Being Presbyterian

There are groups of Boy Scouts hiking around the neighborhood this morning, going to different churches, learning about the ten commandments and what the different churches they visit are about.  It's my job to tell them about Presbyterians, which is interesting, particularly when it comes to Cub Scouts, who are rather unlikely to find much understanding all the theological doctrines of the Presbyterian tradition.  Actually, scratch that, it's not just Cub Scouts who aren't likely to find much understanding in them, it's pretty much everyone.
The older scout who was teaching the lesson on the ten commandments asked me, "what makes you different?"
I have to admit, the question took me a minute.  I have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about th things that hold us together as a Christian church over the past several years, and I have invested a fair amount of energy in learning to see the unity in the church.  Thus, I think I may have neglected careful consideration of why I'm Presbyterian.  The simple answer is that I was born this way.  My Dad has been a Presbyterian Teaching Elder for as long as I can remember, and so my faith and more specifically my call to ministry has been shaped by that reality.
Sorry, it's not really that profound.  The fact of the matter is, I could probably have felt every bit as comfortable in a Methodist, Lutheran or Episcopalian Church.  As time goes by, my personal convictions lean increasingly towards the traditions of various Anabaptist traditions.  I am seeing non-violence less as an option and more of a necessity.  I really like the new Pope, and I am hopeful that his leadership will bring some much needed authenticity to the Roman Catholic Church.  I admire the ancientness of the Orthodox, and the freshness of the Emergents.
In short, I appreciate all the nuances and different traditions of various other forms of Christianity, but I am Presbyterian.  I am Presbyterian because I like the fact that my tradition allows me to seek understanding from all those other traditions without naming me a heretic or an apostate.  I am Presbyterian because I have trouble with hierarchical authority structures, but I know that I need accountability and connection with others.
I am Presbyterian because I can be an intellectual and a mystic, and our framework allows me to exercise both in the life of a congregation.  I like being Presbyterian because finding all those things that make me different from others is a sort of afterthought to the unifying purpose of following Jesus Christ in the world.
I am Presbyterian because my denominational affiliation in no way prescribes my political, social or economic convictions.  My participation in the PC(USA) puts me in contact with people who challenge me and support me at the same time.  My church does not simply blithely stand by and allow me to follow my own heart down broken and sinful paths, but it does not insist that the deep cries of my heart and soul must be inherently wrong.  My church helps me evaluate those deep cries in the light of Christ and in the presence of a cloud of witnesses.
I am Presbyterian because, when it's doing as it should  , my church doesn't make the claim to be the only avenue on which one can find these blessed conditions.
I am Presbyterian because I see God at work here, and because I believe God is at work elsewhere as well.  My church supports and embodies that reality, with all our flaws and foibles, we are Presbyterian.