GENEralities

There once was an Emperor, so the story goes, who was led to believe that a new set of clothes he was having tailored would be made of fabric so fine that only those who were sophisticated and intelligent would be able to see it. The outfit would be invisible to those who were incompetent or stupid.

People who did not want to be seen as incompetent, stupid or, in other versions of the story, as low-born, illegitimate or cuckolds were under some considerable pressure, therefore, to “see” the fine fabric. Most did, except for one innocent character, a child, who was not aware of the social pressures in the situation and who therefore, simply saw what he or she saw and spoke the truth. “The Emperor has no clothes! The King is naked!” Or, as Danny Kaye sang: “The king is in the altogether, but altogether…” The realization then swept through the crowd watching the Emperor pass by in all his “finery” until even he became uncomfortably aware it was true. By then, however, the thing had gone too far, so he carried himself even more proudly, and his chamberlains walked along behind him, carrying a train that wasn’t there.

Since General Synod I am convinced that the leaders of the Anglican Church of Canada are making and fitting a new set of clothing for our church, an outfit which they say is very fine and becoming. Much of Canadian society agrees. The Anglican Church, reasonable people in the know say, is becoming very well dressed in tolerance and understanding. I’ve even been told that our church is “leading the way” in this regard. But I fear we have leaned so far over in our efforts to speak to and to accommodate the modern world that we have fallen in.

Garments (or helmets) of salvation are no longer necessary because a loving God can’t possibly hold people accountable for the way in which they live their lives. After all, it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe in something.

Breastplates of righteousness are no longer necessary because we are consenting adults and we’re okay and so must everyone else be.

Swords of the Spirit are a nasty, antiquated, militaristic notion.

Shields of faith are unnecessary because the concept of there being a Satan and evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God is simplistic—not for intelligent, thinking people. And so good, kind, loving, faithful people are tragically misled and find themselves experiencing that corruption and destruction first-hand.

To complete the new outfit, we won’t need the shoes of the gospel any more because the Age of Enlightenment has shown us it is unkind and unreasonable to say that some people may not get to heaven (if indeed there is such a place).

Meanwhile, we are encouraged to be reasonable and to get on board by admiring the new suit of clothes. Most of us don’t want to be seen as intolerant, stupid, unkind or as, horror of horrors, a fundamentalist. Sometimes it is very tempting to just go along with it all, just to belong.

But the new suit really isn’t a suit at all. It is a stripping away of the church’s Garments of Salvation, the Christ with which Paul calls us to clothe ourselves. The effects of this stripping can be seen in our church in three ways.

First, is our lack of evangelism. As Bishop Claude Payne & Hamilton Beazley, write in their book, Reclaiming the Great Commission: a Practical Model for Transforming Denominations and Congregations, (Jossey-Bass, 2001): 

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH declared the 1990s the “decade of evangelism,” thereby suggesting that evangelism was a temporary program worthy of the churches attention for ten years. It was a classic error of the maintenance church. (p.124)

The Anglican Church of Canada shared in this classic error.

Second, is our financial disarray. Another biblical principle from which we have been excused is the tithe. This is why we need fund-raising campaigns and an apportionment formula such as the one used in our diocese—10% of the first $60,000 of parish income and 20% of anything above that. Then the national church calls for 26% of our diocesan budget. Financial growth is inhibited.

Third, biblical standards of sexual behaviour are being stripped away from the church’s teaching.

How shall we respond to this new suit of clothes? Like the child in the story, we need to look carefully at what our church is wearing these days and at what our leaders want it to wear. Then we need to tell them what we really see and don’t see in what is being presented to us. We must risk being seen as foolish or simplistic. We must speak the truth with love.

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