn mouth shut, put your money in the plate, buy our books, smile a lot, and bring other totally depraved sheep into our wonderful tyranny.

I close with a comment concerning this statement in the same document:

The Committee recommends that all concerned parties work toward forgiveness and not file any formal complaints or charges arising out of any events which have occurred up to the present time….

Christians are never to “file any formal complaints or charges arising out of any events”?  I’m not so sure about that, and frankly, it’s the only hope I see in this document. The Scriptures are clear; we are only to follow those who follow Christ. And biblical imperatives to remove doctrinal error from local churches is most often directed at the whole congregation in the New Testament. I think that’s the greatest need of our day, for parishioners to stand up against error and any spiritual tyrant who seeks to protect error. If there is a course of action left for those at Southwood who love the truth—that’s what they need to do. Maybe it’s time for pastors to get the message: if you won’t stand for the truth, we will, and you can go get a real job!

paul