This has been an interesting year for ROPC, in general, and for me, in particular. While I have been blessed by expressions of love, support, and encouragement from men in the OPC throughout the country, the local picture has been somewhat different. I have been encouraged to leave the OPC because “we do not believe what you believe,” men who once acknowledged me as a friend and co-laborer no longer reply to emails or respond to invitations, and members of my church have been repeatedly informed that “charges” are being drafted against their pastor and that I teach “heresy.” Of course, all of this is rather silly. There are many men in the OPC who believe exactly what I believe. I still faithfully abide by my ordination vows, happily and heartily “receive and adopt the Confession of Faith and Catechisms… as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures,” and our congregation carefully adheres to the “the government, discipline, and worship of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church” as outlined in the Book of Church Order. So what has changed?
It has been suggested that I have gone through a “theological evolution,” though thus far no one has explained where or how my views have evolved. Such a transformation sounds exciting except that I have read Jurassic Park and so understand that the theory of evolution posits the gradual mollification of organisms. In other words, if my theology has evolved, it hasn’t turned into a T-Rex or Velociraptor (which would make the isolation of the last year worth it), but has more likely become ordinary and less frightening. If my convictions were once a dinosaur and have now evolved into a bird, why is everyone clutching their pearls and running away screaming? Maybe instead of theological evolution they think my views have actually transformed into something like a zombie.
The problem is that I am not aware of any such evolution—do zombies know they are zombies? This is not to say I have not changed my mind on some things. The man who says he has never changed his mind either understood everything perfectly from the beginning or he has never learned anything at all. I’ll let you decide which of those two possibilities is the more likely. Anyone who studies the Bible regularly will find it necessary to adjust his views on certain subjects from time to time. But the changes in my own thinking over the last ten years have actually been quite modest. The most significant theological transition was my embrace of paedobaptism and a more explicitly covenantal theology. Can I help it that many modern American Presbyterians think more like baptists than their Reformed forebears?
During the years that I have served in the OPC, I have shared the things I was studying and thinking about with my elders as well as with other ministers in the OPC, men in my own Presbytery, and members of the Ministerial Oversight Committee. They did not recognize a major shift in my theology, nor have any of them sounded the alarm, expressed concerns to me about my doctrine, or suggested that I was no longer a good fit in the OPC. If some believe I should not remain in the OPC because of what I believe, there are many other men that should also step aside. None of the men who have suggested I ought to leave are qualified or authorized to speak on behalf of the denomination, nor are their own views determinative of the standards of the OPC. As I pointed out to one of them, I regularly vote in favor of candidates who share his particular theological distinctives, even if they are not my own. One wonders why my own views, which are within the bounds of the Westminster Confession and Reformed tradition, ought not receive the same judgment of charity and toleration.
The truth is, the people who have promoted the idea that I am a “Federal Vision problem in the OPC” did not do so because of any changes in my theology. The original email that was sent to members of my Presbytery in January 2024 indicated that the author had heard concerns about me for some time. Those who were “sharing concerns” did so long before they thought I was “Federal Vision,” and they did so for reasons that were not theological. After our Session responded to that email, a narrative has been circulated in order to weaken the fellowship I enjoyed with other NAPARC churches in the area and to attempt to destabilize and divide the unity in our congregation. For the most part, this latter effort has failed. To the extent that there are now some members of ROPC that have questions or doubts about my teaching, it should be noted that they did not have these reservations and concerns until someone outside the church suggested it. Their fears were not created by my teaching or the fruit of my ministry, both of which were considered reliable and praiseworthy until a few minutes ago.
The ones promoting a narrative in order to drive me out of the OPC and divide ROPC know who they are and what they are doing. They should know that I know them as well and why they are doing this. They can pretend this is driven by concerns about my “theological evolution,” but I know better, and so do they. The Lord knows too, and I am content to be judged by him.
If there are concerns about my teaching, then address me about those issues directly. Ask questions about what I believe and teach. Several have said they are not obligated to communicate directly with me because my teaching is public, and if that is so and their criticisms whispered in secret and behind closed doors is warranted, then let them file charges. I would be happy to address any questions and concerns in an open forum. Unfortunately, that would not help my critics but would instead leave them with egg on their faces. Tactical decisions are based on strategic priorities. You know what these men are aiming at based upon the techniques they have chosen. Speaking to me directly or adjudicating concerns in an open and ecclesiastical way would not serve their purposes. That is why they speak behind my back. Envy is real. They are trusting either that I do not know what is going on or hoping that I will not name them. They should be thankful that I do not think their behavior is worth my time.
The Lord has done a great work at ROPC over the last eleven years, and he continues to work powerfully in us, among us, and through us. I pray he always will. It was not easy to turn a barely evangelical community church into a confessionally Reformed congregation. Those who participated in that work paid a heavy price, enduring a lot of criticism and many personal attacks. We did not expect the same thing to come from members of our own tribe, but as students of Scripture, we should have anticipated it. Our transition from independent community church to Reformation OPC really was a “theological evolution,” one that led to the establishment of a healthy, active, and growing community of men, women, and children who love the Lord, the Scriptures, and the doctrines of the Reformed tradition. To the extent that some men who had the label “Federal Vision” encouraged, prayed for, and instructed us before and since we joined the OPC, I thank God. It is in the fires of controversy that we learn who our real friends are and that we learn to rely upon the Lord who will never fail us, even if the best of men sometimes do. –JME
