Episode 120: Conversation with Rachel Ruis (Part 2)

"Pray for the future of the Christian Reformd Church. Pray that Synod would continue to be faithful to God, that we would do His will, and that God's name would be lifted up and glorified. Pray that His kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that it would be done throughout the Christian Reformed Church. Pray that we'd be reformed in a positive way and that we would move forward in a way that brings glory and honor to our God." -Jason Ruis

Summary of This Episode

This week on the Messy Reformation, Rachel Ruis continues to share what she has seen in the children’s ministry curriculum coming out of the CRC. She observes we may have a denomination full of leaders who want to stay in the “I wonder…” or mystery stage—wonder, converse, but don’t conclude—that’s a problem. Speaking truthfully and definitively is really important, in children’s ministry and otherwise, because teachers have a limited amount of time with their students. Rachel also supports children’s curriculum going deeper. Scripture provides us with real life cycles of people being bad and God’s judgment on them. Often the only message coming through the curriculum is “You’re God’s child. You’re so special.” While that’s true, there are other essential messages in Scripture that all ages need to know.
Those messages aren’t always “nice.” Jason shares about a recent sermon of his on John 6, where Jesus told the crowds that they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood. “‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” (v. 60). The Greek word for hard is “sklēros,” meaning “harsh, offensive, mean, violent.” Jesus didn’t back off; he doubled down. Many of the people left him at that point, and Jesus asked his disciples if they wanted to do likewise. Citing John Calvin, it’s a failure of the church to try and remove the offense of the gospel. Our denomination, in pursuit of being “culturally relevant,” seems to keep watering down the gospel so it doesn’t offend. Jesus was nice and gentle, but he also ticked people off, cleared the temple and people with a whip, called them children of the devil, brood of vipers, and whitewashed tombs. All the while, he was comfortable around sinners—there’s a tension that we are to live in with unbelievers in our lives.
Jason also talks about The Banner, the official CRC monthly publication. You would think it presents what our Christian Reformed faith is based on, and yet the opposite is often the case. As parents, it’s not always something they want their children to read. The Ruises address what might seem hypocritical—sheltering their kids from this while letting them be around the “filth” of teenage hockey culture. Their criticism is not that the Banner doesn’t deal with relevant topics for them, but it doesn’t provide solid biblically and confessionally faithful answers. It also features “I wonder”, inoffensive thinking, and ends up being offensive in the wrong way—being ashamed of what Jesus and Scripture teaches. Jason mentions G.K. Chesterton’s quote: “The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid.” Jason and Rachel share some ideas for how to raise children thinking about relevant topics.
Jason and Rachel paint a vision for what a denominational magazine should be focused on. Some of their favorite stories have featured what different churches and ministries are doing—not just to showcase but to motivate, “How can we bless our communities? How can we live out our faith? How can we try to be the hands and feet of Jesus out in the community?” Presently, those kinds of stories have a thinly-veiled social justice agenda behind them—not the gospel. Jason is frustrated by how other agendas are on display in the latest print-issue which has a full-page ad for “Better Together: A Third Way”—leading up to Synod 2023. Abide and All One Body had previously been denied ads because they push an agenda, but The Banner’s editor has responded to criticism now by claiming this group isn’t pushing an agenda, it’s just saying both ways are good and fine. That’s blindness. Their agenda is contrary to Synod 2022’s decisions, which determined sexual immorality is a confessional matter. We are not better together or united on this. You can’t be an officebearer and hold to this. Abide is in line with the CRC; Better Together is teaching and pushing against it.
Our denomination and its bureaucracy are broken, acting as blind guides. It is time for the local church to rise up, be empowered, and get involved. That means raising up leaders, creating our own solid curriculums, and discipling kids. Hopefully, Synod 2023 makes helpful decisions, but it starts at home. Rachel shares that she thinks this year’s Synod will be harder than last year—in this culture of being nice, someone’s feelings are going to be hurt. Jason shared that he is chairing an advisory committee overseeing the discipline of Neland Avenue and around 40 overtures about gravamina. They remind us that some of the significant votes around the HSR last year were 70% to 30%, providing hope of where we are as a denomination, and while it might be a little less this year, a two-thirds majority is still the hope. People are cynical about the future of CRC because of what they hear coming out of the bureaucracy, which does not represent and is not in line with the local church. Part of why the Messy Reformation and the Abide Project exist is to faithfully represent local churches throughout the CRC.
Jason and Rachel wrap up with some friendly but wise marital banter: "Be stubborn and be ready to repent…of your stubbornness when it goes wrong,” and, “Don't stay in the ‘I wonder’…Pray for the future of the Christian Reformed Church, pray that Synod would continue to be faithful to God, that we would do His will, and that God's name would be lifted up and glorified.”