Briefly, what does it mean to be Reformed and Presbyterian?
Our denomination (Presbyterian Church in America) helps us think about how we go about making a big deal of Christ. In fact, it has helped form our DNA as a local body of Christ. How often do you talk about your DNA? Probably not much. You just let it work in your body. But let’s be honest. If our only creed or mission statement at GCC was “Making a Big Deal of Christ” our church would be a mess! How would we know how to govern ourselves? How would we know how to interpret the Bible?
To that end, I have heard people at GCC mix up the terms Presbyterian and Reformed, so I want to clarify between the two. Usually I hear something like this: “I really love our church, but I’m not too big on Presbyterian theology.” This sentence mixes up two things. It mixes up the way we govern ourselves as a church (Presbyterian) with the way we read and interpret the Bible as a church (Reformed). We govern ourselves according to Presbyterianism. Another way to say it is that we have Presbyterian polity (government). This means that we govern ourselves by having elders lead who have been elected by the congregation and who represent the congregation’s interests. It also means that the elders act together (never as individuals) to represent Christ to the people of the congregation. The elders can never represent Christ as individuals because no single person could successfully represent Christ to the people who elected him. (Read the books of Kings and Chronicles for several clear examples of the failure of singular leadership!) The elders also work together with the deacons and with several appointed committees that advise them. There is both expediency in getting things done, but also checks and balances in this Presbyterian polity. However, if someone doesn’t like this form of church government, they disagree with Presbyterian polity, not Presbyterian theology.
Everyone wants to be biblical. This usually goes without saying. However, I have heard people in other places say something like, “I don’t have a theology. I’m just biblical.” The problem with this sentence is that everyone has a theology. Everyone believes something about what they read in the Bible and how they are to live it out. Some people have a good theology that helps them live in a way true to the Scriptures. Others have a bad theology that keeps them from living true to the Scriptures. Don’t think you have a theology? Would this next statement describe you? “No creed but Christ. No book but the Bible. No law but love.” Sound pretty good? Those three simple statements form a very short (and not altogether good) theology – a way of stating what you believe about what you read in the Bible. It affects how you live out what you read as well. That short theology has a weakness. Even though it says, “No creed but Christ,” the statement itself is a creed – an expression of belief about something. So we all have a theology. It’s better to ask: do you know what your theology is? Do you know its strengths and weaknesses?
GCC is a Reformed church. Our theology is Reformed theology. That means we have certain beliefs about what the Bible says and how to interpret it. We even have beliefs about what we believe. (For example, we believe that we can be wrong about what we believe about the Bible.) Our statement of belief on how to be biblical is most clearly described in the Westminster Standards. They are a lot longer than three sentences, and so they are a lot more helpful than the creed above. Yet they are a lot shorter than the Bible itself, which also makes them helpful. One thing I personally like about them is that on the second page it says that these standards can be wrong. Not many people trying to be biblical end up with a statement like that in their creed. I can’t say enough about how detailed and carefully worded the Westminster Standards are in helping us make sense of the whole Bible. However, if someone doesn’t like how we use the Bible at GCC, then they disagree with Reformed theology, not Presbyterian theology.
Our denomination (PCA) has a motto: A Presbyterian church that is faithful to the Scriptures, true to the Reformed faith, and obedient to the Great Commission. I hope this post helps you know a little better what that motto means: A church governed by a representative body of elders, true to being biblical with the clarifying help of the Westminster Standards, and obedient to Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This sampling of our DNA gives you a few reasons why GCC looks the way it does, in the same way that your DNA gives a few reasons why you look the way you do in the bathroom mirror.
If you ever want to talk more in depth about our polity or theology please reach out via phone, email, or face-to-face on a Sunday.
in Him,
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