The ninety-sixth thesis (1): the need for practical advice

The Public Square
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New Warhorn Media post by Tim Bayly:

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A timely series. Iā€™m looking forward to it.

Iā€™m looking at moving my family to the Christian Reformed Church in our small town since itā€™s looking like the best option for us at the moment (if theyā€™re willing to take in a couple of burned-out baptists). Iā€™m fully aware that the denomination (at the highest levels) has capitulated to pretty much every leftward lurch. But I also know there are many congregations that are more faithful than the Synod as a whole.

Iā€™ve read Church Reformed and God used it (among other things) to convince me that itā€™s not necessary for us to move somewhere else to find a church that fits all our ā€œdistinctives.ā€ All we really need is a church that preaches the gospel, administers the sacraments, and has sinners in it we can love.

But then thereā€™s the matter of seeing the church reformed according to the scriptures. If you really love the church, you will desire to see her sanctified. It can sometimes be hard to see the difference between reforming the church out of love and demanding the church adhere to a wish-dream. Whatā€™s most difficult is interacting with people who are determined not to see any difference between the two. Some do so to resist Biblical reform. Others do so to baptize their wish-dreams.

And as a layperson, there can be choppy waters between submitting to the shepherds of the church and submitting to the Chief Shepherd. Ideally, their authority is one and the same, but in practice that is not always the case. Iā€™m not looking to come in with an agenda to change the church, but real love will desire to see her reformed. Even when her shepherds oppose it.

Sometimes it feels like walking a tight-rope.

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Itā€™s always been this way. Jerusalem has always killed her prophets, and thus Jesus said He wasnā€™t worried about that Old Fox because Heā€™d not die outside Jerusalem.

Yes, it is difficult to know our motives, but the sanctification (reform) of the Church should never stop being our goal given it is always our Masterā€™s work among us. Love

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