Anglican Perspectives

Don’t Eat the Fruit!

GlobalView: Deciding for ourselves…

 

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Gen. 2:15-17

 

So here is the scene…A beautiful world. A delightful garden. An amazing man and (shortly after the verse above) and even more amazing woman (just ask Adam). They could stay up as late as they wanted. They could watch anything they wanted to watch on TV. Fat grams had not been invented. Chocolate was a breakfast food, a lunch food, a dinner food, and a snack. There was only one rule: …”of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

 

Why would God not want them eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Didn’t He want them to know what was good and what was evil? Of course He did, and still does today. He did not, however, want them deciding for themselves what was good and what was evil. Neither does He want us doing that today. And yet, that is exactly what we so often do, decide for ourselves. Instead, He wants us to obey His Word.

 

Last week, the United Methodist Church feasted on the fruit. The United Methodist’s Book of Discipline still maintains Biblical order, but after munching on the fruit, the delegates of the Western Jurisdiction of Methodists voted to elect Pastor Karen Oliveto, a lesbian, as a Bishop. Her shrinking congregation is the perfect launching pad for a dramatic departure from Scripture. She, too, seems to be the perfect candidate for sort of a disestablishmentarian initiative. (Ok, it isn’t really disestablishmentarianism because it doesn’t deal with disentangling the church from the government, but it sure is an effort to separate from Scripture!). Not only is Pastor Oliveto shepherding a shrinking congregation (a key factor for those diverging from Biblical faith), but she also is a staunch advocate for abortion. Her church serves as an illegal “medical” marijuana dispensary. She epitomizes the hat-trick of liberal ideals.

 

While the spiritual consequences of those kinds of decisions are horrendous, there is a silver lining. Departure from Biblical authority causes churches to shrink. Often they can “motor on” by selling assets given by previous, faithful generations, and spending down endowments. The good news, however, is that churches that pursue those values, shrink. That is good news because it means fewer people will be led astray—away from Christ.

 

Apparently, the same spirit visited Canada. The course there was a bit more tortuous though. When the decision came up to their General Synod whether or not to approve same-sex marriages, many people expected it would pass. It was obvious, however, that the vote would be close so people were watching closely. A number of Bishops announced that they were going to ignore the decision of the Synod if it went against their wishes—a clear example of eating the fruit!

 

 

When the votes were tallied, the measure to proceed with same-sex weddings failed by one vote. In a flurry of activity, the vote (which had already been certified) was overturned and the vote to implement same-sex marriages was declared approved. Alleluia! Rebellion firmly established in the Canadian Church. Of course, this is not really new. This sort of thing has been going on since 2002, but previously, there was a fig leaf of deniability that the official teaching of the church was orthodox. Now, there is no pretense any more. What consequences will there be in the Anglican Communion? If the testimony of the Primate of Scotland is any indication there may have already been assertions that invitations to the Lambeth Bishops Conference will not be withheld. This is because the ability to gather is the highest order of virtue in Communion bureaucratic circles. There is, however, a tiny fly in the ointment of the gladness of all the liberal celebration in Canada. That is that such action as approving same-sex marriage in direct rebellion to Scripture, will have other consequences—notably, the absence of those who take Scripture seriously.

 

A complete meltdown could be easily avoided, but it would require clarity about sin and rebellion. That is very unlikely to happen.

 

What will happen now is an unraveling of the Communion. Many leaders will absent themselves from meetings. There will be less enthusiasm for and or conversation about institutional life being shared with those who do not share historic faith in Jesus Christ.  Will there be open ecclesiastical warfare? Not likely.

 

What will GAFCON do in the face of this? Many are hoping for a declaration of a split. I doubt that will happen. Instead, it is much more likely that structures will be worked out to carry on mission and evangelism into the world. Look for networks to strengthen in the areas of Youth Ministry, Women’s Ministry, Theological Education, Mission, Evangelism, and a number of other areas. There are already people who are at work collaborating together to further Gospel work in many areas. Those networks will become more robust—not because we are rebelling against anything, but because working together makes us more fruitful in carrying out the mandate for Mission from our Lord.

 

The liberal side will spend a lot of time, money, and energy trying to convince people that there is no down-side to their actions and decisions. Sadly, we have seen the results of the liberal agenda played out in the Episcopal Church. Their policies are taking out more people than a pandemic disease. Their churches are shrinking like crazy. In the face of that, the liberals would like us to believe that their agenda is the truly loving one, that is, doling out acceptance and speaking blessing. Sadly, though, it doesn’t work. The reason God proscribes these activities is not because He is mean, it is because they separate people from the redeeming love of Christ. The liberal/progressive/change agents would like us to believe that their actions are at worse benign and are actually helpful.

 

Last week, a new phenomenon has surfaced on smart phones and tablets. It is a game called Pokemon-Go. It is a combination of virtual reality on the phones, linked with actual reality connecting people through their phones to seize monsters or gobble this or that to get super-status. While it may appear innocuous, it is so distracting that it has already been blamed for traffic accidents and hordes of people running through shopping areas colliding with each other. The pastel colors on the screens lure people into thinking that this is “just a game.” In fact, it is probably a plot fostered by theological liberals. Ok, maybe not, but at the very least it is stupid and distracting. At worst, maybe some critics are right that the “pocket monster” phenomenon has many demonic links and is not benign at all. I don’t know, but I can tell you that I have yet to see any contribution to the world rise out of the Pokemon-Go smart phone application.

 

What are we to do? It’s simple. DON’T EAT THE FRUIT! Simply obey God’s word. It is a much better way to live. No one who has ever done that wholeheartedly has ever been disappointed.

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The Rt. Rev. Bill Atwood is Bishop of the ACNA International Diocese and an American Anglican Council contributing author.

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