The Church is Never Blameless

Exchange on the Supporters of Synod site (emphasis added):

“Try this. I break into your home and steal all your belongings. I'm arrested and go to trial. The judge is my father. The jury is made of all my relatives. Do you think you would get justice. That's what's going on at Erskine. Just looking for a fair trial, and it ain't gonna happen in the Synod. And, all your talk about rattlesnakes and scorpions won'g make it so.”

- Richard Johnson

“(Previous comment deleted) As a reminder, we are going to refrain from the rhetoric. In addition, accusing a church court of injustice will not be tolerated. You do not have to agree, but that will not be posted on this site.

“If the rhetoric continues, I will remove the entire thread. The post was supposed to be positive, to encourage reconciliation, not continue to "fan the flames" as was aptly stated above.”

- Tim Phillips

Huh?

Church courts can’t make mistakes, Tim? The Church is never wrong, Tim? As I wrote previously, such an opinion is utterly dangerous.

Elders are sinners.

Pastors are sinners.

Each man in Synod is a sinner in need of repentance.

Each one of us, each pastor and elder in our churches, and each member of the Commission is liable to sin in their dealings with Erskine or anything else. Dangerous things happen when Churches become “blameless.” The Synod court is just as likely to break due process and give an unfair trial as any other court – unlikely, we hope, but possible. Yet Tim says, “accusing a church court of injustice will not be tolerated.” What! Of course we must tolerate it – we must always make sure such injustice never occurs. When we accept that men of the church are blameless, we surrender that which Christ wants made painfully obvious – the total depravity of man.

We will never agree on what a “fair” trial would be at Synod. Of course both sides would think “fair” is Synod ruling in their favor. However, doesn’t Synod show the least bit of bias here? Shouldn’t those who oppose firing the Board be the least bit concerned that Synod will uphold what Synod has already done, something that was ruled almost certainly illegal by a civil court, and something Synod persists in appealing? Synod has shown no remorse or desired reconciliation at all since this whole fiasco began – they are convinced their move was just and will fight to the death to support it.

Tim, appealing Synod’s decision to Synod does not seem the least bit odd to you? Really?

Ha!

No, Tim, I will not view you nor any other elder or pastor as holy and blameless. We are all sinners – and you are just as capable of giving an unfair trial as any other judge or jury. No judge in the land would hear a case involving his own son, or judge an appeal to a decision he had previously made. Such things make literally no sense, and to entertain them – in fact to demand them to the point of charging Christian men with heresy who oppose them – shows your opinions as quite frankly laughable.

Or have we really sunk so far, as to see Synod as blameless? Such an opinion is frightening. With each passing day I see this become all the clearer.

P.S. It’s ironic that Tim Phillips would ban the “rhetoric” from those who disagree with him, yet write earlier in the same discussion, “as one who has a knife in my back.” Huh!