Primarily, this post is a reflection on the recent actions of the Church of Scotland but I’ve taken it as an opportunity to try out a new rhetoric style I call, because I am pretentious, temporal displacement writing. That is to say, I’m writing as though present events are being reflected on as happening years ago. In this context I’ve chosen to do so through an essay question. It may work, might not, feedback appreciated.
I’ve taken a certain amount of imaginative license in dealing with future events. All past events are, to the best of my knowledge, accurate. Church History Exam 2025 Q3: How integral a role did the St George’s Tron play in the demise of the Church of Scotland? Five years ago the Church of Scotland was disbanded, the great domination brought to a premature death with a speed that surprised many. Even as late as 2011 many expected the decline of the state church to be a prolonged and gradual affair taking at least a generation. There is a common misconception that it was St George’s Tron departure from the Church of Scotland in June 2012 that was the stone that caused the proverbial avalanche to fall. This essay will argue that this represents a false narrative and that it was not until the actions of the Kirk in October 2012 that the bell sounded on the beginning of the end of the Church of Scotland. Beforehand October little concern was shown either by congregations or ministers into the reasons for the Tron’s departure. The actions of the Kirk changed this and created the Separatist movement that was so vital to the eventual demise of the Church of Scotland. The reasons for the Tron’s departure are readily apparent. Shocked by even the airing of a debate about homosexual ministers and frustrated by the General Assembly’s obvious move to prolong the debate as long as possible the congregation of the Tron under the leadership of Rev Dr Philip voted to secede from the Church of Scotland. In his press release Rev Philip spoke of his disappointment in the attempts of the General Assembly to normalise the issue of homosexuality. In a strongly worded statement he said: “In doing so the highest court of the Kirk has marginalised the Bible, the written Word of God. We believe the Church of Scotland is choosing to walk away from the biblical gospel, and to walk apart from the faith of the worldwide Christian Church.”
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The broader problem with the Church of Scotland (and the CoE, Baptist Union, Southern Baptists, etc)21/6/2012 “As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another.” as the proverb goes and my thanks go to Mark for his comment on my last blog post about the Tron leaving the Church of Scotland. You can read his comment here; as I thought it over I realized that my joy at seeing the Tron leave the Church of Scotland was not related completely to the homosexual issue but more to an overall objection I have to the Church of Scotland and not just the church of Scotland but the many broad church groupings including Baptist Union, Sothern Baptist, etc ,etc. For the purposes of the post I will concentrate on the CoS though.
I realize that many of my readers may well be in such a denomination and I will try and proceed graciously. My intent is not to stir up trouble but to stir up debate and at the very least force others to think about these issues. This post is not meant in anyway to detract from all the good the Church of Scotland does or to question the godliness or sincerity of evangelical leaders within the CoS. On 14th June it was announced that the Tron church in Glasgow was leaving the Church of Scotland over the issue of homosexual ministers. When I first heard the news I’m not ashamed to admit that I almost danced for joy. Usually church splits sadden me because they’re normally for reasons which are secondary in nature and as Christians the call for unity is a strong one. There was once a church that spilt over the issue of having a service on Christmas day, splitting over such trifles does not magnify Christ as Head of the church. But while the call to unity is strong the call to faithfulness is stronger.
Two verses spring to mind: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5v11) and “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1v8). The issue of homosexual ministers can appear to be a minor one but at its heart is a refusal to bow to the clear command of Scripture. Homosexually is declared by God as being morally wrong so to allow homosexual ministers is to go against God’s law. Humanly speaking my church is a small affair: ten of us meeting in an upper room with finances at an all time low and with a large number of people thinking that’s we should pack it in and give up. And my own response to this situation has been on my mind of late. Until recently I coped with the smallness of my church by taking it stoically on the chin. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the situation and I wanted it to be different but as I couldn’t leave with a clear conscience then there was nothing else to be done but man up and take the hit. As such my church was one of the few things in life that regularly depressed me.
Recently though I realized that this stoic attitude of mine does not glorify God in the slightest. There are many people who do what they find hard to do, there are many people who stoically plod on and persevere in difficult situations, stoicism is not an uncommon human trait. And whilst it is often a good trait to have I was reading ‘I Am Not Ashamed’ by Martyn Lloyd-Jones and it occurred to me that there is a superior attitude to have, an attitude that does glorify God, an attitude that is cannot be obtained by any human doing but only through Jesus Christ. If Christianity is real and true, and it is, then it must offer something more than what can be achieved by mere humanity. That is to say, having Christ as my Saviour changes everything on such a profound level that there must be a better alternative to stoicism for stoicism has no hope, it perseveres but expects nothing, Christianity on the other hand offers hope, Christianity offers the ability to be more than a conquer. Even the most superficial of inspections into the state of Britain’s society reveals a growing darkness that is hard to ignore. To describe it is difficult if only because it is hard to know where to start. If we start at the top we find that the world of politics is fill of corruption, hypocrisy and a lack of conviction this is accompanied by a growing apathy and cynicism of the voting public faced with failing party after another. More so, the state still views itself as the solution to all of the problems of life as though it were some deity itself. Naturally, this is only going to end badly. In every sphere of society new corruption is coming to light, in sport, journalism, the military, NHS, etc
The problems this nation faces are very real. We live in an age of increasing individualism and a lessening of community; consumerism and materialism are rampant and the message still hasn’t hit home that more stuff can never equal more happiness; whole generations now define a good weekend by getting so drunk they can’t remember it; sex outside of marriage is now a norm not a shock; today’s culture is saturated in lust which is used to sell just about anything; child sacrifice is applauded as a mother’s ‘right’ to choose to abort her baby largely for reasons of ‘convenience’; homosexuality is becoming normalised and institutionalised but all these things, terrible though they might be, are nothing compared to the underlying problem. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’” Matthew 15 v 19 – 20 Ok, ok, the title is a bit of hyperbole. Psalm 46 is the battle anthem for one small and struggling reformed baptist church in Edinburgh that goes by the name Bellevue Baptist Church. Whether any other reformed baptist church either knows the tune or version of Psalm 46 that we sing or, indeed, cares is quite another matter. I doubt Piper knows it. He does, however, know Psalm 46.
Anyway, I thought I’d go through the Psalm 46 in the Bible and explain why it means so much to my church. For the full effect come, visit us and hear us belt it out in lusty tones. All ten of us. “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Psalm 46 v 1 - 3 Of all the many problems sadly facing the modern church the Wishy Washy Gospel is one of the worst offenders. Yet defining what the Wishy Washy Gospel actually is can be hard, working out whether a church preaches such a gospel is tricky and knowing exactly where the Wishy Washy Gospel goes wrong can be difficult.
This is because it is not so much what the WWG says that is a problem it is more what it doesn’t say. So, I can sit under a preacher and agree with almost everything he says and still be heartbroken by the fact that the true gospel isn’t being preached. As Christians the Bible makes it quite clear that we CANNOT add or take away from the gospel. We have to preach the truth. Not what men want to hear but what they need to hear. “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” Galatians 1 v 8 – 9 As you can see from the above verse the Wishy Washy Gospel is an evil gospel. Enough to condemn the men that preach it. For the Wishy Washy Gospel is anything other than the one the Bible proclaims. So what are the errors of the Wishy Washy Gospel? Where does it go wrong? What is missing? It is my great delight to introduce my very first guest blog written by none other than James Mildred on the state of the modern church. As usual comments, questions and debates are welcome. If you would like to write a guest blog feel free to contact me.
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. " 1 Peter 2 v 9 - 10 I heard a message just recently which struck a real chord. A recent guest preacher, an old friend of the Church, had a message which was one of directness and boldness; surely the same qualities missing in the Church today. Now, if we believe God will work in this land again, then it will start within the representation of his body on this planet, the bride of Christ. So until the Church returns to sound biblical doctrine, it is unwise to expect a revival; we should be looking at our churches in the light of the Bible and asking questions; it is not wrong to question the Church biblically; indeed, no individual should simply allow the work of a church and the preaching of the gospel to go untested. |
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