The RPCNA has been changing in some encouraging ways—perhaps most notably through congregations in new areas of the country and the world. Last month I listed a number of good changes that we veteran RPs should embrace.

But we are not a people rushing headlong to change for the sake of change. Hopefully our changes are for the sake of obedience to our Savior. And that, I believe, is a strength of the RPCNA. We can look at our denomination, and a host of saints within that denomination, and see the fruit of “a long obedience in the same direction.” It is one thing to have come to a greater knowledge of good doctrine in the past few months or years; it is another to live out that good doctrine in your life and pass it along to generations after you. Those who have come into the RPCNA because of its good doctrine but who also feel an urgency to change the RPCNA to fit other ideas they bring in with them would do well to take note of those around them who have lived a lifetime of faithfulness—and emulate them in your attentiveness, wisdom, and love. We’ve seen over the decades a number of people, including a few ministers, who came into the denomination for its doctrine but who also seemed to believe they would quickly form the denomination into their own image. Rather than work with their elders in the faith and live out a faithful walk in the denomination over time, some quickly left; others showed that their strong words were not backed up by faithfulness in personal and family life. The Apostle Paul urged the saints to follow not only their leaders’ words but also their lives of obedience.

That takes time. In the RPCNA, the fruit of doctrinal, institutional, and personal faithfulness has been shown over decades and centuries. We have a long history and a rich heritage. Just as Israel could look back on a long history and see the fruit of faithfulness and the lack of faithfulness, so can we. It is our job to learn from it, but it is also our privilege to have those living lessons at all.

Many outsiders have observed that a strength of the RPCNA is its family-mindedness. A congregation in Florida cares about congregations in California and Rhode Island. Churches in the U.S. want to know about churches in Canada, Australia, and Sudan. We go to camps and conferences to worship and fellowship with “family members” we haven’t yet met. Most of that family-mindedness seems to continue even as many new people enter the denomination.

A chief thing that the more mature members and congregations of the RPCNA teach us is grace. If you’re in the RPCNA and plan to stay for the long term, you can’t burn bridges. Love covers a multitude of sins and sets a context for encouraging and edifying one another. While we are attentive to good doctrine (and there are processes for reforming where needed), there is also a need for common-sense flexibility and kind disagreement. By all means, keep praying for the expanding RP Church.