More of my leading thoughts on GAFCON:
5) Unhealthy Independence and Autonomy inside the realignment are obstacles to God’s purposes, threatening unnecessary fracture and dissent in the life of a new American Province and the larger life of the Communion. It is important to repent of these things and learn to engage fellow believers as servants, not masters. In this light, some crucial marks of our future life together in the realignment will be faithful obedience to Christ, abundant grace towards fellow believers, happy submission to godly leadership, and humble service to the world.
6) Spiritual Warfare is the ‘not to be missed’ dynamic underneath these events. God has breached the wall of western hostility to the Gospel, creating a moment of tremendous gospel opportunity. What happened at GAFCON will reverberate across Anglicanism, across the mainline denominations, and across western secular culture, creating new possibilities for a fresh hearing of the gospel, for the return of prodigal sons and daughters, for church planting and perhaps, under God’s mercy, even revival. May it be so!
7) Weakness, Foolishness, and the Gospel: GAFCON was again and again straight out of 1 Corinthians 1-7, played out before our eyes on an international scale in the contest between the Global South and the West.
- For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 (NIV)
The implications of this for our own strategy are enormous; our weakness and foolishness (in the eyes of the world) makes room for his strength and his wisdom. That is the way of the cross, and it is how the Gospel goes forward.
8) Sexuality and Family Life are the ‘hot issues’ in the Anglican crisis, and God’s leading at GAFCON was clear. We heard a loud voice for biblical standards, gospel transformation and cross-centered grace. Supporting marriage, families, and the blessings of sexual purity is gospel work. Moving our churches into compassionate and life-changing ministries to people caught in sexual brokenness is gospel work. Heartfelt repentance for our own failures in these areas is also gospel work. These are matters where it seems to me God has spoken over these past weeks, sometimes quietly and sometimes with stunning strength. I bring these to our leadership teams in the Diocese for your own discernment and prayer. I look forward to our conversations in the days and weeks ahead.
People also tend to mix truth and error to teach people, and insist it is wrong.
Posted by: air yeezy | November 12, 2010 at 03:04 AM