My Journey

DISCLAIMER: This blog is my journey. It is not intended to sway your views, thoughts, or opinions.

The first several years of information provided about the Belhar from the RCA to local churches found its way very quickly (a matter of seconds actually) into my "round" file. I knew nothing about the Belhar before I realized that a decision was going to be made with or without me, so I read it and began to look at it more closely. And I must admit, I looked at it with a jaundiced eye. This was just a weak attempt, veiled in racial tones, to get the issue of homosexuality before the synod once more. Therefore I looked very closely at what might be a loop hole or subversive method of grandfathering social concerns into RCA doctrine and practice. I drafted an overture to reject it and led my Consistory into adopting that overture. Even though my Classis rejected the overture, I still came to synod with an intention to vote against it and a strong bias against it.

I must admit, also, that most of the Belhar I agreed with. The "I believe" statements are strong words that reflect my Christian beliefs. However, a couple of the "I reject" statements left openings that might allow almost any interpretation into the future of our synod deliberations.

But, I chose to come to synod with an open mind. I prayed that God would show me what I should see and what I would hear from all the participants ideas which would clarify for me if my initial understanding was where God wanted me to be.

Every objection that I have had to the Belhar has been answered for me to my satisfaction - at this point of synod. Tomorrow there will be more discussion and I will continue to listen. The concern about "social concerns" being forced down the throat of unwilling RCAers was answered in that the issue of homosexuality was addressed in South Africa, as it was introduced using the Belhar to support it and their synod rejected the idea. What that told me was: THE BELHAR CAN NOT AND WILL NOT DO ANYTHING TO US THAT WE DO NOT LET IT DO! We have nothing to fear in the Belhar regarding future events. We will cross that bridge when we get there together and trust our collective minds and hearts to do the right thing then as we have in the past and do today.

Other considerations are that passing the Belhar will be a statement to the world church that we support racial reconcilliation, justice, and unity. That is not something that I can take lightly. Also, it will be a step for us in recognizing prejudice and bias and, yes, racism in ways that, at least, I fail to see because it is so subtle. I really, honestly don't know if I am offending minorities in what I say or how I act. If I do, I want to change it. If I offend, simply because I am white, there is not a thing I can do about that, and others will have to get used to the fact that I am white.

Tomorrow is a watershed day. I am leaning toward voting in favor of the Belhar, which I would not have believed three days ago, but I am trusting God to continue to give me discernment on this issue. I remain open and will listen to every word offered, both pro and con.