In the summer of 2007 Laura and I went to South Africa.  Our hosts were all Afrikaners, that is, white people of Dutch decent.  We stayed on the outskirts of a city called Vaalwater.  This had been a town of 2,000 Afrikaners until the government moved about 30,000 Black Africans into the resettlement community.  Now there are two very distinct communities: a spacious community with nice houses and yards where 2,000 Afrikaners live and another community of about the same size where the Black Africans live.  Two different worlds have collided together. 

     In the Afrikaner section of the town there are five churches, all of them some kind of Dutch Reformed Church.  We attended one on a Sunday morning.  The Pastor wore a black preaching robe with a white silk cravat (scarf).  The language spoken was Afrikance, but we knew exactly what was going on because the liturgy was right from the Synod of Dordt, which was exactly the same liturgy that the Christian Reformed Church used 40 years ago.

     We saw many examples of how Apartheid has so seriously divided the country and the Reformed Churches for so many years in South Africa.  It is out of this situation that the Belhar Confession was written.  Fortunately, all of the Reformed denominations in South Africa are now coming together under one organizational structure.  It will still take a long time for the divisions to heal, but they are taking some bold steps to bring about the unity that Christ expects us to model in his church. 

     This summer the Synod of the CRC will be voting on whether or not we should adopt the Belhar Confession as one of our confessions along with the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dordt and the Belgic Confession.  There has been quite a bit of debate concerning this prospect.        

     This fall Classis Georgetown voted on sending an overture to Synod. The Classis is asking that Synod not affirm the Belhar Confession as another confession on par with the three we already have, but instead to affirm the Belhar as an important document which can guide our thinking and actions when it comes to issues of race and ethnicity.

     I think sending this overture to Synod is the right thing to do.  The Belhar does have some important teaching concerning how the church of Christ should be unified and not divided over race, class or other distinctions.  But it is also not specific enough when it comes to what types of social distinctions should be allowed in the church.  It is not clear enough about such social distinctions as sexual orientation and lifestyle.  So, though the Belhar can be helpful in instructing us about racism, it could also be used as a lever for allowing unbiblical lifestyles be acceptable in the church.

     At the same time I think it is important to affirm what the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa is doing.  We can do this by affirming the Belhar as an important testimony to what the church of Christ should proclaim regarding the sin of racism.  After all, the Dutch Reformed Churches of South Africa did subscribe to the same three confessions that we do, but unfortunately this did not stop them from developing the sinful doctrine of Apartheid.  The Belhar will help us remember the importance of racial reconciliation.  If you would like to read the Belhar you can find it online or you can pick-up a copy at the church office.

~by Pastor Gerry