Weeping Over the Compromise

Yesterday the PCUSA voted to allow their member churches to ordain and install leaders who are living a homosexual lifestyle. The letter sent out to the membership states that "Those who weep will consider this change one that compromises biblical authority and acquiesces to present culture." Count me among those who weep.

In 1996 the PCUSA policy stated that those "refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained." Now the policy is being rewritten to say that "governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates." If there is some way with this new policy that requires the governing bodies to be guided by Scripture, that homosexuals can be ordained as church leaders, I have to understand that the governing bodies of the PCUSA no longer accept that the Bible is the inerrant, infallible Word of our Holy God.

If the Bible is not seen as such, why bother having a church at all. Why not just have a coffee shop, local hangout or bar? What makes the church different is the recognition that the Bible is God's Word for all people for all time. There are no mistakes. It is not outdated. It is holy, true and right. By throwing out the Scripture as the standard of measure on the acceptability of a man for ordination, the PCUSA has opened themselves to all kinds of sinners who are unashamedly and unrepentantly practicing what God teaches us against. How will they now exclude pornographers, wife beaters, drug addicts, gamblers, etc from their leadership? How will they convince their members that these are men (and women) worth following, that these leaders are worthy of honor from the congregation?

Yes, you can count me among those who weep at this decision. In fact, you can count me as one who weeps over the direction many American churches are taking today. The PCUSA did not come to this place overnight. This decision was 33 years in the making, 33 years of sliding a little more and a little more down that slippery slope of appealing to the culture, of making the "unchurched" comfortable.