Word-Based

This next core biblical value of the CRCA should not come as a surprise to you.   We are Word-based.   We are committed to biblical preaching, teaching, training, and equipping.

In this series of blogs we are looking at the Biblical values that shape the culture of the CRCA, a contemporary, Reformed, gospel-focused denomination.   We have already looked at the first value:  Contemporary Reformed.   As churches we are both confessional and contextual.  This blog will consider the value of being Word-based.

Remember this list of core biblical values we are looking at is not a new list of ideas that a committee came up with.   Quite the opposite.   In fact, these biblical values have been embedded in the life and ministry of the CRCA denomination for over a half a century.   The values describe who we are, what we value from what God teaches us in His Word.   This is especially true when it comes to the core value of being Word-based.  When I ask churches from one end of Australia to the other, both leaders and members, what is most important to them, on the top of the list is the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God.   This is universally true of all our churches.  There are numerous testimonies of those who say the reason they have joined the CRCA is because of high value our churches put on the Word of God, both in preaching and in practice.

While this core value is resident in the hearts of CRCA people, pastors, and churches, we need to keep reminding ourselves of what it means to be Word-based.   Yes, this refers to the Reformed emphasis on Biblical preaching and teaching.  This clearly echos the words of the Belgic Confession which lists "the pure preaching of the gospel" as the first mark of a true church.  When people come to any one of our churches they can expect the Bible being opened, explained, and applied when sermons are given.   But to be Word-based means more than just Biblical preaching and teaching.  In fact, to be Word-based impacts everything we do as churches.   To echo the words found in the Belgic Confession:  to be Word-based means that we govern ourselves according to the pure Word of God.   The Bible is foundational to everything we do as churches.  As we pray.  As we worship in song.   As we reach out to the lost.   As we disciple new Christians.   As we train leaders.   As we equip God's people for works of service.   As we engage in church development, church revitalization, and church planting.   The first and the last word of all we endeavour to do is the Word of God.

This core value of being Word-based might sound polemical in our modern day where truth has become relative.   To quote Mark Dever again, as I did in a previous blog, "Today people believe to be true simply what they desire to be true."   In the face of current trends, the culture of our churches is shaped by the Word of God, which we believe is truth.  Absolute truth.  The Bible is our guidance system, the compass that sets the course for our ongoing journey as Christians and churches in an ever changing world.  We are unapologetically Word-based.

You might wonder where this emphasis on the Word of God comes from.  This comes from the Word of God itself.   The Bible bears testimony that it is sufficient for everything we do as individuals as well as churches.   In the words of the familiar children's Bible song:  "The B-I-B-L-E, yes, that's the book for me.  I stand alone on the Word of God.  The B-I-B-L-E."  This song simply repeats what we read in 2 Timothy 3:16-17:  "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right.  Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work."   This is our conviction as a CRCA denomination.   The Bible is sufficient to give us everything we need to do every good work -- the good work Jesus has called us to do as salt and light in this world (see Matthew 5:13-16).

Jame Montgomery Boice,  Senior Minister of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia(USA) from 1968 until his death in 2000, said that the question facing the church in the 21st century would not be that of the nature of Scripture, but that of the sufficiency of Scripture.  Is the Bible enough?   Can we stand on the Bible alone?   Can we achieve our missional vision as churches through the Word of God alone?   Can we reach the lost for Christ and grow the church just by teaching the Bible?   Can we see healthy churches thrive in ministry and people effectively equipped for gospel service by using the Bible as our ultimate guide?    Will "justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream" (Amos 5:24) in our communities and world if we build our lives and our churches on nothing else but the Bible?

The resounding answer to those questions and all others as we seek to be the church of our Lord Jesus Christ is this:  having the Bible we have all we need to do all that God asks of us as churches.   We are Word-based.   And at the heart of the Word of God is the gospel - good news!   More about that next week!