Tag Archives: grace

PCA GA Day 2

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A Day of Reports, Deliberations, and Encouragement

Today was the second day of the 51st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, our Church’s national gathering to further the ministry and mission of Christ throughout the world.

That sounds like a high and lofty goal, but it may not always be clearly evident in the details of the Assembly’s business. Take today’s work, for example.

Wednesday began committee reports, starting with the Review of Presbytery Records. The RPR committee met before GA began and read through the minutes of all 88 presbyteries, making sure that the meetings of the presbyteries upheld the fundamentals of our church’s polity and theology, and requiring responses from presbyteries when exceptions to our polity and theology are discovered. This may sound tedious, and there are times when the conversations get bogged down in the parliamentary procedures. Still, this is a vital working of the assembly. Without pastoral oversight and Biblical discipline, the integrity and witness of the Church is severely harmed. Reviewing presbytery and session records helps to ensure that the church remains faithful to the scriptures, true to the reformed faith, and obedient to the great commission. This RPR report took quite a bit of time, but was really worth every minute of discussion.

We also heard today from Fraternal Delegates of other Reformed and Presbyterian Churches, national and international. Representatives from the Korean Presbyterian Church, the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, the Free Church of Scotland, as well as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

The committees of Covenant Theological Seminary, Geneva Benefits Group, Reformed University Fellowship, Mission to North America, Covenant College, Mission to the World, Ridge Haven, and the Standing Judicial Committee all shared their reports, and all the reports were well received, celebrating the work of God in His Church and calling the assembly to pray for these ongoing ministries.

As I said at the outset, it was a day of reports and deliberations, but most importantly a day of great encouragement. It has been 6 years since I was last able to attend General Assembly. the 2018 Assembly in Atlanta soured me on the whole event. It was divisive, tense, and overtly political. I left discouraged, and determined to focus on my own church and presbytery for a period of time.

What a joy then to return to GA this year to find an entirely different spirit among the brethren here. There have been disagreements, but have been encouraged to press in to the relationships and seek reconciliation and humility, without compromising on the principles of our faith and polity. We have met difficult situations with humor, truth, and grace. What a blessing this has been.

I am encouraged, also, in the fact that, while other national church gatherings have brought troubling news, the PCA is standing firm in the Word of God. We will vote on overtures tomorrow (Day 3), and I’ll share more about that when all is said and done, but there is much to celebrate in the Church, so let us give thanks to God for His abundant grace, and pray that God would continue to strengthen His church that the gospel may advance throughout the world.

SDG

Be Open to Correction

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I’ve never claimed to be a great student, but I have always loved learning. When I was in high school, my only goal was to have a better GPA than my brother, and once I did that, I didn’t really push myself. When I was in college I saw which students were graduating with honors, and I figured I was at least as smart as they were, so I hit that standard as well.

It wasn’t until I got to seminary in preparation for Pastoral Ministry, and when I was paying for the education myself, that I really started to apply myself. I read everything that was assigned. I joined study groups, did extra assignments, and really pushed myself to achieve the best education I could. The big difference was I wasn’t as concerned about the grade, I was passionate about the study, and that made all the difference.

What I’ve found, however, over the years since seminary, is that I don’t much remember all the things I got right in school; what really stands out is what I got wrong. Case in point: the only question I remember from my Worship final in the Worship in the Reformed Tradition class is the one I got wrong.

I studied like crazy for that final, and it paid off. I sat down, began the test, and just felt confident with every answer. Except for this one: “What is the Haggadah?” When I read that, my mind went blank. I went through the rest of the test, answering everything as best I could, the circled back to this question, “What is the Haggadah?” Still nothing. Knowing I had done everything I could on the rest of the test, and knowing no amount of head-scratching was going to help me produce an answer to this question, I quickly wrote, “My favorite brand of Ice Cream…” and turned the test in.

I don’t remember any of the other questions from that test. But I do remember the Haggadah. And now I know what it means. In Hebrew, Haggadah means, “A retelling.” It comes from Deut 6, when the children would ask their parents what God’s commands and testimonies meant and why they were important, and the Father would retell the story of their deliverance from Egypt at God’s mighty hand. This is essential in our Biblical understanding of worship, because as we worship according to God’s Word, we are retelling the story of our salvation in God.

What stuck with me from that test is the lesson I learned in my error. I walked away knowing what I didn’t know and still needed to learn. And this is the mark of a wise man, he knows what he doesn’t know.

As you go through life, don’t be afraid to admit what you don’t know, to own your own mistakes. Our most important lessons are learned in our failures. The only people who don’t fail are those who don’t try. Mistakes and failures are not flaws in the system, they are how we learn and grow. The true fool is the one who refuses to learn from error, who continues in it, and only grows bitter and resentful when facing setbacks.

This is Biblical.

Proverbs 15:32 “Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.”

Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

In fact, God honors and exalts those who humble themselves with a penitent heart.

Is 57:15  For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Ps 149:4  For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

1 Pe 5:5  Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Be humble, knowing you will make mistakes. Listen to the advice of those who have gone before you that you may avoid their errors. And when you stumble and fall, for that is guaranteed, be humble, repent, admit your error, and with a heart seeking wisdom, grow in the grace of the Lord.

SDG