Hello Beloved:
I’d like to revisit a vital discussion here at SGM Refuge by directing you to a page that deals solely with the subject of ecclesiastical polity (or, church government) and its relationship to my beloved Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM). It is also linked on the page menu bar under the header at the top of this screen. It will be a standard, foundational page here at SGM Refuge & Reform; that’s how strongly Jim and I feel on the matter.
This page on polity is the combination of several posts I made here, with a few changes in mind:
(1) The Star Wars allegory and imagery have been removed.
(2) I’ve tried to remove as much sarcasm, personal jabs and inflammatory language as possible, without weakening a necessary sharpness in examining polity and its critical issues that are being addressed.
(3) I have tried to do some mop-up (editing) to make it a unified, cogent statement. That being said, I am open to anyone pointing out items or sections that need to be corrected, be it spelling, grammar, references, redundancies, etc.
(4) Newer material and information has been added after doing more research on the subject.
(5) My final goal in changing this material is to make it available for members of the flock to print up and use as a more formal structure for discussion on the topic. Don’t use it as a club to beat up pastors and leaders whom you have nothing more than a personality clash with. I would especially ask that you use it as a document of direct inquiry when asking the civil but tough questions about SGM polity in order to provoke reform within SGM.
Many thanks are due to those who have pointed me to more material available on the subject.
These changes were not made grudgingly. I sincerely desire reform within SGM, and do ask forgiveness for any sinful manner in which the issue of polity was addressed or presented. With that in mind, Sovereign Grace Ministries’ theology of polity still needs serious review, and in the opinion of many like myself, reform.
Jim and I could never seem to have a conversation without returning to this subject many times, as so many ills in our churches -within and without SGM’s oversight and sphere of influence- stem from a poor foundation or implementation of polity. That is my primary motivation behind this analysis and call for radical reform: This is the church, beloved of God, the Bride of Christ… the one He will return for.
So let’s revisit polity with sobriety.
Polity impacts everything we do as a church. We cannot keep hitting the snooze button over and over on this matter. The alarm will keep going off.
In Christ because of Christ,
~Protestant Knight
TO READ COMMENTS AND JOIN DISCUSSION ON THIS, CLICK THIS LINK.