Exceptions & Frustrations
The Sabbath as a Test Case
Allow a little inside baseball. Here I’m talking mainly to or about ministers and elders who are on the baseball team that is Presbyterian and Reformed. The finest baseball team! I’m speaking to all those who unite with one another through the common confession, The Westminster Confession of Faith. It is this Confession that we’ve affirmed as a faithful summary of Christian teaching. If there are questions about what we believe the Bible says, we refer, fundamentally, to the Bible, but, also faithfully, to The Westminster Confession of Faith and its Larger and Shorter Catechisms (a.k.a., the Standards).
When Presbyterian and Reformed congregations search for and call a pastor, they look for a man who teaches and preaches the Bible in accordance with the denomination’s standards. When potential ministers, candidates of the gospel ministry, are examined by a presbytery (a group of teaching and ruling elders), the basis is the Bible, of course, but also as summarized in the Confession and Catechisms. It’s these documents that we collectively refer to as our doctrinal unity. Blest be this tie that binds! We affirm that we will teach, preach, counsel, and minister the Word of God in accordance with these beloved documents. All well and good.
One factor in these examinations is the conscience of the pastor or elder. What does he personally believe? That is, does he believe the Bible is accurately and precisely summarized in every particular phrase or concept as set forth in the Westminsterian documents? To ask the question is to answer it. Of course not. Not everyone affirms the exact same belief or practice as precisely written by the Westminster divines.
Enter exceptions. When a pastor or elder examines his own views in light of what these documents say, and if he finds himself not perfectly aligned, he registers an exception. He’s essentially saying, “I don’t exactly hold that view in the way it’s written here.” He offers his exception(s) in writing, and the other elders examine the view, talk with him about it, and then make a judgment on whether or not it’s an acceptable exception. By this is meant, “We agree that you do not hold precisely the view set forth in the Standards, but you can still believe it and be a member in good standing and serve in this denomination.” The two common exceptions relate to the Second and Fourth Commandments. For instance, some in the PCA will take exception to a phrase in WLC 109 about the prohibition of “mental images” of Jesus (“inwardly in our mind”). Taking this exception is truly a departure from the Standards, but this exception will not prevent someone from being ordained in the PCA. The aim in this post is not to tackle this exception. Maybe another time.
Consider the Fourth Commandment. Here’s what the WCF says about the Sabbath, or the Lord’s Day: “This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs before-hand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations, (Exod. 20:8, Exod. 16; 23, 25–26, 29–30, Exod. 31:15–17, Isa. 58:13, Neh. 13:15–19, 21–22) but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy” (WCF 21.8).
A lot has been said about this section and the parallel portions in the WLC (119) and WSC (61). Most Presbyterian and Reformed people don’t object or take exception until they come to the word “recreations.” This piece isn’t about defending the Standards’ use of the phrase. But let it be said that the men who wrote the Standards were Bible men. The words from the prophet Isaiah informed their statements. Isaiah 58:13-14 says, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” These verses are worthy of significant, joy-filling reflection. The Lord’s view of his Sabbath is an entirely positive one! The Sabbath is a day of joy, of delight, of safety, of nourishment. We are called to reject the self and receive the Sabbath. However, some will key in on the phrase “from doing your pleasure,” and say that today this is too broad a phrase, that surely God wants us to find pleasure on the Lord’s Day, and that we can find pleasure in “recreations.” Therefore, they reason, the WCF is too narrow when it forbids “worldly employments and recreations.”
Again, my concern is not to interpret Isaiah or defend WCF 21.8. I personally take no exceptions to the Confession. The phrase “recreations” probably doesn’t mean what many people think it means. The divines, for example, would not have forbidden a nice walk in the neighborhood, a father playing catch with his sons in the afternoon, or many other recreational activities.
My concern is narrow. My question is this, and it’s directed at those who take an exception to this or any other statement in the Standards. Will you be content when the pastor and/or elders teach a view in line with the Standards, a view that you don’t personally hold? I say this to our shame. Many Presbyterians take exceptions, sometimes a handful of them. I say this also to our shame. When someone says he takes no exceptions, some men challenge that, “Are you sure you don’t take any exceptions? Not even when the Confession or Catechism says…? Really?” To be fair, some men are not as familiar with the Standards as they should be, so maybe the question is valid. But sometimes the one asking the question is needlessly suspicious, as if it were wrong for a man not to take an exception.
My word to anyone who takes an exception is this. You can have your exception, but you don’t get to be frustrated when people teach and preach according to the Standards. You don’t get to complain or object. You can’t cry “Foul!” You can’t bring him up on charges to the Presbytery or your Session. The elder who is teaching or pastor who is preaching on what you find objectionable or exceptionable is doing nothing wrong. It’s you who are out of line with the Standards, and your Session or Presbytery graciously let you in, even knowing you don’t fully agree. And if you’re a pastor whose exceptions strike against the views of your elders (that is, the whole-hearted affirmation of the Confession by your elders), it’s you who need to clean up your convictions, not they. You can believe in Paedocommunion, but when they say, “No, we’re not doing that. The Confession doesn’t allow it,” you don’t get to cry to your Presbytery, nor should you look for ways to twist their arm or get rid of them. If your ruling elders are tighter than you on the Sabbath, that’s not their problem. It’s yours.
To put this in biblical categories, if you’re the weaker brother, you don’t get to strong-arm the stronger brother to the point of your weakness (Romans 14). It’s wrong to bring him down to your level. If you think drinking bourbon in itself is sinful, you’re the weaker brother. You may think it tastes like nail polish, but that’s no reason to look down your nose at someone who appreciates the drink. If you think smoking cigars is wrong in itself, you’re the weaker brother. Maybe the brother is smoking in excess. Fine, have the conversation with him about it. But he’s still free to smoke or not to smoke. If you think eating meat is a sign of weakness, you’re actually the weaker brother (spiritually, and probably physically. Put some meat on your bones!). You don’t get to be upset when you’re the offended one and your brother is simply following what your denomination heartily affirms or allows. You don’t get to say that he is being controversial. He’s simply teaching what the Session, Presbytery, or denomination believes is biblical.
If an elder or pastor is teaching on seven 24-hour days of creation, and you disagree, you have no reason to be frustrated. If your pastor or elder is teaching that having an image of Jesus “inwardly in our mind” is a violation of the Second Commandment, you can take it up with the Confession. He’s done nothing wrong. If your pastor or elder speaks against certain recreations (i.e., worldly recreations), then why get your britches in a bunch? He’s just stating what the Bible teaches, as summarized in the Confession.
Of course, none of the above is intended to mean that the pastor or teacher shouldn’t be sensitive to the people to whom he is speaking. He also must beware of imposing non-biblical sanctions on people. Does the Bible give a list of “acceptable recreations” and a list of “unacceptable recreations” for Lord’s Day activities? No, not exactly, and neither do the Standards. Therefore, neither should the pastor or elder. The pastor or elder should be in conversation with the men with whom he co-labors. The members of a church should know what the Confession says. Elders at the Presbytery level shouldn’t look with suspicion upon those who hold to confessional convictions.
We, both in the world and in the Church, have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that someone could disagree with us, especially on important matters. Admittedly, it would be nice if we all agreed on these important topics. Let’s keep the conversation going, allowing iron to sharpen iron. Have your exception, for whatever you don’t do or believe from faith is a sin (Romans 14:23). You might feel bad that someone else holds a certain, different view, but don’t make them feel bad about it. They feel good about it. They think it’s biblical. They think it’s freeing, not frustrating. So take your exception, but leave behind the frustration.
Rev. Dr. Michael Mock is the Pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Fresno, CA and an ACBC-certified Biblical Counselor. He’s the author of Hey, Dad, Why Do We…?: Kids Ask the Greatest Questions, Old Testament Introduction and Workbook, New Testament Introduction and Workbook, and Comfort from Corinthians: A Devotional Walkthrough of 2nd Corinthians for Sinful and Struggling Saints. You can find his books here: Amazon.com: Dr. Michael D. Mock: books, biography, latest update.