Lowering the Blood Pressure

I oughta know better! Reading "The Layman" is not a good thing for my blood pressure. For anyone who doesn't know, the Layman is the ultra-super-duper conservative newspaper of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). I have been a personal victim of a major misquote, so I know that if you don't happen to swim in their pond, there's a fairly slim chance that anything one says or does will even remotely resemble the actual event.

Our denomination is quickly approaching our now biennial General Assembly, the meeting where decisions affecting the national church are made. Lurking on the horizon is a decision to approve or disapprove the report of a Task Force which has been working for about six years on issues related to ordination standards, our understanding of Christology, and a couple of other issues I can't remember off the top of my head.

The membership of this task force is comprised of a wide range of theological viewpoints, and a diverse background (culturally, geographically, age, you name it!). Much prayer, tears, time, discussions (both heated and otherwise), Bible study, information gathering, historical perspective, relationship-building, ... well, just plain love and effort ... has gone into their final report.

For those on either of the ends of the theological spectrum, there are things which won't make them happy. (Sounds like a good compromise to me!) What impressed me about the report is that those who were involved in the work agreed unanimously to the outcome. They each have said that their essential understanding of their faith has not waivered, and their basic stance on some of the issues is still the same; however, they have come to respect each others' positions and have found a way to work together for the good of the church. HOORAH!!

So, that's the background. Here's my beef. If these individuals were able to listen for the working of the Spirit in the completion of their charge and then present what they understood the Spirit to be speaking through them, then why can't those at the theological extremes consider the possibility that God is doing something new here? Why must the language immediately become "my way or the highway"? Already, groups are gathering names, overtures, congregations and threatening that, if the vote goes such-and-such a way, they're picking up their marbles and leaving.

It appears that minds are already closed, which seems to me to be a denial of what it means to live out one's Christianity. I don't believe that God stopped acting and informing our faith at the point of establishing what books would be our holy text. If God had stopped then, why do we continue to translate texts into language which, we hope, makes sense to hearers today? Why do we not follow point by point what's written in Leviticus (the usual text brought into play around the ordination of homosexuals)? Are we to turn a blind eye to advances in understanding our world and our humanity? I don't think so!

It saddens me to think of schism, yet it appears that schism may be precisely what is ahead. However, I've been involved in that wonderful experience known as General Assembly Commissioner. No matter what those not directly involved the process might say, that group of people elected to make these big decisions for our denomination are touched and led by the Holy Spirit. That is what we believe - in our gathering and discussion, we are called to listen for the guidance of the Spirit, and if we are true to that guidance, our faith and denomination will be strengthened. I sure hate the conflict in the meantime, though!