Never Content

The Book of Order is part II of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  Over the years, the character of the book has become much more regulatory in nature, but there are still some really important statements that can help direct our congregations in a much more missional direction.  One example is found in the Form of Government section G-4.0201 which says this:

"The unity of the Church is a gift of its Lord and finds expression in its faithfulness to the mission to which Christ calls it.  The church is a fellowship of believers which seeks the enlargement of the circle of faith to include all people and is never content to enjoy the benefits of Christian community for itself alone."

How does this statement reflect the reality in your congregation?  Would the people in your congregation agree with this statement or not?  If they agree with it, do they live, act, and behave this way?   This statement makes a number of points to me:

1) The unity of the Church is a gift of  the Lord.  That doesn't mean that there isn't anything we can do to help the Church discover greater unity.  In fact, I think there is a lot we can do.  There are definitely unifying actions and unity-destroying actions.  We can act in ways that slowly build unity.  But, wherever we find unity in the Church, we cannot take the credit.  It is a gift from the Lord.

2) "The unity of the Church finds expression in its faithfulness to the mission to which Christ calls it."   Unity always pushes us to be in mission together in Christ.  Unity is not satisfied to sunbathe and sip drinks by the side of the pool (as attractive as that sounds). Unity is not passive, it is active.  It is not static, it is active. We can stay unified by being faithful in mission.  I would also suggest that unity and faithful mission are an ongoing circle.  If we are not being faithful in mission, our unity will suffer.  If we are not unified, our faithful mission will suffer.  The two go together like a hand in a glove.  They are complementary, and cannot be separated.

3) "The church is a fellowship of believers which seeks the enlargement of the circle of faith to include all people."  I know a lot of churches that really do not function this way.  Some are not too concerned about enlarging the circle of faith.  They are very content with what they have and whom they already have.  Their energy and focus is all pointed inward. 

Some churches do believe in enlarging the circle of faith, but only to include people who are just like them.  They find it very difficult to truly reach out to ALL people.  They want to include people who reinforce their assumptions and who will support the status quo.   And yet, God calls us to a bigger challenge. 

4) "The Church is a fellowship of believers that is never content to enjoy the benefits of Christian community for itself alone."   This is hard to live out in our American, consumeristic culture.  When we go to church, many people  are unconsiously thinking, "What's in it for me?" "What will I get out of this?"  "How will this improve my life?" Often, our desire to grow our congregations feeds right into this selfish, narcississtic tendency.  Does anyone belong to a congregation that is trying to grow with the idea that "It's not about you"?  I think that's more Biblical than what we see in a lot of American churches. 

The PCUSA's Book of Order actually has some strong missional reminders in it.  This one is key.  Presbyterian congregations should be known as those who are never content to enjoy the benefits of Christian community for ourselves alone.  We are called to live differently.  We are called to be internally strong and externally focused.  Without a major part of our energy being focused outward, we will become a dying, insular, civic club, that has to keep raising the rate of dues to a smaller, elite club of members every year.  If we could actually persuade the majority of Presbyterians to live the way the Book of Order calls us to, we would be constantly seeking the enlargement of our circle of faith to include all people.  And until the Church does include ALL people, we should never be content.

Comments

[Thomas Harvey]

Good, but it is critical to remember that mission is not simply about inclusion but inclusion through redemption. I would argue that the problem of mission today is that the gospel of an inclusion without redemption leads to a banal universalism that in the end reduces mission to inter-faith dialogue and service projects. The idea of someone actually converting to Christianity becomes increasingly untenable over time. Thus the uncomfortableness a great majority of Presbyterians have in sharing their faith or in sending out missionaries who would convert others of differing faiths to Christ.

[Jerry Deck]

I realize I'm not speaking to the main point of this topic, but I want to chime in with my encouragement of using the Book of Order for churches wanting to be more missional. I actually think the BOO is full of "missional" passages.

I think it's especially helpful when trying to move a traditional presby church to becoming more missional. One of the common things I hear from church members is "that's not presbyterian." This is why it's so helpful to be able to pull out the BOO and show just how presbyterian so much of it is.

In working with the missional task force at the church I pastor we are making sure to pepper the BOO throughout our presentation to the congregation, which I think will play a key role in helping us become more the body that Christ has called us to be.