The closing of the RPCNA mind--Part 2

Reports about the RPCNA Synod's vote to withdraw from the NAE noted that the delegates sang Ps. 133. The first verse of this psalm in metrical translation is: "Behold how good a thing it is, And how becoming well, When those that brethren are delight In unity to dwell." Since delegates to Synod can only be male, the gender-specific language here is appropriate.

One of the least attractive characteristics of many who adhere to a rigid Reformed theology is hubris. Everything is neat and tidy; all the doctrines are succinctly lined up. All the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. And they sometimes remind one of the Pharisee in Luke 18 who, with the tax collector, goes to the temple to pray, only their prayer might differ: "God, I thank you that I am not like other people: [liberal Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, Arminians, Pentecostals, etc. etc."] I grant that some would say that by withdrawing they do not imply superiority. But let's be real. The message is, "We cannot and will not associate with you because we have the truth." I guess one of my bottom line questions is, Can the RPCNA only learn anything of significance about God, faith, spirituality, about what it simply means to be human from Reformed Christians?

The rain falls on the just and the unjust, doesn't it? Knowledge comes to the just and the unjust. Insights come from the just and the unjust. Rather than hubris, I Cor. 13:12 suggests there should be epistemological humility. Miroslav Volf writes: "Consider what happens when a person becomes a Christian. Paul writes, 'So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation.' When God comes, God brings a whole new world. The Spirit of God breaks through the self-enclosed worlds we inhabit; the Spirit re-creates us and sets us toward becoming what I like to call a 'catholic personality,' a personal microcosm of the eschatological creation. A catholic personality is a personality enriched by otherness, a personality which is what it is only because multiple others have been reflected in it in a particular way."

That the RPCNA seems to be saying that 'the other' can't possibly enrich it as a denomination is very sad. But I guess I should not be surprised. Within three blocks of my RP church there was a United Methodist church and a Presbyterian church. Not once did my church initiate a project, a common service with those other two CHRISTIAN churches. I don't know if those other two churches ever tried to initate anything with us. Oh, we had joint services with the other RP church down the block; that church was safe.

How are differences to be negotiated? What differences ought to keep believers separate from each other? Because let's face it, this withdrawal results in separation, distancing. But there seems to be another move made in the early church: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3: 28) "For when one says, 'I belong to Paul,' and another, 'I belong to Apollos,' are you not merely human?" (I Cor. 3:4) Differences, groups become suspect. In light of these verses the unity of Ps. 133 seems to be much more inclusive, not exclusive.