The Outstanding Need of the OPC
Lawrence Eyres
Extracted from Ordained Servant vol. 5, no. 3 (July 1996).
My entire life as a minister of the gospel is identical to the history of the OPC. I love the OPC and in no way wish to stand in judgment over her. In fact, I have often said that being in the OPC is like standing on the top of a mountain: no matter which way one goes from there it is down. But there is no perfect church this side of heaven, and I see red when some attribute to us the belief that OPC stands for Only Perfect Church! God, in his providence, brought me into the OPC through meeting and hearing Dr. Machen speak in the Wheaton College chapel some time during 1933 or 34. He came through to me as more than a scholar. He was man who lived in the consciousness of God. That influence brought me to Westminster Seminary in the fall of 1935.
I was doing summer work in New England under the Committee for the Propagation of the Reformed Faith during the summer of 1936 when the OPC was born. I transferred my membership to Second Parish Presbyterian Church, Portland, Maine, the following fall. And I’ve served as a pastor in the OPC for 58 years, beginning in the summer of 1938. I love the OPC, but she isn’t perfect.
What, in my view, could I wish for the OPC in future years? I would put it in one sentence: She needs an increased degree of God-consciousness. Not that it is altogether lacking, but I believe that our zeal for orthodoxy is not enough. That is essential, but, to borrow a phrase from R. B. Kuiper, mere orthodoxy by itself can become “orthodoxism.” To be true orthodoxy (in Kuiper’s parlance) there must be the fear of God—the sovereign God of Scripture. We know and worship that God in the OPC, but are we sufficiently conscious of his holiness, his sovereignty, the awfulness of his wrath toward sinners and the beauty of his grace toward his people at all times and in all that we do? Who would dare affirm that we do?
God-consciousness on the part of ministers and elders, the members of our several congregations and in the homes of our churches should be the prayer and the passion of the whole denomination.
Let me begin with her ministers. I should add that I hold to the two-office view, that elders and ministers of the Word share a single office, yet the teaching elder alone has the right and responsibility of the pulpit. It is a high right and an awesome responsibility. God-consciousness in the pulpit means unction. The teaching elder needs the anointment of the Spirit to fulfill his high calling.
I recall a conversation I had with a fellow minister many years ago. I stated then that I believed that we had need of great preaching. He countered that he believed the OPC had good preaching. To this I responded that there is a difference between great preaching and good preaching. I don’t remember how the conversation ended. If he remembers and reads this, maybe then he’ll understand what I meant. I can best illustrate the difference with two examples. The first is of the preaching of Robert K. Churchill. I served with him over two periods of several years each in two presbyteries. I count him as one of my best and most admired friends. I sat under his preaching on many occasions. And most always I was impressed with the sense that what the Scripture dealt with was the most important subject for me at that particular time. I don’t know how he did it. He never said so much, yet I felt it. He brought me to stand with him before Almighty God!
The other example is Prof. John Murray. I heard him deliver a message on the virgin birth of Christ at a Bible Conference in 1939. Later I thanked him for the sermon. He fixed his good eye upon me and said, “Lawrence, that was not a sermon; it was a lecture.” I asked him what, in his mind, was the difference between a sermon and a lecture? He said, “A sermon has passion!” Well, I had listened to him lecture for more that two years, and he lectured with passion. But his sermons were more passionate still. R. B. Kuiper didn’t put this into his lectures on the ideal homily, though he too preached with passion. But the point was well taken, (I might add in passing that another lecturer who lectured with passion was E. J. Young.) The unction, or passion, of which I’m speaking is often lacking in good OPC sermons (mine included) for what seems good reason. OPC preachers—especially those with small, struggling congregations—have a lot on their plate. There’s calling on newcomers, the sick and the troubled. And there’s management of many things that aren’t specifically identified in his call. And sermon preparation is demanding. The result is a sermon that’s good, delivered by a worn-out preacher. Everything is prepared but his own heart. He feels hurried and harried. People have asked me how long it takes to prepare a sermon. My offhand answer is as much time as there is. Do we struggle with the text—not to know what it means, but with the fact that God is speaking through us in this Word? Have we struggled, wrestled with God, till we feel the awesome weight of our responsibility to “preach as a dying man to dying men”? If we are too busy for this kind of preparation, then we’re too busy! For the minister of the Word, this is the most pressing need of the OPC.
And where do the elders fit into all this? First and foremost, they are responsible for the minister of the Word—especially in the matter of his unction in preaching. I’ve served six congregations as an installed minister and a couple more as interim. I’ve had some excellent elders. And I’ve urged all my sessions to instruct me as to what I should preach on and as to how to get through to my people every Lord’s Day. But they usually smiled satisfied smiles and said nothing. One elder was different. Often he’d stop by my office on his way home from work and ask how my preparation was going. I’d tell him. Then we’d pray together for the message for Sunday. How I longed for that kind of support and for the assurance that these men, as a body, were upholding me in earnest prayer daily and during the preaching. Since retirement, I pray silently for the pastor as he enters the pulpit, and often through the preaching. I also pray that my heart will lay hold of the proclamation.
One pastor I know has a session which literally works with him for the improvement of his preaching with an eye to his better reaching the congregation with the message. He is no mean preacher. But he welcomes their interaction with him in pulpit ministration.
It was my privilege to serve as ministerial adviser to a session in a nearby church recently. As such I was a part of the session for several months until a pastor was called and installed. What a session! Members of the church frequently came bringing personal and spiritual problems. Business was set aside. The concerns were aired and discussed. Counsel was given. When all was dealt with, we all engaged in prayer for the brothers and sisters before us—not polite, short prayers, but caring intercession. My heart was blessed. That’s what elders are for.
Then there is the matter of discipline. Hebrews 13:17 requires obedience to church rulers as to “those who must give an account,” those who “watch for your souls.” Where does God-consciousness come into the work of the normal session if not at this point? It comes with the conviction that they are accountable for the souls under their care. They may not be respecters of persons—even if those under their care are relatives or friends. I remember one ruling elder who refused to be excused while dealing with his own daughter. Eldership is a costly function: it costs anguish and tears, even the loss of an esteemed friendship. God-conscious elders do not represent some minority in the congregation with whom they happen to agree. All elders represent Jesus Christ and him alone! In matters of judicial discipline and making judgments based on the Word of God, let them resolve to speak with one voice. You see, they represent one Christ whose will is revealed in one Bible! Since they are bound by the same vows and have understanding of the faith “once for all committed to the saints,” there ought to be agreement among them in the government of the church. This calls for God-consciousness!
It is my conviction that, with a session with such unity of faith and understanding of God’s will for his church, nothing can come to the church that they cannot deal with, even though grief and loss may be the price to pay. But if there is serious division in the spiritual rule of the church, the enemy of all righteousness can and will enter the church and wreak destruction. He has succeeded in destroying more than one Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
— to be continued —
Rev. Lawrence Eyres was a student at Westminster Seminary when the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was established. He was ordained by that body in 1938 and so his ministerial career—if you include his training under Dr. Machen—spans the entire sixty year history of our Church. He is the author of an exceptionally fine book on the eldership entitled The Elders of the Church. He spoke of the early days in our history at the banquet marking the sixtieth anniversary of the OPC, during the recent General Assembly.