“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19,20)  That is how the church may stand up in this world, sent, by Christ himself, to pass on the great news of the Gospel, covered by the promise of the King of the church, that he who has sent her will not abandon her to her own lot, but will be with her, even to the end of the world.

That is the church, the living congregation of Christ, called by him out of the world to belong to him and sent into the world to proclaim the gospel and to live according to that gospel until he returns.  But, beside this "picture" of the church, we could also place another picture: namely, that of the church as an established, institutionalized church, the church as an organization bound by all sorts of laws and rules, with, as a crown on top of all this, a church order.  Those two pictures are, we feel, very far separated from each other.

They are separated to such a degree that it has been said that church law is a contradiction in terms.  The German lawyer, Rudolph Sohm (1841-1917) said, “Church order is a contradiction to the being of the church,”  for “the being of the church is spiritual, the being of law is worldly.”  Every form of legal order was, for him, a destruction of the direct and living manner in which the congregation desired to be led by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).  Sohm was not the only one who struggled with this.  Can they actually go together — church and law?  Is it possible:  a church law that concerns itself with the calling of the church,  a church order in the service of the proclamation of the gospel?

Law⤒🔗

Yes, I believe that that is truly possible.  It is my firm conviction that good church law is a blessing for the church and that a good church order offers protection, and can offer help, precisely also in mission situations.  Stronger yet, I believe that good canon law is, in principle, defined by its missionary focus.  But, in order to show some of that, I need to back up a step to the preliminary question about church and law.

The opinion that church and law are mutually exclusive is derived from fear of formalism and the fear of losing the connection with the living Lord of the church.  That warning is legitimate.  But the supposition that church and law are incompatible can not be sustained.  The being of the church is indeed spiritual (1 Corinthians 3:16, Galatians 5:25), but that does not exclude visible forms.  Also the understanding of law as "worldly" turns a blind eye to the fact that the origin of law is found in God himself.

Already in the Old Testament, it is obvious how much God is a God of law, that he loves justice, and that he deals justly.  For example, in the Psalms, besides the many places where the LORD is asked to "do justice,” there is also, in a direct sense, the singing of praise for God’s justice (for example, Psalm 99:4, Psalm 111:7).  In Isaiah, where the theme "justice" often recurs, the LORD says of himself, “For I the LORD love justice” (Isaiah 61:8).  And if the Lord loves justice, then that also has to be visible among his people, which you already find in the Old Testament, for example in Proverbs 21:3 — “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice”—and in Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  Justice belongs to God.  Over against the disorder and chaos which is the work of the devil, right flourishes wherever God comes and makes joy and life possible.

Salvation←⤒🔗

How deep is the root of that joy  is shown very beautifully in a text that is often used in connection with church order and canon law, 1 Corinthians 14:33: “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”  Noteworthy is that here, in juxtaposition to “confusion,” the word used is not “order,” but “peace.” That “peace” has everything to do with the complete salvation, given in Christ: “upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace” (Isaiah 53:5)..  That  peace is a part of redemption through the atonement of Christ, the peace that is directly connected with the justice of his kingdom: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore” (Isaiah 9:7).  See also Isaiah 42:3-4.

The law of the church is stamped by her vision of justice: reconciliation.  Because of that the law of the church is by definition mission-oriented: it desires to keep the way of reconciliation open and make a wide path for the salvation of Christ.  You also again see that concentrated focus on salvation in the four chapter headings of our church order: the section about “Offices and Supervision of Doctrine” (with the emphasis on the preaching as administration of reconciliation), about “The Assemblies” (where people help each other to remain faithful to the doctrine of salvation), about “Worship, Sacraments, and Ceremonies” (where reconciliation may become visible), and “Christian Discipline” (where the way back to reconciliation is pointed out for the wayward).  Always it is about holding open the way for the effective working of the gospel.

In that promotion of the gospel, the New Testament gives us a precedent.  TIn Acts you read about moments in the lives of the first congregations, where you see the beginnings of a “church law.”  Then you notice, continuously, that it was not about formalization, but about the question of how the furtherance of the Gospel could best be served.  When, in Acts 6, it appears that the Greek-speaking widows are neglected, seven men are chosen who henceforth will dedicate themselves to the daily care of widows, so that the apostles can devote themselves to prayer and the administration of the Word (Acts 6:3-4), with the ultimate goal as it appears in verse 7: “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem….”

Something similar applies to the collection on behalf of the poor in Jerusalem.  That Paul urged other congregations to take part in this was not because of a wish for greater institutionalization of the church, but from a point of departure of mutual fellowship and love which promote the promulgation of the gospel, not only in Jerusalem, but also in the congregations who are giving help. (Note what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:1 about sharing in “the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.”)  Also at the apostolic council in Jerusalem (Acts 15), the deepest motive for seeking each other’s help was the concern that God’s Word should spread further and should bear fruit. We may also think about the qualifications for office-bearers, listed in the letters, which have everything to do with the credibility of the Gospel which could not be allowed to be brought into question (see 1 Timothy 3:2-7).

Making the Confession True←⤒🔗

In the laws of the church, it is continuously about the promotion of the Gospel, and about doing justice to what the church is at its deepest level.  You could say that church law is meant to make the confession of the church true in the reality of her organization.  All those beautiful things which the New Testament says about the church — that she belongs to Christ, holy and dedicated to him, that she is called out of the world to belong to him, and that she is sent into the world to proclaim the Gospel—all those things must receive a form in the manner in which the church concretely functions.

Church law is thus more than a collection of collectively agreed upon rules forming validated laws in the church; the unique quality and beauty of the law in the church is that it is derived from God’s justice for his church, from what he himself, in his Word, says about the church and from what he wants from his church.  In this connection, I really think the title of a group of essays about church law, written by Rev. L.C. van Drimmelen, former teacher of canon law at the Free University, is beautiful, namely, A Throne for the Word  In his foreword, he comments about this title: “ a good church order sketches the contours of the church in which the Word of God has the authority…In that sense, a good church order is a throne on which the King of the Word is seated.”

Spiritual←⤒🔗

In the deepest sense, the church order thus serves a spiritual purpose:  reaching out with instruments whereby the church can fulfill her calling.  The intent can work in a negative way if the order that is constructed is wrong.  But, except for rules which do not do justice to God’s laws for his church, a wrong use of good rules can do just as much damage.  Precisely because of the spiritual character of the canonical law, the use of those laws must also only occur in a spiritual manner.

This always makes dealing with what is right such a balancing act in the church, but at the same time, such a beautiful task.  It demands wisdom from the Spirit and prayer.  It asks for a continual seeking for the way in which the church order acts in service to the Gospel, a continual watchfulness with the promotion of the Gospel as the highest goal, this especially in situations where new paths must be sought out.

For although our church order may, in principle, be mission focused, that does not mean that in the practical aspects of missionary work, it gives a lot of concrete guidance.  This is not strange, considering the time in which the church order originated, but that does mean that our time presents new questions for which an answer must be found within the larger topics of the church order.  To some degree our church order has already done that: for example, by adding the article about mission congregations (Article 21.1) and the missionary or evangelist (Article 4.6).  But also where the church order does not give specific directions for missionary work, there are many articles in the Church Order that can be used in mission situations.

Mission in Practice←⤒🔗

Some time ago, Rev. D. Quant made a presentation for Classis Haarlem of a number of such church order articles.  As example, he used Article 38 of the Church Order, for places where there is no consistory, but there are members, whereby those members can be placed by classis under the supervision of a neighbouring church consistory  (an article that indicates how the churches care for an organization where the gospel was not being received and now again is).  And article 52 CO (Church Order) about the inclusion of a second church service (an article that precisely in a mission setting challenges the church to give form to the aspect of “teaching”).  He also pointed to the importance of an article such as Articles 57 and 59 of the Church Order about the validity of baptism (a question that especially comes up in mission work).

He did not devote the largest portion of his introduction to a specific article, but rather to one of the basic lines of the Reformed church rules: the presbyterian, synodical church structure.  Precisely the fact that Reformed churches so characteristically continuously seek for an upbuilding connection between local congregations with their office-bearers, and with the whole of the churches, yields much that is good for the mission work.  It means, namely, that local initiatives are surrounded by the care of sister churches, and that advice and action may be asked from and expected from the sister churches — just as, vice versa, also willingness may be expected to accept the advice and actions.

Christ Reigns←⤒🔗

Ultimately, what the church order is about is that we as Christ’s church, seeking what is "just,” continuously reach the acknowledgment that Christ, as King of the church, reigns.  That precludes us going our own ways; it also protects us from laws that have nothing to do with the calling of the church.  Reverently following him, it can only be that the two pictures of the church will begin to look like each other.