Jesus said the poor will always be with us. Conflicts will always be with us, too. But like the persistence of poverty, we should never be okay with it. Departing for another communion may be necessary on very few occasions. But it is never best, and the place folks land is only a different kind of same. It is also true that the Church can be well served by an adroit parliamentary maneuver. But Robert’s Rules of Order is like antibiotics. Overuse makes the bug it was supposed to kill more deadly.
One naturopathic remedy is to be okay with losing votes. We can passionately make our case for votes, cast our votes, and hopefully win some votes. But we need to ask what we meant when we vowed subjection to our brothers, if we’re not ready to lose votes, even significant votes, without leaving or bullying with procedural blows.
There are equally stark implications when we win votes. When the room goes our way will we step on the necks of our opponents to vanquish some terrible idea? That urge is in the fallen heart of every presbyter. By God’s grace, there is a better impulse in our hearts too. The Spirit calls us to find as much room for one another as the Trinity made for us. If the Father, Son, and Spirit’s example is not enough, consider this; next time the losers might be the winners, and they too will wonder what to do with their feet.
the churches of the PCA will never be safe until we, their shepherds, are thankful we cannot do whatever we want.
It would be unnatural to attend Presbytery or General Assembly hoping to lose a vote. It would be unfaithful, too. At the bare minimum God wants us to vote our convictions. He expects nothing less, but he expects a lot more. The foundational ministry virtue, it seems clear from Scripture, is humility. At times I wish it were otherwise, frankly, but it is not. In fact, the more important the contended issue, the more essential the humility of its champions.
If we want to serve the Church, however, we need to be more than good losers. We need to be godly losers by losing our pride(s): the pride of intellect, the pride of effectiveness, the pride of faithfulness, the pride of influence, the pride of relevance, the pride of tradition, and every other vanity that feeds our ecclesiastical hubris. No matter how precise our doctrine or earnest our mission, the churches of the PCA will never be safe until we, their shepherds, are thankful we cannot do whatever we want.
As I said, I wish there were another way. If there were, I could make us perfect in two General Assemblies assuming my powers include ruling all interim Presbytery meetings. The problem is, of course, that we could all do that, but the only one who could do it rightly, chose not to. So if we are left wondering exactly what we’re supposed to do, we need not look far. Fixing the denomination is above our paygrade, but we have a straightforward and brutally practical prescription to fix its Elders.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)
Lord, have mercy on us all, presbyterian and pagan alike.
In Christ,
Mike Kelly
p.s. I look forward to seeing you all again at General Assembly if the governors, and our King of course, think it’s safe to have us all in one room.
