It may have escaped your attention that a group of evangelical Christians has published a statement on the subject of sexual ethics. Now, a number of the signatories are people I deeply respect, and the actual ethical positions taken are ones with which I am in broad (but not total) agreement. So I'm not knocking the statement, per se. But here's how I wish it had started, and how I wish any future statements on ethical issues from evangelical Christians might begin. And if it sounds a bit antiquated, a bit theological, not directly relevant to the ethical questions asked: well, so much the better. I've just written the intro and the first article.
That the Church in the West is faced with a particular crisis today is undeniable. The outer nature of this crisis is the unique result of the Church's ongoing encounter with post-Christian society, with the inevitable shattering of the consensus worldview and ethics of Christendom. It is essential that the Church pay attention to the unique features of this situation, for she is called to speak a word in season, to address men and women as they are and where they are. The Church can hardly take too seriously the unique situation in which she finds herself.
However, the inner nature of the crisis is the one pressing question which is put to the Church in every age, not by the surrounding world, but by the Church's Lord. This is the question of whether she will hear, believe, and obey the Word of God. That there are particular pressures today inclining her to be deaf to this Word; that there are unique circumstances today making it difficult for her to seriously believe what she hears; that the path of obedience is today strewn with obstacles which she has not previously faced - all these things are undeniably true, but must not be allowed to conceal the most important question. Will the Church today hear, believe, and obey the Word of God?
Article 1
We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ lives by faith in the Word of God, which Word is Jesus Christ himself as he is held out to us in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
a. We believe that the Word of God in Holy Scripture calls us to confident faith in the accomplished work of God in Jesus Christ. We tremble before the revelation of God's holy love at the cross of Christ, love which embraces all of sinful humanity and yet purges from sin. We rejoice in the promise of eternal life given to us in the empty tomb of Jesus Christ, receiving this promise by faith as our only hope in life and death. We gladly receive by faith the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, daring to call on the holy God as our Father because of the completed work of his only-begotten Son.
b. We believe that the Word of God in Holy Scripture calls us to faithful obedience to the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ, who rules by his word and Spirit. We acknowledge that the love of God in Christ does not leave us unchanged, but calls us into the perfect freedom of his service. We acknowledge Holy Scripture as the sceptre of Christ the King, by which he commands his people and orders his Church. We prayerfully depend on the presence of the Holy Spirit of Christ in the Church and in the hearts of his people, looking to him to give the will and power to follow where Christ our Lord leads.
c. We confess with sorrow that we, the Church of Jesus Christ, have not lived by faith in the Word of God, but have sought to establish our own righteousness. We confess with sorrow that we, the Church of Jesus Christ, have not obeyed the commands of Christ. We confess with sorrow that we, the Church of Jesus Christ, have failed to present the promise of eternal life to the world. We confess with sorrow that we, the Church of Jesus Christ, have failed to show the goodness of Christ in his commandments. For all our wilful failings and accidental sins, we pray: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
d. We deny that the Church of Christ can live otherwise than by the Word of God. We deny that the Church of Christ must heed other voices than the voice of Christ as it is heard in Holy Scripture. We deny that the Church of Christ must change its faith or its obedience in response to any other voice, whether from within or without. We deny that the Church of Christ must recognise changes in wider culture as the voice of her Lord. We deny that the Church of Christ can separate faith in the promise of the Word from faithful obedience to the command of the Word. We deny that the lamentable failings of the Church invalidate the message of the Lord,who is merciful beyond our ability to comprehend.
e. We call all those who put their faith in Christ to join with us in seeking his will, by prayerful attention and holy submission to Holy Scripture. We ask the watching world to believe that we, the Church of Jesus Christ, must believe and act in obedience to our Lord. We pledge ourselves to reform our faith, our teaching, our community life, and our actions in conformity with the Word of God as we hear it in Holy Scripture, and we ask anyone who sees error in our life or faith to bring witness against us from Holy Scripture.
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