Calvin Synod Herald, 2016 (117. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2016-09-01 / 9-10. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 5 Aren't We Christians Already? In my previous article, I sketched four options (possible futures) for the churches of the Calvin Synod.11 also made it clear that we must chose the forth one: “Become Christians” (as it was designated by the Conference Council on its October 21-22, 2015 meeting). I admit that it seems to be a somewhat lofty designation. Yet, it is the summarized outcome of a long meeting session. For some of us, it was actually the outcome of years of discussions, debates, and prayers. I have no place or right to go in details of the thoughts of others, but I want to share what, I believe, this title means for us as an initiative. It seems to me that our collective faith, as a religious entity, needs to be renewed. We, as a group of believers, need to revise our spiritual value-system by realizing that the value of the church is not found in itself (i.e., I'art pour I'art approach), but only in God. We need to (re)learn to value God’s presence among us. As the Scots Confession so eloquently starts: “We confess and acknowledge one even the modem Baptist movement all owe their beginnings to the people who stood against Rome in the Reformation. So, we ask, what are the doctrines that are specific to Reformed Theology? Reformed Theology is theocentric, God-centered. Thus it is focused primarily on the attributes of God, and how they affect us as believers. One attribute that Reformed Theology focuses on is God's holiness. Holiness means separate and different. God is not like any other being in the universe - He is wholly other. Another specific focus of Reformed Theology is God's sovereignty. The bible teaches that God has ordained all things that come to pass, and that He is working all things toward His ultimate glory. This includes both the salvation of His elect, and the punishment of those who remain in their sins. Though we experience things in time, God has ordained their fulfillment from eternity past. Reformed Theology sees God as He truly is - seated upon His throne as the sovereign king of the universe. God is the almighty ruler of this world. As one of the reformers taught, "not a drop of rain falls front heaven apartfrom the decree of almighty God. " God is the focus of Reformed Theology, because God is the focus of Scripture. It is the truth that only proper THEOLOGY can lead to proper DOXOLOGY. When your understanding increases, you will see more clearly the God whom you worship, and be more able to worship Him the way He demands. So, when you go to church this Reformation Sunday, I hope you will remember why you are there and what you should believe. ST God alone, to whom alone we must cleave, whom alone we must serve, whom only we must worship, and in whom alone we put our trust.” The first sentences of the Heidelberg Catechism are written in a more individualistic style, but emphasizing the same principal: “I belong—body and soul, in life and in death—not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit his purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.” But one might ask: “Aren’t we Christians already?” “Don’t we already have the Heidelberg Catechism as our beloved confession?” “Don’t we organize our church life based on the same principals already?” Well, the answer is: not necessarily. Just because we mentally agree with such statements (and even confess it in certain times), does not mean that they are the center of our church life. Thus we must ask different questions, like: “Do we clave alone to God?” Or, there are other, sometimes even more important factors that guide us? “Do we serve God alone?” Or, God is just one player in our life, to whom we give some attention sometimes? “Do we trust in God?” Or, we look for help somewhere else first, and God remains only our last resort? I think that we cannot answer these questions in a satisfactory manner. Something, somewhere went wrong, and it is high time for us to find the problems and deal with them. To be able to do so, we also need to admit that this situation is not particular to the Calvin Synod. Church membership is in decline, at least in the Global North, basically from the Enlightenment.2 Jürgen Moltmann identifies the problem as a double crisis: a crisis of relevance and a crisis of identity.3 He also recognizes that the two are complementary. So why churches still exist in our secular Western societies? From a secular point of view, churches are remnants of an old system of life. They must die out as the consequence of scientific, social, and political progress. And, at least on the Global North, they are vanishing accordingly. Many today, and in the past one hundred years, identified this problem as only the problem of relevance. They see this crisis as the problem of losing contact with the scientific, social, and political reality of the “enlightened” society. Thus the solution is to show that the church is (or could be) relevant even in this “enlightened” time. They exist for the society, and as an integral part of the society. It also means that their existence depends on their host society. Their values are based on the values of the given culture. Without going into details, I would like to point out that the so-called Liberal theology is an outcome of this approach. The agenda of this theology is to find a place (or places) where the church still can be relevant part of today’s society. They mostly find in in ethics and moralism. They ■=>
