On Resisting the Urge to (Pre)judge

Yesterday, the new Archbishop of Canterbury–the titular head of the worldwide Anglican Communion of some 80 million–was announced. His name is Justin Welby and he is currently the Bishop of Durham (England). Over at Stand Firm in Faith, a conservative Anglican blog, I have been fascinated and more than a bit dismayed to read all the doomsday predictions about +Welby and what he does (or does not) bring to the table. Already, several of the Stand Firm bloggers are predicting that +Welby will not have what it takes to deal with the problems of revisionist Christian theology that is so sadly ensconced in The Episcopal Church and which has torn apart the Anglican Communion.

Now Fr. Kennedy et al. may be perfectly correct. +Welby may not be up to the difficult tasks that lay ahead of him. But none of us know that–and that is precisely the point. None of us know how this is going to play out. Yes,  we can parse +Welby’s writings and sermons, etc. from his past for clues as to how he will behave in the future. But +Welby doesn’t have a lengthy track record as a bishop and the man has not even assumed his office yet! Things change and so do people, and if +Welby is going to be a great leader, he doubtless will rise to the occasion. But none of us know what he will do when he becomes the next Archbishop of Canterbury. Consequently, it seems to me that the naysayers at Stand Firm are rushing to prejudge +Welby, and in doing so are providing a terrible witness to evangelical Anglicanism, whose main declaration should always be Jesus is Lord! This kind of (pre)judgmentalism is also guaranteed to run off those outsiders who are looking in to see how we Christians behave and/or what the Christian faith is all about, and that is not a good thing because the world needs Christ and his people more than ever.

I appreciate the bloggers’ zeal at Stand Firm to protect the gospel. I also appreciate the fear that is reflected in their naysaying because I too have been afflicted by it on occasion. But the naysayers would do well to read this Sunday’s lectionary, especially from the book of Ruth, to be reminded that God can and often does work through the faithfulness of ordinary people (and sometimes even through unfaithful people!), and in the most unlikely circumstances, to accomplish God’s purposes. This in itself should be reason enough for anyone who claims to be a faithful Christian to withhold prejudgment about the outcome of +Welby’s future tenure as the ABC. Is God not bigger than +Welby and our Communion? Again, +Welby’s election may turn out to be a very bad thing for the Anglican Communion. He may prove to be a weak and indecisive leader. But let us not rush to judge him at this point. And let us always remember that Jesus is Lord, even when everything around us appears to be screaming otherwise.