The Church in the Storm

The following is a paraphrase of an address given by the Most Reverend Gregory Venables, Primate of the Southern Cone (which encompasses Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay). He spoke to large group of Anglican Essentials Network and Federation representatives who met in Vancouver at the end of February 2005.

The challenge facing the Anglican Church today must be understood in context: First, what is happening to the Anglican Church in North America is because of evil. Anglicanism in North America has been hijacked, but this is not the situation in the rest of the Anglican world. However, because this is the only environment in which most North Americans Anglicans generally live, we are unable to see what the rest of the Anglican world is like and hold the opinion that it must therefore echo what's going on around us. It does not. North American Anglicanism has been hijacked beginning with doubt concerning the authority of the Word of God which was introduced when we bought into what is referred to as ‘higher criticism’. Gradually, we have lost faith and trust in God's Word. We've embraced an anthropocentric orientation in dealing with many issues – that is, we've made man the center of everything. Man and not God. One of the results of making man the center is that the most of our important questions are now asked in the context of feeling - much of the debate in question is now cast in terms of how ‘we’ feel or how ‘they’ feel.

The issue at hand is not about how we feel; the issue is a theological issue and an issue of truth. Many of us can still remember a time when right and wrong were understood clearly. Abortion and same sex relationships are now presented to us as very complex issues occupying the grey middle. Our mandate as biblically orthodox Christians is to go back to the scripture where we can begin to understand a little more about that which is truth and what God is telling us to do. When we know Jesus and are transformed by his Spirit, it is then the Word will make sense; otherwise one will seek cultural adaptation of the Word and will try to make the Word accommodate our limited personal experience.

Secondly, what's going on in the Anglican world should not surprise us. There have always been battles going on for the faith, and there always will be. All we are given to know is the end: that Jesus is sovereign and He will reign eternally. What we are called to do in the meantime is to exercise obedience and faith which may very well lead to sacrifice. What is happening in the Anglican world is totally consistent with following the Lord Jesus, particularly in countries that have turned their back on Him. When you try to live out a Christian Gospel shaped life in a world that has embraced darkness, persecution is what one should naturally expect. Don’t take it personally.

Lastly, what is happening is a good thing: had it not come about then something would have been seriously wrong with Anglicanism. If the world Communion had just simply ignored errant teaching, or embraced the liberal teaching in North America, if we had not dug in our heels, if there'd not been the possibility of schism, if there hadn't been all this controversy, then the Anglican Church would have been in very serious trouble.

Mark 4:35ff, provides an excellent example for us all. This particular reading of scripture is an icon of the church. It is important that we read it often and pray through it because it describes in almost vivid detail how the church lives out its life as it moves through seasons of testing. We have a frail little boat and frail people in the midst of great storm and we look to see how the Lord is working in the situation. Notice that the storm blew up very quickly – just as this issue about same sex relationships blew up very quickly too. Thirty years is not a long time, whether it is in the church or the society around us. It is gathering momentum and moving much more quickly than it ever did before for now there is little sense of right or wrong.

Notice also that the storm was in the path of the disciples’ obedience. They were told simply to go to the other side. A raging storm prevents this and they think they're going to perish. Their trouble is not because they've done something wrong; they’re actually doing what they were told to do. It is not punishment, nor is it for us. Because of our obedience to the Word, it seems as if we're being punished and this causes certain confusion. Uncertainty seems to rule in the days in which we are living out our lives and we're uncomfortable. However, being uncomfortable is not a bad thing. The reality is that most of us have bought into an Anglican version of the Prosperity Gospel.

Judges 6:11 addresses Gideon’s question to the Angel of the Lord at a time when they were being attacked by Midianites, ‘Why is this happening to us if God is with us?” That basically is our theological position. If the Lord is with us then why is all this happening to us? If we are following the Lord should we not then be exempt from any persecution? If we are following the Lord, nothing bad should come in our direction? That’s a kind of Prosperity Gospel.

Note here that Gideon, in his fear of the Midianites, is found threshing wheat in the winepress – a hole in the ground. During threshing, the wheat is usually thrown into the air, so that the unwanted husk is blown away. This would require that Gideon come out of his hole in the ground and stand where his enemies might recognize him. But he needed the wind to blow so that his work might be accomplished. So too, we need to stand strong and let the wind of the Spirit blow upon us.

Notice the Angelic greeting: “the Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” It is precisely because He is with us that we are facing the tribulation in the Church today; not because God is not with us. Denying this, as the disciples questioned the concern of the Lord in their fear of the storm; we deny God's goodness and grace. Self pity always denies God's goodness and grace. We need to understand our God will not lose and that we are on his side. That’s a lot different than saying He is on our side. We need to be on his side and we need to look deeply into our hearts if we are to let God be God and not try to wrestle His Sovereignty from Him.

Compared to the international world where real persecution and martyrdom are everyday facts, what we're going through is minuscule. Many of the Primates have faced numerous physical persecutions. This is a common occurrence in many parts of the world. Faithful clergy and people in the third world Anglican church are persecuted and even martyred on a regular occasion. They look at us and all of our whining and they wonder what in heaven’s name is going in the North American Continent with regards to God’s faithful Anglicans. The message that comes from the Primates of the global south is a very simple one: we need to grow up.

When we meet the Lord face to face, what will we say about all our whining and our wanting to run back to our comforts? What will we say about refusing to take a risk for the Gospel and not standing for truth? Surely, we will despair at the incredible waste of emotional energy we've spent in complaining about how uncomfortable it has been to live the Christian faith.

The good news in this passage is that the storm drives the disciples to Jesus. So often in our humanness we resist coming to God until we have no other options, and only then when we admit a sense of real need. We need to acknowledge the fact that sometime in the 19th century we actually took over from God being in control and since then we have been organizing things for God but in ways that are quite comfortable for us. We need to begin to read some of the biographies of great men and women of our faith and what happened when the Spirit of God took hold of them, considering that both their sacrifices and deeds arose were because they were obedient. We need to grow up and stop our whining.

Satan is the obvious enemy behind the storm, but it is the storm itself that God uses. In the midst of the storm faith and lack of faith is revealed. Whether it is the storm in Mark 4 or it's the storm in the church today, faith or lack of faith is being revealed. But we need to learn the Spirit's timing and not run off and do things precipitously. This perfect timing comes from being very close to God's Word and being very close to God Himself.

We need to understand that only Jesus will resolve this problem. Just like the disciples in the boat - when He does what He does [and as He is doing now], we will be filled with awe. We will look deep within ourselves and realize we must and can only move as the lamp lightens the path for the next step. We want to have the whole thing strategized out ahead of us. Strategies are good but we need to be prepared to abandon them at any particular time and go as the Lord directs. Tragically, most of us have adopted the attitude,” why pray when you can worry?”

There is a simplicity that has been lost in North America which is still very much in place in the Global South. These Primates, Bishops, Priests and everyday Anglicans live their days in faith focused on Jesus because they know they will face God one day just as the revisionists and liberals will face God one day for what they are doing. So too will you and I will face God one day for what we have done and what we have not done.

No storm can stop God's purpose for growing your ministry. Consider Paul in prison chained to a Roman Guard, and using the opportunity to present the Gospel. It’s a totally different perspective. Jesus said ‘lets go to the other side’. God had spoken and what God says God does. Let’s go to the other side. The gates of hell will not prevail against his Church. God is sovereign and He takes the responsibility. Understand this profound truth: God is nice, and He likes you. Why then do you worry?

To sum up, it is far better for us to be in a tiny boat in the midst of great storm in a frail boat filling with water and to be with Jesus than to be without him.

See I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God by walking in his way and observing his commandments, decrees and ordinances then you shall live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you and the land that you are entering to possess. But if your hearts turn away and you do not hear but are lead astray to bow down to other gods and serve them. I declare to you today that you shall perish. You shall not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today but I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God obeying him and holding fast to him for that means life to you and length of days so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob.