Reformed Church or Reformed Ghetto?

W. Vanderkolk. Trowel and Sword, December 1964

Preamble: “Ghetto • a part of a city …… occupied by a minority group or groups. • an isolated or segregated group or area.” In this hard hitting article, written a mere 3 years before his tragic death while on a holiday with his family, Rev. William Vanderkolk wrote passionately about what he saw as a Reformed Church in danger of becoming inward looking and isolated from the world around it. It makes me wonder what he would think of the CRCA today. He closed his article with the following: “One can only wonder how much longer God will have patience with a pleasure seeking nation and a lazy church.”

Reformed Church or Reformed Ghetto

Our New Zealand churches have so their own problems to cope with. At one of their Synods a report was studied which dealt with the character of their church life. The problem was posed whether they had to go the Reformed way or the Presbyterian way as far as their form of church government was concerned.

About the character of our church life many an interesting article could be written. Suppose I would ask any outsider right now what he would consider our character to be, he most likely would answer: Dutch – irrespective of the fact whether we call a presbytery classis or a synod general assembly. Personally I think there is nothing wrong with this. I still must meet the first Presbyterian who feels ashamed about the typically Scottish character of his kirk, or an Anglican who excuses the typically English set-up of the Church of England. The Dutch character of a church, instituted by Dutch migrants is the most natural thing in the world and I can see no reason why we should make all these frantic efforts to get rid of it. A church without any flavour at all, seems to me a long way worse than a church with a Dutch flavour. As long as one thing is clearly understood. At all times we want to retain the character of a Reformation church, a church which traces back its pilgrim’s procession to the light which was kindled in the 16th century and which crashed in all its brightness upon the darkly glowering face of Europe. We want to retain the character of a church which is so overawed by God’s grace and love, that it has no other choice but simply follow its Lord.

It seems to me perfectly senseless to worry about the Dutch character of our churches. It seems to me an urgent matter to pay heed to the Reformation character of our churches. As Churches of the Reformation we have a stupendous task. It is our calling to proclaim in our land the principles of the Calvinist Reformation. This task asks for the zeal and vigour of the Early Church. It asks from our denomination the willingness to touch the nerve of Australian life and to seek continually ways and means to be related to our environment. If our churches are truly Christ’s, if our churches are living out of the Spirit which He has sent, they will naturally and necessarily enter into this mission relationship with our society. After all, the church was created a testimony to Jesus Christ. Whenever our churches and the world meet, there mission comes into being. In other words: mission is not first of all a programme which the church carries on. Dr. J.H. Nederhood says: “It is the inevitable event which occurs when the Church’s supernatural being contacts the world, when the life which has been bestowed upon the Church touches the death that sin brings”: (“The Church’s Mission to the Educated American, p• 19”). I think we do well to ponder upon these words. It is utter folly to our churches to become excited about foreign missions while remaining nonchalant about the relationship to our environment at home.

If we are unrelated to our environment we are no longer Reformed Churches but Reformed Ghettos. In a ghetto we can live very comfortably. We can build up a huge organisation with many committees, which produce many important reports. The outside world, however, will never read these reports and will leave us to ourselves. A ghetto does not influence its environment. This “ghetto” character we must avoid at all costs.

We must come to grips with the world in which we live. Of course this is easier said than done. Enormous problems confront us here. What are we to do to have churches with the missionary zeal we read about in the New Testament? More than one minister in our churches complains of the spiritual apathy he meets with time and again. Often it seems that our people cannot be stirred any more. They seem indifferent. Sufficiently orthodox and conservative to accept the Reformed position as the truly Biblical one, they nevertheless seem to sail in a heavy, spiritual fog. They seem so very tired of all the good things a minister or elder has to say.

What to do about such a situation? I don’t think there is a simple remedy. Let those of us, however, who can see which issues are at stake, fervently pray that the Spirit may be revived once more in the midst of the Church. Apart from praying, let us work also. Nothing is more liberating than work, especially when this work is a Christ given commission. The work I am referring to is not the work within the organisation. However valuable, it is no more than “ghetto” work. It is a good thing that in our churches there are always people willing to serve as members of the Board of Management, youth club committee, bible study group committee, ladies’ guild committee etc. The church could not function without them. But let us never see such a committee as an end in itself. All these committees must aid the church to do its real work: to be a testimony to Jesus Christ in a sinful world.

Many of our church problems would disappear, if we could stop being very busy with ourselves, and if we could start being compassionate with the perishing world around us. This is an urgent matter. Time is running out. Australia is a nation greatly blessed with material wealth. This wealth did not produce a people thankful to the Lord. On the contrary, God’s blessings helped Australia become a thoroughly godless and hedonistic nation. It is high time that our churches become out and out aggressive churches. One can only wonder how much longer God will have patience with a pleasure seeking nation and a lazy church.

In a following article we will give a few possibilities of organised evangelism work. 

W. Vanderkolk

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