A Response to George Robertson’s Plea to the PCA Regarding Dr. Bryan Chapell
The ongoing conversation about Dr. Bryan Chapell and the Stated Clerk position has revealed… I believe… a great deal about us as a denomination and the culture of Evangelicalism in America. Some of it is good. Some of it is… interesting. Some of it is concerning. There were the predictable reactions on social media, both for and against Dr. Chapell’s resignation/retirement. Though impossible to respond to all that has been written, I did want to “interact” with one particular article for two reasons. First, I greatly appreciated the heart of affection it expressed and second, the author is personally known to me and he even served as my pastor for a time (he did my pre-marital counseling).
Dr. George Robertson penned a brief letter to the Presbyterian Church in America[1] (I suppose it was addressed to the PCA in broad terms and not specifically addressed to the General Assembly or the Administrative Committee), “imploring” that we ask our commissioners to General Assembly to ask the Administrative Committee to approach Dr. Chapell to reconsider his decision to retire. It was a letter asking for grace and pleading that grace might prevail in reconciliation and reinstatement. It was a substantive, but also sweet appeal. I am always glad to see folks in the church express affection for each other. We need more of this.
However, while I do not relish disagreement with friends, colleagues and former shepherds, I do sometimes get crosswise with my “betters.” I must disagree with George in this matter. I am not in disagreement in seeing grace prevail, just what that might mean in this circumstance. I also disagree with his characterization of the TGC incident.
George claims the TGC incident was an anomaly for Bryan and that George, himself, learned to speak “words full of grace seasoned with salt” from Dr. Chapell. Well… it wasn’t an anomaly. He kept a running list of the “naughty.”[2] Such a list is born of a sustained attitude and disposition. One name on the list is a man who died more than 30 years ago. The list is proof itself of a sustained failing and not a momentary lapse in judgment. Flashing the list on video was a momentary lapse in judgment. What that moment revealed was not.
George points to the good Bryan has done and to his repentance as reason to keep him in the position of Stated Clerk. Indeed, the Lord has worked through Dr. Chapell to accomplish many good things. And as for his apparent repentance, wonderful! But just because a spouse is repentant of an extra marital affair and is generally a good person doesn’t mean he or she gets to stay in his or her marriage. I’m not equating Dr. Chapell’s actions with an affair but simply pointing to our repentance doesn’t mean we get to go back to the way things were.
And then George mentions many prominent people in the PCA. I thought there was an irony in this as Dr. Chapell had a “naughty” list and now George presents an anti-naughty list. Just as there was a list of people we shouldn’t be like and we shouldn’t listen to, there is a list of people we should respect. Their mention in an open letter like this is a way of rallying people to “the cause.” In this case, the cause is saving Bryan’s job. As such, though expressed with tact and even admiration, it felt like an appeal to the “it” crowd. “Look at all these wonderful and gracious… but also prominent and well-respected people in the PCA… Bryan is one of them.” I found this less than persuasive.
What I did find persuasive was George’s appeal to grace. I hear George’s plea to let grace prevail. But I have to say that Bryan’s current path speaks the more apt message for our day: pursue the path of humility even if it leads to obscurity. This too might be grace prevailing. Too often we see prominent people in some scandal and then, after a brief moment reproof, are restored almost immediately to their high perch. In our current cultural moment, this rarely feels like a triumph of grace. It feels like enablement. A leader willing to take his licks and go off into the sunset… off to a smaller place in humility… the path that Bryan is currently on… that might be a triumph of grace not just for those witnessing it, but the chastened as well. Maybe we shouldn’t tempt him with something else.
[1] Click here to see the letter.
[2] Many have characterized the list as an “enemies” list. I believe this is not a fair nor accurate description. I prefer to call it the “naughty” list. For more about the “naughty list” and what I think it says about Church culture at the moment, see my article “Presbyterian Polity and Dr. Bryan Chapell’s Naughty List”
Concord Solutions 