Giving Thanks
In Romans 1:21 Paul seems to argue that one of the most foundational aspects of human sinfulness is the failure to give thanks to God for all he is and all he’s done. Relatedly, it seems that for the early church a primary motivation for assembling together as God’s redeemed humanity was ‘to give thanks’ [Gk: eucharistein, -ia] to God for who he is and what he’d done for them.
We have stated in the About section of this blog that “we will seek to converse in the Spirit of Christ, loving the broader church and our denomination as they are, and loving them enough to spur them on toward their appointed end. We believe that the PCA has unique spiritual gifts that she might contribute to the larger family of God, and we want to encourage her to guard, stimulate, and share these gifts for the sake of others rather than for herself, for there are many spiritual gifts, but they are worthless without love.”
To that end we would like to begin our forthcoming conversations with a time of thanks-giving for what God has done in and through the Presbyterian Church in America in our own experience. In so doing we hope to be not only giving thanks for what God has done amongst us, but to be simultaneously honing the Spiritual skill of giving thanks to God for who he is. By necessity, then, this post is one less intended to share new insight than to foster discussion in the comments–(and is therefore considerably shorter than normal).
So what do you think are the PCA’s greatest spiritual gifts that she might contribute to the larger family of God and to the world? In what ways have you been best served by our denomination personally and ‘professionally’? What ministries have you witnessed in the PCA for whose presence you are most thankful? What do you love about our denomination in the ways she causes you to better love God and neighbor? In short, what in our denomination particularly causes you to give thanks to God for who he is and what he’s done?
Posted: October 29th, 2008 under Denominational, Ethos, General, Wednesdays.
Comments
Comment from Craig Higgins
Time October 31, 2008 at 8:32 am
I’ve been a minister in the PCA for over 19 years, a member for just over 25–and I attended PCA churches off and on all through college in the early 80s–and I have much to be thankful for.
The PCA has been a church planting machine! RUF has been a singular blessing, and we should all thank Mark Lowrey for his vision in starting this ministry (that’s older than the PCA). MTW is one of the finest mission agencies on the planet, and we owe Paul Kooistra our thanks as well.
I’m thankful as well for many of the “founding fathers” (and mothers!) of the PCA. There were so many winsome, outward-facing, courageous people–men and women of deep piety and godliness–in the founding of this denomination. Yes, there’s a “mean streak” (as my mom would say) in the Reformed tradition, and we’ve never been free of it in the PCA. But when I first started attending PCA churches (around 1981), there was very little. I met men and women who loved Jesus and wanted others to love him as well. I should especially mention a number of delightful ruling elders who, with their families, welcomed me down in Georgia–Don Comer, John Heard, Jim Lawhon, Newton Anderson, the list could go on.
I’ve been a minister in the PCA for over 19 years, a member for just over 25–and I attended PCA churches off and on all through college in the early 80s–and I have much to be thankful for.
The PCA has been a church planting machine! RUF has been a singular blessing, and we should all thank Mark Lowrey for his vision in starting this ministry (that’s older than the PCA). MTW is one of the finest mission agencies on the planet, and we owe Paul Kooistra our thanks as well.
I’m thankful as well for many of the “founding fathers” (and mothers!) of the PCA. There were so many winsome, outward-facing, courageous people–men and women of deep piety and godliness–in the founding of this denomination. Yes, there’s a “mean streak” (as my mom would say) in the Reformed tradition, and we’ve never been free of it in the PCA. But when I first started attending PCA churches (around 1981), there was very little. I met men and women who loved Jesus and wanted others to love him as well. I should especially mention a number of delightful ruling elders who, with their families, welcomed me down in Georgia–Don Comer, John Heard, Jim Lawhon, John Clark, Newton Anderson, the list could go on and on.
While I’m increasingly convinced that the PCA’s current trajectory is downward into a more narrow, more sectarian, less winsome and missional place, this trend is not a foregone conclusion. We can recapture what is good in our past–e.g., Schaeffer’s commitment to both orthodoxy of doctrine and orthodoxy of community–while moving forward, engaging fearlessly with our postmodern, post-Christendom world, showing and telling the gospel, digging ever deeper (often in surprising ways!) into the truths of God’s Word. Giving thanks is a good place to begin.
Comment from Jamison Galt
Time October 31, 2008 at 8:58 am
I could name a large number of things and people for which I’m personally thankful. But I’d like to instead mention a theological practice for which I’m most thankful. I am extremely thankful to God that our denomination largely practices the sacraments in a catholic manner. In my experience, at least, it is almost universal that we accept the baptisms of all other Christian denominations. Similarly, we practice open communion. These two practices make us fundamentally more catholic than most other denominations with respect to one sacrament or another. And it’t not about being ‘more catholic’, but it is about following Jesus in his hospitality and his desire for Christian unity. And because sacramental practice is nor merely expressive of our doctrine and piety but actually constitutive of them, I have much hope that our sacramental posture towards others will continue to shape us in a more catholic, hospitable, and united direction. That makes me thankful.
Comment from Giorgio Hiatt
Time October 29, 2008 at 5:13 pm
i am deeply thankful for RUF. I am not an RUF grad, nor have been an RUF minister, but i am profoundly grateful for its ministry. Almost every RUF grad that has come to our church has become a lay leader. As i look around our presbytery, RUF-grad elders and pastors lead the regional church.