It used to be that the Presbyterian church had one of the greatest mission organizations of our time. As late as 2010, they were still supporting 200 missionaries. However, based on financial considerations, they have now decided to completely shutter their missions agency. What, you might wonder, has created that situation? (You can read about this at: https://ministrywatch.com/presbyterian-church-usa-closes-missions-agency/.)
Well, seemingly, it was primarily a financial decision based on the massive contraction of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA). That denomination has been declining rapidly over the last number of years. As recently as 1983, the denomination had about 3 million members. They are currently down to 1.09 million and continuing to decline.
The most obvious reason for their decline is that, over the last few decades, the denomination has become increasingly theologically liberal. It was already bad enough in 1973 that conservatives in the denomination split off to form a new denomination – The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) (which is growing, by the way).
Along with becoming more theologically liberal, the PCUSA completely shifted the emphasis of their missionary work. Whereas they used to be focused on proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, and planting new churches, their contemporary focus has been on community transformation – and not in the spiritual sense. With that as a focus, it is not at all surprising that decline and subsequent financial distress has occurred.
Of course, the PCUSA is not happy with the situation they find themselves in. And it is quite natural that they do not like being in a position where they are declining to the point of having to relinquish work they have been doing for years.
However, it seems that their biggest concern is not simply that they are having to pull out of places where they have been doing “ministry.” What they are most concerned with has to do with who will fill void they are leaving. And it’s probably not what you think.
Eighty-one of the mission co-workers who have had to leave their posts wrote the following note questioning the denominations decision to close the missions agency:
“When progressive Christians, communions, and mission-sending organizations leave a mission field, their absences are inevitably and invariably filled with voices, personnel, and mission partners who view Jesus and his ministry differently, in less inclusive and liberating ways …. Specifically, this impacts work with women and the ordination of women, with people in the queer community, and with communities on the margins.”
In other words, the concern was not that less people would be hearing the gospel. It was that the void they leave will probably be filled by evangelicals who have an emphasis on evangelism rather than on social justice. That tells you all you need to know concerning the decline of the denomination.
When God created mankind, He made us “in His image.” In other words, we have a deep seated need to know and personally relate to God. The emphasis on social justice simply does not draw people into a relationship with Him. It is a false gospel that ignores a relationship with God to focus on people’s earthly needs (and wants).
Now, of course, it is not a bad thing for Christians to recognize people’s temporal needs and reach out to help them. That is certainly pleasing to God. But it is not an end in itself. God’s purpose for mankind is to know Him, not to be physically comfortable. And when Christians reach out to help others in Jesus’ name by satisfying some of their temporal needs, it is not merely to help them, but to point them to God who can fulfill their deepest needs. Based on a biblical worldview, Christian social activity is not an end in itself, it is a means for believers to share with those who are separated from God the fulfillment of the deepest need they have – to know Him.
The focus of the PCUSA is not based on a biblical worldview. It is based, primarily, on a naturalistic worldview, with its inspiration coming primarily from Marxism. Rather than focusing on leading individuals to know a personal relationship with God, their collectivist, temporal goal is to “help the oppressed overcome the mistreatment of their oppressors.” But there is no biblical definition of what that means. These social justice warrior groups decide for themselves what groups they will consider oppressed, and which ones are oppressors. Then they go out and they try to solve the problem through social and political action. Thus, salvation, for them, is dedicated to advocating for causes such as abortion, gay rights, transgender rights, racial justice, promotion of illegal immigration, and other left-wing political causes.
For Christians, the issue is not about left or right wing political causes. All that is important is whether or not it is a biblical cause – the first and foremost being whether or not a person knows a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.