Several hundred people gathered in the Dordt College chapel on the evening of April 17, 1985, for the spring mass meeting of Reformed Fellowship of Northwest Iowa. The main speaker of the evening was Dr. Lester De Koster, former editor of The Banner. His topic was entitled, “What can be done to return the Christian Reformed Church to its historic, Reformed heritage?”

Dr. De Koster began by mentioning two propositions which every Reformed believer maintains. First, truth does not depend on us. Rather, we depend on it. Second, truth cannot be defended. Rather, it must defend us. He briefly elaborated by stating that it is the Triune God who maintains creation. In the Triune God, Christ the Son restores those who are fallen into sin. The inspired Scriptures proclaim the truth. This truth enters the world through obedient pulpits. The pulpits become the “lips of the Lord.”

Believing this makes orthodox Christians humbly proud. Tampering with this is liberalism and heterodoxy. Liberalism lives with the illusion that shortcuts can further the progress of the Lord. Liberalism lacks stability and coherence because it has no standard of measurement. It thinks it leads the crowd with current fads: nuclear freeze, South African apartheid, women’s liberation.

Liberalism is a parasite that feeds off the mistakes of conservatives. De Koster said that we should be thankful for the crisis regarding women in office because it forces Reformed believers to take stock of themselves. Factions in the church can be for our profit (cf. I Cor. 11:19).

The Calvinist Past

De Koster briefly reflected on what happened when Calvinists presented God’s truth to the world through faithful preaching. The Calvinist heritage gave the Western world political liberty and economic free enterprise. Even Communists are envious of our progress. But Western society is now being tom apart by the clamor for “rights.” Calvinist pulpits, homes, and lecterns must faithfully proclaim that there are no rights without correlation with duties and obligations. De Koster said that there may yet be a societal flowering under God’s grace mediated through vigorous preaching. The Calvinist’s attitude should now be. “We have not yet begun to fight.”

What Went Wrong?

De Koster set forth the idea that we conservatives are the problem and not the liberals. Liberals are not smart people who trick conservatives. To think so is dangerous. Liberals are not creative; they are parasites and should not be blamed for current problems. Conservatives have retreated too many times, thus creating vacuums in the Church.

Therefore, the solution to the Christian Reformed Church problems is not to attack the liberal mind since this will not reform the Church. We must recover and know the rich Reformed heritage. The Word of God preached is the heart of all Reformed churches. This is how society is changed, not by chasing fads. Conservatives, however, have themselves not always been convinced of the power of preaching. Such a conviction must be recovered.

Conservatives have forgotten as well what the Great Commission must mean for the Church and her mission in the world. Jesus Christ told the apostles to make disciples, not converts. A disciple is a long term student who shoulders a cross as he follows the Master. Such a disciple is to receive baptism and instruction in everything which the Master has commanded. This is to occur within the sphere of the Church and not outside of it. De Koster reminded his audience that the Reformed faith also maintains that “outside of the Church (visible), there is no salvation.” If we claim God as our Father, then we must claim the Church as our Mother.

Conservatives have forgotten these things. De Koster said that the greatest threat to the Reformed heritage is the crusade evangelists who say, “Are you saved, brother?” Once this is accepted, almost anything else in the Church becomes easier to accept.

De Koster made the point that the Soviet Union knows full well the different beliefs within Christianity. The strong Christianity of Solzhenitsyn is intolerable in communist Russia, but the crusader evangelicalism of Billy Graham is no threat to the Soviet Union. Billy Graham’s version of the Gospel has so infected us that liberalism can now have an easy time. The Bible excludes, the speaker said, “sharing Christ” in a coffee-house ministry. If Christ can be peddled door to door through the “Four Spirit Laws” or the C.E.T. method, then how can we criticize the reductionism of the liberals? Often the liberals manipulate texts, emotions, and experiences. If conservatives allow them to manipulate Romans 10 on the necessity of preaching, then conservatives may be willing to allow them to play with Romans 5 on the origin of sin.

What Can Be Done?

De Koster advocated that conservatives learn their Reformed heritage again through study groups of men and women in each congregation. Beside study, these groups must insist on pulpits and schools teaching such a Reformed heritage. The printed media must be used. These groups should sponsor seminars on issues facing the church. This is work on a long range basis.

Some immediate goals were also mentioned. The Synod must reverse the 1984 decision on women in the diaconate. The quota system should be re-evaluated. Graduates from Mid-America Reformed Seminary must be freed from the one year requirement of attendance at Calvin Seminary. Congregations must step forward and work for this. The Synod must be liberated from the Calvin Seminary faculty. Such faculty members must not serve as advisors (“experts”), and their participation must be restricted. The delegates to Synod are competent to handle the issues which face them.

In short, De Koster impressed upon his audience that the Reformed faith is a world-changing faith. Conservatives must rediscover this and live according to it. Far too often, the conservatives have let their tradition slip through their fingers.

Following the address members of the audience had the opportunity to vote for three new board members. Elected were the Rev. Stuart Pastine (President), Marvin Hoogland (Vice-President), and Harlan De Vries (Secretary).

Those present also received copies of two resolutions which they could sign. These resolutions were neither discussed nor explained. Resolution I was signed by 190 people, and Resolution It was signed by 163 people.

Resolution I

Considering the sinfulness of this present age, the apostacy of the churches, and the many temptations surrounding the youth of the covenant, we hereby resolve to appeal to all the consistories of the Christian Reformed Church to redouble their efforts in providing thorough, basic catechism training for the youth of the churches (Hosea 4:6).

We firmly believe that a basic training in the precepts of the Word of God as presented by the Heidelberg Catechism is indispensable in producing knowledgeable members of the church, who love the truth of God’s Word and seek the purity of the church. Catechism training should be much more than exposure-it should be indoctrination. This is the best way to keep the little foxes and their destructive power out of the vineyard of our Lord.

Resolution II

We hereby resolve that the New Confession called “Our World Belongs to God” (Agenda 1983 pp. 407–422) is not based upon a unified, objective presentation of the truths of Scripture. It is the result of subjective ideas of fallible human beings. It does not represent the creedal thinking of the Christian Reformed Church. Change for the sake of change does not purify the church. It often makes more room for liberal departures from the truth of God’s Word.