The Accursed Property Clause

The Accursed Property Clause

Those churches who seek to be faithful to Christ and endeavor to extract themselves from the apostate mainline Protestant church, run into what I call the “accursed property clause.” This clause enforces a superficial unity by specifying that any property of the church does not belong to the local congregation (or session if you are Presbyterian). Instead it belongs to the greater denomination. So if a church leaves the denomination, it must leave its property behind to be used for the denomination.

This clause was birthed from a materialistic point of view. The concept is that the people of the denomination are free to depart; the property that they have used and purchased is not free to depart. There are a number of arguments as to whether these clauses are binding but sometimes they have held up. Therefore some churches leaving the denomination make cash settlements so that there will not be litigation regarding the property and the clause will not be enforced.

Other difficulties relating to extraction relate to faithful ministers who have contributed for years to pensions who may find difficulties upon liberating their monies or getting payments if they leave. These things should be checked. Hopefully they are vested in their contributions but again this is an aspect that should be considered.

For the individual members, they do not have all the considerations that a minister tied to the denomination has. Most can pick up fairly easily and move to a church that hues a closer line to our historic faith.

In writing this, I am very mindful that it is quite easy to tell another to pick up their cross and follow Christ and then to find that cross to be very heavy when it comes your turn to pick it up.

One good friend of mind, John, is an elder in his church and clerk of his Session. He has always been a Presbyterian and loves the Presbyterian church. At heart he is a Scotsman and a faithful Presbyterian. He is considering resigning as a member of the Presbyterian Church thereby depriving the General Assembly of the “head tax” on his membership yet continuing to attend his local Presbyterian church. Other families in his church are drifting elsewhere rather than try to maintain unity where there is no real unity due to the departure of the denomination from historic Christianity to a modernism devoid of a real Christ but populated with a neo-Christian nomenclature to fool the less discerning.

And so I suspect the erosion of the denominational church will continue. The denomination is captured by a powerless liberalism that cloaks itself in a pharisaical spirituality but be devoid of real spiritual power. It will adorn itself with the respectable buildings of the past and spend time congratulating itself on its diversity and enlightenment. Meanwhile, those who seek to follow Jesus Christ will move on.

The choice to stay or go is an ancient one. Abraham had to make this choice. He had to leave Ur of the Chaldees and to live in tents. The Jews had to come our of Egypt at a later point in their history and live in tents as well. We who seek to follow God have often had to leave our buildings behind. In the time of the Reformation, it was often necessary to leave the cathedrals with the Catholic church. Today we are faced with the same choice.

We have been a people on the move, a people who do not have a permanent home on this earth. We are the people of pilgrimage. The Jews reminded themselves of this in many ways. While in the desert and for many years the Holy of Holies was found in a tent. The Jews celebrated the Feast of Booths yearly reminding themselves that they were a people of the tents. We are are forced sometimes to leave our permanent buildings behind.

Somehow, in all this process, we become citizens of a new Jerusalem. Our permanent buildings are on the other side of this life. Church buildings like our natural bodies pass away, but we have a home that is eternal.

The church is not a building. It is perhaps obvious, but a building is a building. The church is the people in it. So my feeling is let the denomination keep the buildings; let Christ keep the people. We will build what buildings we need. The important thing is that we follow Him. Who knows but that if we leave our buildings to follow him, perhaps we as people will find a new sense of freedom and mission. Our choice will have been a good one for we have chosen Christ over material things.

The leaders of the mainline denominations can have the buildings and support them if they can. If they can not, they can sell them back to the living body of Christ who will purchase them if they have any further interest in them. However, in many cases, I suspect that we may find that the work of Christ has been shackled with the support of aging, expensive buildings endowed by those now long dead, who ,by the way, might be greatly surprised to see how low the modern church has fallen.

Without our buildings, we also might find that we have greater unity with the faithful in poorer countries who see more clearly because they have not been as rich as the American church or as decadent.

Without our church buildings we may find ourselves more closely identifying with Christ who said of Himself in Luke 9:58: “The foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Again if that state is good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for us. In the same passage Jesus at Luke 9:60 said “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.”

Good advice. Perhaps we should do the same thing. Allow the denominational dead to bury the dead that remain, whereas we should leave the denomination and proclaim the kingdom of God.

The issue of a choice between our property or following Christ is a recurring theme in the Bible. In Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to the rich young ruler: “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor , and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow Me.” The Bible relates in Matthew 19:22 …”But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was the one who owned much property.” And shall we grieve as well for we have much property tied up in the mainline church.

The disciples, on the other hand, left their property behind to follow Christ and we should join them and do the same.

Finally in Luke 12:34 we are taught by Jesus that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

And so the ”accursed” denominational property clause is perhaps not so “accursed” after all. It is a simple indicator as to where the denominational treasure is. And that treasure is in the buildings, not in the people.

Let us render to the denomination what the denomination treasures, which is the buildings. However, let us give to God what God treasures, which is the people in the buildings.

Together we will build a new and finer building to God, a people that are faithful to him. And someday, we will take our place as living stones in the City of God that vibrates with the living presence of God in its midst.

And so I encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ, not to fear leaving their buildings behind if necessary. Find freedom in following Christ. And let the dead bury the dead.