J.I. Packer
J.I. Packer is an evangelical writer and theologian that I used to like a lot. He has announced he is leaving the Anglican church. It is a very sad thing. You can see why. The Anglican church has gotten more and more liberal over the years. He is not a liberal. He is a very solid, brilliant, Christian thinker. So he was less and less comfortable. Eventually he could not stay any longer and reluctantly quit.
My grandparents have a similar story. They devoted much of their lives to building the Christian Reformed Church, which I was raised in. Then they saw it get more and more liberal. They ended up resigning their membership as well. I remember thinking that I might be forced to do that one day. If the church did not stop drifting towards more liberal ideas I would have to quit at some point.
There was a sense in my mind that there was something very wrong with this picture. What church could I trust with my children? I just assumed the answer was there was none. Dr Packer seems to have arrived at the same conclusion. You find a community that agrees with you on most critical issues right now. But you don’t question the whole system.
But how many older people need to find they can’t stay in the church of their youth? We believe the truth of God should endure from generation to generation. Now we have degraded to the point where holding someone for their entire lifetime is considered too hard. The church must progress. It must keep up with the culture. It claims to teach the same truth but does it really? What is there to prevent a change to the core gospel message? Certainly we think other churches have changed the core of the gospel without intending to. Why could it not happen to us?
The Catholic church is often ridiculed for having so many old people in positions of power. J.I. Packer is the same age as Pope Benedict, 81. Much of the curia is over 70. Most bishops are over 60. There is something to be said for respecting the wisdom of age. In many churches young pastors are given almost complete control. The thinking is to do what it takes to attract today’s generation. What could go wrong?