So where does this leave us all? In a confused mess. I do not think that it is sinful to stay in the Church of Scotland. However it is sinful to stay, talk of reformation and renewal and yet not fight for it. We must not hide behind pietism, truisms, or a distorted view of history. We really do have to get ‘stuck in’ – not in the sense of co-operate with, but rather take on, those within the Kirk who go against the Gospel. If not then the danger is that, instead of fighting those within the Kirk who oppose the Gospel, this new organisation is really going to be used to fight fellow evangelicals who are perceived as schismatics.

“Nor shall I be afraid in giving my opinion, in which I shall more desire to be examined by the upright, that fear to be carped at by the perverse. For charity, most excellent and unassuming, gratefully accepts the dovelike eye; but for the dog’s tooth nothing remains, save either to shun it by the most cautious humility, or to blunt it by the most solid truth; and far rather would I be censured by anyone whatsoever, than be praised by either the erring or the flatterer. For the lover of truth need fear no one’s censure. For he that censures must be either enemy or friend. And if an enemy reviles, he must be borne with, but a friend, if he errs, must be taught; if he teaches, listened to. But if one who errs praises you, he confirms your error; if one who flatters, he seduces you into error. ‘Let the righteous’, therefore, ‘smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me; but the oil of the sinner shall not anoint my head”.
(Augustine –On the Trinity. Book 2. Preface).

I read this apposite quote this morning just before sitting down to write. There is a time to be silent, and I was kind of hoping that time had arrived. But after listening to four talks over the past few days and preaching God’s Word on Sunday evening, I feel obliged to put into practice what I preached. I hope that people will forgive me if I say anything that hurts, and I hope God will forgive me if I say anything wrong. I think my desire is simply to see the Gospel flourish in Scotland, but God alone knows my heart. Anyway to the matter in hand.

Everyone has a strategy. A mission statement. A plan. But it is surely Gods plan we should be concerned with discerning – “Many are the plans in a man’s heart but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” Proverbs 19:21. This article is written in the conviction that God is shaking up the whole church in Scotland today, and that we need to listen to what he is saying. It is also written with the belief that Christ is the head of the Church and that we need to listen to, obey and follow him.

The saga continues. After the extraordinary decision of the Church of Scotland Assembly, the dust has still not settled. Several congregations have announced their intention to leave, some ministers have already left and there have been individual members and elders who have had enough. From a personal perspective the church we work closest with, Logie and St Johns Cross, have publicly announced that they are leaving; St Peters has had visitors each Sunday since the Assembly from a C of S background, and I have spoken to several elders who either have resigned or are in the process of resigning. I doubt that Dundee is very different from the rest of the country.

In order to counter this, some 350 evangelicals (ministers, elders and members) gathered in Perth in mid-June and issued a statement encouraging fellow evangelicals to remain within the Church of Scotland, representing over 100 of the 900 (or 1400 depending on whose press release you believe) congregations in the Kirk. It is for many a confusing picture. But this latter gathering provides us with an insight into the state of evangelicalism within the Church of Scotland today and so it may prove useful to examine what was said. Perhaps some might think that having the Crieff Fellowship and Forward Together plus a number of other evangelical groupings, the last thing that is needed is yet another evangelical group. But this one is clearly different. It is far broader than the other groups and deliberately seems to have a very limited agenda. On the one hand there is the motherhood and apple pie truism of ‘working for reformation and renewal’ within the Church. On the other the more specific agenda seems to be to counter the tide of congregations and individuals leaving the denomination. Thus the appeal was made to be as broad as possible. The three speakers at the Perth meeting included a representative of charismatic evangelicals, another from the more broadly evangelical, and another from the more Reformed evangelical. Their talks were fascinating and worth reflecting on. You can hear them here –http://www.thesteeplechurch.co.uk/church-of-scotland-evangelicals/

I was most impressed by the charismatic representative, Kenny Borthwick, who preached from John chapter 7. He spoke with clarity, humility and a sense of real spiritual devotion and commitment to evangelism. He pointed out that God would say, “the only trajectory that matters is my trajectory”. Therefore we need to listen to what the Father says, and determine what His timing is. We need to repent of our divisions and seize the window of opportunity that God has for us today. Kenny questioned why he should let the agenda for his congregation be determined by a vote for immorality, or even by other evangelicals. That was his weakest point – because Kenny is not minister of an independent church. His congregation belongs to a Presbyterian church, which does give oversight of doctrine, discipline and government of the church, and to which he has sworn obedience. To that extent by agreeing to remain within that denomination, then the agendais being set by the votes of the Assembly. That is the price of Presbyterianism. The question is when does that price become too much?

I was particularly impressed by his desire that we should go for the bigger visions wanting to see salvation out of every tribe, people and language. Kenny talked about evangelicals getting their ‘tic’ back, so that they became evangelistic rather than just being a dwindling evangelical constituency within a dying church. He suggested that just setting up an alternative evangelical synod without being evangelistic would just be another form of slow lingering death, the only difference being that we would be surrounded by friends! Personally I thought it was a brave and visionary statement – with a wonderful emphasis on listening to God and evangelism. However I would like to suggest that although his vision was big, brave and sincere, it seemed to me to be a little naïve and a little out of step with the smaller vision that seemed to be at the heart of the new grouping – which seems to have moved from an evangelicalism which is trans-denominational to one that is quite narrowly denominationally specific. As the other two speakers evidenced.

First up was Andy McGowan, who preached a shortened version of a talk he had given earlier in this crisis. Andy gave seven reasons for staying. I mention each one – with some comments afterwards.

1. Nothing has changed and so it would be premature to leave at this point. Every time there is a vote this is what we are told. Nothing has changed. It will all be reversed. The fact is that the General Assembly when presented with a choice of following the Word of God (which Andy and others had so ably presented) or going against it, chose the latter. Everything has changed. This was not just an aberration of some liberal theologians stretching the meaning of the Acts Declaratory to Alice-in- Wonderland proportions. This was the final decision making body of the Church choosing deliberately to go against the Word of God. Now Andy is technically correct in pointing out that we have to go through the whole process again in 2014 and then in 2015. But no one seriously expects the ‘trajectory’ to be reversed. It is at best myopic and at worst playing with words to say that ‘nothing’ has changed. A more honest interpretation would be to say that technically nothing has changed but that we should expect the change to be complete by 2015 and prepare for that. It is analogous to the same sex marriage bill going through parliament just now. Parliament has voted for it, although it is not yet law because of all the procedures that have to be gone through – but it will be.

2. God and the nation. There is nothing in the bible about denominations. The Bible talks about nations. Neglected the place of Gods corporate dealing with nations. Establishment principle remains vital for our self-understanding. Scotland as a covenanted nation under God with one true Kirk. The Church of Scotland provides pastoral care, worship, and bible study in every corner of the land. If you want to reach the whole country the C of S is the only game in town. The kirk is the mother kirk of the whole Presbyterian Church in the world. I have heard this several times and every time I hear it I am still stunned by it. The notion that God converts nations or that the New Testament intended to set up national churches, specific to each country, is just an extreme example of eisegesis (reading into the text) rather than exegesis (reading out of the text) that one would be surprised at any Christian making it. I think the bottom line is that we find no mention of this at all in the New Testament and indeed we find the opposite. The Church of Jesus Christ is not divided into national churches but is instead one indivisible body, of which local congregations are a part.

The second massive error here is to consider that the Establishment Principle has any relevance at all in a secular Scotland. I hold to the Establishment Principle, but it just does not apply in a secular state where only 2% of the population attend the ‘national church’. Scotland has long ceased to be a national covenanted nation in which there is only One True Kirk.

From irrelevance we move into the realm of fantasy. The Church of Scotland does not provide pastoral care, worship, and bible study in every corner of the land – at least not in any meaningful Christian sense. Robert Murray McCheyne wrote this of the Church of Scotland in his day – “It is confessed that many of our ministers do not preach the gospel –alas! Because they know it not. Yet they have complete control over their pulpits, and may never suffer the truth to be heard there during their whole incumbency. And yet our church consigns these parishes to their tender mercies for perhaps fifty years without a sigh! Should not certain men be ordained as evangelists, with full power to preach in every pulpit of their district – faithful, judicious, lively preachers, who may go from parish to parish, and thus carry life into many a dead corner?” If McCheyne could write that in a pre-Disruption Scotland where the vast majority of the population attended the National Church, how much more is it true today when only a tiny percentage do? When the Church has voted to allow those in sexually immoral relationships to teach ‘the Word of God’ is that not negating the provision of gospel ministry to every area of Scotland?

To claim that the Church of Scotland is the ‘only game in town’ for reaching the nation is a fatal combination of wishful thinking and arrogance. Sometimes this arrogance can have real damaging effects for the Gospel. And not just in the fact that evangelicals often leave souls at the mercy of those who would deny the basics of the Gospel but also in how the Church of Scotland seems to think that if it is not spreading the Gospel then no one else can. Take for example St Andrews where the Free Church and the Baptists are both experiencing growth and development. When the Free Church started there I was told by the then minister of Martyrs Church that we were the future, and that she expected her church to close. Her prophecy came true. When Martyrs church was put up for sale, rather than sell (or heaven forbid, give) it to the Free Church or the Baptists, it was sold for as much money as possible to the University for a library. It seems as though the charitable purposes of the Church are making money rather than advancing the Gospel, unless it is assumed that only the Church of Scotland can advance the Gospel?! It has been suggested that the Trustees of the Church of Scotland are limited by the Charities body, OSCAR, so that they have to sell their buildings to the highest bidder. As someone involved in several charities I know that is not true. They could give the buildings away as long as they were fulfilling the stated charitable purposes of the church – to spread the gospel. And this is where we see the danger of the delusion that the Church of Scotland is the only game in town. Because at this point the Acts Declaratory are usually referred to, in particular that the Church of Scotland is duty bound by law to provide the ordinances of religion in every parish. So you can have the situation where the vast majority of a congregation decide to leave, but the Church of Scotland refuses to sell or hire them the building because a handful of people who could not possibly do anything other than maintain the shell, are considered to be fulfilling this legal ‘mandate’. It is a charade, and a damaging one for the Gospel. And if evangelicals believe that the gospel of the Kingdom is more important than the denomination we must not go along with it.

Speaking of arrogance I think our brothers and sisters in other Presbyterian churches will be delighted to know that they are mostly in sin because they do not follow the example of their ‘mother’ Kirk and have national state churches!

3. The Reformed doctrine of the church. There is no such thing as a pure church. Calvin’s church was a 1000 times worse than the state of the Church of Scotland! The church is a covenanted community. We should not pick and choose our denominations. I am really curious as to why Dr McGowan thinks that Calvin’s church was 1000 times worse than the Church of Scotland. Were there ministers in it who denied the Trinity (remember the recent vote of Glasgow presbytery where only by a vote of 83-80 did the Presbytery affirm that the Trinity was at the heart of Christianity)? Or the resurrection? Did the Church in Geneva ever declare that ministers in sexually immoral relationships could continue as ministers? Andy’s views are so extreme that it means he must regard the rest of us as being sinners who have broken away from the covenanted community. Of course the logic of his position is that not only those who leave the Church of Scotland now are wrong, but also those who took part in the Disruption, and ultimately even the Reformation was wrong. No one should leave Mother church.

4. The Sovereignty of God. There are those who claim to be Calvinists but deny that God can change things. He is able to do whatever pleases him. The whole of the Soviet Empire fell in 12 months; the C of S is not such a big task. This is a classic example of putting two and two together and making five. Of course God is sovereign. And I doubt there are any people who deny that God can change things in the Church of Scotland (although given that Andy has told us that nothing has changed in this covenanted national church, one has to ask why should he?). God is able to do whatever pleases him. God can please my preaching if I don’t prepare. He can overrule my laziness, sin, arrogance etc. He can. But will he? And should I presume that he will do so and acting on that presumption, continue in my sin? God can bless the preaching of those who don’t bother going to study theology, but does that mean we should close down HTC?! The comparison between the Soviet Union and the Church is an interesting one – some would suggest that reforming the Soviet Union is easier! The bottom line is that using the sovereign power of God as a justification for inaction or an excuse for sin is not Calvinism.

5. The providence of God. God has been doing a remarkable work in the C of S over many years and I see no reason why he would stop now. If the present crisis had not divided us we would have been on our way to a majority. It takes that bit longer for everyone who leaves. This is again both fantastical and dangerous talk. Is it really the case that if the handful of congregations had not left then there would have been a majority of evangelicals at the Assembly? Even if that were true there is no guarantee that a biblical position would have been voted for. It was after all an evangelical who proposed the motion that congregations should be allowed to call ministers in same sex partnerships – and many evangelicals have lauded this as a brilliant compromise that brings peace. Peter Neilson in a passionate, articulate and confused sermon after the Assembly declared that things were handled well. He stated, “the church retains its stand but not in a hard judgemental way but with what we might call a generous orthodoxy – this is a complicated matter – not black and white.” It is interesting that none of the speakers mentioned the illogicality or wrongness of the Assemblies decision or made any kind of call for repentance of those evangelicals who voted for this. There was talk of those evangelicals guilty of the sin of schism, but not of any other sin. This does not bode well for whatever is meant by reformation and renewal. I also really question this ‘remarkable’ work that God has been doing in the C of S over the years which Andy believes will just continue. Whilst there have been some great congregations and some wonderful faithful ministries, the overall picture is not quite so bright. Yes – the change from the late 1940’s where outside the Highlands there were very few evangelical ministers, to the 1970’s was remarkable. But that has not been a steady trajectory and although the number of evangelical ministries (in the broadest sense) is now about 400 (out of 1200) that is not the whole story. One leading C of S evangelical told me that he thought only 100 ministers would be accepted in the PCA (hardly a hyper strict Presbyterian church) and that the big mistake they had made was to equate evangelical ministries with evangelical congregations. The C of S is losing 15,000 members per year. Last year only around 1300 people became new members in the Church – and we have no idea how many of them are believers. This is not the picture of a church in which a remarkable work is occurring. It is the picture of a church under the judgement of God, albeit one in which he still has the 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

6. The sin of schism – We are not in that extreme situation today. We must be careful in the language that we use and the situation in which we find ourselves. “Those who are calling our people to leave and join them on the grounds that they are a pure church need to reread their bibles’! The Church of Scotland is recoverable. Those of us who are true to our orthodox reformed heritage should not walk away from the Church of Scotland. This was even more disturbing than the other points. Why? Firstly it is a dishonest straw man argument. I challenge Andy to let us know of anyone who is calling on C of S evangelicals to join them because they are a ‘pure church’. I suspect he had in mind the Free Church. But I know of no one in the Free Church who thinks we are a pure church. We do actually read our bibles and we all subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith (without Acts Declaratory or crossed fingers!) which tells us that no church is without error. I think to accuse Willie Philip, Robin Sydserff, Peter Dickson, Pete Humphries, James Torrens, and Dominic Smart etc. of being guilty of schism is one of the most destructive and divisive things I have heard. Evangelicalism used to be across denominational barriers, but it seems as though Dr McGowan wants to take us back to the bad old days of a uniformitarian and authoritarian view of the Church. Whether one belongs to the Church of Scotland seems to matter more than whether one belongs to the Church of Christ.

7. The lessons of history – disruptions rarely achieve anything. Four ministers in one place – do we want to make it five? We need to be liberated for mission. The C of S are like Israel – God kept his covenant promises. You don’t leave the family when the family gets into trouble…This is a very skewed view of history. One could just as easily argue that staying in corrupted state churches rarely achieves anything. It would be interesting to hear of one example of a corrupt state church that has actually been turned around by evangelicals staying in. In terms of Scotland the Disruption actually achieved a great deal of good. Admittedly not for the national church – but it certainly did for the Gospel and the Kingdom. The evangelisation of Scotland in the latter half of the 19th Century was quite extraordinary. And the missionary impact on many countries in the world was equally extraordinary. I also think Andy is somewhat out of date with his four ministers in one village scenario. That disgrace is largely part of a bygone era. Most churches can’t afford that. The real problem is the vast number of places without any clear, vibrant gospel ministry. Perhaps if evangelicals actually did get together and act together we might be able to do something about that. This is not going to happen when a significant number believe that the Church of Scotland is the only game in town. I suspect though that where Andy is right is that in some instances we will end up with yet another denomination, rather than more gospel unity.

I agree you don’t leave the family when you get into trouble…but you need to ask who the family are! The Mafia? (I have visions of those who leave ‘the family’ finding donkeys heads in their pulpits! The Godfather certainly gives a whole new slant to the concept of the Fatherhood of God!) Or the family of God? I personally regard all believers of whatever denomination, as being part of the family of God, even if they don’t have the sense to go to the church I belong to! When someone leaves the Free Church to go to another biblical Church I don’t think they have left the family. And this may be breaking news for some – but neither the Free Church nor the Church of Scotland is Israel. I do however agree that we need to be liberated for mission. We need new wine. Was there not someone who taught about new wine in old wineskins….! They don’t go. Perhaps the new wine of the Gospel will be better served in new wineskins?

After these seven points, which as you will have gathered, I found to be almost totally unconvincing, Andy suggested that evangelicals should have another look at the structure of the Church if the current ‘trajectory continues. His suggestion of a measure of ‘separation’ after 2015, involving not separation from the Church but from the prevailing party in the Church, by means of a dual synod was interesting, but unlikely to be allowed or work. I was unconvinced by his argument that sexual immorality was an insufficient reason to separate, not least because no one who has left has given that as the reason. It is the attitude to the Word of God that is the key issue. Which is why I welcome his remark that if the Church of Scotland denies the uniqueness of Christ then that would be the time to leave. Although again this was more than a little surprising. Those who advocate same sex partnerships in general do deny the uniqueness of Christ. Life and Work has carried articles by ministers who deny the uniqueness of Christ. The Assembly last year refused to discuss the issues of a Church of Scotland being used for Hindu worship. But I welcome wholeheartedly Andy’s commitment to leave the Church of Scotland if it does continue its trajectory and end up even more explicitly denying the uniqueness of Christ.

In some ways I found Colin Sinclair’s talk the most disturbing of all. Colin is a fine servant of Christ whose warm and gracious manner in teaching the Word of God has been a blessing to many. Which is precisely what made his talk so disturbing. He cited George Philip stating ‘when God gives up on the Church of Scotland we will leave’. He declared that God was not worried about His reputation. God had called him to the Church of Scotland and until that call was lifted he would remain. This was all hopelessly subjective. How do we know when ‘God has given up’? How do we know that the call is lifted? Do we really have that direct access to God telling us our every move? Much of the argument here reminded me of the people of Israel in Jeremiah’s day who too said they would not leave, because they believed that God would not judge them and destroy Jerusalem. It is very easy for us to reassure ourselves, stay where we are and claim the sovereignty and call of God as our justifications. And to declare that God is not interested in his own reputation is to go against all of Scripture – God really does care that we hallow his name and honour him. God is jealous for his honour.

But then Colin got quite specific and urged a new form of evangelicalism. At least it is one that I have not heard explicitly stated before in public, although I have seen it in practice. We are to work for the peace and unity of the Church. Commitment begins only at the point of disagreement. Staying in the Church of Scotland is not enough you have to get stuck in or you will be a negative influence. Evangelicals must not be the elephant in the corner. We have been concealed Congregationalists and must be more committed to what the Church of Scotland is doing. There are more senior people from councils and committees in the gathering that afternoon (identifying as evangelicals) than had ever been before. We should not write off 121. We are Presbyterians not Congregationalists. We must get involved. My son is going to New College and my God is big enough to look after him.

It is hard to know where to begin here. Again the idea of the majesty and bigness of God being used to excuse foolishness, is foolish. My son is going to study theology and I would plead with him NOT to go to New College, not if he wants to be trained in the Word and for Christian ministry. Why do evangelicals think we are immune from the poison of false theology? Of course there are in the theological faculties of Scotland’s universities, including in New College, good men and women who teach the Word of God and train others to do so. A couple have even preached in the St Peters pulpit! But one wonders what Colin would say to Dr McGowan, the founder of HTC. Why bother starting another theological college if the ones that exist are already adequate and fine for training? My God is big enough that if I drink poison he can prevent any harm. Does that mean I should drink poison? Mind you there is more scriptural warrant for drinking poison than there is for sending the lambs out to be taught by the wolves!

What was new here for me though was this explicit commitment to working for, rather than in, the Church of Scotland. This raises an enormous problem. And it does bring out the elephant in the room. What is the church? Who do we regard as belonging to the church? Are those who say that the resurrection did not happen, or the Bible is not the Word of God, or the Trinity is not essential to the Christian faith, our ‘brothers and sisters in Christ’? Are we bound to work together with them, rather than against them as false teachers? I noticed that the liberal OneKirk group were largely very welcoming of this new evangelical grouping – not seeing it as a threat to their position but rather an ally. One comment expressed it clearly “What struck me very strongly today as I worshipped in Letham St. Marks this morning (a conservative evangelical church) as a visiting minister from St. Matthew’s (a more progressive, liberal evangelical church in the same town) was that in so many, many, many ways we are exactly the same and would do well to speak well of each other and do even better to work well with each other. I dream of such a day and I hope others will join me in praying for that day.”. Take heed to Augustine’s warning – But if one who errs praises you, he confirms your error. When fellow evangelicals who actually believe the Bible are condemned as schismatics and you end up being praised by those who do not, then something has gone far wrong. C of S evangelicals are at a crossroads. Which is going to be more important – working with fellow evangelicals in the Gospel (whatever the denomination) or putting the denomination first? The message of the new Church of Scotland Evangelical Network seems to be the Church of Scotland Alpha and Omega. It is denominationalism at its most destructive.

Colin Sinclair told the oft-cited story of Martin Luther’s wife, Katie, coming down dressed in mourning clothes. What is wrong with you? God has died. What do you mean woman? Well if he has not died why are you so miserable? Colin asked – has God died? That of course is a nice story but the wrong question. The real question is, does God need the Church of Scotland for his name to be honoured in this land? No. He does not. Nor for that matter does he need the Free Church, Baptists, IPC, APC, or any of the other denominations. But in his grace and mercy he has given us His Church. As his people we must stand together, even if we are in separate denominations. Even if the Church of Scotland is dying.

Just after I finished listening to the three talks from the Church of Scotland Evangelical Network, I returned to Peter Neilson’s sermon. In it he summarised the position of the new evangelicals…“We have moved the debate from the power struggles of truth to some understanding of how we operate in grace to allow other people to find their way”. Once you untangle the nice sounding jargon that is a poisonous message. Of course people don’t want to be involved in power struggles and would prefer to ‘operate in grace’. But it is a false dichotomy. Truth and grace are not opposed. Jesus is full of grace and truth. Truth does not necessarily mean power struggles.

I would suggest however that the move away from truth as the criteria by which we base our judgements leads precisely to the type of power struggles that Peter wants to avoid. Indeed this new network is primarily about power struggles – trying to maintain the position of evangelicals within the C of S. Those who have been offered a seat at the table on the understanding that they will deliver the evangelical constituency are terrified that they are going to lose their position in the pond (forgive the mixed metaphors). If you want to see power struggles then Albert Bogle’s motion and speech at the General Assembly was a classic example. It was a clearly political power play. This was no last minute deal. Anyone who has been involved in politics knows how this works. You meet with your alleged opponent (and the supposedly neutral ‘officials’). He presents an extreme motion on one side, you come up with your compromise, he withdraws and everyone rejoices at the consensus and the ‘middle ground’. I was really puzzled why, given the incompetence of Albert’s motion, the clerk and moderator did not rule it out of order, but I suspect it was because they were in on the whole deal. In fact the spin coming from the C of S establishment afterwards made it abundantly clear that this was their angle all along. So why the politics? The whole intention was to keep evangelicals on board (who after all is going to pay for the church?). They were played in a somewhat clumsy way and they fell for it. How else do you explain evangelicals voting for a motion that allowed ministers to be in same sex partnerships? When both Stonewall and the Equality Network praise evangelicals then Augustine’s warning again applies.

So where does this leave us all? In a confused mess. I do not think that it is sinful to stay in the Church of Scotland. However it is sinful to stay, talk of reformation and renewal and yet not fight for it. We must not hide behind pietism, truisms, or a distorted view of history. We really do have to get ‘stuck in’ – not in the sense of co-operate with, but rather take on, those within the Kirk who go against the Gospel. If not then the danger is that, instead of fighting those within the Kirk who oppose the Gospel, this new organisation is really going to be used to fight fellow evangelicals who are perceived as schismatics. Those who have left or will leave should be regarded as brothers not enemies, traitors or apostates. Just as those of us who cannot in all conscience join the Church of Scotland should not regard all within it as enemies, traitors and apostates. If evangelical unity is to mean anything then it must transcend denominational boundaries. My fear is that the new evangelical network, whilst paying lip service to the idea of gospel unity across denominations, is in practice about putting the denomination first.

I realise that there are those evangelicals who will throw up their hands in horror, talk in public about my lack of grace and demonise in private (I still have the bruises from my brethren after my earlier attempt to defend the Tron – doubtless the twelve anonymous evangelicals who sent me that letter ‘in love’ will be rejoicing in the new network!). But we do need to wake up to what is happening, be more realistic and grow up. Church politics is not the answer. Yet another evangelical network is not the answer. Yet another denomination in Scotland is not the answer. Everyone joining the Free Church is not the answer.

1. Open our eyes – We must look with wider eyes at what God is doing in Scotland. Whilst we are secularising faster than any nation in history, the work of the Lord is on going. Whether it is through the work of Baptists like Paul Rees in Charlotte Chapel, church planting in urban housing schemes like Mez McConnell, the wonderful work of the Trussel Trust led by Euan Gurr, Bethany Christian Trust, Banchory Evangelical Church, Smithton Free Church, Kilmallie Free Church, St Catherine’s Argyll C of S, St Columba’s Free Church, Solas CPC, the Cornhill Trust and the Tron….and many others from a wide variety of denominations (including the Church of Scotland) there is a work of God going on. I am very encouraged by the return of leaders like Dr John Nicholls from London City Mission and Dr Sinclair Ferguson to our land. I am also intrigued at the number of young men that God is raising up. Surely this is for a purpose that includes greater blessing? I note that very few of these young men currently in training are training for the ministry of the Church of Scotland. They will all be looking for places to serve. Is it not time for us to recognise that God is doing a new thing and for us all to work together in church planting, church revitalisation and church based evangelism?

2. Preach the Word – I have noticed that one thing some of the more extreme charismatics and the liberals have in common is that they both claim to be able to hear Gods new Word to the churches today. Of course I believe that God speaks to us through providence and circumstances and through nature. And personally I don’t doubt that He can use visions, dreams etc. He is after all God. But his special revelation is His Word. So why do we neglect it? Why do we ask, what is God saying and then ignore what He is saying? I think Peter Neilson’s sermon was a classic example of that. He gave an overall summary of Romans to show how we are to ’accept one another’. But in the context it was so filtered as to be ludicrous. It really does depend who the ‘one another’ are. Does anyone really think that Paul was suggesting that those who approve of and encourage homosexual practice should be accepted as part of the Church? Romans 1 is part of Romans and without a great deal of special pleading and twisting it is impossible to read Romans as saying to the Church of Scotland today that it should just ignore or approve of those who want to be ministers of the Word, whilst living in defiance of that Word. If evangelicals really believed that the Bible is the Word of God (rather than just ‘contained’ it), we would preach it with all our hearts and minds as if it were God speaking freshly to us today. Because it is God speaking freshly to us today. Every time we try to add to, or take away from, the Word of God we are diminishing it. We are suggesting that God got it wrong, or more likely that the early Church got it wrong and the Holy Spirit is now speaking more clearly to us today. We need to repent of this and let Scotland flourish by the preaching of the Word.

3.  Pray for the New Wine – As I finished listening to the Andy’s talk on my iPhone, the next song up was ‘In Christ Alone’. My hope is not in the Free Church, or the Church of Scotland, or my own understanding and wisdom. It has to be in Christ alone. I share Kenny Borthwick’s passion for reaching out to the lost. If he can do that most effectively within the Church of Scotland I rejoice and pray that he and others like him will prosper and flourish as we work together for the Gospel. My concern is that the Church of Scotland will increasingly become chains around that mission rather than enabling the freedom of gospel ministry through and in gospel churches. I also share his concern about Gods trajectory. To me it is away from the concept of a national State church with all the trappings of civic religion in a secular society and towards a renewed New Testament style church in a post-Christian paganised culture. These are days of great threats and great opportunities. I think we have a window of opportunity in Scotland for the Gospel and for a renewed church. Its time for the new wine. And the new (or renewed) wineskins.

Rev. David Robertson is director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity and minister of St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee. Follow the latest updates from Solas on Twitter @solascpc or visit their website here.