Come, Let us Reason Together - American Reformer

A friendly response to Ben Saunders

In a fraternal response to my article, “Burnham Among the Churches,” Ben Saunders has offered an alternative analysis of the managerial revolution that is overtaking the contemporary churches of the West. Writing from Australia, Saunders’ perspective comes from the farthest flung outpost of Western Civilization.

We are agreed that a managerial revolution is taking place in the church. I may go so far as to say that we are both agreed that this represents a fundamental change in the nature of the church as such and that recognizing this change is the first step in combating it.

Saunders notes that the “revolution” is following two trajectories. First is the impact of civil law upon the church as evidenced by the increased regulation from national bureaucracies upon the church in Australia. This increased regulation is tied to the tax code, the weapon of choice in the modern liberal democracy. Remember Al Capone? In Australia, this necessitates the employment of a permanent staff to navigate this “labyrinthine taxation system” and complex systems of law.

The second is the increasingly bloated and prescriptive code books of the church. This is evidenced by the PCA’s BCO which, in 2023, runs to 413 pages.

Let us consider each trajectory in turn. The impact of civil law upon the church, as described by Saunders, is jurisdictionally determined. In the States, this was most clearly seen during the coronavirus outbreak and response. A feature of life in America, which is far different from the rest of the former British Empire, is the tradition of resistance to state overreach. It is in our blood and our Bill of Rights. The other factor to consider here is the two-tiered system of government we have in the States. There is the Federal Government which issues high level regulations and laws. Then there are the State Governments which the Federal Government needs to enforce their regulations. Without the cooperation of the State Governments, Federal regulations would mean nothing. As I understand it, this is far different from the way things are in Australia and Canada.

During the coronavirus response you saw this American tradition play out. In Virginia, where I was ministering at the time, the governor issued very restrictive executive orders directly affecting churches. The rationale for this was an exaggerated form of empathy. We were told that abiding by the executive orders issued by then Governor Northam was the way to “Love our Neighbor.” On the Eastern Shore of Virginia a minister was arrested for holding services during the coronavirus outbreak. In South Carolina, however, the executive orders that were issued explicitly exempted the church from their scope.

All this is to say that, while in Australia broad scope government regulations may be impacting the church, in America the tradition of resistance to tyranny is still alive and offers good protections where there is a will to follow the lead of our forefathers.

The increasing size and scope of church code books (BCOs, policies, etc.) is well taken. Saunders rightly locates this tendency in neglect of natural law and its place in governing the church and the state. This is where our agreement is deeper than our disagreement on this question.

When I say that empathy is the filling the place of technical skill in the life of the church, I am employing Burnham’s analysis metaphorically. In Burnham’s analysis, he highlights technical skill as the virtue the managers brought to the companies. This virtue is what made them valuable at first. This was also what ultimately led to their takeover of the institutions of capitalism. Technical skill was the occasion for the managers to begin their takeover. Mutatis mutandis, in the church the production of saints is the actual concrete work she does. The managerial revolution in the church is happening through the occasion of empathy being valued as the key skill in ministering to sinners being transformed into saints.

It seems to me that Saunders is correct when he describes the observed phenomenon of increased bureaucratic codes regulating the church. This, however, is not what I am highlighting. I am trying to understand the essence, the ethos of this revolution. I want to identify the internal thought patterns and motivations for churches to go down this road. And I think I have.

When empathy is valued as the primary skill in the work of the church, the other necessary skills will be devalued. Knowledge of the Scriptures, discernment between good an evil, willpower to suffer for righteousness’ sake, love for God above and before any other subordinate loves, all these are being devalued before our very eyes. Why? As Protestants, why would we do this? My thesis is because we are shifting from valuing those things the Scriptures commend in ministers to those things the world commends in therapists, i.e empathy.

It seems, then, that we agree more than we disagree on this question.

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