Number 3

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Here’s another post along the lines of some of my theological musings over the past few months.  This is excerpted from some other writing I did, so I apologize if it doesn’t entirely make sense…hopefully at some point I’ll make time to actually fully develop ideas into coherent arguments and points.

“I think I have been overly dismissive of the biblical doctrine of election, or at least have failed to see the practical implications of it worked out in daily ministry. The revelation I had was mainly related to the idea of a seeker sensitive or attractional model of church. The question really boils down to our view of salvation. If we believe that God preserves free will above all, then we must therefore make the Gospel as attractive as possible to win as many as possible. Perhaps ministries will grow numerically, but I think my observation is that personal holiness and obedience is frequently not the hallmark of churches with that mentality. If instead you believe in the saving power of the unadulterated Word through God, your task is to simply preach that clearly and faithfully, with full reliance on the power of God to effect salvation. I want to trust the saving power of God rather than gimmicky ministry ideas and the titillation of worldly desires. Let those whom God has brought forth come, because He is sovereign over the salvation of all. Pragmatism didn’t have a lot of place in the ministry of Jesus (what is pragmatic about the call he gives?).

I guess there is still room for a discussion on Paul’s idea of becoming all things to all men, but somehow I’m not sure we can arrive at a justification for much of what we see in modern ministry methods. Biblical faithfulness and obedience often is not championed, rather pop psychology enshrouded in biblical wrapping. Do we view Scripture as some good suggestions, or the very command of God which He effectively accomplishes in the life of a believer through the power of the Holy Spirit?

Also, to tie into my thought from the other day about the form of ministry being predicated by one’s theological bent, I want to add the concept that it also is intricately tied to one’s Christology. Keeping a balance of Christ incarnate and Christ exalted leads to a balance ministry of missional and victorious. We are to work with our hands in mission but proclaim a victorious King. I pray that we would not err on the side of only being warriors for Christ, but also as humble, hard-working peasants who are subject to their King.”

Here’s number two in the Old Stuff:

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Here is Round #2 with respect to some theological/church wanderings of my mind…

Recently, Nehemiah 1 has been the source of some intense thought for me, and although I haven’t developed the thought to its end, I thought I would share where God has been leading me. The primary challenge for me has been “what does it look like to be a man who confesses the sins of a generation or a people?” I have pretty much been utterly wrecked by this revelation of my own part in corporate sin and corporate identity through Nehemiah’s prayer on behalf of Israel.

Are we willing as a church to accept the sins of our parents and grandparents generation, rather than looking back at them in knee-jerk fashion and saying “we won’t be like them”?  By and large the response of our generation has been reactionary in nature, but I see something utterly different in Nehemiah’s prayer, and I hope begins to saturate my life.  This idea I think is the essence of headship, which is a thought I need to develop more at length sometime soon.

A corrollary to this concept of corporate confession for me has been understanding that part of the churches job is the redefinition and redemption of not just individuality, but of corporate identity. In my mind, this influences how we as a church are responsible for healing and recreating the utterly destroyed social fabric of American culture. This was really born out of a conversation with Stew over church planting, and how to make the things we learn from the rapid spread of the Gospel in Africa, India, and China applicable to the US. The common vehicle for the spread of the Gospel in those places was a strong social fabric originating with the family, which is fairly non-existent in our fluid, anti-commitment society. This thought also takes an interesting turn when thinking strategically about the spreading of the Gospel in the US, and where these social fabrics currently exist.

Ironically enough, the only place I could think of was that of where strong social networks are already in place was a college campus, and it made me exceedingly excited to be in the position of leading college ministry.  I pray that students at UT and other campuses here in Austin would be a generation who seeks God’s face, and accepts the sins of not only themselves, but also the preceding generation, and like Nehemiah does amazing things in advancing the Kingdom of God.  I pray they would have the desire for long, enduring obedience and God would give them visions for establishing patterns of righteousness for the generations following them.

I found some old posts from the family blog that I thought I would re-run here, so here’s the first from April of 2007.

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As I have continued to engage Systematic Theology, I have realized how my questioning of the process of salvation, or any other doctrinal matter, tends to be from an attitude of skepticism over Scriptural authority, not out of confidence in it. Confident acceptance of biblical authority leads to questions of understanding the mechanics of what is presented in Scripture and teasing out ideas first gleaned from the Word. Prideful skepticism challenges the statements found within Scripture to be proven true, and ultimately holds the logic of man as the highest authority. If it doesn’t make sense to me, how can it be true? The better question is, this is true, how can I make sense of it? This is probably a revelation that many people I am around have at a much earlier time, but I guess I’m just a little behind the curve.

I think the impetus for my approach of skepticism is somewhat ingrained in our generational culture’s psyche.  We’ve been trained in the Postmodern age to approach everything from a hermeneutic of doubt, as opposed to the hermeneutic of trust of our parents’ generation.  I think the balance lies somewhere in the middle, while at the same time remaining utterly confident in the faithfulness and truth of God.  The process for me consists of rooting out the unfaithfulness in my heart which leads to doubt in God’s revealed Word, whereas some others need to be impelled to critically examine doctrine that it might lead to heart change.

Another revelation that has become painfully obvious through my study and teaching of the subject is our woeful lack of biblical knowledge as an American church.  With the resources a layman has at his or her fingertips, it is almost deplorable the level of ignorance which exists, of which I am a chief example.  I am perfectly well trained to explain the finer details of Quantum Theory, Chemical Reaction Kinetics, and other such things, but only competent in the rudimentary basics of biblical exposition and theological discourse.  I wonder if both culturally and personally, two things are at work here: 1. Due to the extraordinary proliferation and availability of information, our/my actual comprehension of Scripture and Theological material has declined because “Google can find it” and we/I have become lazy as a result of the extraordinary tools available, and 2.  Teaching sound doctrine has become so devalued that we don’t even know what it is any more.  I’m learning to repent of my ingnorance and indolence daily.

Anyway, these are just a few random wanderings of my mind, feel free to leave a comment…

we spent new years at pine cove’s woods camp, and it has been an excellent way to ring in 2009. i’ve been able to make some headway on j i packer’s knowing god (thought provoking), reflect on marriage over the last year, and have some excellent family time while making new friends. all in all, pretty great stuff…