Life

'We need to be where people don't expect us'

Even if society is intolerant of its beliefs, the Church still needs to be a caring fellowship, says new Presbyterian moderator Dr Ian McNie

The new Presbyterian Church moderator, Dr Ian McNie, says the Church "needs to be there for people who do not expect us to be there". Picture by Hugh Russell
The new Presbyterian Church moderator, Dr Ian McNie, says the Church "needs to be there for people who do not expect us to be there". Picture by Hugh Russell The new Presbyterian Church moderator, Dr Ian McNie, says the Church "needs to be there for people who do not expect us to be there". Picture by Hugh Russell

THE theme entrusted to me this year as moderator is that of 'Caring Fellowship', a theme that has its roots both in the teaching of Jesus and the practice of the early Church.

This theme includes welcoming the stranger, learning from one another and valuing the gifts of each individual while offering pastoral support to all in need.

Jesus told his disciples to "love one another" and the response of the non-Christian constituency about the Christian community was "see how these Christians love one another".

For the early Church, their lifestyle was not simply a theory to be discussed or even an aspiration to be pursued, but a life to be lived, and their belief, profession and practice complemented rather than contradicted each other.

Yes, there were exceptions to the rule and the New Testament writers do not gloss over the imperfections that existed, but by enlarge 'caring fellowship' dominated the Church scene, and its outworking included a desire to learn, love, worship and evangelise.

With the conversion of the religious heavyweight Saul of Tarsus, later to be known as the Apostle Paul, with his immense academic ability and passionate desire to plant churches, the stark division between Christianity on the one hand and secular society on the other was most evident.

As Paul spoke of the society of his day, in which the Christian Church was operating, he referred to a culture where deceit, malice, greed, arrogance, slander, boasting, envy and a lack of faith prevailed; yet he called on the Christians to co-exist in this environment in a spirit of Christlikeness where they exhibited the Fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - and where they were to transfer and translate the teaching of Jesus Christ into this increasingly intolerant situation that majored on disbelief and hostility to their cause.

As we look at early Christian society and its response to their culture, and replicate what happened then into our own situation, we can see the relevance of the Word of God for today, in that things have not substantially changed today.

The Church today as part of society, is facing an ever increasing intolerance. Opinions are expressed and laws enacted that are at variance with what we, as Christians, stand for.

Values associated with the beginning and ending of life, the family dynamic, freedom of conscience and the sanctity of marriage are all under threat.

As a Church we want to unashamedly and unambiguously reaffirm our total commitment to the Biblical and historical position of marriage, that marriage is exclusively between one man and one woman, believing that this is God's blueprint for the well being of society, and any redefinition of this position is not within His plan for His creation.

Also there is a perception that the Christian viewpoint is not always dignified with the credit and tolerance it deserves and the law has left too little room for religious belief.

As a Church we believe that society has the right to express its opinions, opinions that we may well disagree with, and yet as a Church we must defend the right of society to freely express their opinions, but in so doing we must not be behind the door in articulating clearly what we believe and why we believe it, and we have the right to expect the same level and proportion of tolerance afforded to us that other groups expect afforded to them. Tolerance is a two-way street.

By definition tolerance accepts there are different opinions and that we should agree to disagree in an agreeable manner, not the definition that is currently postulated - that tolerance is the acceptance of different opinions and that all opinions are equally correct and should be endorsed as correct.

This leads to a position where Christians are required to promote ideas and deliver services that our contrary to their beliefs.

True tolerance can only flourish in an atmosphere of mutual respect in disagreement.

But what is the role of the Church in our society?

In Mark 16, Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation" and in Matthew 28 he said: "Go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

Firstly, Jesus called His disciples to preach the Word.

For the benefit of those who are not of our Presbyterian tradition, we in the Presbyterian Church believe "that the Word of God set forth in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only infallible rule of faith and practice and the supreme standard of the Church".

For us, God's Word takes precedence over personal preference. Therefore, if an issue arises that is clearly identified from God's Word as right or wrong, we accept God's standard rather than the prevailing cultural opinion.

Secondly, these verses teach us to prepare the witnesses and go and make disciples.

In March this year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, gave the inaugural Lambeth Lecture and he pointed out two simple truths about the Church.

"First - the Church exists to worship God in Jesus Christ," he said. "Second - the Church exists to make new disciples of Jesus Christ. Everything else is decoration, some of it is necessary, useful or wonderful decoration, but it is decoration."

David Watson in his book, I Believe in Evangelism, writes, "Evangelism is the foremost task of the Church, next to worship", and he quotes an anonymous source as saying: "Compared with evangelism, everything else happening in the Church is like rearranging the furniture when the house is on fire."

Thirdly, we are called to permeate the world. If we are going to impact the world with the Gospel, we need to be seen as 'caring fellowships'.

The Church also needs to be seen as credible and only when we are credible will our message be taken seriously.

To retreat into the corner, keep our hands clean and backs covered is not the policy established by Jesus Christ.

We need to be there for people who do not expect us to be there; there for people who have no meaningful connection with the Church but who face the everyday challenges of living.

::Dr Ian McNie was installed as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland on Monday. The Church's General Assembly has been meeting this week - more at www.presbyterianireland.org