Listen to the Spirit
We need to ask for today, “What is the Spirit saying to the churches?”— especially for the “enduring” Anglican churches, as Bishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican Communion Network (ACN) has called them.

The question at hand of course comes from Letters to the Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation (chapters 2–3). One is increasingly convinced that the later books of the New Testament (i.e., the Pastoral and Catholic Epistles, including the Apocalypse) are scriptures directed to our branch of the church today. These letters are addressed to a church which has experienced evangelism and renewal and even persecution but which is now facing challenges from within. First Epistle of John

Take, for instance, the First Epistle of John: John warns his flock, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). One thinks of this every time one hears a leader claiming that the Spirit has endorsed this or that agenda. John gives a simple Christological test of false prophecy: Does the prophet confess that the Son of God has come in the flesh? In the 1st century, the false prophets denied that Jesus was really human. In our context today in the 21st century, the false prophets are uncomfortable with God supernaturally intervening in human history, and so they overemphasize Jesus’ humanity and seek to deny or at least minimize his divinity. When they do this, they end up promoting a false Jesus.

John says of the false prophets, “they did not really belong to us” (1 John 2:18–19). This passage reminds one of the claim which the ACN is making that it represents the “enduring” church, while it is the revisionist wing which has chosen to “walk apart.”

Epistle of Jude
The good news about Jesus was not a myth or fairy tale of the 1st century; it is an eternal message for all people in all places at all times, and the church has been entrusted to deliver this good news. In the little Epistle of Jude we find the phrase, “to contend for the faith once (hapax) entrusted to the saints” (Jude verse 3). The word hapax means “once for all,” the same word used to define Jesus’ atoning death, once for all time and for all people (Romans 6:10). Jude warns against those who “have secretly slipped in among you” (Jude verse 4) and want to distort this eternal message. In TEC, many are endorsing false teaching openly—even in votes of the General Convention.

Revelation
The Apocalypse to John reflects an historical moment when heresy had taken root in the church in Asia Minor but had not come to full blossom. All of the churches continue to be recognized as such; but the Spirit does warn that if a church fails to repent, the Lord will come and remove its lamp stand (Revelation 2:5). The seven churches of Revelation represent quite a spectrum: those which are patiently enduring persecution and poverty (Smyrna, Philadelphia), those which are orthodox but complacent (Ephesus, Sardis, Laodicea), and those which are tolerating false prophets (Pergamum, Thyatira).

TEC today most resembles the latter two churches of Pergamum and Thyatira—perhaps at an even more developed stage. It is not clear that Balaam and Jezebel had actually attained high office in their churches, but they were definitely exercising strong influence on the flock. The Spirit’s word to these churches is “repent” and “hold on to the truth until I come.” The challenge of these 40 days of discernment is to find out what this word means for our day and our particular church polity.

Avoiding self-deception
Thirty-five years ago, some sensed that the Spirit was leading them to renew the mainline churches, in our case TEC, from within. There was hope that individual parishes, like Truro and Falls Church, and clusters of congregations (e.g., Region 7 of the Diocese of Virginia) could be beacons to the rest of the domination. The founders at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, hoped that the younger clergy of TEC could be formed by strong biblical teaching, evangelical doctrine, and openness to the working of the Spirit of God to be the next generation of church leaders.

This vision was partially fulfilled by the growth of many strong congregations, a few strong dioceses, and some new mission societies. However, the vision failed to stop the decline in the institutional Episcopal Church. It failed to overcome the century-long drift toward theological liberalism and the deep-seated power structures. Those who have headed this movement must confess their own sins and failures as well; among them: weak leadership, inordinate love of worldly trappings, and spiritual self-indulgence.

What the Spirit says to the churches may change, depending on how the people of God respond. In his early prophetic ministry, Jeremiah called the people to repent and reform the institutional structures (Jeremiah 7:3). At the end of his life, he called them to exile and warned against any nostalgic notions of going home (29:28). So it is with the Anglican movement in North America today. Whether or not we correctly heard the Spirit in the 1970s, we can hardly put old patches on yesterday’s wineskins. Sociologically and spiritually, it will not do simply to put up “The Enduring Episcopal Church Welcomes You” signs and expect renewal.

Unity Within the Framework of Truth
Not every doctrinal disagreement within the Christian church justifies division. Anglicanism has the virtue of a healthy breadth not present in some denominations. We insist on “mere Christianity”—Scripture as it has always been understood, and the creeds as they have always been professed—without being dogmatic on issues that the Scripture and creeds leave open for reasonable disagreement. Anglicanism’s founding Thirty-Nine Articles reflect this approach: “whatsoever is not read [in the Scriptures], nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required” (Article VI, BCP p.868).

A healthy doctrinal breadth in nonessentials, however, must not be confused with indifference to God’s Word, which “is God-breathed and . . . useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16). The Articles state that “it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything that is contrary to God’s Word written” (Art. XX, BCP p.871). Indeed, a church that tolerates and even blesses what the Bible forbids cannot long expect to maintain its identity as the church of Jesus Christ.

The importance of truth
Transcendent truth lies at the heart of Christianity. The God of Israel is the “God of truth” (Isaiah 65:16); Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6); the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17); God’s “word is truth” (John 17:17). Real truth—truth that accurately reflects life’s realities, joys, and hardships—is ultimately found in a relationship with the living God.

The despairing notion that truth is unknowable, that we live in ambiguity about important doctrine, or that we can affirm only what is “true for us”—is not, at bottom, Christian. Such notions are tantamount to saying that we cannot know God. But Jesus taught that we can, and that to know God is to know truth: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

God therefore insists on his truth not because he wants to oppress us, but because he loves us and wants to free us from sin. Sometimes it takes time to realize that his ways are best. As “Christ’s ambassadors,” we are charged to invite others to experience God’s truth by confessing their sin, trusting in Christ, and being “reconciled
to God” (1 Cor 5:20-21). God’s truth frees us from the power of sin so we can spend both eternity and our present life in his presence. What good news!

Of course, the fact that we have come to Christ does not mean that we no longer need to examine ourselves for sinful attitudes and behaviors. As Paul stated: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But God promises that “righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ” (Rom 3:22). And he desires to sanctify us—to change our lifelong sinful habits. Jesus asked the Father to “Sanctify [us] by the truth” (John 17:17). Paul prayed a similar prayer for the early church: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Thus, when we continue in sin without repentance, we rebel against God.

The importance of unity
Unity, too, is bound up in our relationship with God and our concern for nonbelievers. On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20–21).

The Lord thus cares deeply for unity in his body, and breaking fellowship with other believers without justification is wrong (e.g., 1 Cor 1:10; 3:3–5; 12:25). The church is a body in which everyone has something essential to contribute (1 Cor 12:12–27; Ephesians 4).

When part of the church abandons essential truths, however, it becomes impossible for the whole church both to vindicate truth and maintain unity—one of these duties must be compromised.

How much un-truth to tolerate
In the current Episcopal crisis, one often hears: “The things that unite us are more important than the things that divide us.” In a similar vein, the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, has said, “If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy.” The church, however, is called to avoid both heresy and schism.

One rarely hears a rigorous explanation of the things that unite TEC. In fact, TEC is “united” not by a shared understanding of God or our need for redemption, but by shared history, rituals, and institutional structures. People can be members of TEC—even bishops—and deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus, TEC contains both those who believe the historic Christian creeds and those who deny them, and we must ask: Are these nonessentials on which we can disagree?

Some argue that the obvious priority of love in Christianity requires maintaining unity at all costs. But this approach misunderstands unity and love while ignoring the commands of Scripture about truth and error. The same Jesus who prayed “that all of them may be one,” also told us to break fellowship with unrepentant sinners who call him Lord (Matthew 18:17). The same apostle who challenged the early Christians to “agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought,” also charged them to break off fellowship with those in the church who persisted in immoral behavior (1 Cor 5).

In short, the Bible is clear that false teaching and unrepentant sin may not be accommodated by God’s people—just as it is clear that those who do repent must be welcomed back into fellowship (2 Cor 2:5-11). But unless the church adheres to God’s standards, any mercy that it offers will be counterfeit. We cannot rally around the motto, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5), unless we are together committed to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, to relating to him on his terms, not ours.

At bottom, it is departing from God’s Word, not insisting on following it, that causes division within the church. Thus, when the church corrects those who insist on continuing in sin, it is promoting not schism but sound discipline. Of course, any lack of unity in the church ultimately traces to sin—to rebellion against Christ. And all of us must ask whether our own sin is causing division within his body.

“United in your truth”
The church cannot have unity just for the sake of unity. An authentic marriage of unity and truth is suggested in the Prayers of the People: “Grant, Almighty God, that all who confess your Name may be united in your truth, live together in your love, and reveal your glory in the world” (BCP, p.388).

Let this be our prayer.