What Can We As Presbyterians Offer This Community?

Leith, John, Reformed Theology and the Style of Evangelism (Office of Evangelism & Church Development, PCUS)

 
Most distinguishing characteristics and emphases of classic Reformed theology

 1.      Lordship and SOVEREIGNTY of God

a.       There is something more important than the salvation of souls
b.      Those excessively concerned with such are ultimately self-centered

c.       The cautiously pious seek to do God's will and leave the salvation of their souls to him

                                                   i.      In authentic Calvinist preaching, predestination was not used to frighten people with the fear of hell, so much as to remind them that, while they could do nothing themselves about their ultimate destiny, God in Jesus Christ had done what needed to be done, and that his sovereign grace was to be trusted.  People could therefore cease worrying about themselves and turn outward toward their neighbors.

                                                  ii.      For if one believes that all events are finally in the hands of the living God, then he can give himself over to the doing of God's will, quite apart from whether or not there is any likelihood of success.  The important thing is to make oneself God's instrument, and the outcome of one's labors can safely be left to God. I had rather see coming toward me a whole regiment with drawn swords, a 17^th-century writer put it, than one lone Calvinist, convinced that he is doing the will of God.

 d.      Barth: Revival theology is too absorbed with the state of the human soul and too little with the great reality of God.  It is too eager to report the anatomy of feeling, or the state of the soul, to be able to proclaim adequately the might act of God.

e.       Less interest in finding oneself and more interest in finding God [and HIS purposes]

f.        Evangelism can never be primarily a means of personal identity or even of personal salvation.  It is first of all the acknowledgement of God's gracious presence and loyalty to his cause.

 2.      HISTORY as the working out of the purposes of God
            a.       Predestination, writes Eustace Percy in his biography of John Knox, refers not so much to the ultimate destinies of heaven and hell as to the work of man in history.  The elect man has been                        called to fulfill the purposes of God in time and space.  For this reason the Calvinists became the great converters of culture and transformers of civilization.

             b.      Roman Catholic historian: no Christian community has ever exceeded the Calvinists in their understanding of the cultural and historical role of the Christian.

             c.   % of soldiers in Continental army and churches supporting it that were Presbyterian
             d.    Colonies ran off with a Presbyterian Parson

              e.   Give 'em Watts, boys, give 'em watts

Sin, more so than death, suffering, or ignorance, is the chief threat to mankind 

3.      RESPONSIBILITY Simplicity in Style

a.       Calvin: nothing ornate, whether in word, clothing, craftiness, or pompousness

b.      Simplicity synonymous with integrity (NGG giving the ABCs)

c.       If God, who is the creator of heaven and earth, can in some way be tied to what man can control in sacrament, or liturgy, or evangelistic procedure, then God himself can be controlled and manipulated (just like the medicine man did) . . . This was the temptation of medieval Catholicism in development of the sacramental system.

d.      All of these attempt to bypass a conscious, responsible decision

e.       Old Protestant slogan: no sacrament without faith

f.        Leith: no evangelism without responsible decision; rather, only in simple, direct, and unadorned fashion; rhetoric in its content, not the medium, seeking to convince, not beguile

    Early Presbyterian virtues (passed down from the Reformation)

    Honesty

    Frugality

    Charity

    Sobriety

    Chastity

    Industry

        Perhaps the most visible mark of the Presbyterian down the centuries has been his sober, everyday integrity.

 4.      Importance of theological KNOWLEDGE and understanding

a.       Good faith seeks understanding (bad faith runs from it out of fear)

b.      Any religion that requires the sacrifice of the integrity of the human mind with its critical functions is bad religion, for God is the creator of the human mind

c.       All truth comes from God

d.      Disciplined intelligence and direct experience should never be separated

e.       Catechetical class "prerequisite for admission to Lord's Table"

f.        Evangelism that is rooted in the Reformed tradition must be in large measure teaching.

g.       The Reformed church was a teaching church, and laid stress upon a highly trained ministry and a well educated people.  The Reformers saw that doctrine or teaching determined the nature of the Church and its worship, and the kind of life people lived.  As a man believes in his heart, so he will live in the world.  The Presbyterian Church holds firmly the general catholic Faith of the ages.  It recognizes also that there is much in religion which cannot be defined exactly and finally. . . . Yet from the teaching of the Word, from the growing experience of the centuries, and our own experience, all illuminated by the Holy Spirit we are very sure of vital truths to live by.

5.      Christian life as obedience to God (ETHICS)

a.       The human focus of the Christian life was not self-understanding or the state of the soul or even the vision of God, but a life that embodied the purposes of God. [post-modern/Gen X may have trouble living out their experience with God]

b.      Obviously in its excesses this emphasis has led to legalism

6.      Importance of Church ORGANIZATION (the external means of grace)

 a.       The Elements of the Presbyterian Form of Government

                                                   i.      The Election by the people of their representatives

                                                 ii.      The Identity of Elders and Bishops as different names for the same office.

                                                iii.      A plurality of elders in every local church

                                               iv.      In the NT ordination is always by a church court, and not by any bishop or one man power.

                                                 v.      A Gradation of church courts with the right of appeal from the lower to the higher (see Acts 15:1  16:4)

                                               vi.      Government by Representation

                                              vii.      References to elders in OT

                                            viii.      Matt. 26:47

                                               ix.      Acts 4:8

                                                 x.      Acts 11

                                               xi.      Acts 14:23

                                              xii.      Acts 15:22

                                            xiii.      Acts 16:4

                                            xiv.      Acts 20:17

                                             xv.      Neither episcopacy nor congregationalism is found in the churches Paul starts; each one has elders which rule but are accountable to larger body

b.      Evangelism always invites one into the community of faith

 

c.       Evangelism is incorporation into a community:

                                                   i.      Where Word of God is preached

                                                ii.      Where we are members one of another and share our gifts with each other

                                                iii.      Of theological discourse (every man is a theologian)

                                               iv.      Of moral discourse

                                                 v.      Of worship

                                               vi.      Of Being and Action

d.      Presbyterianism meant organized life, regulated distribution of forces, graduated recognition of gifts, freedom to discuss, authority to control, agency to administer. . . Presbyterianism meant a system by which everyone, first of all the common man, had his recognized place, his defined position, his ascertained and guarded privileges, his responsibilities inculcated and enforced, felt himself a part of the great unity, with a right to care for its welfare and to guard its integrity . . . yes, Presbyterianism is a system for a free people that love a regulated, a self-regulated freedom; for a people independent, yet patient, considerate, trusting much to the process of discussion and consultation, and more to the promised aid of a much-forgiving and a watchful Lord. (Nora Viola)

                                        

7.      Implications for EVANGELISM

a.       Good evangelism will hinge on presence of theologically competent ministers

b.      No mastery of technique or new understanding of church dynamics will ever be a substitute for the study of serious theology

c.       Calvin understood theology as a practical science

d.      In the end, good churchmanship undergirds this ministry of evangelism

e.       Evangelism is the work of the Spirit of God who speaks when and where He chooses.  His work can be neither programmed nor guaranteed.

 NGG

Gifts of Presbyterianism

   Release from trying to GET from God and freed up to GIVE to God

   Released to reform society

   Released to obey God in our daily lives (holy living)

   Regulation of life and worship

  Sober, everyday integrity

  Nation-building church

  Clarity of thought leads to assertiveness of action

   Getting on board with God's purposes, not mine