Recent news, especially Canadian Archbishop Crawley’s threats against Bishop Anderson, has me thinking a lot about church authority. My thoughts are a bit voluminous and jumbled, so if it seems I’m thinking out loud, I probably am.

(By the way, we need to be praying for Bishop Anderson. He is standing in the gap for the orthodox and is taking heat for it. See the link on yesterday afternoon’s post for details.)

I do have very mixed feelings and thoughts on church authority. I think that comes from my crossed wiring in part. I am very committed to the authority of the Bible and am provoked when I see church authorities willfully go against that. But I have always had an independent non-conformist streak. And I hate legalism to boot.

There’s also mixed experiences. I’ve been provoked by seeing liberals use church authority to kick conservative congregations out of their church buildings, first in my mother denomination (Presbyterian), then elsewhere. That was the fate of the congregation that helped lead me to Christ. On the other hand, I’ve been provoked by church authorities not doing anything in the face of blatant apostasy and blasphemy. Even the Southern Baptists were guilty of such inaction in my eyes for a time.

And I’ve mentioned both the positive and negative experiences I had with church authority at previous churches.

I won’t get into much detail here. But these mixed currents complicate my church search now. I want a church that cares enough about the authority of Scripture to exercise church discipline and authority accordingly. But I don’t want to be under controlling or even remotely legalistic authority. (“Yeah. Good luck, Mark,� I hear someone thinking.)

Anyway, one reason I pick on ++Crawley among others is I see him getting it wrong on church authority both ways. When Bishop Ingham crams gay marriage down the throats of his diocese and persecutes those who will not put his authority above God’s, Crawley doesn’t lift a finger to stop him. But if conservative bishops or even conservative Primates from other dioceses step in and try to give relief to beleaguered orthodox parishes, ohhhh boy, watch out! Crawley will throw the Canons at you!

And Crawley is not alone in this peculiar legalistic geographic fundamentalism. Elsewhere in North America, bishops who have a long history of disregarding Biblical authority, who allow all sorts of outrage, heresy, and blasphemy in their dioceses (and commit more that a little of it themselves) – these same bishops often revive the Spanish Inquisition for conservatives who seek to give or receive relief across diocese lines.

Of course, what’s happening is these bishops don’t give a flip about Biblical authority; but, oh boy, do they care about their own authority, especially authority over property in their parish.

It’s really quite nuts. If the bishops cared about Christian witness and peace in the church, why not flex and let parishes have alternative bishops (or AEO for Adequate Episcopal Oversight as its called. And, to their credit, there are a few bishops who do flex in this way, namely the Bishop of Alaska.)? Many conservative North American Anglicans are bending over backwards trying to somehow stay in the Anglican Communion. Why not accommodate them?

Or do the bishops secretly want the conservatives out while keeping their parish property in? I can’t read minds, but the actions of several liberal bishops make that a fair question.

Well, there’s much more I could say. And I’ll surely say it in due time.