Faith Roundtables Rationale
Simon Dean
Why did Jesus die? One person might give the reason that he was God's appointed sacrifice. Another might point out that Israel's religious leaders hated him and persuaded the Romans to crucify him. Two completely different answers; with nothing in common; no overlap. But clearly both answers are scripturally correct, capturing different perspectives.
What do we find when our question is a moral one: What should I doin this situation’ when Scripture doesn't deal with the specific circumstances I’m facing? As with our question about Jesus’ death, we often find there is more than one answer.
Sometimes divergent answers don’t sit easily with each other. We know this from experience. Take the matter of how we treat divorced brothers and sisters in our community who wish to remain part of it. Some have found God's statement that He hates putting away (Malachi 2:6) and Jesus’ comment that what God has joined together let no one separate (Mark 10:9) provide the relevant principles. And they conclude that exclusion of divorcees from the assembly of God, however sad for all concerned, is the only way to uphold those truths. Others, still wishing to honor the Lord's clear teaching about marriage, plead the weakness of human nature, picking up on Jesus’ predisposition to show compassion to those who had broken God's commands (e.g. the woman caught in adultery and Zacchaeus). Not wanting to make the same kind of mistake as Diotrophes who is condemned for refusing to welcome certain brothers and stopping those who want to (3 John 10), they permit divorcees to be in fellowship.
These responses to the divorce issue have been reached by working within the guardrails of scripture. Both are rooted in biblical teaching, but they are different. The discussion of the merits of these perspectives continues amongst us. The hope is that with prayer, ongoing dialog and further study, we can achieve greater unity of mind. But until then, we do not let these differences divide us.
The need for open discussion of challenging issues is surely even more urgent in the complex cultural moment we find ourselves. In the West, our congregations are shrinking. We try to bring new disciples through the front door of our churches. But what are we doing to close the back door? Some leave because they are exhausted by division and what they see as hypocrisy. Some can't find anyone who understands their concerns or is willing to listen to their questions.
Tragically, the younger generation is leading the exodus.
The post-baby boomer generations apprehend truth by sharing and exploring ideas. They are less willing to accept the answers passed down from previous generations.
If we embrace open conversations and discussions as valuable and important, we can create an environment where our younger people feel included.
There may be concerns that discussion promotes wrong ideas and is therefore dangerous. We ease these worries by ensuring the answers we give to tough questions are in accordance with Bible teaching.
In the new WCF Faith Roundtables, we want to give young people a chance to speak. They can talk openly about how they see tough moral issues using guidance from the Bible and share their struggles in making the right choices.
In our Israel-Gaza Roundtable, for instance, everyone could agree that the future is in God's control and His rule will prevail, not only in the Middle East but the whole world. All openly shared their horror at the suffering perpetrated by both sides. Some focused on the suffering, believing God would be appalled at the deaths of women and children. Others, equally heartbroken at the suffering, looked at the events through the prism of prophecy. What was fascinating was how they all sought to align their feelings about what they saw with what they knew from Scripture.
The discussion in the Roundtable on voting was respectful and thoughtful. We heard the No Voting view ably explained: we owe allegiance to an heavenly kingdom. We should be preaching about that kingdom rather than voting for change in the government of the country in which we are only foreigners and strangers. Others stressed the two-fold mission of Jesus, who preached the kingdom and brought temporary relief to the poor and sick (Matthew 11:4-5). They saw voting as one way in which modern-day exiles in Babylon can obey God's command to seek the good of those around them and the nation as a whole (Jeremiah 29:7). Again, we heard differing views from participants who shared the same reverence for scripture.
These Roundtables send a message to our young people. We want to hear what you have to say. You can discuss. Openly. You can express how you see the challenging issues of life in the light of the teaching of scripture.
Our young people will continue to leave if all they see is a fearful community, closing down discussion and leaving them feeling unvalued. We hope these Roundtables encourage those who are uncomfortable with discussion to let younger brothers and sisters know our Community is open to it. We hope these Roundtables encourage younger brothers and sisters to know we hear them and value them.We hope that all will respectfully collaborate to discover scriptural answers to tough questions. Let’s stem the tide and close the door.