Ultimately, our conflict is about accepting, holding to, and defending the Moral Law of God, or “The declaration of the will of God to mankind” (Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 93). When others seek to change or diminish God’s law, we must stand firm in upholding and safeguarding it.

There was a sweet, but momentary, victory at the PCA General Assembly for Confessionalitsts over against those more committed to Progressives ideas. For those unfamiliar with those terms, let me briefly explain:

• Confessionalists– believe that the Bible is best understood from a Reformed perspective (rather than a Roman Catholic, Anglican, Wesleyan, Lutheran, etc. perspective) , and the Westminster Standards are the accepted commentary. Since the the PCA . . .has no officially declared exceptions . . .The Westminster Standards are presented to the world as the complete and official statement of its doctrine. 
• Progressive Christianity is best described by Dr. Harry Reeder in this article. I would encourage you to read Dr. Reeder’s article, absorb it, and teach from it. Below is a brief outline:

Three elements that comprise the fabric of Liberal and Progressive Christianity:

Motivation – Mission – Ministries

• Motivation of Liberal & Progressive Christianity – Make no mistake as affirmed by its celebrated apologists and preachers, Progressive Christianity is “wolves clothing” in that it has the identical and dare I say in reality arrogant Motivation as Liberal Christianity—to save Christianity and the Church from cultural irrelevance.
• Mission of Liberal & Progressive Christianity– In Liberal Christianity the church is saved from “cultural irrelevance” to a new culturally approved Mission of “Cultural Transformation—human flourishing. The Evangelical Church now promises to secure “human flourishing” through “social justice” and a newly defined accommodating sexual ethic guided by a culturally sensitive informed initiative—to seek the welfare of the city. Yes, a Biblical quote, but a quote for cultural reasons taken out of Biblical context and therefore bereft of Biblical content.
• The Ministries of Liberal & Progressive Christianity– [In] Liberal Christianity . . . the historic Biblical ministries of God-centered worship, personal evangelism and intentional discipleship disappeared to be replaced by ritualism, social action, philanthropic initiatives, and psychologically defined therapy. Sound familiar? In Progressive Christianity, not only has personal evangelism with a Gospel Message that delivers men and women from both the penalty and power of sin been abandoned but also Gospel discipleship ministries that address the practice and effects of sin in the lives and relationships of men and women.

Already both sides are concerned about how to win two-thirds of the Presbyteries. But is there something more that Confessionalists need to know and do–and something that will bring them complete victory?

Yes! And it’s about strength, wisdom and dignity, and there must be a strategy to win.

Equally important is what this conflict is all about. It is not about whether we accept people who are same-sex attracted. It is not even about whether we allow these people into the ministry.

Ultimately, our conflict is about accepting, holding to, and defending the Moral Law of God, or “The declaration of the will of God to mankind” (Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 93). When others seek to change or diminish God’s law, we must stand firm in upholding and safeguarding it.

So, how do we do this using strength, wisdom, and dignity? One way is through the use of good role models.

The first good role model takes us back to 1961 to a scene in a downtown Birmingham department store:

A white saleslady spotted an exquisitely dressed black mother heading with her young daughter for fitting rooms reserved for whites only. The saleslady stepped into the path of the mother and child, took the dress from the little girl and motioned to a storage room. “She’ll have to try it on in there,” she said.

No sooner had the clerk laid down the law than the black mother upped the ante. Stepping coolly out of her caste as a “colored” woman, she addressed the clerk as the hired help she was: “My daughter will try on this dress in a dressing room, or I’m not spending my money here.”

The young girl in this scene is former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and the proper role model is her mother who was teaching her daughter a very valuable lesson that day: “how to respond to sinful actions with wisdom and dignity.” Secretary Rice also learned that she was under no obligation to spend her money at this store.

Fast forward 60 years and we are witnessing a Progressive attack on the Word of God. Those who advance the idea of a SSA or Gay Christian identity are asking God’s Word to “go to the storage room” so that they can advance their position.

At first, many PCA Confessionalists were confused by issues presented by Progressives. They knew better, and after all, they were in the PCA, and that just couldn’t be right.

But some PCA leaders accepted the Progressive’s terms, which are not biblical terms, to advance their “big tent agenda,” and they were making them seem biblical.

Finally, for PCA Confessionalists, collegiality gave way to “eyes wide open” sobriety: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” They too have learned the valuable lesson taught to Condi Rice by her mother: how to respond to sinful actions with wisdom and dignity.

Compromise is not an option; we either uphold God’s law or we ignore it and let the chips fall where they may. There are some whose goal seems to be to preserve the PCA at any price. We don’t think that can happen. The lines have been drawn. Either the Progressives will leave or the Confessionalists will leave. Or to put it another way, either the PCA will become a liberal denomination or it will remain true to the Word of God.

And there is nothing unbiblical about a godly fight. The Bible is full of them. In modern history, we have many fine examples too. Do you remember Neville Chamberlain and his “peace at any price”? Consider another good role model, Winston Churchill, and his 1938 response to the Munich Agreement:

We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude… Do not let us blind ourselves to that…Many people, no doubt, honestly believe that they are only giving away the interests of Czechoslovakia, whereas I fear we shall find that we have deeply compromised, and perhaps fatally endangered, the safety and even the independence of Great Britain and France…[T]here can never be friendship between the British democracy and the Nazi Power, that Power cannot ever be the trusted friend of the British democracy…

[O]ur loyal, brave people… should know the truth. They should know that there has been gross neglect and deficiency in our defenses; they should know that we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road; they should know that we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged, and that the terrible words have for the time being been pronounced against the Western democracies: Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. And do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the beginning of the reckoning.

Many Confessionalists will be at General Assembly in Birmingham next summer. Their proud and dignified message to Progressives must be clear: “We want a big tent, but not at the expense of breaking God’s Moral Law or sacrificing our children. We do not want these terrible words to be pronounced against Our Beloved PCA: “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.”

Confessionalists must protect the purity of the PCA and its churches and agencies. Progressives need to take a good hard look at the Word of God, get right with God, and apologize. Leaders of the PCA need to remember that no one has to “shop in their store,” and that there are consequences of “peace at any price.”

Charlie Rodriguez is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America; he lives in the Dallas area.