That one verse: How a single OT command turns the Regulative Principle on its head

Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God. I am the Lord your God.” (Numbers 10:10)

The RPCNA uses their interpretation of the Regulative Principle of Worship to claim that instruments in worship were only associated with sacrifices in the Old Testament, and thus, forbidden in worship in the New Testament.

Worship is to be offered only in accordance with God’s appointment, and in harmony with the scriptural principle that whatever is not commanded in the worship of God, by precept or example, is forbidden. (RP Testimony 21:2)

The Psalms are to be sung without the accompaniment of instruments, which are not part of the New Testament pattern of worship. Musical instruments were commanded for use with the offering of sacrifices in the Old Testament temple worship. The death of Christ being the perfect and final sacrifice brought an end to this way of worship. There is neither command for nor example of the use of musical instruments in the words or practice of Christ and the apostles. The command of the New Testament is to offer the sacrifice of praise—the fruit of our lips. (RP Testimony 21:6)

Eisegesis is a common failing in Biblical interpretation. When the Bible is interpreted through the lens of "what do I want it to say" and not "how do I gain understanding from what it says," we end up with convoluted and often inconsistent approach to practice.

The RP Testimony goes above the Westminster Confession of Faith which says:

The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the  acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture. (21:1)

WCF says that worship is "limited by [God's] revealed will" and he "may not be worshipped" in "any other way not prescribed in ... Scripture". RPT says whatever is not commanded or demonstrated by example is forbidden. Very clear cut and black and white.

There is a secondary argument, though. "the New Testament pattern of worship". So, the RPT seems to be saying that command and example must be specifically through the lens of New Testament worship. What this means is that even though musical instruments are used throughout the Old Testament, their use is forbidden in modern worship. That also applies to dancing, even though the Psalms suggest, or even command praising God with instruments and dancing (e.g. Psalm 150).

What about baptism?

What is missing in the RPCNA consideration of worship is a careful evaluation of other worship practices. For example, circumcision was done on the 8th day after birth in the Old Testament. It is not coupled to any sort of worship. In the New Testament, the examples of baptism are arguably outside the context of congregational worship. People are baptized when they are converted, not when they are presented to the congregation.

What we see here is thus eisegesis. Instruments are forbidden not because of "command or example" but because "command or example" is a convenient way to claim the spiritual high ground over personal opinion. If "command or example" is the litmus test, baptism cannot be done in worship, as there is neither command nor example in the New Testament of baptism being done in worship.

What about the offering?

What else gets dismissed? Offerings. Offerings are clearly an aspect of worship in the Old Testament, although it's questionable how it worked within congregational gatherings. Paul says, "On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come." (1 Cor 16:2) As far as I know, this is the only suggestion that offerings belong in worship, and it fails on two points. First, it is a special collection for downtrodden saints in Jerusalem, not an offering to support the ministry of the local church. Second, the fact that it is "on the first day of the week" does not couple it to corporate worship. That would be like saying that churches can "thresh grain" in worship, because the disciples did it and it was clearly on the Sabbath.

What about the benediction?

The benediction is clearly commanded in the Old Testament in Numbers 6:22-27, but, that is the Old Testament, and RPT is saying that only New Testament commands and examples count for determining what can and can't be part of modern worship. Even if we can make that argument, the command is specifically the Aaronic Blessing - "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord..." not the blessings sprinkled throughout the New Testament writings.

As an ex-RP, I don't agree with the RPT interpretation of everything must be re-established in the New Testament (it's clear that they do not walk the talk anyway!) I hold the WCF interpretation, that what God wants in worship can be understood from scripture and that we are likely sinning when we invent new worship practices (bowling??) or try to follow practices from other religions without supporting them from scripture.

What are your thoughts on how God wants to be worshiped?

Scot McKnight on blogs - "like a coffee table conversation"

This came across my feed this morning. It's a very good read. After decades of experience as a preacher and professor, Scot McKnight proposes a mental model of blogging that is less about trying to proclaim or teach, but more like having a discussion in a coffee shop. Here are some excerpts, but the full post is worth a read. https://scotmcknight.substack.com/p/an-oldie-but-i-think-goodie

When I first began to blog I had to learn that blogging is not the same as the pulpit or the rostrum, no matter how deep those instincts were for me. A blog post might be written as a sermon or as a lecture or even an outline for a dialogue, but once the post goes public it can become a free-for-all. It can turn south, get ugly, or go ballistic faster than any media of communication I know. Some other image had to give me an image of what was going on.

So, as I sat there and watched it happen, all along deleting inflammatory, accusing, personally-destructive comments, I arrived at an image that has worked for my blog. A blog is like a coffee table conversation at a public café. If the pulpit gives the image of preaching and teaching and the rostrum the image of dialogue, the café table gives the image of personal conversation.

...

Our goal on the blog is to create civil conversations about Jesus and about orthodox theology and about sports and (sometimes) about politics. Keeping some topics civil can be immensely challenging and one reason is that civil conversation is not easy for some of us.

That idea resonates with me. A coffee shop conversation has to recognize that people are not on the same page.

This blog is meant to be a coffee table discussion for those in various stages of questioning the RPCNA culture. I would like it to encompass more than just theology and church polity because there are many more aspects of growing up within the RPCNA microcosm that have affected me personally.

One big example is that it is easy for me to transfer the legalistic baggage. For example, it's hard to navigate a grace-filled approach when I find patriarchy to be abusive towards women, but there are a lot of versions of patriarchy that are, in my opinion, still wrong, but much more thoughtful and caring towards women. Preston Sprinkle talked about a patriarchal church that had a sermon review committee. Since it was not "eldership", women were welcomed to the committee and he said that many times the women on the committee provided valuable insight on points or illustrations. They might say, "have you thought about how the single moms in the church will hear this?" He said it really improved the quality of his sermons and still fit within the patriarchal bent of male-only eldership, while giving women the ability to use gifts of spiritual discernment within the church.

That's at least the goal. I don't do it perfectly or even well at times, but I ask participants to embrace or at least respect that goal. We're not on the same page or even in the same book as we seek to more closely align our lives with Jesus. What is straightforward to you might seem wrong to me, and what I think is true might seem false to you. I don't believe truth is relative, but I also don't think I get to disrespect others who have different opinions on what is true.

That one verse: How verses, often taken out of context and used anachronistically have led to the fracturing of the church (Eph. 5:15-21)

*** UPDATE ***

I've re-enabled comments on the blog and most of the posts. I will be doing some moderation and delete comments that are off-topic or uncivil.

******

Ephesians 5:15-21 (NASB):

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,  speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

I can't tell you how many times I heard a sermon on the passage. It was a favorite because this was the passage that divided the RPCNA from most other NAPARC churches. We could shake hands with the OPC, the PCA, the URC and the ARP, but never quite enjoy full fellowship because they sinfully chose to sing man-written songs instead of God's inspired Psalms in worship as Paul "clearly indicated" here.

There's a strong argument that Paul isn't talking about corporate worship at all in this passage. What follows is clearly talking about how Christians interact in everyday life and this first starts with how we use our time, not getting drunk, etc., very practical advice.

Despite there being plenty of RP and RP-affiliated books on why Exclusive Psalmody is commanded in scripture, scholars dismiss exclusive psalmody for good reasons.

I think the most clear example is Hezekiah. Isaiah 38 describes how Hezekiah was going to die and God relented and gave him 15 more years of life. Hezekiah writes a song and in the song says that "we will sing my songs all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord" (vs. 20). There are other examples, though that are not as clear. Moses records a song Israel (a nation/church) sang. Miriam's song is there. There is also a song Deut 32, which is taught to the nation that is meant to remind them of the punishment for unfaithfulness. It's hard to distinguish here between what might be called "corporate worship" and what was nationalistic. Was the giving of the law in Exodus 20 a worship service or a national gathering?

I don't think that there's anything wrong with singing Psalms and I actually prefer the Psalms to a lot of what I sing. How many hymns allow us to be angry with God? How many hymns let us despair? I think the church gets stuck in this rut where only positivity and smiles are allowed in church. You got into a huge argument with your spouse this morning and divorce is on the table? Praise God! You got fired yesterday and don't know where your next mortgage payment comes from? Hallelujah! In a sense, the church becomes irrelevant when real people aren't accepted and only picture-perfect painted smiles are welcome.

I think the RP church ends up being worse off. Real people still aren't accepted. Psalms are sung in the same joyless monotone whether it's Psalm 22, 27, 51, 100 or 150. Only emotional flatlines are accepted. Want to lift your hands in worship? You're doing it just to be a show-off! If you are in tears, you can be ignored because no one wants to get sucked into your pain.

When the RP church considered joining another church and possibly allowing freedom on Psalms, I was one of those horribly offended that we would stoop to such levels. But consider this argument. I think that God has commanded Psalm singing in worship and it is a great blessing to everyone to sing God's words back to Him. However all these other people sing hymns because they are cheesy and it makes them feel better. Aren't RPs talking out of both sides or their mouths? We say don't commit adultery because we believe that adultery hurts the offenders, not because marital fidelity is some cruel suffering we must endure to be true Christians. If Psalmody is truly what God uses to bring joy and blessing to his people if they sing inspired psalms only, then the RPCNA should be full of joyful people blessed by worship, not a bunch of people who are afraid of showing any emotion.

Second RP session ignores the rules and then plays the victim when called out...

One of the problems I've pointed out many times is that the leaders in the authoritarian system want to be portrayed as both caring and competent. When mistakes are made, they will circle the wagons and play one against the other. So, the law and order was forgotten because they were so intent on providing the utmost of care, or caring was secondary to making sure that the procedure was followed.

It seems like Second RPC is having trouble properly emotionally manipulating a few of the members in the congregation. So, now the Session is "grieved" because their "apologies" have not resulted in "reconciliation". I say these in quotes because I doubt the sincerity. My reading on it is:

The Session is upset because the members correctly identified that their apologies were insincere and realized that there was no reconciliation when one party is still convinced they are in the right. So, the Session is now going to try and bring in 3rd parties (although hopefully skewed towards justifying the authorities if at all possible) who are going to bring Psalm 133 and some obey your leaders garbage to put the members back in their place.

Assuming the complaint is correct, and I don't see any disagreement by the Session, the whole situation was brought on by BOTH a lack of caring and a lack of following law and order.

The background seems really simple. Some members of the congregation saw someone they thought would make a good Ruling Elder, and made a petition that the Session call a congregational meeting to vote on whether this person should be called.

The request IS technically out of order. As a member, I can ask the Session to call a congregational meeting to elect an elder, but it is out of order to say, "We want an up or down vote on John Doe." There is a procedure for these meetings and it is to call a meeting, ask for nominations, and proceed. There are good reasons for this, and I would argue, also good reasons why the Session should never nominate someone.

But, instead the Session made some critical mistakes.

Background on the Session clique:

Before I go any further, I want to talk about my experience. I was seen as a potential elder in a congregation in the GLG. As far as I know, there was never any formal "qualification check" but I was given more and more visible responsibility in the church, until a person or persons discovered that I held that women could be deacons (i.e. the official position of the RPCNA). At that point, the leaders did pretty much everything in their power to cut me down in the eyes of the congregation, while also trying to use me for my gifts.

So, the way I see it, the Session is like the popular girls at a high school. They want to maintain a power base and control the next generation of that power base, but their manipulation and abuse can't be obvious because being mean and catty could make them unpopular. So, they are constantly, and I mean constantly looking around for other people to pull in and people to cut down. Now imaging that the popular girls has a Constitution and law and order. The law and order says that gossip is wrong and that pre-judging people is wrong, but the Session wants to be ahead of the curve, so, of course, they are going to gossip about all the potential entrants to the Session.

Back to the issue at hand:

So, the Session has already gossiped about John Doe and they've already decided, for one reason or another that John Doe would not be a welcome addition to the popular girls table - it could be for many reasons, maybe legitimate, maybe not. Now a significant group in the congregation says that they think John Doe would make a good elder.

Now, if they were clever, they would "seriously consider" the petition and get their story straight. Perhaps now is not a good time to elect an elder, or maybe they hadn't thought about John Doe in that way and they need time to consider (how to undercut) him in his potential leadership. But, instead, they let it slip that they "didn't consider him qualified" having done no consideration on the record (in constituted court).

The "Oh Crap!" moment:

Instead of "submitting", the members called the Session out for the glaring mistake. The Session, now stuck in a corner, decided that their way out would be to allow the election, but, presumably, undercut John Doe so that he would not be elected. Instead, the congregation voted 85% in favor of calling him as a Ruling Elder. OH CRAP! So, now the Session is in a situation where they don't want someone to join the Session, but this person is too popular to reject on the basis of approval rating. They are now under a microscope. The Session gives their "apology" to the congregation while trying to backtrack the severity of their mistakes.

The backdoor conversation and resignation:

Since anything "public" will be scrutinized, the Session decides to have an "off the record" discussion with John Doe. Most likely, John is told that he really doesn't have what it takes, and that the congregation is ignorant about what it takes to be an elder, and disrespectful towards the Session by calling them to account instead of "submitting". Doe is likely told to quietly resign because that's best for the congregation. However, aspects of this conversation demonstrate that the "apology" is bogus. So, John resigns, but does so in a way that calls out the Session for their abusive tactics.

Damage control:

The Session now has to figure out how to regain their position of caring curators of the law and order of the church, despite having been exposed for a lack of care and a lack of consideration for the law and order of the church.

Oops, we did it again:

Remember that the Session doesn't want their REAL discussions to be on the record, but no decisions can be made off the record, so the solution is to have a Session meeting without telling the congregation so that no one can show up and hold them accountable. So, the Session freezes the members out of their continued John Doe discussion by holding a secret meeting (thanks, Dave Long for the inspiration!!!) where the only thing on the record is accepting the resignation.

We're "grieved"!1!!

So, after demonstrating a total lack of respect for John Doe, the congregation and the law and order of the church and being called out for it, what is a session to do? DARVO => Deny, Accuse, Reverse Victim and Offender.
Deny - The Session is going to damage control by alternatively portraying themselves as caring (this was somehow best for the congregation, but you're too stupid to understand right now), and keepers of the law and order (this isn't how elections are done, so we mistakenly accommodated your request and look where it led!) The session will also meet to control the narrative. Only the approved timeline will be represented, and everything that members remember will be 'not how it happened'.

Accuse - The Session might theorize that this is all some sinister (Satanic?) plot to undermine God's ordained servants in the eye of the congregation and start calling out members for their lack of respect and submission when they disagree with the Session's approved narrative.

Reverse Victim and Offender - Since the complaint is mainly that the Session misused the law and order of the church, we are most likely going to see "caring" weaponized. I think the complaints are already pre-groomed since they said:

We believe the elders had good intentions through much of this process. We respect and acknowledge their authority and their many years of faithful service and love for the congregation. We believe that the 2RP Session has acted sincerely to do what they believed is for the good of 2RP.

I don't believe this. If they truly believed what they were doing was good and for the good of the church, then they have conflated their will with the will of God. That is, they made idols of their personal perspective. The law and order of the church is there for a reason, and disregarding the law of the church is putting oneself as judge over current and previous authorities.

Let me put this a different way. If the Session were authoritative about who should or should not be the next Ruling Elder, the RPCNA would be the Reformed Prelacy of North America. The whole point of congregational elections and Session qualifications is that the church as a whole recognizes that God can and should bring alternative and contradictory views into leadership, and that it is the sheep who recognize the shepherd, not necessarily the religious leadership.

The actions of the 2RP elders scream out that they are afraid of a possible alternative or contradictory view joining the Session, and that fear is most likely in black and white. John Doe CALLED THEM OUT for their abusive tactics. So, put two and two together. The Session of 2RP is scared that John Doe will hold them accountable for their abusive tactics and did everything in their power to maintain abusive control. How exactly could we understand that as being "caring" and "for the good of 2RP"? 

Evangelicals own today's political drama whether they like it or not

*** PREFACE / UPDATE ***

Posting this was a mistake. I am on a journey of understanding how my relationship with Jesus shapes how I engage with other people in the political realm. I do believe what I wrote, but I don't think these topics can really be discussed by those who hold them passionately without devolving into labeling and slurs.

I think people on opposite ends of the political spectrum can have healthy dialogues, come to understand each others' positions and even acknowledge the difficulty of the competing interests.

I knew of a church that couldn't get over this. It was a mix of white and blue collar and there was always tension between the two groups. The white collar professionals spoke against the unions that the blue collar workers relied on for job security and safety. The blue collar workers thought the professionals were soft when they wanted to spend church money on things they had to do without. Instead of empathy, growth and understanding, the church just stagnated. I think it was a unique opportunity because churches tend to be very homogeneous in terms of race and social status.

Maybe it's too hard to imagine a church here in the US that crosses these sorts of boundaries, but that's what existed in the 1st century by the work of the Holy Spirit. Not that there wasn't class-based division and strife. (According to a commentary I read somewhere - can't find the source at the moment) The argument over hair length was a shame/class-based argument. Roman wives were required to wear a veil, a sign of privilege, while it was illegal for prostitutes and slaves to wear a veil. Supposedly this entered the church where the church divided over this issue. Paul said, everyone gets to wear a headcovering in church. Everyone gets to be treated with privilege.

I think that's the model for the church. Not that we fracture until each church has people of like social status and theological beliefs, but that we can figure out how to encourage people of different social standings and theology. I'm thankful that my church has modeled that for me, although it's perhaps more white and middle class than the demographics of where I live. 

******

I don't want my blog to be political in nature, but I think this is really pertinent. The word "Evangelical" has left a bad taste in my mouth for a long time, but never so much as now. Evangelicalism was a movement that centered around how the Bible was read - not "literally" in the sense that many take it today where the most clear verse or passage on a topic outweighs the rest of scripture, but that scripture as a whole is inerrant in its original form, and generally has been preserved from error through history.

The Westminster divines resisted the societal urge to prooftext because they believed their confession represented the whole of scripture rather than a few passages. As such they were resistant to putting in scripture references that backed up their explanations.

However, as https://theweek.com/christianity/1016833/is-us-evangelical-christianity-more-a-culture-than-a-religion points out, Evangelicalism has morphed into a cultural and political movement than a theological identity.

This becomes even more perverse when we start looking at what Evangelicals support. Pew Research says that 72% of white Evangelicals support what Trump is doing: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/04/28/white-evangelicals-continue-to-stand-out-in-their-support-for-trump/

Now, let's assume that Evangelicals are keen on following the law as written especially in the Old Testament.

Trump has ignored a Supreme Court decision telling him to return a deportee: Deut. 17:12 - "The man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel."

Trump has denied due process to immigrants he has deported: Lev 19:33-34 "‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God."

These are perhaps the most clear verses, but this pattern is repeated throughout the Old Testament - aliens and strangers are not to be oppressed and are due the same justice that natives enjoy, and, willfully ignoring judicial decisions, especially those by the highest court is a capital crime.

This is clearly what White Evangelicals are supporting. I've heard statistics that white people will be the minority in the US within the next generation or two. WHO CARES?? If those in power are using their power for equality under the law and freedom, then skin color or cultural heritage makes no difference. However, if those in power are oppressing minorities and promoting those who look like them, there is every reason to be afraid when white people lose political power. Is the solution, then, to form a racist, oppressive law-ignoring political bloc in the name of JESUS? Or is the solution to seek justice, equity and rule of law?

I still believe that the Bible is the Word of God, but Evangelical has become a label of much of what is wrong in this country.

If you need another reason, consider that the enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. Yes, Trump hates the immigrants and he hates foreign governments, but he has also given strong signals about his next steps, and that may include anyone who stands in his way:
1. He wants to suspend Habeas Corpus, maybe you cheer that he can now deport people without a hearing or due process, but this is a general right, not one specific to immigrants. In other words, without Habeas Corpus, Trump could send anyone to jail anywhere without a hearing, including his political enemies.
2. He has shown special hatred for those who oppose his political ends. Non-citizens making political statements have been targeted for arrest and deportation. Government employees that opposed things he was doing that were illegal have been fired. Do we really think that he's going to show restraint when citizens become a thorn in his side?
3. He's told El Salvador that they need to build bigger jails to house the US Citizens he wants to send over there.
4. His legal argument around deportation and jailing is that even if his deportation was totally illegal and in contempt of court, he cannot be forced into bringing the person back. So, let's say Trump sends you to El Salvador tomorrow. He doesn't have to negotiate to get you out of jail. He doesn't have to get you on an airplane back to the US. All he has to do is allow you back into the country when you show up at customs (and who knows if he hasn't come up with a bunch of loopholes there, like 'how do we really know it's you? Back to El Salvador!'

Pivot, the RPCNA and churches in general

I spent the weekend finishing Pivot by Laura Barringer and Scot McKnight. It is a follow-up to a book they wrote, A Church Called Tov. 

The central theme of the two books is what it means to be a Tov (good) church. Laura was a member of Willow Creek through the abuse scandal and recovery. Scot is a former pastor and seminary professor.

Pivot is an encouragement and manual for the process of changing toxic churches into good churches. I won't go too much into depth on their process, but I will call out some highlights:

1. Changing a toxic church culture is slow and painful

Toxic church cultures were not created in a year, and they will certainly not take a year to fix. I think this is especially pertinent for the RPs out there reading this. Church leadership loves to declare victory. I remember a bitter dispute between two churches. The two churches fired letters back and forth condemning each other and this dispute ended up rising to the presbytery level. The presbytery listened to the dispute and issued a judgment and an edict. The judgment said that one church was right and the other was wrong, but then the edict: reconcile! The presbytery probably clapped its proverbial hands in joy that the matter was dealt with. Yeah, not even close.

We see this with Immanuel and the Great Lakes-Gulf Presbytery. Synod came in, issued decisions and convicted wayward leaders. They even appointed a reconciliation committee! Yet, the toxicity of the GLG is not going to be solved with some wrist-slapping and congregational meetings urging members to, once again, blindly trust their God-ordained ministers and elders.

Instead, Pivot says, pick ONE issue, spend a year to get understanding and seek the root of this issue in prayer and then expect that it will take three years to see any effect of hard, prayerful work, and perhaps seven years to resolve the issue. It took seven years to change a church from a seeker-centered, no commitment gospel to one where people committed to a process of spiritual transformation, and it was not without controversy and pain. Changing a toxic church like the RPCNA would take many seven-years' work, and it doesn't just happen from some Synod edict to reconcile.

2. Change must come from the top

This one stuck out to me. After years thinking that living a life of submission and service would somehow effect change within the church, I was proven wrong over and over again. When I reached the breaking point, I realized I had a choice - stagnate or leave. Staying RP meant that I would have to suppress my gifts because they were not welcome. Only cheerleaders with gifts are welcome in the RPCNA. If your predisposition is to point out some weeds in the theological yard and grab a shovel to rip them out, the RP church will happily emotionally abuse you to the point of exhaustion, and then blame you for pointing out the weeds.

3. If you are stuck in a church and not at the top, create a small tov community

I think this is very pertinent advice to RPs who recognize the abuse, yet for cultural, family or religious convictions can't walk away. Instead of focusing your efforts on trying to change the entire system (hint: you can't), find a group of like-minded friends and create a community within a community. Even if the larger church is spiritually abusive, your community can provide the support and fellowship needed and be a place of spiritual safety.

4. [As an emphasis on 1], don't accept quick fixes to restoration

I found this paragraph to be very powerful in light of scandals today:

We must ask for the gift of courage to face the grace of truth and truth telling

Too often, those with power or those who sinned or those who made a bad judgment immediately appeal to the grace of forgiveness so they can stamp "Paid" on their account. Slow Down! Genuine grace in a church that wants transformation from toxic patterns of the flesh to tov patterns of the Spirit will give people the courage to face the truth of their toxicity. Some stories need to be told, some words need to be admitted, and some decisions need to be undone or rectified. For healing from toxicity to occur, we will have to admit these difficult truths. Truth telling is on the path to tov.

This was so true in the handling of IRPC. The elders who confessed or resigned wanted the matter to be forgiven and reconciled. When they were subject to further scrutiny, there was a groundswell among pastors and enablers calling for reconciliation and not further inquiry. This toxic leadership did not happen overnight. At least in the case of Keith Magill, he was emotionally and spiritually abusive multiple times on record and the presbytery ignored it. So, the idea that the entire presbytery culture is fixed by punishing a pastor and a few elders is silly. Instead, as the authors say, the RPCNA needs to spend the time, more than the tens of thousands of hours it took to pronounce a sentence, to get to the root of the spiritually abusive church culture and work to correct it.

I think key to the flight of leaders out of the GLG is the refusal to 'face the truth of their toxicity'. On one hand, there are the IRPC leaders who wanted to say a quick apology and move on, and on the other hand, there were the GLG leaders who watched the matter grind through the commissions and courts who realized that their own toxicity might one day come under that sort of scrutiny. The lack of concern and care for the victims was staggering in light of the concern that "good elders" not be disgraced for one small lack of discernment, and that was not just at the presbytery level.

5. Working towards tov is painful, but worth it

I often wonder what people think church leadership is all about. We see Stephen Rhoda thinks it's preaching at an adoring congregation once a week. I hear many elders talk about "moving on" from deep-seated conflicts in the church, as if their most important job isn't guarding, protecting and encouraging the flock, but instead figuring out how to make the most precise grind on the diamond of the church's theology. I've seen multiple papers at presbytery and synod level lament the "countless hours of work" it took to counsel or bring understanding in a matter.

Understanding this was when I realized I didn't have the calling to be an Elder. I was interested in theology and I was interested in bringing truth and justice through spiritually-guided policies and procedures, but I wasn't really interested in wading into the muck of members abusing one another or members dealing with the consequences of their own sin. Maybe someday, but I doubt God will snap his fingers and give me the requisite humility, selflessness and empathy.

One way to look at the books of Moses is that God tried to establish a good culture for the Israelites. He rescued them from Egypt, he gave them just laws and a carefully crafted religious system to remind them of his holiness and graciousness. He led them to the border of the Promised Land, but their culture was too overwhelming. Instead of marching in, knowing that God was just and gracious and would give them victory, they reverted to their culture of fear and distrust. It took 40 years for God to change the culture to one that was able to conquer Israel and even then, it was only a couple generations until they fell back into their old ways. Even with the help of the Holy Spirit, growing a faithful and compassionate church is going to be hard work.

Christianity thrives at the grassroots

 Ever since Constantine was baptized into Christianity, many Christians believe that the best way for Christianity to grow is from the top down. If we could only replace the heads of state with bona-fide Christians, then Christendom would be the default and Christians could live in peace. After all, the Great Commission does say "disciple the nations", doesn't it?

The Middle Ages and the time before the Enlightenment should dissuade us from seeking to grow Christianity through political power and influence, or by the sword. Instead, when political and religious power cohabit, we find a much deeper level of corruption - political leaders who influence through the power of the sword, but also place like-minded puppet priests in positions of religious authority to make submission to tyranny a religious imperative.

The church essentially had the power of the sword to put people to death. The religious leaders would hold a trial and excommunicate someone for heresy, then hand them over to the civil courts. The civil courts would feel obligated to put the heretic to death because somehow "spiritual murder" must be worse than "secular murder".

This didn't get much better in Colonial America. Religious leaders would use their positions of authority to influence civil magistrates. Roger Williams was declared a heretic and banished from Massachusetts because he disagreed with the state church (and the Crown of England) that they should be stealing land from the natives, and he believed that the church should be separate from the state.

When Jesus declared to Pontius Pilate that his kingdom was "not of this world" otherwise his followers would "take up arms" on his behalf. I believe this is precisely what he meant to avoid. Jesus is stating that his mission then, and his mission now are to grow his kingdom like the mustard seed, like the leaven. In other words, we don't serve Jesus by forced conversions at gunpoint, mandatory church taxes, government establishment and legislated Christendom. We grow the kingdom by living pure lives, loving our neighbors and serving others.

Christians can certainly enter the political realm, and Christians should be guided by the Holy Spirit in enacting just laws for all, but those laws shouldn't punish those who don't subscribe to our religion. In enacting the law, God said it was evidence for a just God that there was one law for both Israelite and foreigner. It's hard to discern how those foreigners could remain non-Israelite and not violate some of the laws, but it seems that there was a way.

Christian Nationalists like Doug Wilson, who come from the RJ Rushdoony Theonomy tradition think that God wants the church to grow by mirroring the traditions of Islam. So, yeah, it's okay to be a Jew in Wilson's United States, provided you pay some sort of non-Christian tax and never run for public office. This flavor of Christian Nationalism feels very much like trying to return the clergy to their position of influence. Wilson has been known for using his position of authority to attempt to influence judges in cases involving his congregants.

The abortion debate seems to be a very interesting case study. While Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, the abortion rate had been steadily dropping. I think this was partly due to Christians seeking to deal with the causes of abortion at a grassroots level. In all of this, there are mixes of good and bad, so understand that I'm looking from certain perspectives, but Christian-influenced abstinence-based sex education pushed away from the mechanics-based sex ed I was taught and focused on how does sex fit in with what I want as a person? What are the characteristics of a partner I would want to enjoy it with? Is my value as a human being tied to sex and how do I communicate my personal boundaries? The abortion rate dropped as people said, I'm going to choose when to have sex and with whom, because my value isn't tied to my sexual conquests. This is an inherently Christian perspective - that our value is in just being human and not in how others see us.

I'm familiar with a local pregnancy center. Under Roe v. Wade, they flourished, saved many babies, and converted many women and couples. Their approach? Support. Instead of shame-based language, they provided medical care, parenting classes and many of the child's needs for the first three years. They provided counseling services for pregnant women and couples. It pains me that the same people who call themselves "Pro-Life" are the same who are trying to end any sort of societal safety net for children once their born? WIC, food stamps, Medicaid and pre-school are all programs that provide enormous support for poor families, but they are the programs seemingly most hated by cost-conscious budget hawks. Of course, it's okay to spend $2B to upgrade some Navy ships and then decide to retire them because that is the cost of protecting freedom, but $6B to ensure that newborns have enough food to survive is a waste of precious money. This flows from the same mindset that it's okay for the United States to force other sovereign nations to do things that are in the United States' best interests. It's okay to threaten Ukraine that we will withdraw protection unless they send us tribute, but I guess it was wrong and evil to send US equipment to Ukraine to protect innocent people from an invasion.

The new regime has made me wonder - how can we be a light in the midst of darkness? People who are harmed by the new regime will, almost certainly, associate this with Evangelicals and Christian Nationalists, even though the primary actors don't seem to be Evangelical at all? I volunteer at a church that did everything they could to support a refugee family escaping Crimea. Ultimately, the husband was jailed and is now going to be deported because he was held up satisfying Russian requirements while his family flew across and that created a discrepancy on his entry papers that said he would "come with his family". I hope that this man's view of Christianity is not the supposedly Christian regime that sent him back to maybe be drafted and die in an unjust war, but the church that came alongside his wife and children and did everything they could to support him fleeing oppression.

I hope that is the testimony of Christians in the United States. Will people look at us as the people who put a tyrant in power, or will people look at us as those who roll up our sleeves to help when people's government lifelines are cut?