Functionally Liberal

You may know that in Revelation 2 and 3 Jesus addresses churches and repeatedly He says, "I know your deeds," not, "I know what you believe" or "I know what you think."

It's not, in my opinion, that what we believe and think is unimportant but, in the end, if what we believe and think is faulty the fault will bear fruit in actions that don't reflect the righteousness Jesus lived and taught.

So, all those centuries ago, Jesus made it simple for those churches and judged them by their deeds, even when the sin He found in a church traced to following false teachings.

Recently, I posted a disturbing passage from WE BELIEVE which describes the CGGC as valuing, among other things liberty in some areas of belief, charity in all things and the upholding of biblical truth only in a way that holds exercising personal freedom as being as important to us as upholding biblical truth.

And, I pointed out that these are the sentiments precisely reflect the convictions of the radically theologically liberal. And, they are.

The truth is that the people of the CGGC are not theologically liberal, yet, stunningly, delegates to General Conference approved that liberal language and gave that language supreme authority in our body.

Certainly, what we think is not liberal but what we profess to do in regard to biblical truth is radically liberal, even to the point that we balance the authority of the Word against each person's right to exercise personal freedom. In this way, our deeds are liberal. Radically, radically liberal.

Based on WE BELIEVE, we are functionally liberal.

But why?

One of my characteristics of the CGGC brand is: Mellow Relationships Over Truth.

Though we get to the bottom line in a different way than liberals do, we get to the same bottom line, one in which biblical truth is not our absolute authority. One in which the exercise of personal freedom is as important to us upholding the Word.

In the CGGC, for several generations, the seeking of placid, tolerant relationships has been the end all and be all, so much so that we could put language in WE BELIEVE that limits our quest to uphold biblical truth so as to allow for the exercise of personal freedom.
Sadly, while nearly all of us vehemently disagree with what liberals think, we end up holding the same value as far as the authority of biblical truth is concerned--at least according to WE BELIEVE , we do.

But, do we?

I don't.