DALLAS — In the first
formal vote of its three-year existence, the Presbyterian Church
(USA)’s Theological
Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church (TTF)
has affirmed that “Jesus Christ Himself is the church’s
peace, unity and purity.”
The task force’s
“preliminary” report to the upcoming 216th General
Assembly also includes the observation that “the bond of
faith forged by Christ’s atoning action on behalf of all
people” is “more real” than the “divisions
and enmities” that afflict the church.
The report, approved on Feb. 20 during a task force meeting here,
also includes a recommendation that sessions and presbyteries
“be encouraged to create intentional gatherings of Presbyterians
of varied theological views to covenant together” to discuss
these matters, “utilizing resources being developed by the
task force.”
The affirmation that “Jesus Christ Himself is the Church’s
Peace” draws on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians in
concluding that “for those who are in Jesus Christ, division
and enmities are not the last word.” The report cites Eph.
2:13: “Those who once were far off have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.”
On that basis, the TTF concludes that “the Church must
draw the strength it needs for peacemaking from beyond itself,
from the one who invites us to a common witness and worship.”
An affirmation that “Jesus Christ Himself is the Church’s
Unity,” also derived from the Pauline epistles, notes that
“the new life that is ours in Christ is corporate in nature,
meaning that there is no unity with Christ that is not also a
unity with other believers.”
Noting that unity means neither unanimity nor uniformity, the
task force cites Ephesians 2:21-22, I Corinthians 3:11, and I
John 4:20 — “Those who say ‘I love God’
and hate their brothers or sisters are liars; for those who do
not love a brother or sister whom they have seen cannot love God
whom they have not seen” — in asserting that “union
with Christ means union with all other members of Christ’s
body, including those with whom one would not ordinarily choose
to associate.”
A third affirmation, that “Jesus Christ Himself is the
Church’s Purity,” is also grounded in quotes from
scripture. “Christ’s grace is sufficient to make each
one of us pure — sound in our beliefs, upright in our conduct,
just in our dealings,” the report says, citing Ephesians
1:3-4 that God “has blessed us in Christ … to be holy
and blameless before him in love.”
The task force states that, in Christ, peace, unity and purity
“are tied together, with no one elevated above the other
two.” In fact, the report says — hearkening back to
Ephesians 4:1-2: “Any effort to achieve peace and unity
at the expense of purity cannot succeed, nor can we live ‘a
life worthy of the calling to which we have been called’
unless ‘bearing with one another in love,’ we make
‘every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace.’”
The way ahead
Clearly aware of the high expectations many Presbyterians have
of the task force and of the skepticism harbored by others, the
group says in its report: “We hope to commend to the church
ways of living together and moving into the future that are rooted
in the peace, unity and purity of Christ and that are more constructive
and faithful than our current climate of hostile division.”
To that end, the report says, the task force will evaluate any
process or resource it may devise in the remaining two years of
its term by four criteria:
- Faithfulness: “Not…any solution that compromises
the gospel of Jesus Christ, but rather faithful, truthful and
just responses to the complex demands the gospel makes upon
us”
- Theological grounding: “Not simply pose political solutions,
but a way of living together that has clear theological and
scriptural integrity”
- Clarity about the relationship between the PC(USA) and the
larger church of Jesus Christ: “Whether (the PCUSA) is
a church that is called to reflect the full integrity of Christ’s
body in a distinctive way or is, rather, merely a denominational
sub-division of the church whose peace, unity and purity are
immaterial and whose reason for being is more pragmatic than
essential. … Does the well-being and witness of the PC(USA)
really matter?”
- Continuity with Presbyterian tradition: “Although polity
alone cannot confer the peace, unity and purity the church is
seeking … any proposals … must be the outgrowth
of Presbyterian ways of ordering church life and giving it direction.”
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