Unity is not just a word. It must be a reality in order to mean anything. In a Confessional church like the PCA, our unity is framed by our Confession and by our willingness to be in subjection to our brethren. If we will not set aside our personal views and preferences for the sake of unity in the body, then we are saying that our personal preferences matter more to us than the peace and purity of the church. Is it really worth it?

In the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America), we subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith with its Larger and Shorter Catechisms. Our official statement of faith is a lengthy treatise on the Christian Faith written over 350 years ago, accompanied by two sets of catechism questions to expound and clarify on the system of doctrine contained in the Confession. Thus, we are a “confessional” denomination, adhering to a Confession of Faith.

Why? What is the purpose and value of holding to a 350 year-old Confession of Faith?

I’d like to explore this question and consider how the Confession should function in the life of our denomination. We’ll consider these sub-questions:

1. If we believe that the Scriptures are the inerrant Word of God, why do we need a Confession of Faith?
2. What is the nature of true unity in a confessional church?
3. How do we handle differences and disagreements with the Confession?

The Purpose of the Confession

While we believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the very Word of God, inerrant and infallibly inspired by God throughout, we rely on the Confession to provide for us a summary of the system of doctrine taught in the Bible. We need to summarize the system of doctrine in the Bible for a couple of reasons:

1. We need to be able to answer certain questions like, “What does the Bible teach about Christ? God’s providence? the church? marriage? civil government? the fall? the nature of man? salvation?” More than just a simplified “Statement of Faith,” the Confession endeavors to summarize the Bible’s teaching in the core areas the church needs to heed generation after generation.

2. We don’t need to re-hash every doctrinal debate in every new generation. Without an established Confession, we would be subject to a re-consideration and re-deliberation on any and every topic of theology in every generation.

3. We need a document that provides the basis for teaching our system of doctrine in our churches. While our teaching must always be Biblical and we should endeavor to teach the whole counsel of God, we need a document that we can all use that summarizes our beliefs and can be taught to classes and discussed in small groups.

4. We need a document to use to evaluate ministers and officers in the church. Among those who would subscribe to the inerrancy of Scripture, we have significant disagreements on free will vs. God’s sovereignty, who should be baptized, who is qualified for church office, how we are made right before God, how the fall has affected our human nature, etc. The Confession allows us to examine and evaluate candidates for church office and the ministry against a set of established beliefs.

Of course, the Confession only helps us in these ways if we use it. Some would be tempted to say, “Who really needs to use the Confession? Can’t we all just get along? Doesn’t Christ want His church unified? Doctrinal precision such as the Confession contains just divides us, doesn’t it?” This gets to the heart of our next question: What is true unity?

True Unity in a Confessional Church

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” – John 17:20-21

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” – Philippians 2:1-2

When the Westminster Assembly met to craft the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms, their goal was unity in the church. The church was already divided by different beliefs and practices that had been brought into the church by various factions and teachers. Their goal was a Confession that would unite the church in truth based on God’s word.

But what is true unity?

I have some Roman Catholic friends who criticize Protestants because we have so many different denominations. I look at the 12 denominations in the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC) and I wonder why we aren’t more united, if we all subscribe to the same Confession.

Yet in truth the 12 denominations of NAPARC are more unified than the Roman Catholic Church. While they may have more organizational unity, the Roman Catholic Church has as much theological division in its ranks as does all of Protestantism. Within the RC Church, liberals and conservatives, evolutionists and creationists, Republicans and Democrats, traditionalists and the avant garde all co-exist in a not-so-happy and not-very-unified church.

Unity is found not in mere organizational affiliation between people of widely differing opinions but in “being of the same mind . . . in full accord.” Yes, we must love one another, but our love must be rooted in a common truth we hold and a common mind we share. The Father and the Son are One in purpose, priority, plan and performance. They are never working at cross-purposes nor do they disagree but be-grudgingly agree to “get along” nonetheless.

Now, in a church we will never all fully agree on everything. No two or three pastors ever see fully eye-to-eye on every single issue, but the Confession is a gift to the church to foster and promote unity. As we subscribe to the Confession and submit to one another our of love for Christ, we are unified. I subjugate my personal opinions for the sake of “being of the same mind” with my fathers and brothers.

As a denomination allows more and more exception to not only be held privately but also to be taught publicly, we jeopardize the Confessional unity of the church. “Good faith subscription,” as it is currently being practiced in the PCA, is a recipe for dis-unity and an ultimate division. Why? Because we are intentionally turning our backs on that which unites us together in our faith and practice.

So, how should we handle disagreements?

Handling Our Differences in Subjection to Our Brethren

No two people in the world agree on absolutely everything. Nor should we expect that every church officer who reads the Westminster Confession & Catechisms is going to agree with every phrase of the document. We all agree that the Bible alone is the inerrant Word of God and that the WCF is a human summary of the doctrines contained in the Bible. The WCF is not inerrant, is not the Word of God and does not have the authority of God to bind the conscience as Scripture does.

So how do we handle disagreements?

If a man disagrees with some aspect of the Confession and he’s preparing to be ordained to office in the church, he should express his disagreement clearly and, if possible, in writing, to the body which is ordaining him. This assumes that men preparing for ordination to office- whether they be deacons, ruling elders or teaching elders- will read and study the Confession sufficiently to understand what it teaches and to think carefully about whether they agree with that position or not. I know that’s a big assumption in many churches.

So the process of handling disagreements begins with making sure we spend more time studying and understanding the standards we all agree to uphold. I remember being in the PC(USA) years ago and watching people get ordained as deacons and elders and taking an oath to uphold a Book of Confessions they had not read. As far as I knew, they had not even cracked the cover. One Associate Pastor candidate was asked if he agreed with the Book of Confessions of the PC(USA). He dismissed it, saying “The Confessions don’t even agree with each other, so how am I supposed to agree with them all?” That is largely true in the PC(USA). Thankfully, it is not the case in the PCA, where we have just one Confession.

If, after reading and studying, disagreements arise, a candidate should register his disagreements and they should be evaluated by the ordaining body. If they are fundamentally out of accord with the system of doctrine contained in the Confession because they are “hostile to the system” or they “strike at the vitals” of our faith, then the candidate should be disallowed for office. (Personally, I would place paedocommunion in this category, as it is usually a symptom of a deeper sacramentalism, something which is hostile to the Gospel as expressed in the WCF. Paedocommunion is almost invariable based on a non-WCF undertanding of the nature of grace and faith in salvation and the function of the sacraments in the life of the church.)

If the disagreement is considered minor and not fundamental and vital in nature, the man may privately hold his view, but he must agree not to teach it publicly. This is the rub! The problems we have in the PCA, and which the OPC has also had, almost all arise from men who have been ordained to office and who mistook an “allowable exception” as permission to teach their exceptional view.

One of the most critical vows men take at ordination is the vow to “promise subjection to your brethren in the Lord.” Once a man has agreed to “sincerely receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of this Church” and has “promised subjection,” I believe the clear inference is that he should not teach any view which is out of accord with anything in the WCF, whether he personally agrees with it or not.

Unity does not come cheaply. Christ died to make His people one. We stand united as a particular Church only as we agree to teach the same things.

Consider these examples:

1. If one PCA church has woman deacons and a woman deacon from that church transfers her membership to another church and finds she is not permitted to serve in that capacity in her new church, that causes confusion and disunion.
2. If a 3 year-old child is admitted to the Lord’s Table at one church and then is barred from the table at another, then our union in communion is violated.
3. If I go to a PCA church that observed the Lord’s Supper using intinction, I will not partake because I regard that method as un-Biblical. They have, de facto, barred me from the table by practicing something of out accord with our standards.

Unity is not just a word. It must be a reality in order to mean anything. In a Confessional church like the PCA, our unity is framed by our Confession and by our willingness to be in subjection to our brethren. If we will not set aside our personal views and preferences for the sake of unity in the body, then we are saying that our personal preferences matter more to us than the peace and purity of the church. Is it really worth it?

Jason A. Van Bemmel is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Pastor of Faith PCA in Cheraw, S.C. This article appeared on his blog Ponderings of a Pilgrim Pastor and is used with permission.