Let the Referees Squeal

For many of us, we’ve come to realize that if we’re going to practice any meaningful form of church connectionalism, it will require building something new. That also means we’ll have to make peace with the inevitable accusations. People will say we want to be our own pope. They’ll say we’re starting a micro-denomination. They’ll say we’re everything that’s wrong with modern Protestantism.

So be it.

If you want external discipline, accountability, and a body of like-minded churches laboring together, you’re going to have to stop caring about those criticisms.

The irony is that many of us are not fleeing discipline. Quite the opposite. We are fleeing the lack of discipline. We are fleeing institutions that refuse to deal with obvious biblical compromise. They won’t speak clearly on the issues of the day. Their courts often function more like the American tax code. If you have the right connections, enough money, or enough institutional pull, there always seems to be another loophole.

Many of us would love to belong to institutions with deep historical roots. Not just fifty years of history. Centuries. But participation in many of those existing institutions now requires compromises we simply cannot make. It often means peaceful coexistence with apostasy, female preachers, doctrinal ambiguity, or institutional priorities that value credibility with those who do not fear God more than faithfulness before God.

Those are not options for us.

There are faithful men in those bodies. Some have found little nooks and crannies where they can labor according to their confession and conscience. God bless them. I hope they prosper and reform those bodies. But for those of us who are not in that position, and who also have no desire to remain permanently independent, we’re simply going to have to build.

One of the strangest realities of our day is that many denominational pastors can easily coexist and even work with independent churches, even if they remain isolated forever. But the moment those same churches begin to associate, cooperate, and build something larger together, suddenly the cries of “schism” fill the air.

That only makes sense if the concern isn’t actually unity. It’s competition. Or perhaps it’s the fear of competition. I’ll let others sort that out.

As for all the handwringing over the accusations of starting another denomination or being a pope, I’ll simply borrow the words of Phil Collins.

“I don’t care anymore.”

Some of us are no longer willing to risk our churches, our people, and our ministries by placing them under courts that might defrock faithful men over mean tweets while refusing to deal with genuine corruption. We’re tired of endless committee meetings debating questions that were settled centuries ago while churches decline and wolves prosper.

We want to get back to shepherding.

We want to revitalize dying churches.

We want to plant new churches.

We want to raise up elders.

We want to train pastors.

We want to preach Christ.

Some people seem content to spend their lives standing on the sidelines wearing referee shirts and criticizing everyone else who’s actually playing the game. We’d rather take the field. If that means playing a little street ball while we build something healthier, so be it.

My prayer is that independent churches would stop being independent. I hope they increasingly join together in associations, fellowships, missions, or whatever name best fits their purpose. That is a move toward greater unity. It is a move toward greater order. Not greater division.

The older denominations should also recognize something. Membership in them may still confer legitimacy with older generations and in a few demographics. But many younger pastors and congregants see affiliation with them as a question mark, not a badge of honor. Institutional credibility is not inherited forever. It is sustained by faithfully preaching the Word, rightly administering the sacraments, and consistently practicing biblical church discipline.

When those things disappear, credibility disappears with them.

So onward and upward. Toward greater unity. Toward greater accountability. Toward greater order. Towards more revitalized churches and new churches in this nation of ours.

Let the referees squeal.

Just don’t let the sheep starve while the wolves grow fat.

P.S. Ohio Valley Churches’ website will be live here next week: www.ohiovalleymission.org. We hope to plant and/or help revitalize churches in smaller and mid-sized cities across Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.