Machen's Unpopular Position

Working through a landmark Machen article, part 14

Now Machen says the quiet part out loud; now we come to doctrines disputed then and now—not “things about which men are agreed…apt to be the things that are least worth holding,” but “the really important things…things about which men will fight.”¹ The very mission and function of the church were at stake in 1935. Then as now, embroiling the church in politics and societal reconstruction was popular…and had popular support from academics (Machen’s audience here), denominational bureaucrats, politicians, and pewsitters. Whether it was the New Deal, Prohibition, Great Society, Compassionate Conservatism, Build Back Better, or the “reconquistas” of the various Christian Nationalisms of today, the urge was (and is) “Don’t just church there, do something!” The great doctrine of the spirituality of the church often conflicts with the spirit of any given age.

Machen was a New Testament scholar of the highest order, and he was pretty sure he understood the Great Commission and the teachings of Peter and Paul on the mission of the church and its relation to politics and government. Thus he said:

In the second place, you cannot expect from a true Christian Church any official pronouncements upon the political or social questions of the day, and you cannot expect cooperation with the state in anything involving the use of force. Important are the functions of the police, and members of the Church, either individually or in such special associations as they may choose to form, should aid the police in every lawful way in the exercise of those functions. But the function of the Church in its corporate capacity is of an entirely different kind. Its weapons against evil are spiritual, not carnal; and by becoming a political lobby, through the advocacy of political measures whether good or bad, the Church is turning aside from its proper mission, which is to bring to bear upon human hearts the solemn and imperious, yet also sweet and gracious, appeal of the gospel of Christ.

There is nothing novel or new here in Machen’s views. They are perfectly in line with Westminster Confession of Faith 31-4:

Synods and councils are to handle, or conclude nothing, but that which is ecclesiastical: and are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary; or, by way of advice, for satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate.

The church has a definite mission, but that mission does not always include everything Christians might wish. Spiritual weapons often lack the immediate, obvious, dramatic, discernible effects on the perceivable world that carnal weapons have. In the age of CGI and special effects where even guided missiles livestream their destruction in real time, we want something more. We want something akin to a big-budget Hollywood epic action-thriller. We want content-worthy tangible results we can post about…and we are not content with the ordinary plodding pace often required of pilgrims. “The church ought” to do this or that (preferably right now!) is a cry that will be heard in every earthly age, but the mission is, as Machen says, a mission to the heart. It often involves things as simple as speaking and hearing…sometimes seeing. The battles are largely fought in invisible realms and the inner reaches of the human soul by way of an appeal that is “solemn and imperious, yet also sweet and gracious.” This is the way the Gospel of Christ goes forth to conquer, and this is the mission of the church.

Read The Responsibility of the Church in Our New Age in full.
Listen to a fine reading of the article (39 minutes) by Bob Tarullo.

Stay tuned for future/final installments - by Brad Isbell

READ PART 13:

1. Introduction to Christianity and Liberalism.