It is safe to say that no body in the long history of what is now the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has had a larger challenge — or a greater opportunity — than this group of now 20 individuals chosen collectively by the last three General Assembly moderators.
The appointing process itself was far from tidy; and its very messiness is symbolic of the struggle for this great church of Jesus Christ to find its life and voice again. That we have this particular group is testimony to the grace of God at work in our life together.
Of interest is the state of confusion concerning the task force at the outset of its existence — just exactly what its purpose is, what it is to do, even to whom it is to report and when. Given the orderliness of Presbyterianism such inexactitude is rare, and perhaps bears witness to the church’s need for a group that will be more than the sum of its “representative” parts or its official mission statement, a group that collectively senses a deep accountability to the triune God and Christ’s church, and a group that has the best opportunity therefore to be a prophetic voice in the life of the church.
The word “prophetic” is frequently used by both the left of center and the right of center in the PC(USA). For the left it means a word from the Lord affirming “justice” for the self-described gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered (glbt) oppressed minority that struggles for equal rights in the life of the church.
For the right justice means the upholding of the honor of the triune God, the truth and authority of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ and Scripture, and the way of life exhibited by our Lord, who is himself the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Each view is partial; and each view, over time, has taken on an idolatrous quality for its adherents — idolatrous in the sense that one party’s partial position becomes the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life.
In fact, only Jesus himself can make that claim, and anyone who dares set himself or herself up as the final arbiter of God’s truth is committing the primordial sin of claiming knowledge that belongs only to God, when in fact all of our knowledge is imperfect and only when the perfect comes will the imperfect pass away.
Which brings us back to the Theological Task Force for the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church. This group of 20 persons, called by God, duly authorized by the church, will be working on behalf of God and of us all for the next four years.
It deserves respect, it deserves our earnest prayers, it deserves to be freed from the attempts by those in the church — left and right — who either want to use it for their own ends or to destroy it lest it challenge cherished shibboleths.
The center of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — the third force which is emerging — will not allow that to happen. The center will insist on independence from outside interference and the faithfulness of this group as it seeks to be a prophetic voice in our midst, calling us back to the Center — Jesus Christ himself, the Word of God made flesh, Lord and Savior, Head of the Church — and back to faith and faithfulness for the sake of the world
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