GAFCON: Why this Anglican Conference matters to all Christians – Part 2
By Fiona McLean
Striving for unity
God calls his people to be “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents” (Philippians 1:27). Striving for gospel unity will take wisdom and humility. Satan would love to see GAFCON implode and fracture over non-essentials, such as differences in strategy or style. We need to think clearly about what issues are worth dividing over, and do our utmost not to let non-essential differences divide us, while at the same time working towards a common mind on what the Bible teaches.
We need to keep repenting, acting in humility, being aware of our own failures and our tendency to self-righteousness and arrogance and hard-heartedness. If we act without love, all our striving is worthless (1 Corinthians 13). It was reassuring that the conference statement included several clear calls for those within GAFCON to keep repenting.
GAFCON Anglicans will need to remember that there are faithful Anglicans who are not (yet) part of GAFCON. Some faithful Anglicans will straddle both GAFCON and Canterbury; different people will have different convictions about the ’tipping point’ for leaving/separating, and we will need to exercise grace and patience with one another.
The cost of faithfulness
GAFCON was a reminder that it is costly to stand for truth and to oppose those preaching a false gospel. As some in Northern America reported, standing for truth has meant losing church buildings, pensions, a secure income, comfort and convenience. Other Christians, such as those in parts of Nigeria, live in circumstances where they face losing their lives or their families. Faithfulness is costly in terms of the emotional toll of opposing those in leadership, to whom, under ideal circumstances, we should submit with grace and loyalty. It is costly in terms of broken relationships, as not all members of congregations and dioceses make the same decisions at the same time to separate. It is painful to keep asking, “Is this the right thing to do? Is this worth the cost?” It is painful because the process of reform and renewal is going to be messy and complicated for years to come. The fight is not over: in fact, it will continue until Christ returns.
Our ultimate source of hope
Encouraging though the GAFCON movement is, it is wonderful that it is not our ultimate source of hope. The Church is God’s, not the GAFCON Primates’, not the Archbishop of Canterbury’s, not the Africans’, not the West’s. God’s Church is not exclusively Anglican (that should be a relief to you Baptists and Presbyterians and others out there!). And God will preserve his church. Those of us involved in GAFCON would be humbled and delighted if God keeps using this movement to grow and strengthen and purify his church; but we need to remember that he doesn’t need us. We need him.
Further reading: Faith in a Time of Crisis by Vaughan Roberts and Peter Jensen.
Fiona McLean and her husband Gus have four children. Gus is a secondary teacher in a state school. Fiona works as the Women’s Discipleship Minister (half-time) at the Unichurch congregation at St Jude’s, Carlton in Melbourne; with her family. She also serves at St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Greythorn, and is a committee member of the Victorian Chapter of TGCA