To Ordain or Not to Ordain?

  

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is in the middle of a controversy that other denominations have already addressed.  We avoided it for as long as we could.  We turned a blind eye and acquired deaf ears when the topic was nearing a tipping point for denominational discussion.

Camps formed, then entrenched themselves, and now are ready for battle.  How long will this take?  Will the denomination divide?  Is anyone truly ready to listen or are we content just to beat our own drums?

I offer this to the general discussion, but consider it likely that many—probably most—will quit reading or denounce it without reading it in its entirety upon encountering any point that causes dogmatic thinking to be challenged.

And there will be challenges for all concerned.  This is not a message to comfort the afflicted but to afflict the comfortable.  Some need to check out here for the sake of not having your comfort zone disturbed.

Let’s address what most call the Arkansas Amendments.  I begin by addressing the elephant in the room.  The amendments take aim at practicing homosexuals and their fitness for service as a pastor in all forms or as an elder. Deacons are not addressed.

Let me say from the beginning, if the amendments are adopted, we as a denomination will be completely biblical.  We will be biblical! The problem is that we will also be the biggest hypocrites since the Pharisees.  If fact, we will have raised the hypocritical bar a good deal.

The problem is that the wording of the amendments aims a shotgun, not a rifle.  It addresses all sexual relationships outside the boundaries of marriage and not just homosexual relationships.  Perhaps the shotgun syntax was intentional, perhaps even biblical.

Just what am I talking about? We get that homosexuality is a sin thing.  Read Leviticus.  We shouldn’t adopt the world’s take that we have outgrown this thinking or that as the death penalty is no longer imposed for this offense (at least in this country) so the offense is no more. We need to remain biblically based in our thinking and doctrine.

We understand that the amendment is talking about a continuing relationship not just a past experience.  If a one-and-done approach was administered, those who have murdered, stolen, dishonored their parents or other prohibitions listed in the top 10 directives, would be disqualified from our ordained ranks and our numbers would shrink considerably. 

Yes, I know we don’t have many murderers who have been ordained, but we have many testimonies of people fully immersed in a sinful lifestyle who repented and received life in Christ Jesus and went on to ordination.  One-and-done does work when we are looking for reasons to exclude.  All have sinned and fall short.  We know that part.

I think we are talking about a continued homosexual relationship, but what about adultery?  That could be a one-and-done, but what about those among us who are ordained, yet continue in an adulterous relationship?

What?

What about those divorced Cumberlands who have remarried and as such continue in an adulterous relationship?  Are they too disqualified for ordination in any form?

Hold your holy horses!  We have a plethora of exceptions that have been written into this biblical view.  Besides, with the number of divorced people who we have welcomed into our ranks, this is politically not viable.

My mistake.  I thought we were being biblical, not political or practical. So, what should divorced people who have remarried do, divorce again?  I thought God hates divorce.

That would be ridiculous.  Remarried Cumberland Presbyterians would only need to divorce if they wanted to be ordained as a pastor or elder.  Then they would need to abstain from marriage just as the homosexual desiring to be ordained would abstain from having sex with same-sex partners.

C’mon man!  I thought that you were inclined to the conservative side.  I am, but I won’t use that as an excuse to be a hypocrite.

But that stuff about adultery came from Jesus. It wasn’t that way in the original law.

If discounting the words and teachings of Jesus were a viable response, that might be worth considering.  Instead, I ask you to consider this.

Much of the Law of Moses served to mitigate the evil in the human heart.  Jesus wants us to replace our evil hearts with the divine heart of his Father.  It’s that whole repentance thing again.

Let’s move on to the shacking-up category.  I’m guessing that’s included in the scope of the amendment.  What if the shacking up has continued to the point of being a common-law marriage?

Do committees on preparation for ministry need to add a question concerning this to their applications?

So where does this leave us?

With a thinning of the ranks, that’s where.  Only the most pious may be ordained within this denomination. 

God might call you, but you can’t answer his call here unless you are single or in a traditional marriage for the first time.  No same-sex relationships.  No divorced and remarried.  No shacking up.

You might think, I can live with that, and maybe we can.  But why stop at sexual sin?  Shouldn’t we address others?

If someone is a serial killer, the world will likely take him or her out of our ordained ranks. That’s an easy fix, but what about pride, self-righteousness, and gluttony.  Should we put out a BOLO on those for the next go-round of amendments?

I don’t know if I can start running 7 miles a day again.  Back in the days when I was lean and mean, that would be no problem, but these days, I’m just mean.

Some of us who carry extra weight might say that God made us this way.  Isn’t that the secular justification for accepting homosexual behavior?  This keeps getting messier.

Perhaps, every 3 years we should focus on a handful of sins for disqualification from ordination and thin our ranks even more.  This wouldn’t be excluding anyone from our denomination.  Race, color, sexual orientation, fat or skinny, tall or short—whosoever will may come.  You just can’t be ordained.

We need to publish a taxonomy of sin so we can address them in an orderly fashion.

I’m somewhat tongue-in-cheek here, but not entirely.  If the choice is between whosoever will may come but you might not be ordained because of selected sins or whosoever will may come but only the purest of the pure may be considered for ordination (few are called but fewer—perhaps none—are chosen), I would take the latter.

Things are so clear when we can shape God in our own image and make his instructions conform to our own. But if we truly want to be biblical in our faith and practice, then we need to thin our existing ordained ranks and ordain ever so few—if any—in the future.

Are we willing to do that?

Yes, I know that I am a stick in the mud.  I have been accused of being tactful twice in my life but was acquitted on both counts.

Some will say that I don’t truly understand God’s word—or more likely I don’t conform to your understanding of God’s word—the one that includes the taxonomy of sin.

Here is what I understand.  These things miss the mark.  They transgress God’s ways.

Homosexual relationships.

Divorce.

Remarriage after divorce.

Shacking up for sex.

We are called to minister to people in all of these areas.  These are only sexual sins.  We all fall short of God’s glory in so many other ways, but the continuation of these ways seems to be what is at issue here.

The challenge is to ordain a clergy worthy of the calling that they/we have received. Our history is one of whosoever will may come.

We all come to God out of disobedience.

But if the homosexual would just repent and seek the ways of God going forward, there wouldn’t be a problem.  That’s not fair!  That’s too much to ask!

Yes, there is a problem that many don’t think that repentance is needed.  What God said long ago on this matter is no longer valid and not a sin.

That dog don’t hunt!  That’s not biblical. It’s still a sin.

Let’s apply the same standard to divorce. All the divorced person needs to do is confess that his or her divorce was a sin and seek the ways of God going forward, which would include abstaining from remarriage and sex.

That’s not fair!  Getting married again after divorce is not a sin! That thinking is not biblical! But it is. Abstaining from marriage after divorce is biblical but very inconvenient to so many Cumberland Presbyterians. 

Should the same standard not be applied to both groups of people as we consider the proposed amendments?

Much of the law mitigated the evil in our hearts.  Jesus came to lead us to a wholesale exchange of our hearts of stone for those of flesh. Jesus wants us to have a heart that he can shape into a divine heart.

Personally, I don’t really want to see a gay pastor leading a flock. I am less bothered by a gay woman than a gay man.  Perhaps, that’s because God only mentioned men in Leviticus.  More likely, it’s just that toxic masculinity thing that’s going around these days. I am less bothered by a divorced and remarried pastor.  I am less bothered by a couple that is shacking up—it seems that most that I have encountered who are seeking God through Christ are headed toward marriage.

That’s my hierarchy, not God’s.  If we could just go with my hierarchy, I might be happy.  That is until I looked in the mirror and saw a hypocrite.

If we are going to abide by the law, let’s abide by the whole law not just the parts that we like the most.

Is it even possible to have someone who is qualified to be a pastor?  None are good save God himself. All have fallen short of the glory of God.

But God has called many to serve him and some of those were called as pastors.  Of those whom God has called, none were qualified.  Some might have had a big DISQUALIFIED stamped on their resumes, but God called them.

Can we continue as a denomination known for our grace and connectional nature or will we be divided by human decision and weaponize the law or ignore it all together?

Should I prepare to surrender my ordination or start picking out my phylacteries?

If the choice is between whosoever will may come but you might not be ordained because of selected sins or whosoever will may come but only the purest of the pure may be considered for ordination (few are called but fewer—maybe none—are chosen), I would take the latter.

Better to fulfill our commission, take the gospel to the world, and make disciples—even disciples that will have to wrestle with the old self for all of their days—than to make God’s directives in our own image and be the best hypocrites of all time.

If we pass these amendments, let us prepare to reduce the ranks of pastors and elders among us—not because of a denominational divide but because of widespread disqualification of those now serving or hoping to serve.

We can beat our chests all day and proclaim that we are biblically correct, knowing full well we are more hypocritical than the Pharisees ever were.

Paul listed his religious credentials and said that they would stack up to anyone’s, but that he counted them as dung.  That’s manure in these parts. What is our ordination worth if we apply our own taxonomy of sin to qualify or disqualify?

We might need to do the same if our credentials, specifically ordination, are a stumbling block to our commission.  If we invite people into the church (which belongs to Jesus) but say in the Cumberland part of that church, this far and no farther, have we not made them twice as much a child of hell as we are? Have we not placed ourselves in the place of God?

You can be a member but your sin is worse than the sin of others and grace only goes so far, at least where ordination is concerned.

For this protracted pontification to have any merit, it should include something of a recommendation.  I do pray that we come up with something better, but here it is.

Adopt the amendments.

Cease immediately the ordination of pastors and elders who:

Practice homosexuality.

Are divorced and not reunited with their original spouse.

Are divorced and remarried.

Are shacked up for sex.

Over the next 3 years, pastors and elders should surrender their ordinations if they:

Practice homosexuality.

Are divorced and not reunited with their original spouse.

Are divorced and remarried to another spouse

Are shacked up for sex.

 

Tom, you are crazy!  That may be true, but I’m biblical.

These mentioned above are just the sexual sins.  If we are serious about qualifying or disqualifying someone for ordination, then every 3 years, we will select 5 more sins for this purpose. Let’s start with lust.  Maybe it was included in the amendment, but let’s be sure.

We can’t skip gluttony.  This one will disqualify many.  Let’s throw in anger, jealousy, and selfish pride.  Those are all sins that often continue beyond ordination.  I’m just throwing these out there as a starting point, but we need to start somewhere.  It will take a committee at least 2 years to sort out the next 5 sins and we have people to disqualify!  Time is of the essence. The purge must begin now.

Sometimes, I am not sure if I am tongue-in-cheek or not.

So where does that leave us?

If God has called you to preach, then preach.  You will not be ordained to preach by this denomination, but you can still answer your call.

If God has called you to serve, then serve.  You will not be ordained to serve by this denomination, but you can still answer your call.

We can still answer our callings, serve in this denomination, and bring glory to God but we will do it without the human validation of that setting apart by God and for God.

This sounds radical, mainly because it is, but the concept of mercy and grace is no less radical and that’s what we have been commissioned to take to the world.  We are sent into the world to call sinners to repent and if our ordinations and institutionalism become a stumbling block to that, then we need to count all of that as dung and get back to the business of going into the world without a denominational ordination, but with these words.

Repent and believe the good news!

Should we go this route, we will surely need other constitutional revisions with regard to administering the sacraments and marriage, but these are not terribly debilitating changes.

As stated previously, I hope someone comes up with something better, but I’m also considering buying the domain name phylacteriesRus.com.  Business looks promising.

We must pray for greater understanding and discernment by us all.  We will figure this out only if we stop building our ramparts and start listening to God and to each other.

Amen. 

Matthew 19 - Part 1

 Read Matthew 19

Jesus headed back to the region of Judea.  It didn’t matter where he went, there were always people coming to him, and that included the Pharisees.  In this case, some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus.

They asked him:

“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

This hardly seems like a test.  It sounds like a legitimate question, but consider where we have been before only a few short chapters ago. 

John the Baptist had been imprisoned and eventually was beheaded by Herod.  What landed John in prison?  He was critical of Herod who took his brother’s wife as his own.  Essentially, he divorced his brother from his wife and made her his own wife.

This is stuff of Hollywood and soap operas and First Century Judea, but ever so relevant to the question of the Pharisees. 

Should Jesus just say no to any and all divorce, that would put him in opposition to Herod and perhaps that would render an expedient solution to this Jesus problem.  Herod already thought that Jesus was John the Baptist resurrected, so it was uncertain if Herod would imprison him and kill him again, but it was worth promoting the controversy to the maximum extent possible.

Jesus noted that divorce was never in the original plan. 

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

But, but, but Moses said we could divorce our wives.

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.  I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

This should have sounded familiar as Jesus addressed the topic during the Sermon on the Mount.

This time, prompted by the Pharisees, Jesus noted the condition of the human heart.  Your hearts became hardened. 

Marriage is tough.  It is impossible with a hardened heart. 

The disciples decided to chime in with a declaration of their own.  Note that they were not asking a question but assessing the teaching and declaring this to be an obvious truth.

The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”

Jesus might have surprised his disciples.  He said, you’re right, with a slight qualification.  If you can give up your romantic, sexual, and physical needs and live only for God, then that is exactly what you should do. 

If you can…

As we know, most cannot or will not set aside what was originally given to us to propagate the species.  We start with the best intentions in marriage but our corrupted human hearts make the journey difficult.

If you can forgo marriage and give your life to God alone, then do it.  If not, then you had best seek a partner who will put God first and Jesus in the center of your marriage.

Here is a challenge for only a few.  If you can live only for God, then live only for him and forsake union with a husband or wife.  It’s not for everybody, but if it is for you, do not be encumbered in marital relationship when you were made only for relationship with God.

Amen.

Matthew 5 - Part 5

 

Read Matthew 5

Jesus talked about adultery.  People probably hissed and booed when he said the word and then probably got really quiet.

He said that adultery begins not when flesh meets flesh but when lust enters and rules the heart.  We are sort of numb to physical modesty these days.  People were up in arms over Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction several years ago at a Superbowl halftime show.

I don’t know what the big deal was.  I saw more flesh exposed in the hours of commercials weeks before and after.  That’s the age we live in.  Lust enters our lives so easily. 

You might notice I didn’t say lust enters our lives so easily these days.  It’s always been there and Jesus said adultery is bad and this is just about the same thing.

Jesus had an answer.  It’s one that we think is hyperbole but it was his answer nonetheless.  If your right eye offends you, pluck it out.  That seems extreme.

If your right hand offends you, cut it off.  Yeah, that’s extreme.

Hyperbole is extreme exaggeration, and that’s what we think Jesus was using.  A world full of one-eyed and one-handed people hardly makes for the righteous life that God desires.

Regardless of whether this was figurative language or not, the underlying truth was straight-forward.  It’s better to get into heaven with just one eye that to miss out altogether.

It’s better to get into heaven with just one hand than not at all.

Lust, adultery, dark desires, coveting and the like—nip it in the bud before it takes control over your heart and minds.

Remember this.  God sees the heart.

Let’s talk divorce.  Marriage was to have been a life-long commitment.  That was and is the design.  There were a lot of people who got married who were not seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness first.

There were a lot of people who got married out of romantic love without true consideration of unconditional love and respect and commitment. 

There were and are a lot of broken marriages.  The Marine Corps more than seminary prepared me for marriage counseling.  I have heard many a young Marine talking with his friends about marriage.

I’m not sure if I am going to Sea World this weekend or getting married.  Probably one or the other.

I thought that was crazy.  Then I became a pastor in Burns Flat, America.

I have had people approach me in restaurants who know I am a pastor and want to know if I will do marriage counseling with them.  They don’t worship here.  Maybe they have come for a food basket.

They are shocked when I tell them to stop by my office and we will see if Christian counseling is appropriate for them.  If they are just looking for $50 off their shack up license, it’s probably a waste of time for all involved.

Sometimes, these folks go into shock and disbelief when I say stop by the office.  I think some of them wanted me to work in the counseling between the appetizer and main course.

Courtship is a lost art.  Marriages that last are the exception, but Jesus warned against divorce.  It was not in God’s plan.

So we should just kick all divorced people to the curb.  No, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but we should note the sternness of our Master’s words.

If you divorce your wife, then you make her a victim of adultery.

If you marry a divorced woman, you have committed adultery.

This is some tough stuff!

Realize that in this time, divorce was pretty much all in the hands of men.  It’s a different deal these days, but the warnings on the back end should translate into sound dating and courtship practices on the front end.

Does your prospective partner know God, love God, and seek to live by God’s ways?  If that’s a no, then it should be a no for a continued relationship.

Will your prospective partner commit to loving God and loving one another?  If the answer is no, then you are dating a Christian tourist.

Will your prospective partner commit to staying with you because God commands it even when your behavior does not deserve it?  If the answer is no, then you are really just looking for an extended warranty on a friends with benefits deal.

How much heartache could people have saved with more time spent on the courtship end and less time in family or divorce court?

How much joy was lost by not getting to know your prospective partner before you said, “I do?”

The world says watch all the porn that you want, have a side chick or two, and there are 50 ways to leave your lover.

Jesus said, pick one.  Make sure he or she is the right one.  Don’t rush into this.  Make sure it’s right and even if there are bumps in the road, stay together because it is what he commands.

That’s some tough guidance but it has the best chance of keeping you from throwing in the towel when things get tough or someone else catches your eye.

Most of the churches in America probably skip over these words.  They are tough words. 

In the age in which this counsel was given, mom and dad had a big say in who your spouse would be.  If mom and dad did their best to live by God’s word, they wanted someone for you who did the same for you.

More time seeking God and his will on the front end of our relationships results in fewer and fewer disasters and dissolutions along the way.

Over half of the relationship problems that I deal with are between men and women who have lived together for a few years, had children along the way, but never committed to God or to each other in Christian marriage.

So mostly, right now, I am talking to some young people who might be thinking seriously about a long-term relationship.

Take your time.

Seek God’s will.

Undergo serious Christian marriage counseling.

Know that marriage is a lifetime commitment before God.

Take a breath.

Seek the counsel of your parents if they are Christians or other Christian couples who have been married for many years.  You are blessed to be in a community—a family of faith—that has many.

Take your time.

More time invested on the front end of our relationships,  results in less trouble and fewer heartbreaks in the course of our God-centered marriages.

Amen.