If we Presbyterians are to live faithfully and to the glory of God in the "time between the times," as discussed recently in this space, then some intentional framework will be necessary for the church as a whole. It will be necessary to reclaim its heritage and to go forward in mission to the ends of the Earth.
In recent weeks, the current crisis in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been addressed — the precipitous decline in membership over the last four decades, the dissolution of a strong confessional/theological base resulting from the corrosive effects of a rapidly secularizing culture which increasingly exercises dominance over the mind of the church, and the terrible polarization over human sexuality that brought the PC(USA) to the brink of division.
With the double exception of Adam and Eve, every single human being possesses a navel.This is because we are born connected to our mother by an umbilical cord that is severed after birth and then dries up.The purpose of cutting the cord is to enable you to sleep in your own bed, although the child is later reattached to the mother by apron strings.
Whether the United States will actually go to war against Iraq is still unclear at the present time. What is clear is that preparations for the war are proceeding apace. The preparations have been both ideological and military. On the ideological front, the Bush administration has been readying the American public for a "pre-emptive" attack on Iraq ever since Sept. 12, 2001 – a media blitz that continues right down to the present day.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is entering a critical period in its history: life-and-death decisions must be made. The future shape and form of our denomination, its very existence, is in the balance. The PC(USA) will not cease to exist altogether. We know that because there is enough strength for some remnant to last indefinitely, as witnessed by smaller Presbyterian bodies that continue to endure with limited numbers.
The new Archbishop of Canterbury, His Grace Rowan Williams, is a highly intelligent man. In his most recent book , Lost Icons he discusses the function of "play" in Western society. "Games," he writes, "are unproductive." By this he means that the purpose of a game is not to manufacture a product. Its goal is not "competition for limited goods."
Last week in this space we began the New Year with a reflection on the biblical and theological concept of the time between the times, that is, between the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and his second coming, as promised in Scripture. The question raised was whether there will be a Presbyterian Church as we know it 30, 40, 50 years from now, and in connection with that question, what God's will for this church in terms of its life and mission might be.
The church has just celebrated Advent and Christmas and now looks toward Easter and Pentecost.
In terms of the triune God's grand plan of salvation, we who belong to Christ are living in the time between the times, between the already and the not yet. We know, by faith, that Christ stands at the beginning and ending of all that is, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the meantime God's glorious plans for the creation are unfolding inexorably in human history.
More specifically, God's raising of Jesus from the dead is the center of history, and the beginning of the end of history. As we speak of the time between the times, more properly we are speaking of the time between God's self-revelation in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the inauguration of the kingdom of God (coupled with the extension of the Incarnation, the birth of the church at Pentecost) and Christ's second coming, which will bring to conclusion God's plans for the whole creation.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), like all parts of the universal church of Jesus Christ on Earth, lives in this time between the times, as historically understood. And yet there are an infinite number of far more limited times between the times in the life of the Christian Church down through the ages.
The first decade of the 21st century is just such a time for the Presbyterian Church, a critical time in which life-and-death decisions will need to be made.
This more limited understanding of the time between the times, in the first decade of the 21st century, has at least two facets:
(1) the time between old age and death for the denomination if current trends continue; and
(2) the time between the situation of theological/confessional uncertainty in which we find ourselves today, and a clear affirmation — by most of the Presbyterian Church's ordained leadership — of the foundational convictions of the historic Christian movement.
The latter includes reaffirmation by the ordained leadership of the church of biblically and theologically rooted views of human sexuality, which are the norms according to which the community lives its life together in the world. Widely divergent views on this topic have been the occasion of enormous internal turmoil for several years.
To address the first issue: the time between now and the prospective death of the Presbyterian Church, the question must be raised as to whether this be inevitable, 30, 40, 50 years from now, as suggested by some?
Having a poor visual memory is a source of considerable regret to me.Art historians stir a profound awe in me because they need to know everything that any expert knows and in addition apply it to what they have seen.On the three occasions in my life when I was in some danger of committing the sin of pride, I picked up Charles Cuttler's great book, Northern Painting from Pucelle to Bruegel and committed the sin of envy instead.
We’ve been examining the concept of real presence in this column, and its significance to our understanding of the nature and work of the triune God. God is really present, truly present, in every place all the time. And if that be true, as Christians profess it to be true, then life cannot be lived as if it were not true.
