Moving Forward: The Foundation

by Lisa Allgood, Executive Presbyter

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all..”                                                                                                                                               – Ephesians 4:1-6

I have always loved that my denomination chooses to start, in the part of our constitution that is the Book of Order, with the Chapter entitled “Foundations of Presbyterian Polity”. It starts right out with the assertions that we, as a denomination, stand firmly on the Foundation of Christ Jesus:

F-1.0201 We stand under the authority of Christ

F-1.0202 Christ calls and equips the us, His Church

F-1.0203 Christ gives the Church its faith and life, its unity and mission, its order and discipline

F-1.0204 Christ Is the Church’s hope

F-1.0205 Christ Is the foundation of the Church

F-1.0301 The Church Is the Body of Christ

F-3.0101 God alone is Lord of our conscience

And from that commitment to our Foundation, the denomination then sets out the basic principles of Presbyterian structure:

F-2.02: ‘Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda, secundum verbum Dei’, or, ‘The church reformed, always to be reformed according to the Word of God’ in the power of the Spirit. In short, our order is always a gift, never a given.

F-3.0201 We are One Church

F-3.0202 We are a connectional system governed by Presbyters

F-3.0203 We are gathered and do our work connectionally in Councils

F-3.0204 First and foremost, we seek and represent the Will of Christ

F-3.0205 We Make decisions through the Majority

F-3.0208 We share, across councils, responsibility and jurisdiction

After establishing our firm foundation in Christ and the structure of our connectional existence, the Book of Order goes on with a paired set of convictions – the real point of this blog – titled ‘Truth and Goodness’ (F-3.0104) and ‘Mutual Forbearance’ (F-3.0105).

I love that. Because every time I read them together I sorta have to chuckle… they might, at first blush, seem to not exactly go together; in fact, some may say that the juxtaposition of these two phrases forms the crux of at least some of our – well, let’s just call them the more “spirited” conversations we have with one another.

It starts by defining where truth is in order to goodness – truth leads to goodness and promotes holiness, as Jesus demonstrates holiness. We cannot turn a falsehood into anything equal to truth; the BoO calls that both “pernicious” and “absurd” (the BoO doesn’t mince words) and declares an “inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty. Otherwise it would be of no consequence either to discover truth or to embrace it” (F-3.0104). Truth, as given to us through the Holy Spirit, is a critical part of defining and interpreting Scripture, bringing it into our lives, and living as we have been called to live.

And then there is mutual forbearance, an essential recognition that people of good character and principles may differ on issues and interpretation and practice, and yes – to some degree, even what is truth.  And so it is the duty “both of private Christians and societies to exercise mutual forbearance toward each other” ( F-3.0105). We do not have to – and should never – demonize or devalue anyone with whom we disagree.

True for interpretation of Scripture. True for implementing practice as we all try, as best we sinful humans can, to faithfully live out that Scripture in our lives. 

True as we enter into the political season ahead.

My friends, I pray you always stand firm on your own Foundation, first and foremost, that Christ is the Lord of your life, the Author of your conscience, and the Giver of Truth.  And that as you find others trying to do the same, you love them as Christ would love them, walk with them as Christ would walk with them, and build them up in the Faith on which you both seek to stand, however imperfectly we all do.

I urge you to read Colossians 3:1-17 several times as we engage, as a nation, from this day forward.

May the peace of Christ dwell in you richly, this season and always.