That is, of course, one of the considerations that drives many of those clergy and laity who are attending GAFCON but staying away from Lambeth. They are convinced that they must seperate themselves from those who promote the various theological innovations (not just in doctrine but in practise) that are currently tearing our Communion apart. In the first part this is a theological conviction - they look to texts such as these:
1 Corinthians 5:9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one.
What is interesting here is that we are called to disassociate with these sorts of people if they "bear the name of brother". Or, put another way, if Gene Robinson were simply my atheistic bank manager then Scripture's injunction would not stand. Rather, it is because he "bears the name of brother" and yet wilfully continues in sin that we are called to not associate with him. Division, then, comes about because certain people claim to be Christian.
In the second part, the decision not to attend Lambeth is more pragmatic. There are those that have held out to us a confidence that we can still turn the ship around if we handle Lambeth well. They, too, are concerned with the direction that TEC, the ACinC and others have steered the Communion over the past decades. Nevertheless, others have no such confidence anymore. We have seen the leaders of TEC throw and such attempts to rectify matters back in the Communion's face. Why should Lambeth be any different? If the month-long conference were even to address these serious matters that now divide us (not that it is really planning to), if they even came up with serious resolutions - what good would it do? What real good did resolution 1.10 in 1998 do as we look back a decade later? It seems to many of us that all it has served to achieve is the crystallisation of our differences.
The orthodox, then, are faced with a difficult decision. To go or not to go.
One self-declared evangelical who recently addressed this question is Graham Kings at Fulcrum. Graham recently wrote an article entitled "Faith and Fellowship in Crisis". The Article seeks to make a case for orthodox attendance at Lambeth by framing the current divisions in the context of Paul's letter to the Philippians. So, with constant reference to the letter to the Philippians, Kings reminds us:Paul starts his letter with thanksgiving and prayer. Philippians 1:3-4, 'I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for you all.'
and
In Philippians 1:5, Paul writes of their 'sharing in the gospel', which can also be translated 'partnership' or 'communion'. The Greek word is 'koinonia' which has become very important in recent ecclesiological and ecumenical concerns.
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In his video this week, Rowan Williams described the 'middle sized groups' of the conference:
We have given these the African name of indaba groups, groups where in traditional African culture, people get together to sort out the problems that affect them all, where everyone has a voice and where there is an attempt to find a common mind or a common story that everyone is able to tell when they go away from it. This is how we approached it. This is what we heard.
and
In Philippians 1:12 Paul writes, 'And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you determine what is best, so that on the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless.'
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It seems to me, that we could refer this to the concept of core beliefs and to adiaphora which the Windsor Report defines as follows:
As the Church has explored the question of limits to diversity, it has frequently made use of the notion of adiaphora: things which do not make a difference, matters regarded as non-essential, issues about which one can disagree without dividing the Church.
and
In Philippians 1:15 -18 Paul writes, referring to his detractors, 'Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill...What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice.'
In Philippians 2:2, he continues, 'Make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.'
This is a powerful reminder for our concerns today and Paul uses it to introduce his famous christological hymn in verses 5-11, 'Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus...
In Philippines 4:2-3 he writes, echoing his earlier language, concerning specific people who are not united in the love of Christ, 'I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel.'
It seems clear from Paul that humility and unity hang together, while pride and disunity hang down and drag others down with them.
and finally
People usually go to Romans and Galatians for Paul's doctrine of 'justification by faith', but Philippians is also vital. Chapter 3:8-9 runs, 'that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.'
People in the church at Philippi were probably mostly Gentile, not Jewish, Christians. It is worth remembering, in the context of Lambeth 2008, where nearly all the bishops and their spouses will be Gentile Christians, that justification by faith is crucial - literally - not because it is easier than by the law, not because it is more spiritual than by the law, but because it thereby includes the Gentiles, who do not have the law and only have faith in Jesus Christ.
For Kings, then, it seems that we are a "Philippian Communion". We have disagreement, no doubt, but the letter to the Philippians shows us the beginnings of a framework by which we may yet come together and, in his estimation, Lambeth 08 fits that framework.
So the question before us must be "is the Communion Philippian, or something else?" Where is the Anglican Communion? Philippi, or somewhere else?
Those of us who are familiar with the Epistle will recognise that there were some serious problems bubbling away under the surface in that fledgling church. Paul's injunctions to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ" (1:27), "being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (2:2-4), "do all things without grumbling or questioning," (2:14) etc. make sense when we finally see him address one of the relational breakdowns in the congregation:
Philippians 4:2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
There is some division, no doubt. But note how Paul makes his appeal for unity. Euodia and Syntyche (or "Odious and So-Touchy" as a former pastor of mine nicknamed them) have laboured side by side with Paul in the gospel. They are fellow workers and their names are in the book of life. Simply put, they are gospel people. They love the Lord Jesus Christ and are committed to the Gospel that Paul first taught the Philippians and which he reminds them of in the letter. They are, then, included amongst those of which Paul can say:
Philippians 1:3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.
Such people, of course, exist in all our churches. Amongst us there are those who are equally committed to the Gospel and yet find it hard to get along. Some are envious of one another and seek to outdo their rivals in gospelling (1:15 ff.). They may be ambitious or conceited (2:3). Nevertheless they hold to the Gospel and are Gospel people. As Pastors and fellow believers we urge them to be reconciled on the basis of their shared gospel commitment.
And what is this gospel which Paul is convinced reconciles us both to God and to each other? It is centred around the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those great events provide not only the model for a Christian life of humility (2:5-11) but also the basis of Christian confidence itself. Our confidence is in what Jesus has done on our behalf, not what we might do:
Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
It is, first and foremost, a Gospel that brings righteousness - a right standing before God. That righteousness could never be attained by the law (and Paul knew, he had tried) but, rather, through faith in Christ.
And that was the Gospel that Euodia and Syntyche both believed and which would be the basis of their unity as, with the grace of God, they sought to overcome their differences.
There were, however, those in Philippi who did not believe this Gospel. They taught another Gospel that appears to have had Judaising tendencies. Paul had stern words for them:
Philippians 3:2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh
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18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
At the same time that Paul can call the rivals Euodia and Syntyche to unity, he also warns them to stay well clear of those who do not believe the Gospel that they share. It is interesting in Kings' article that no mention is made of this injunction, despite the fact that it lays side by side with the calls to unity with other Christians.
So which city is the Anglican Communion? It might be tempting to turn to Corinth - the Scriptural home of sexual immorality. We have seen above the clear call that Paul gives to disassociate with the unrepentant sinners there. Who, either, could forget this stern warning:
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."
It seems, then, that the Anglican Communion should better be expressed as being in Corinth, not Philippi, for the key issues that we are dividing over are remarkably similar to those that Corinth struggled with. The Devil's playbook has a long provenance. In one sense that conclusion is unavoidable.
But Kings wants me to understand the Communion as being in Philippi.
Well, so be it. If he is calling for those of us who might be called "Conservative Evangelicals" to be reconciled to those such as he who might be known as "Open Evangelicals" then that is a noble call and I would long to join him in it. In his piece (as we have seen above) he affirms the Pauline gospel of justification by faith alone and so we may agree on the gospel that brings us unity. Euodia and Syntyche may, once again, work together.
But that is not the whole story. For amongst our fellowship there are also dogs, enemies of the gospel that he and I agree on, and the same Paul that calls us to unity tells us to watch out for those enemies. They are not welcome at the table.
If the Anglican Communion is to be "in Philippi", and I agree with Kings that it is, then it is time to obey God fully and send the dogs, the enemies of the gospel, away from the table. The problem with Lambeth is that Euodia and Synthyche would have to share their Sunday roast with wolves despite the Philippian church being told that they should do no such thing.
There is, of course, an alternative. There is another gospel table where the dogs are not invited but Euodia and Syntyche sit side by side. At GAFCON evangelicals and anglo-catholics will set aside their rivalries for the service of a greater agreement. It would be great if Kings would join us, and he rightly notes that Paul would have it no other way. But if he wants to share his meal with wolves, our obedience to what Paul wrote to the Philippians will not allow us to come.
Comments:
Thanks, David. A solid dose of scripture is good for what ails us.
The Rabbit.