Four myths about contending for truth in the CofE

For evangelicals in the Church of England, and especially those in full-time ministry, “contending for the faith” has become a wearying subtext to church life and ministry. When we read Jude 3-4, we can see that it applies to the various crises we are facing in our denomination.

“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 3-4 NIV).

While we must respond with continued faithfulness, we cannot do so in our own strength – that is by trying to use our own tactics and resources to engineer an outcome which seems right in our understanding. We will only be drained and worn down if we do that, not least through the compassionate discipline of a heavenly Father who is teaching us to depend on His saving grace, not our strategic gameplay. Jesus didn’t simply tell us never to give up (that was Bear Grylls), He taught us always to pray and not to give up (Luke 18:1).

Jude holds out this priority for prayer in his concluding instructions, but whilst he urges that contending is fuelled by holiness, he adds that it is also saturated with mercy. It is not a human enterprise on behalf of God, it is a move of the Spirit of God through human agency, and so it bears God’s character and attributes.

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh” (Jude 21-22).

From this perspective, I would like to propose that there are four myths about contending in the current crises in the Church of England that I think need addressing.

1. The grass is greener in other denominations (or none)
   Behind this clumsy statement lies a bigger myth – the idea that we can create the perfect church. The church is already made perfect in Christ, but her new body will not be given until His return. Until then we have thousands of imperfect manifestations of kingdom growth in various shapes and forms all seeking to stand for gospel truth in a sinful world. A different but Biblically legitimate expression of Christian fellowship might avoid a particular crisis, but it won’t avoid the cause of the problem. You could avoid having revisionist bishops by not having bishops, but, in our current cultural moment, you can’t avoid injurious trouble over sexual ethics or human identity. It will simply affect different polities (different ways of doing church) in different ways.
   
2. Episcopacy is “top-down”
   It is an accident of English church history, not a rudiment of episcopal church polity, that bishops in the Church of England have so much power. Yet, despite that, it is ironic that evangelicals in the denomination have become so concerned about changing their minds or swapping them out. Until recently we ignored them and many of us operated like congregational churches, except without the checks and balances of a fully orbed congregational polity. Even with the careful machinations of General Synod, the Church of England is not a consistent entity. Populating an inherited authority structure with more agreeable personnel – a “top-down” approach – is politically savvy, but it is theologically flawed. A reformed view of episcopacy works from the ground up, starting with the local church and then seeking partnership and oversight. We should be making every effort to populate the parishes with faithful, patient Biblical ministers and to keep going for the long haul.
   
3. Digital media is the vanguard of grace and truth
   This hardly needs saying, but as much as the power and reach of digital media is incontrovertible, it is difficult to contend faithfully online. Careful discourse and gracious dialogue, particularly in long-form, is made more effective by wider circulation, but it is swamped out by the swell of toxic content. Bishops are supposed to be doctrinal guardians, and we have very few left who fulfil that role, but this role cannot be replaced by a virtual free-for-all. Again, we must go back to the local church and seek personal accountability.
   
4. Church politics are a distraction from mission
   For many ministers and church members, church politics are a drain on their energy. Surely, we just need to “keep the main thing the main thing” or at least leave the wider debates to people who like that sort of thing. Reading the New Testament, however, shows that the story of mission in the early church is embroiled in church politics. Satan will always attack from within, as Jude warned, and so we will always have to contend for the faith within the church.