Words and Action

I noted yesterday that seeing many good Anglican words not backed up by action is turning me a bit cynical. “Show me” is getting to be my attitude.

But here is a good example from the Global South of backing up words with action. The Archbishop of Kenya ceased public activities with the Bishop of Chelmsford when he become aware that +Gladwin supported Changing Attitude, a gay campaign church group.

Now, it would have been preferable if the Archbishop’s people would have done their homework before +Gladwin was in Kenya. It would have saved a lot of air fare and awkwardness. But still ++Kenya has shown by actions that support of blatant heterodoxy is not o. k. with him.

As the linked article notes, the Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago cancelled a visit from +Gladwin about a year ago when he co-signed a letter to the Times stating he was in full communion with the Episcopal Church after the Province of the West Indies declared their communion with ECUSA to be broken. Again, very direct and biblical action that makes clear that willfully supporting apostasy is not tolerable.

A church that truly cares about the Faith will engage in real discipline about the Faith. It’s not a coincidence that the decline in mainline denominations has been accompanied by a failure to discipline the Spongs, the Swings, the Spahrs etc. etc. with almost all the letters of the alphabet.

Having seen that mainline failure for years, that is what I look for: will a church back up its good orthodox-sounding words with the action of discipline . . . or not?