Newsletter #106
On the Reformers’ Aims and Why Church Membership Matters for Divorce and Remarriage
A brief meditation on an impressive book, and revisiting a past article on a delicate but very practical topic.
Matthew Barrett’s The Reformation as Renewal
Matthew Barrett is a name worth knowing. Barrett is a theology professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He’s perhaps the most prolific younger theologian in the Baptist orbit these days. His Amazon page is rather astounding.
Readers may know him from having read one of his many books. A colleague and friend Kevin Hester highlighted Barrett’s book, None Greater, in his Top Books in 2021 article. More recently, Barrett gave the Forlines Lectures at Welch College.
While I’ve known of his work for a few years, I first encountered Barrett when he gave the plenary address at a 2022 Midwest regional ETS meeting. His lecture was lucid and rich (though his tone can put you right to sleep!) His latest work is quite the tome: The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church (Zondervan Academic, 2023).
I’m not a historian, either by training or disposition. However, Barrett’s 800+ page treatment of the Reformation landed with me as weighty, literally and figuratively. The main body of the work is bookended by Carl Trueman’s foreword and Timothy George’s afterword. The two historians par excellence couldn’t speak more glowingly about what Barrett has accomplished in his book. I have no reason not to take their word for it.
Barrett makes clear his theme in his introduction: “the Catholicity of the Reformation.” It must be understood that this phrase is intended to emphasize that the Reformation was, in the understanding of its primary leaders, a renewal movement within the larger Christian church. (Remember, “catholic” means “universal.”) As Barrett helpfully says, “To be Protestant is to be catholic. But not Roman.” (883) The Reformation was not, as has often been thought, a rebellion or schism. It was instead, a renewal effort undertaken multiple times by many figures during the Middle Ages and into the sixteenth century.
It is worth quoting Barrett at length as he describes both his argument and aim in the book:
The Reformation might look like a sect of heretics if judged by sight. However…[t]he Reformers believed they had an equal claim to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church as the papacy. At times they even dared to claim their tie was stronger. For they did not rely on a papal succession but traced their bloodline to adherents of sound doctrine, and that bloodline did not stop at the apostles but continued into the church of the patristic and medieval eras as well….[W]hy does this interpretive emphasis matter? It matters a great deal because if the Reformers’ own perception is considered, then the story of the Reformation is not a story of a rebellious departure from the church catholic but a story of renewal. The Reformation should then be defined not according to its critics but on its own terms, as a movement of catholicity. What follows is not an attempt to mine the church fathers or medieval theologians to determine if the Reformers were right, which itself is a different project. Rather, what follows is a fresh, intellectual and theological history of the Reformation that listens to discern if the Reformers themselves interpreted their reform as a renewal of catholicity. (31-32)
As stated above, the book is quite impressive in its scope, depth, and nuance. If you’re looking for a better understanding of anything from monasticism to Anselm to Aquinas to Luther to Calvin, and quite a lot in-between, you must consult this book. While Free Will Baptists will be disappointed in the lack of attention to Arminius, we can appreciate Barrett’s effort to articulate the earliest Reformers’ goals, and the important historical developments which preceded them which are essential to understanding them.
A Throwback Reflection on a Serious Topic: Church Membership, Divorce, and Remarriage
In a past article I discussed the centrality of church membership to our evaluations of where we are as churches at this point in the post-COVID-19 era. The truth is that church membership touches all aspects of church life and Christian experience.
I have an exercise I often do when meeting with churches, leaders, and others who may be skeptical about the relevance of church membership. I ask them to name some things that frustrate them about their experience in the local church, then I start jotting them down all over a dry-erase board. The list is predictable: people who frequently skip worship, too few people doing too much of the ministry, a lack of conflict resolution, a failure of people to tithe, not enough leadership development, etc.
I then I ask this: “What if I told you that there is an underlying biblical principle that unites all of these, and which, if addressed, would begin to improve all of these?” Suddenly people are all ears. I then disappoint them by writing this phrase in the middle of the board: “Biblical church membership and discipline.” I circle it, then draw connecting lines from that circle to all the phrases they’ve provided.
I only partly mean “disappoint them” because Christians certainly want to learn helpful, new biblical insights. However, people aren’t easily persuaded that biblical church membership and discipline are the answers. This is largely because we have a truncated view of both.
We tend to reduce membership to the specific act of coming before a congregation and being voted into a church family. We tend to reduce discipline to a corrective effort that likely ends with people just going and finding a new church to escape such accountability.
However, we need to expand our vision of membership to refer not simply to the public act of committing—often at the time of baptism—to a church body, but to the full experience of belonging to a church in a committed, accountable relationship. Similarly, we need to recognize that most church discipline isn’t solely corrective; most of it is formative. Remember the spiritual disciplines? Bible study. Prayer. Fasting. Meditation. These are part of the regular experience of growing Christians. Corrective discipline arises when a breakdown transpires in obedience.
Now the question is, if our churches embrace this robust, dual vision of membership and discipline, what difference will it make? Over time, we should expect spiritual progress on all fronts, even in difficult cases.
The Tough Cases
This may seem like a lengthy preamble to the subject of divorce and remarriage, but it’s necessary. Nearly all our congregations have members, or at least attendees, who have been divorced. Many have remarried. Many are struggling in their first marriage. Many are living with someone and/or have a sexual relationship with someone who isn’t their spouse. Frankly, given our current cultural environment, even more arrangements are likely present. But it’s important to recognize the competing experiences of and perspectives on marriage in the room.
Perhaps one of the two or three most pastorally challenging situations is when we encounter marital conflict late in the game. What happens when people come to us after they’ve decided to divorce? Or when a divorced or widowed person comes to inform us that they are suddenly getting remarried? All pastors have been deflated more than once by being the “last to know.” Yet our faithfulness isn’t contingent on what we would have done had we known; we must act faithfully today.
Congregational Cultures and Expectations
Before considering how these situations relate to church membership, we need to step back and consider what kind of church culture we’re seeking to form.
Congregational cultures give rise to certain ideas about what’s a private matter, and what’s a matter for corporate discernment. Quite simply, does the 25-year-old in our congregation expect members to encourage him to remain chaste while he’s single, but pray for a godly spouse if he desires to marry? Has the recently widowed woman been taught the many instructions and cautions found in 1–2 Timothy concerning widows? Let’s face it: some of the problems that land on our doorsteps are inevitable if we aren’t cultivating congregations that know and love the whole counsel of God.
Taking a whole-congregation perspective on spiritual formation means that our preaching, teaching, and personal discipleship considers the full range of life situations and experiences. Not everyone is in the same place, and certainly everyone didn’t start in the same place. The various points of encounter between people and their church are quite diverse the larger the congregation, which includes different marital circumstances. The apostle Paul addressed this directly in 1 Corinthians 7. He saw a church filled with different types of people who had come to faith amid different life circumstances. And people’s spouses often hadn’t arrived there simultaneously.
Now envision the Corinthian Church receiving this correspondence. The assembly heard Paul’s apostolic counsel read, and individual members heard that counsel address their specific situations. They had to receive this word and work towards its application in their lives, at that time. How was that possible? What did it look like? What did it require?
If we believe that Paul’s words from chapters five through six about church discipline and holiness are inspired, as are chapters twelve through fourteen about the church as members of a community of love and service, how should that shape how these situations are sorted out in the experience of the church? A church’s formal and functional perspectives on and practice of church membership and discipline are foundational to how we help singles, marriages, divorcees, widows/widowers, and remarried people.
This argument has two complementary components. First, if we don’t foster a congregational culture where there is a robust understanding of how members value and care for marriages, then it will be nearly impossible to resolve many of the problems people often experience. Second, if we haven’t prioritized membership as a biblical target for all Christians—married or unmarried—then it makes biblical accountability especially impossible because we’re trying to encourage vow-keeping in a context where no one thinks they’ve made a vow to anyone around them.
The Unfolding Conflict
Let’s return to the pastor’s study. “Pastor, we’re getting a divorce.” Or, “Pastor, I want to reconcile, but my husband doesn’t. Does this constitute abandonment?” Sometimes pastors have assumed that the entire burden of the situation is on their shoulders. While perhaps well-intentioned, they fail to appreciate the responsibility of the entire church to help and keep members accountable, including those in downward-spiraling marriages.
Let’s establish this key principle about marriage in the church: when married couples who are both believers and members of our churches struggle, the entire church has an obligation to them. Members must pray proactively for the spiritual vitality and health of married people. They have an obligation to value their churches’ marriages, even if they themselves are called to celibacy or are widowed. Moreover, one of the keys to pastoral discernment during and after divorce proceedings is for the church’s leaders, namely its pastors, and eventually its members, to come to an understanding of what has happened.
I think of a specific situation in my past. I realize that one reason why I had difficulty counseling a young lady who belonged to another church who had questions about divorce and abandonment is because she and her husband weren’t in a situation where pastors were actively involved. There was little pastoral or congregational engagement that would have helped adjudicate things. Such discernment eventually helps reveal the hearts and actions of which spouse was truly walking away from their marriage, and perhaps even some who had been spiritual pretenders all along.
These are complex issues which require theological integrity, biblical discernment, and pastoral sensitivity. I raise this subject because it’s sadly common, and we should work for it to be rare. One of the essential ways we do this is by committing ourselves to meaningful, biblical, church membership and discipline. If we do, this will (1) strengthen some marriages, (2) save some marriages, and (3) better support some innocent parties when the worst happens. Moreover, such a commitment will help the entire congregation understand that choosing a spouse, feuding with a spouse, or divorcing a spouse aren’t merely private matters. Instead, it’s the proper domain of the family of God to which we belong.
Follow-Up:
In last week’s newsletter, I explored the intersections between two current controversies: the Pope’s recent support for blessing same-sex couples and those in “irregular situations,” and some counsel Alistair Begg gave to a woman with respect to attendance at a problematic wedding.
Well, the responses continue to flood in. First, my old pal Matthew Lee Anderson has offered some very helpful questions about the latter situation above, “Twenty-One Questions to Ask Before Attending a Wedding.” Unfortunately, it’s behind a paywall. (But he’s offering an annual subscription to his newsletter for only $20.) Second, one of my favorite pastor-authors, Kevin DeYoung, has written on the issue also.
Another article on this topic by me is currently in the works, but for now, listen to the Alistair Begg himself discuss the topic with his congregation: Compassion vs. Condemnation.
What I’m Reading or Rereading:
Matthew Barrett, The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
Donald Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.
David Mathis, Workers for Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders.
Deborah Lipstadt, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier.
Quote of the Week:
Churches want happy pastors. Not dutiful clergy. Not groaning ministers. The kind of pastors we all want are the ones who want to do the work and labor with joy for our joy. We want pastors who serve ‘not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you’ (1 Pet. 5:2) …Churches know this deep down—that happy pastors, not groaning elders, make for happy churches. Pastors who enjoy the work and work with joy are a benefit and an advantage to their people (Heb. 13:17).
David Mathis, Workers for Your Joy: The Call of Christ on Christian Leaders
Common Grace Wisdom: How Bad is Mold?
Many of us have often felt that despite the incredible and nearly miraculous advances in medicine in the last half century, sometimes it seems that the medical community is poor in diagnosing many conditions. People are generally aware that mold is not only problematic in terms of being an allergen, but it is linked to many very serious health conditions.
I’m not a chemist, biologist, or physician, but this recent interview between Jordan Peterson and two researchers-clinicians on the problem of mold is both dizzying and disturbing. The earlier parts and very end are perhaps the most helpful. I warn you: it is replete with technical jargon. However, if the interviewees are remotely correct, then we have a massive problem on our hands.
Parting Shot: 10 Hard Questions
This past Thursday I posted what I expect will be the first in a series of occasional posts that provide ten hard questions on various subjects. For believing readers, they’re intended to be pointed yet pastoral.
Briefly, my first question was something like a request:
1. If you say that the 2024 presidential election is the most important election of our lifetime, do you then recant your claims that the 2016 and 2020 elections were the most important elections of our lifetime, and thereby apologize for being wrong?
I fully realize that one could maintain the logic of these claims if they stated it this way: At the time that I predicted that a particular election was the most important in our lifetime, I really did believe it was. Understood. But if you later claim a different one is, the problem is you’re persistently making claims that end up being wrong (by the logic of your own prior claims, at least!).
A stronger claim would be this: each election is increasingly more consequential and important than the prior one. Therefore, definitionally, each election is the most important one in history (or at least in our lifetimes) up to that point. First, if you mean that, then just say that instead. Second, tell me, how does it feel being omniscient? How does it feel knowing the full range of variables, consequences and collective world impact which flow from each American presidential election?
Good read pastor, I do have to say that each of the elections since 2016 and prior since the early 1960,s. All have been important elections as each one has a significance ( good or bad) as to where we are today. We can but look around now and see that 2016 was a vote for change in our country back to a more peaceful and prosperous time, that which I have not seen in my lifetime. We can look at the presidential election of 2020, there is much evidence that have been produced and more and more exposure of wrongdoing by our government and a clear picture of stolen election at that time. So really and truth, this election for 2024 is really the most important. If you look at the way, our country has been moving and in not a good direction at all, and we can only say that this is the most important election of our lifetime because we’re not fighting , Republican or Democrat we are fighting good versus evil, which is plainly clear to see grasp. This is not my opinion, this is based on fax, and whether it is to say, all of these elections are or have been crucial, I must say yes, they all have been because they have been leading up to this moment in time .