MINISTER’S LETTER
After Darkness, Light
Dear brothers and sisters,
At Christmas we remember that Jesus Christ, the Word, came into the world and that “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4,5. One of the great rallying cries of the reformation was “Post tenebras lux” – “After darkness, light”. This simple phrase, lifted from the Latin translation of Job 17:12, spoke of the recovery of the truth, authority, sufficiency and efficacy of God’s Word in the Church, because our King and Head has ordained that His Word be the rule of life and faith amongst his people.
Due to a number of recent conversations in a variety of contexts I have been thinking hard (again) about why I am a presbyterian. My first response is to parrot the words of Rev John “Rabbi” Duncan, born 1796 in Aberdeen, who ministered in the Free Church of Scotland and lectured at New College Edinburgh: “I am first a Christian, next a catholic (ie part of the universal church), then a Calvinist, fourth a paedobaptist, and fifth a Presbyterian.” Why say this? Because I am a presbyterian, but it is neither the sole defining feature of my faith nor the primary one; and yet it is still important, good, necessary, worthy of mention and necessary for the health of local churches that they understand how to govern themselves and how to understand authority structures.
In this letter I merely want to raise Presbyterianism, define it and mention some strengths. I hope in later letters to address specific topics. So, what is Presbyterianism? A lot of people, I think, will say it’s where they baptize babies, or maybe where they sing Psalms unaccompanied. While there are certain doctrinal distinctives normally found in Presbyterian churches, at its core Presbyterianism is an agreeable, biblical model of church government. Simply put, we believe in the plurality of elders and churches; that no man is an island and no one man is in charge, save the Lord Jesus. This biblical conviction then informs how we structure ourselves. In the local church a plurality of elders governs as under-shepherds, chaired by a minister of Word and Sacrament; in the region or country a plurality of churches forms a group called “presbytery” where all member churches are accountable to the presbytery and to each other. Why? Because we fundamentally believe that, as seen in the Council of Jerusalem, we should have concern for our brothers and sisters in other churches, and they should have concern for us. Outside of this core definition different presbyterian churches have different emphases, practices, procedures and traditions.
I’ve mentioned already one of the strengths of Presbyterianism – that by definition we are not alone because we believe in a plurality of leaders – let me briefly mention 5 more strengths (these are subjective and are all found in other churches as well, though perhaps not all are found in one place.):
Firstly in Presbyterianism we practice ordination. We ordain our ministers and our elders into the offices they hold. The pathway to ordination varies depending on context but will include prayerful consideration by the elders/church, examination of character, training where needed, some method of due process, and the public laying on of hands by the eldership to set the person apart for the ministry of leadership. Our brothers and sisters in non-conformist traditions do not agree with this practice, instead prioritizing the priesthood of all believers, however we also believe in that wonderful truth! When put into practice correctly, ordination helps protect the church from error and helps the church worship God in Spirit and Truth; it enables the church to have confidence in their leaders and shepherds.
Secondly in Presbyterianism we have a high regard for the sacraments. Hard battles have been fought in history to ensure the church is protected from harmful, distorted views of the sacraments: as Presbyterians we hold something of a “middle ground” in how we view the sacraments of baptism and communion – on the one hand we do not believe in the Roman Catholic view that the body and blood of Christ are literally present in the elements, but on the other hand we do not believe that the bread and wine are symbols only. The sacraments and signs, seals and symbols of the work of the Tri-une God amongst his people; they are tangible, visible and physical expressions of our communion and new life, but instead of us trying to “bring Christ down” to us at the table or font, we believe that by the Spirit we are “brought into the presence of the Father”. The sacraments, therefore, are amazing gifts to the church.
Thirdly in Presbyterianism we have a reformed view of worship. We delight in the gathering of the church for public worship. It is an amazing thing to gather under the ministry of the Word and Spirit, to have our eyes fixed on Jesus as we give our praise to the Father. Sometimes we talk of the regulative principle to explain how we make decisions on what we should and shouldn’t do when we gather as a church for worship, which states that we should only worship God in ways he calls us to; our worship should be designed to please our Father in Heaven – because we delight in what God delights in.
Fourthly in Presbyterianism we hold to a particular framework of theology. There’s much to unpack here but broadly speaking Presbyterians are convinced by a framework often called “Covenant Theology”. It is important to know the Bible and to have a view of the whole Bible and how it fits together to speak with one voice and one message. As a public reminder of our theology we hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith: a historic document that, while not infallible, is most certainly helpful.
Fifthly in Presbyterianism we remember our history and those who have gone before us. We stand on the shoulders of giants and are very grateful for the generations of Christian men and women who have gone before us and shaped who we are – those in Scotland throughout the past 500 years, and the Reformation, and the Church Fathers, and the Apostles, and the prophets, and first and foremost he who is our head, our King, our Light and our Saviour – Jesus. Thankfully, when we arrive in the New Creation and each discover our errors, we will have confirmation that our darkness did not overcome the light of the World.
Grace and Peace in His name,
Nathan