I used to have a professor who spoke about how he enjoyed to “take a tumble in the leaves” with his wife, presumably in the fall. Looking back I think that’s the last image he probably would have wanted future students to picture whenever they thought about him and his classes.
Theology Matters More than Ever
In just a week I’ll be headed to Gallatin, Tennessee for the annual Free Will Baptist Theological Symposium. I attended my first symposium as a student at what was then Free Will Baptist Bible College. I was impressed by the level of discussion. I returned to the event as a first-time presenter in 2008 (which I’ll say more about next week). Since 2013 I’ve attended each year as part of my service on the Commission for Theological Integrity.
I’ve come to appreciate this event and see it as perhaps one of the best-kept secrets among Free Will Baptists. Of course, that’s a problem—we don’t want it to be a secret! We try to get the word out each year just as all denominational entities do with their events. But not having the resources of a department limits some of what we can do.
We have an underlying challenge which has persisted over time and perhaps is as challenging now as it has ever been: people aren’t sure that theology is that important or relevant to the work of the church.
I doubt anyone would raise their hand and affirm this statement. Therein lies part of the problem: we’re “a-theological” and don’t even know it.
I could demonstrate my claim by just doing an inventory of people’s practices. For example, how many theology books have you read in the last year? Ask the average Free Will Baptist, including many pastors, and don’t be surprised to learn it could be in the 0-3 range.
Consider another habit: would you more likely attend a conference on church growth or doctrine/theology? All one would need to do is check attendance records to get an answer to this one.
I could go on here, but you get the point.
At the heart of this problem isn’t that people don’t value doctrine or theology. In fact, most of our pastors and leaders would place it first on their list of spiritual and ministry priorities. So why the disconnect? Why do so few attend free events like the symposium? Why aren’t we reading much theology? Why do we sometimes marginalize those who are?
We have a narrow, truncated, inaccurate view of what theology is. Therefore, we misperceive its relevance to our everyday life and ministries.
Let’s conduct an experiment. Consider these two definitions/descriptions of theology:
-Ideas about God, especially as they relate to the Trinity, soteriology, and eschatology.
-Christian reflection on all biblical truth and its application to life, the church, and the world.
Which do you think is more likely the prevailing, gut-level perspective people are operating with? I encounter the first more often than not.
The issue isn’t that the first description is technically wrong. Theology does concern ideas about God, and certainly God’s being (Trinity), how He saves (soteriology), and what the future entails (eschatology). However, doesn’t this description seem overly and exclusively cognitive, about what we believe or think? And doesn’t it seem narrow in subject matter? Why not about what people are like (creation/anthropology) and the nature of the church (ecclesiology)? Notice how this description selectively foregrounds some doctrinal loci over others.
Notice also how the first description also gives us some “-ology’s,” which is unfortunately intimidating (unnecessarily) for some people.
By now you’ve figured out that I want to assert the second description as superior. Theology concerns Christian reflection (thinking is involved). It concerns all biblical truth (not just some pet issues). It concerns application (not just ideas, but actions and practices). And it deals with everyday life, whether it be personal, ecclesial, or professional/vocational.
So then, if we believe in the inspiration, inerrancy, infallibility, and sufficiency of Scripture, why are we downplaying theology (which has Scripture as its formal source)?
I realize there will always be topics within theological study that have a narrower frame of reference, appealing to specific interests that not everyone shares. Believe me, I’ve heard my fair share of snoozers at Evangelical Theological Society meetings through the years! But does that say more about the quality of the presentation, or my own interest and attentiveness?
So then, let me encourage all who can make it work with their schedule, join us on October 3-4. If nothing else, it’s a great opportunity to honor the legacy of a beloved teacher and mentor, Robert Picirilli. Join us as we practice Romans 13:7.
For further reading on this topic and the work of the Theological Commission, see my past ONE Magazine article.
Say What?
This year I’ll be presenting a paper entitled, “The Holy Spirit, His Gifts, and the Use and Abuse of Tongues.” Below I’ve provided a few excerpts. Hopefully this will remind those on the fence about attending of the kind of serious attention we try to give to practical biblical subjects. These are from the beginning of the paper:
Spiritual gifts are central to Christianity. The ministry of the church, the maturity of believers, and the advance of the Gospel depend upon the proper understanding and use of spiritual gifts. Two substantial chapters in 1 Corinthians focus on the subject, while many other passages describe the reality of gifts in the Christian life (Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Pt. 4:10-11). Among the gifts mentioned in Scripture is the gift of tongues.[1] At least two epic biblical events are associated with the occurrence of foreign utterances: the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) and Pentecost (Acts 2). However, the specific questions of what tongues are and if they are given to the church today have been points of contention among many Christians for well over a century. Suffice it to say that any serious theology of the Holy Spirit (pneumatology) or the church (ecclesiology) must deal with the biblical message on spiritual gifts and debated gifts such as tongues and prophecy.[2]
Studying spiritual gifts entails many theological and practical dimensions. The subject is theological because it addresses how God edifies and equips the church he is building. Its theological because it addresses what the Holy Spirit does in the lives of Christians. But spiritual gifts are also deeply practical: How will new Christians be taught what they should expect and seek from the Holy Spirit? What should fellow church members expect from them? What will be permitted (or seen as normal) in corporate worship? How will pastors deal with newcomers who have a Pentecostal or charismatic background? Nothing in church life is more practical than the subject of spiritual gifts.
And then from later in the paper:
What the Bible Says about Tongues was written to help churches “to be prepared to deal with the problem, whether within [their] own congregations or without, in [their] associations with fellow believers of various denominational persuasions.”[3] What this means is that there is always the possibility of problems arising in the worship and service of the church. Therefore, we have to be proactive in fostering order and harmony.
Teaching a biblical view of spiritual gifts (tongues included) and developing appreciation for the regular, ordinary exercise of gifts in the life of the body are practical steps that can help achieve this unity. Picirilli often speaks negatively of “the spectacular.” This is because his reading of the New Testament suggests that most of what Christians are to be doing are rather ordinary, everyday works of service and acts of obedience. This means we should be cautious about ever diminishing any form of service, regardless of how simple. Picirilli notes that anything of “value to the life and building of the church” can be seen as a spiritual gift, even right down to sweeping the church or repairing the church van.[4] He says that in the church “one of our concerns should be to help each member discern the place he or she can fill for the benefit of the church and the service of the Lord. Then we should cultivate a climate of appreciation for the service each renders.”[5] This appreciation fuels the unity of the church.
The unity created by a culture of mutual appreciation for other’s gifts only strengthens a church’s public witness. Recall the apostle Paul’s concern in 1 Corinthians 14 for how outsiders may view the people of God if they were to see discord, division, and confusion in its midst. The issue isn’t that tongues are primarily bizarre to outsiders. As Matthew Pinson notes, many practices common to Christians will always be strange to uninitiated outsiders.[6] However, a lack of understanding about tongues within the church itself is what should be most troubling. The greater the understanding of gifts the church has, the better positioned she will be to preserve unity in the church, as well as its witness.
We hope to see you in Gallatin on October 3-4. The full program schedule can be found here.
Currently Reading:
James Emery White, What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary
Quote of the Week:
(on the issue of being or not being listed in Outreach magazine’s fastest-growing churches list)
You may see Meck’s numbers in future lists of Outreach magazine, or you may not. We may not submit them, and even if we do, we may not warrant inclusion. But if you do see them, it could mean that I have either given in to my dark side—or somehow risen above it. The only reason I could swallow would be to somehow help Meck do the ministry God has clearly called it to try to fulfill. But what you will know for certain is that it means very little. It will not tell you whether we are turning attenders into disciples; it will not tell you whether we are creating a new culture in our city that honors Christ; it will not tell you whether we are attracting sheep from other churches or truly reaching the radically unchurched. It will just tell you that we got even bigger than we already are, or grew at an even faster clip, and on our worst days have way too big of a head about it and are way too fixated on who is ahead of us on the list.
[1] I will use the term “tongues” for shorthand throughout this chapter to refer to the gift of tongues or the action of tongue-speaking. This will generally make for ease of reading for readers but it is also consistent with the manner in which Picirilli himself writes about the subject.
[2] These four gifts are often referred to as “miraculous gifts. Our focus will remain on tongues as this occupies the most extensive discussions in the Picirilli corpus.
[3] Picirilli, What the Bible Says about Tongues, 3.
[4] Picirilli, 1,2 Corinthians, 180–1
[5] Picirilli, 1,2 Corinthians, 187.
[6] J. Matthew Pinson, The Washing of the Saints’ Feet (Nashville: Randall House, 2006), 8–12.