The Gate Keeper Mentality (Theology)
In conversation with a colleague I ended up pondering gatekeeper mentality or theology in the Church. We had chatted around the Sacraments, preaching and more and it left me wondering about how the Church of Scotland (and other denominations I’m sure) have a gate keeper theology. Over the generations it has developed to protect God, doctrine and provides as we like in Presbyterianism - ‘good order’. However, does the gate keeper mentality actually curb innovation and creativity in the Church? We pass comment on the law books of the Pharisees yet the Church of Scotland Acts (laws) are not bed time reading either (unless you are an insomniac).
Those who know me will know that I have struggled throughout ministry to comprehend the gate keeper mentality. We protect worship through lists of named people (roles) who can lead worship in the absence of the minister. We protect the baptismal font through demanding ‘membership’ of the church, now open to an older generation or appointing an elder. Joining the Church as a member still comes with ‘admittance to the Lord’s Table’.
In our conversation I pondered out loud the value of this gatekeeper mentality. Arguably there is good purpose to it and can be justified by some. Surely if we welcome any and all at the Font, at the Table, preaching the Word we risk diluting the ‘presence of God’. I admit to sometimes feeling the same frustration as others when the church is ‘used’ as a backdrop to a celebration. Getting the wean done is more about the party than the sacrament. Yet the stories I hear from those turned away from the Font, the Table, the Word breaks my heart. For they don’t see us respecting God and preventing the dilution of his holiness. They feel rejection - that God can’t make space for them. I wonder who wins when we close the door? Again value judgements can be made for both decisions.
This gatekeeper mentality pervades Presbyterianism and has all but wiped out the Church. We say we believe in the priesthood of all believers but demand authorisation before we let anyone loose. We believe that children are (dare I say it…) the future of the Church and yet our budget (people, finance and resources) doesn’t invest them locally or nationally. Too many of us are trying to work around our Elders rather than work with them because we couldn’t put something in place that stopped them becoming gatekeepers. Too many members still see a visit from the minister as a ‘real’ visit from the Church. Too many members see the Church as there for them not for the parish. Genuinely something I love is the parish theology even if the outworking of that is about to become extreme in some areas. (Sending you love Andrea!). Where we engage with that properly we look beyond the congregation to the community!
Thing about a gate is that it opens and closes. Jesus said: I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:9 NIV). In the same passage he also describes himself as the Good Shepherd and we are to listen to his voice. He will call us and we will follow him.
The thing about being gatekeepers is that it gives us power. We get to say who can be baptised, who can eat at the Lord’s Table, who can preach the Word…yet as another colleague said if the Holy Spirit is working through a person who am I to criticise?
Jesus said ‘go into all the world and make disciples, baptise and teach’.
For me God is full of grace, mercy and welcome. We might encourage and exhort those around us to ‘go and sin no more’ but when it comes to the Font, the Table and the Word I hear Jesus say ‘let the one without sin cast the first stone’. God is more than able to deal with the pharisee and the tax collector after all.
In the words of the hymn - all are welcome. I figure if God can welcome me, break bread with Judas, talk theology with a Samaritan woman, forgive the prodigal child and turn Saul to Paul - well I ain’t getting in the way of that God.
Have a blessed week and take a break from guard duty! 😉💞
Love Sarah
