Thursday, February 22, 2007

Separation and Excommunication


The Anglican church is undergoing a new round of upheavals. Many people would not be too surprised at the newest developments. The Anglican church was founded, after all, as a means for King Henry VIII to get a divorce. But despite its dubious beginnings, the Anglican church has always had its share of orthodox believers who have struggled to remain true to the Christian faith. Names that come to mind would include J.C. Ryle, J.I Packer, N.T. Wright, etc.

But as I say, the Episcopal Church (TEC) is now going through a particularly bad struggle, largely because of two recent developments. First, the ordination in 2003 of a non-celibate gay bishop by the name of Gene Robinson. And second, the election in 2006 of Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first female Presiding Bishop of the USA.

In all fairness, non-celibate gay priests have been ordained in the TEC for years with little or no fuss. And the Anglican church has always had an abundance of unconverted clergy who believed little or nothing of the Christian faith, such as Ms. Schori. But the election of both a gay bishop and unconverted presiding bishop was the last straw for orthodox Anglicans in the Episcopal Church. After years of holding out, it seems their hope has finally turned to despair. Until now many orthodox Anglicans have been content to stay within an increasingly apostate denomination, hoping for some kind of renewal or reformation to take place. But since the events of 2003 and 2006, more and more congregations have been leaving the TEC and aligning themselves with orthodox bishops in the global south, primarily from Africa and South America. And yet although many Anglicans have left, many more are choosing to stay. My questions is, why? How can anyone possibly stay associated with the TEC given all that has come to pass?

Orthodox Anglicans pride themselves on adhering to Scripture where the heterdox do not. Their insistence on the sinfulness of homosexual acts is one example of being faithful to Scripture. But that is not the only subejct that Scripture speaks to. The Bible is also very clear on the steps that need to be taken when gross immorality infects the church. Essentially there are three steps.

First, (a) the erring brother or sister must be approached three times, confronted with their sins, and asked to repent (Matthew 18:15-20). If the person repents and amends their ways, then all is well.

If they do not repent then one of two things must happen.

Either, (b) the person must be excommunicated or banned from the church and treated as an unbeliever (Matthew 18:17; 1 Corinthians 5) or failing that, then (c) the faithful believer must separate themselves from the false teachers or church (2 John 9-11).

To summarize the steps are (a) confrontation, followed by either (b) excommunication or (c) separation. Now has does this three point process square with the history of heresy in the TEC?

In point of fact, orthodox Anglicans have been battling heresy in the TEC for many years... for decades, if not for centuries. Little or no progress has been made. Meaning, the TEC has remained unrepentant despite the repeated efforts of orthodox Anglican at reformation and reconciliation. The next step to have taken, therefore, would be to (b) excommunicate offending members of the TEC. The only thing is, it seems as though the majority of priests and bishops in the TEC are apostates or unbelievers, meaning the heterodox are presently in control of the denomination. Excommunicatin would have to come from the highest level. But if the latest meeting of the Primates in Dar Es Salaam is any indication, only a minority in the Anglican church are willing to excommunicate the TEC. There is little hope that the TEC will be excommunicated from the Anglican communion if it does not repent. That isn't to say that some progress has not been made. In the recent meeting the Primates called on the TEC to stop ordaining non-celibate gay bishops. But given the fact that the Primates completely avoided calling on the TEC to repent of her innumerable other heresies, one is forced to conclude that little or nothing will be done to bring the TEC back onto the straight and narrow way of following Christ.

Therefore, only one option remains for orthodox Anglican believers. Namely (c) to separate themselves from the apostate TEC, and to join themselves to a faithful church. Separation is a Biblical command that cannot be disobeyed. It has been instituted by God to protect the faithful from the influence of ungodly and false teachers who threaten to endanger the souls of the faithful. If you believe in the authority of Scripture, then you must also believe in the command to separate.

If you are an orthodox Anglican in the TEC, I abjure you, by the authority of Scripture, to come out from among the unbelievers and to join yourself to a Bible-believing, gospel-preaching, Christ-glorifying, orthodox Church. You have one life to live. You can live it in obedience or disobedience to God. So use it wisely. There are faithful priests and congregations that have left the material comforts of the TEC in order to live in faithfulness to God. They deserve your financial support. Your tithes and offering belong to God, not to an apostate denomination. For this and many other reasons you must separate from the blasphemers. There is no other way.

May God have mercy on the TEC.