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Dear Editor,
As a member of the Renewal Fellowship, I have a concern.
I do not believe the RFPCC intends to be primarily a clergy support organization. Yet, the intellectual tone of the contents of Channels, and the somewhat ministerially specialized nature of other presentations of the Fellowship, suggest this.
If we focus too much upon rather academic concerns having to do, for example, with the history of the Reformed Tradition or with theological problems, then we have become too much like that which we have (in some ways) been set up to renew: an isolated, clergy-cult elite.
The fear of being found to be academically, theologically, or doctrinally mistaken must not take root within us and motivate us. Jesus put practical willingness or obedience ahead of “correct” doctrine (John 7:17). In fact, if we do not trust God by his Spirit to lovingly reveal truth to us (rather than trying to priorly grasp it), then we will grow to be out of touch with those to whom God wants us to minister. This was the case with many Pharisees. Unlike them, Jesus was free enough to have a unique revelation and ministry for each situation and person.
We are called to use first our hearts and only secondarily our brains. As an alternative example, I include the following small, simple, personal item:
Before we moved out west, I had a friend who helped out with our newly unemployed condition. I found that help to be a touching hint of God’s grace. He and I were drinking buddies. He was into guns, and I was into the occult. Everything to us was a joke – on the outside. Inside we were scared. We met again soon after our return to Ontario. I had a few years earlier turned to Christ; I found myself strongly moved to pray for him. He had joined A.A. and later, he came to identify himself as a Christian. He is a very practical and direct person. He says, “You want to know why I am a Christian? Two reasons. One: It keeps growing through history. Two: It works.” In view of our once having been so cynical and rebellious, I am amazed how, in great contrast, today we can meet and pray together.
In Christ’s love,
Jeremy Ashton,
Wyoming, Ontario