Preaching the Message of the Belhar
Rev. Tommy Moore says the Belhar Confession, like the Bible itself, focuses on the crucial theme of reconciliation between God’s people.
“The Belhar is a wonderful document,” said Moore after he gave a sermon during worship for the CRC’s recent annual Black & Reformed Conference.
“We need to open ourselves up to the reality that we are all God’s children,” Moore said during his sermon, echoing themes in the Belhar. “We have to change our mindset.”
Synod 2006 authorized the CRC’s Interchurch Relations Committee to formally study the Belhar Confession to see if it is applicable to and compatible with the confessional basis of the Christian Reformed Church. Synod did not ask for this in order that the confession be approved for use in the church, but simply for study and reflection.
Gathering at Sherman Street CRC in Grand Rapids, Mich., participants in the Black & Reformed Conference discussed and examined the Belhar Confession, which was created by church members in South Africa as a reaction to a policy of racism that ran that country for many years.
The creators of the Belhar, said Moore, seem to have known that “we have to learn to come as a common people to God. We have to put our wills aside and ask God to take over. God has called us to be reconcilers, but you can’t do that unless you’ve dealt with some of your own issues.” Moore is senior pastor of Keystone Baptist Church in Chicago.
CRC clergy and church members came in from across the country to take part in the annual conference, during which people broke into small groups to discuss issues surrounding the Belhar Confession.
Not everyone in the CRC is in agreement that the Belhar should be given an official stamp of approval by the denomination. Some critics say that the document may have value as a teaching tool, but not as an official confession of the church.
In a document handed out at the conference, there was a question and answer sheet that tried to explain the value of the Belhar.
“It is an unfortunate misconception that the Belhar’s relevance is largely restricted to the church setting in South Africa,” the document states. “For South Africans as well as for us, the Belhar gives guidance for our relationship and actions within the church, and also shows how Christ calls us to function as salt and light beyond the church.”
This was the theme of Moore’s sermon—the healing work that Christians need to undertake. “Jesus started this whole thing of reconciliation,” said Moore. “We are his ambassadors and we must work toward reconciliation.”
He challenged the ministers and church members in the pews at the church to realize how hard reconciliation truly is. It runs counter to our human will and humanity’s sinful nature. We can give it lip service, but the real work of reconciling means adopting the ways of God, said Moore.
“We truly need to overcome distrust or animosity and develop our friendship with people,” he said. “We need to present pleasant behavior in the midst of hostility . . . We’re supposed to get together and get it together.”
Also in his sermon, Moore said that at the root of many problems in the world are clashes and misunderstandings between ethnic and racial groups. “We are at odds with one another. We get stuck and don’t let God deal with our hearts,” he said. “The time is always right to do right. . . . We have been called and committed to fight for lost humanity.”
At one time, Adam walked in harmony with God in the Garden of Eden, but then Adam’s self-will took over, according to the Bible. “It is the church that needs to change to world. We’ve got to stop this mess. God has called us to suffer for change and to stop being afraid of our own fears.”
To obtain an electronic version of the report, which contains the confession itself, visit: www.crcna.org/belhar
—Chris Meehan, CRC Communications
