Dear brothers and sisters,
I will not tell you what to think, but I will exhort you to be like the Lord Jesus.
It seems that with every passing week a new front opens up in our culture wars and new political battle lines form on a daily basis. It is almost overwhelming – perhaps it is. What are we to make over the recent budget? How should we respond to Trump’s insistence that he “must have it”, talking of Greenland? What view should we take on the minutiae of the (latest) Gaza Board of Peace deal? Is Nigel Farage to be trusted or thrown as far away as possible? Was Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum a masterpiece or bluster? Should I vote SNP or any other party?
The answer?
The answer is that I will not tell you what to think, but I will exhort you to be like the Lord Jesus. Why? Because I am your pastor, nothing more, nothing less. I speak to you because you are a member of the body of Christ and member (or friend) of Gilcomston Church which is not a club, an association, an organisation or anything other than the bride of Christ and flock of the Good Shepherd, and the oversight of the church is clear: “shepherd the flock that is among you…” and “Preach the Word…”. So the role of the church is, as J Gresham Machen put it, “to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and to administer the sacraments. Full stop.”.
That last quote is from a brilliant blog article by Jon Gemmell, director of Cornhill Scotland, who recently wrote about his favourite presbyterian – Machen. If you have a spare 10 minutes read his article because it helpfully states the difference between belonging to the church and being a citizen in whatever part of the world you’re in. In a time when churches and Christians are becoming increasingly politicised – and this is a trend I see moving from America to the UK on topics ranging from masculinity, headship, politics, education, nationalism and more – Gemmell’s reminder of Machen’s reminder is timely and needed.
Machen was very politically involved – he had many opinions – but the crucial point is that these views he held and acted upon as a citizen rather than a minister. Gemmell says, “Machen believed that the institutional church must be the church, must occupy its proper sphere, must do what only it can do. Everything else, no matter how urgent or noble, belonged to Christians acting as citizens…In an age when churches often seem most anxious to prove their relevance through political activism, Machen’s voice sounds a countercultural note. Perhaps the church’s relevance lies precisely in its refusal to be merely relevant. Perhaps its power emerges from its weakness, its influence from its restraint, its social impact from its spiritual focus. The church functions best, Machen insisted, when the church is simply, gloriously, unmistakably the church.”
Thank you, Jon, for this timely, prophetic reminder of Machen’s call for the church to be the church. I pray this will be an encouragement to you as we each wrestle with the complexities of this cultural moment we find ourselves in. Gilcomston Church will never be a voice of political activism, but of prophetic Gospel proclamation.
Grace and peace,
Nathan