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MESSAGE FROM THE MODERATOR
The Unity of the Church
2 WINTER 2021
PRESBYTERIAN
presbyterian.ca
By the Rev. Dr. Daniel D. Scott, Moderator of the 2021 General Assembly
Christians fight.
Among the disciples of Jesus were
James and John. They were called the “Sons of Thunder.” I suspect they were hotheads with short fuses.
After the Spirit descended at Pente- cost, a dispute broke out in the early church between the Greek-speaking widows and the Hebrew-speaking widows over the distribution of food.
At the Jerusalem Council (perhaps the first General Assembly), Paul and Peter had a vigorous debate over whether Gentile believers had to per- form a Jewish initiation rite. In that case, Paul used the kind of strong
language that a moderator might have called out of order (Galatians 5:12).
One of the churches that Paul started was in Corinth. In a letter to that church, he wrote of his concern that their fellowship was fractured within: some members followed Cephas, others Apollos, others Paul and others Jesus. On top of that, one member had taken legal action against another.
The fact that these conflicts are included in scripture is a testament to the Bible’s integrity. It would have been tempting to gloss over these family feuds.
Throughout the history of the church, we see examples of how Christians handle controversy.
Take the Donatist Controversy in Roman North Africa, around the third century. The church, under persecu- tion, was ordered to hand over their sacred books to be burned by the authorities. The ones who handed over their books were given the nick- name, traitores (meaning “those who handed over”), from which we get our word traitor.
You can imagine how upset many Christians were that some of their own had handed over their books rather than resist. Obviously, by ca- pitulating, they could not be consid- ered pure Christians, and the leaders that condoned it were considered to be tainted. This reasoning led some
members to break away from the church and follow a leader by the name of Donatus.
Attempts to mend the breach were made by Cyprian of Carthage and, eventually, by Augustine of Hippo. He recognized that all Christians are sin- ful, and that the church, as a result, is a “mixed body” of saints and sin- ners. He drew support for this from the parables of the Kingdom in Mat-
thew 13 (wheat and weeds, dragnet, mustard seed and yeast).
And despite this mixed body, the Kingdom of Heaven is so attractive that it is compared to a treasure in a field or a pearl of great worth. One will want to do everything they can to get in on it.
Augustine also argued that schism and tradititio (handing over the Chris- tian books) are both a problem. The church, as a mixed body, will always have sin. Yet, in his mind, the greater of the two sins was schism.
The unity of the church was Au- gustine’s top priority.
I thought of the Donatist contro- versy this summer when I read the biography of the Presbyterian pastor Eugene Peterson. In the book, there is mention of the time when Peter- son, author of The Message (a para- phrased version of the Bible in con- temporary English), visited Tyndale University. After giving his speech (protested by the “King James Version-Only” society), there was a question and answer period during a lunch with the faculty.
I remember one colleague’s ques- tion: “The Rev. Peterson, your denom-
ination — the PCUSA — is consider- ing changes in relation to marriage. If they do, what will you do?” His re- sponse was: “The church has sinned in the past and the church will sin in the future—and I am not saying this proposed change is sinful. Decisions that the church makes will not compel me to break the vows I made at my ordination. I will not follow a decisive course. I will stay and work for the unity of the church.”
Peterson, like Augustine before him, saw the unity of the church as his primary concern.
Peterson’s biographer discusses the firestorm that resulted from an interview that was given by the pas- tor in his declining years that sug- gested he was affirming of same-sex marriage. When the comment that seemed to indicate Peterson’s af- firming position was retracted, no one was happy. Indeed, both the tra- ditionally and progressively minded groups were upset.
What do we do with the fact that Christians are at odds? Practice for- giveness and forbearance, for sure. But, also, make an unreserved com- mitment to the unity of the church.