The Problem with Trendiness-Part 2

Continued from yesterday . . . 

In my first post, I commented on the current trendiness of interest in the doctrines of grace, and my fear that we might mistake commitment to the cool with commitment to the truth. I concluded by referring to churchly piety, and now I expand on this idea.

Institutional Piety

In subsequent columns I will flesh the concept out, but here I lay down the basic foundation: churchly piety is rooted in the church. That would seem to be an obvious point, but it is surprising how many people miss it. The mistake derives from a failure to understand what the church is. Most Christians would certainly agree that the church is made up of all believers, and that is a fine definition. However, it is also more than that.

The church is also an institution with office-bearers (elders and deacons) who have been ordained to specific tasks. These men hold ministerial authority and have responsibility to take care of the well being of the people of God, both spiritually and physically.

The Young, Restless, and. . . Slow

A churchly piety will respect these offices and the men who hold them, and this will have a certain impact on the life of the church. In short, young people will not set the agenda, since the Pauline qualifications for eldership indicate age and maturity as the norms. And if these men are respected, then the young and the restless will be slow to speak and teach and instead be quick to listen and learn. 

I fear that is not very hip or cool. We live in a world where the wisdom of youth is generally assumed. It is somehow uncontaminated by the cynicism and corruption of age. One could, of course, argue that youth is also comparatively uncontaminated by knowledge, experience, wisdom and maturity: precisely the qualities that Paul thought were so central to the officers of the church. Thus, a movement that disregards the older generation, or moves it to one side with a pat on the head, will eventually emerge as seriously deficient in its ecclesiology. 

Hierarchical, Not Hip

Finally, we might also note that Paul's view of the church is hierarchical. That is what elders are: officers in a hierarchy. That is another rather unhip aspect to the biblical teaching. We are told that the rising generation does not believe in or trust institutions or hierarchies. Despite the hyperbole, this is scarcely a cultural innovation: the 1960's saw more real youthful iconoclasm than we ever see today. But perhaps we can allow the prophets of the rising generation their little conceit. 

I suspect youth have never liked institutions for the simple reason that they are run by older people and nobody likes to wait their turn. Such an attitude is problematic when it impacts the church. For all the talk of the need to be countercultural, few ever seem to think of this in terms of attitudes to institutional authority. That is unfortunate because the context of churchly piety is the church, and to reject the Pauline church or to replace it with an inverted version where the young set the agenda reveals a seriously deficient ecclesiology. Such may be hip but, to borrow a phrase, Paul would not be cool with it.

Carl Trueman is Vice President for Academic Affairs at Westminster Theological Seminary. A regular columnist for Reformation 21, he’s also a specialist in the development of theology during the 16th and 17th centuries. Carl is married to Catriona, and they have two sons. He is also the author of Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative and The Real Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.

My Postscript . . .

I trust that you've benefited from Trueman's observations. I always appreciate those who have a good eye for current trends in light of the faith of our fathers. God grant us a discerning heart so that we too as Paul urged Timothy, "follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13).

The Problem with Trendiness

This is being re-posted from the Desiring God blog.

Confessions of a Non-Hipster

A student recently asked why I hate trendiness so much. From my taste in music to my choice of shoes, I go for what I regard as the timeless (classic rock and brogues) rather than the contemporary (i.e. anything recorded or designed since about 1985).

I answered that we live a large part of our lives before the age of 25. By then, tastes are fixed. Further, the Lord has delivered me from the need to dress like a scruffy dropout, talking in embarrassingly fake street jargon to pretend that I can still connect with `the youth.’ I am, after all, an Orthodox Presbyterian minister. It is hard to imagine a less trendy or more culturally inept calling. Plus, anyone who has heard any rock music produced in the last twenty years knows what an utter insult it generally is to the genre.

Reformed Theology: The Hip Factor

The conversation did, however, tend in a serious direction: is the current revival of Reformed theology driven by the fact that people think it is cool, or by the fact that they think it is true? 

I rejoice seeing the growing appetite among men and women under 40 for the great exponents of sovereign grace, Christ’s atonement, justification by faith alone, and the centrality of preaching. That these things are back on the agenda that could never have been anticipated ten years ago is a stunning testimony, both to God’s grace and the hard work and commitment of a generation of Christians.

Yet I still have the misgiving—perhaps a function of my English pessimism?—that we may be witnessing something trendy rather than true.

Genuine Revival: A Primer for Hipsters

What would the signs be that this revival of Reformed theology is genuine?

Long term, it will be the existence of organized churches (i.e. with elders and members) where this material is faithfully preached and the gospel is lived out daily. And it will build on more immediate developments: a piety that does not feel the need to shock or be self-conscious in its hipness.

This piety will place a primacy on the qualities of character and practice that Paul outlines in his letters, rather than on the celebrity aesthetics he decries in his words to the Corinthian church. It will manifest itself in humble commitment to the gathering of the church, humble attention to the preaching of the Word, and humble service for the church. It will be shown in the careful guarding of our minds and our hearts (that’s the hard part) from erroneous doctrine and behavior—not to earn God’s favour, but rather because God has already blessed us with every good thing in Christ. It will not be brash or loud. It will not even be cool or relevant, except by accident.

And that churchly piety is, I fear, what could be the missing ingredient in the current climate.

Carl R. Trueman is Vice President for Academic Affairs at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia) and teacher at Cornerstone Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Ambler, PA. A regular columnist for Reformation 21, he’s also a specialist in the development of theology during the 16th and 17th centuries. A proud Englishman, supporter of Gloucester Rugby Club, and marathon runner, Carl is married to Catriona, and they have two sons. He is also the author of Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative and The Real Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.

Give Us Discerning Leaders!

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. --Acts 20:29-30

One of the most common misconceptions in Christendom today is that it is unloving and intolerant to criticize the beliefs of someone else. But life and the history of mankind will not support that allegation. Some may indeed be intolerant and downright ugly about it, but that changes nothing with regard to standing up for the truth. So, whether we are standing against the Open Theism of Gregory Boyd et al, the justification issue touted by N. T. Wright, or lately the universalism/no hell liberalism of popular speaker Rob Bell, many would have us say nothing, or give them a free pass. It's as if the Bible says nothing about these things. And no matter what each teacher's motives may be, we can only operate on the weight of the doctrine being argued. Does what each submits agree with Scripture or not? Read how A. W. Tozer views such a battle and the need for more pastor/leaders to take up the gauntlet and fight these battles in the name of Christ. He writes: 

Within the circles of evangelical Christianity itself there has arisen in the last few years dangerous and dismaying trends away from true Bible Christianity. A spirit has been introduced which is surely not the Spirit of Christ, methods employed which are wholly carnal, objectives adopted which have not one line of Scripture to support them, a level of conduct accepted which is practically identical with that of the world--and yet scarcely one voice has been raised in opposition. And this in spite of the fact that the Bible-honoring followers of Christ lament among themselves the dangerous, wobbly course things are taking. . . .

The times call for a Spirit-baptized and articulate orthodoxy. They whose souls have been illuminated by the Holy Ghost must arise and under God assume leadership. There are those among us whose hearts can discern between the true and the false, whose spiritual sense of smell enables them to detect the spurious afar off, who have the blessed gift of knowing. Let such as these arise and be heard. Who knows but the Lord may yet return and leave a blessing behind Him?

The Price of Neglect, 6-7.

Lord, give us passionate men, impassioned toward your Word and your glory who are careful exegetes of Scripture. 

The Almighty Power of Christ - J.C. Ryle

From J.C. Ryle Quotes . . . Here is a man with whom we'd all do better to become acquainted. Ryles writes:

"With the Lord Jesus Christ nothing is impossible. No stormy passions are so strong; He can tame them. No temper is so rough and violent; He can change it. No conscience is so disturbed; He can speak peace to it and make it calm. No person ever need despair, if they will only bow down their pride, and come as a humbled sinner to Christ. Christ can do miracles upon their heart. No person ever need despair of reaching their journey’s end, if they have once committed their soul to Christ’s keeping. Christ will carry them through every danger. Christ will make them conqueror over every foe. What if our relatives oppose us? What if our neighbors laugh us to scorn? What if our place be hard? What if our temptations be great? It is all nothing, if Christ is on our side, and we are in the ship with Him. Greater is He that is for us, than all those who are against us."

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 85. {Mark 4:35-41} 

A Thought About Death

A few weeks before my wife's father died, I had mused, "The portent of my father-in-law's death causes me to reflect. Two things strike me in the wake of this knowledge:  1) We live in practice as if we will live forever on this earth, and 2) we live as if this earth were all that there is to enjoy."

Now, that's all I'd jotted down at the time. Those two statements are true enough, and even now, two months after his death, they still land on my heart with a weight which only the irreversibility of death can cause. Dad did die and sooner than we were all expecting. But he knew Jesus Christ. No, read that again . . . HE KNEW JESUS CHRIST! And with that everything changes! Praise the Lord we have a sure hope which no one can remove. And nothing, not even cancer can diminish it's joys. Dad is quite happy right now.

Let me add these words from Octavius Winslow which were posted on 17 February.

The Final Sickness

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Psalm 116:15.

It is solemnly true that there is a “time to die.” Ah! affecting thought- a “time to die!” A time when this mortal conflict will be over- when this heart will cease to feel, alike insensible to joy or sorrow- when this head will ache and these eyes will weep no more- best and holiest of all- a time “when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality,” and we shall “see Christ as He is, and be like Him.” If this be so, then, O Christian, why this anxious, trembling fear? Your time of death, with all its attendant circumstances, is in the Lord’s hand. All is appointed and arranged by Him who loves you, and who redeemed you- infinite goodness, wisdom, and faithfulness consulting your highest happiness in each circumstance of your departure.

The final sickness cannot come, the “last enemy” cannot strike, until He bids it. All is in His hand. Then calmly, confidingly, leave life’s closing scene with Him. You cannot die away from Jesus. Whether your spirit wings its flight at home or abroad, amid strangers or friends, by a lingering process or by a sudden stroke, in brightness or in gloom, Jesus will be with you; and, upheld by His grace, and cheered with His presence, you shall triumphantly exclaim, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me: your rod and your staff, they comfort me,” bearing your dying testimony to the faithfulness of God, and the preciousness of His promises. My time to die is in Your hand, O Lord, and there I calmly leave it.

The death of our loved ones who depart to Christ should breathe a sobering breath of life into our souls. We are here but briefly really. Get ready, yes. LIVE ready is far better!

How are you living?

God: No Cosmic Bell-Hop!

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? --Isaiah 40:12

Who?

  

What Is His Name?

I ask another question. Do you know Him? Really, how well do any of us know God? Is that the goal of the church, to help the lost find God and believers to gain an intimate appreciation for Jesus Christ? Listen to this question--

“Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! ” --Proverbs 30:4

Do we understand that to know the name is to know the attributes or characteristics of a person? To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray with all the weight of the character of Jesus. So, we ask, “Do you know his name, or his son’s name?” I love the way Tozer put it so many years ago.

We must be concerned with the person and character of God, not the promises. Through promises we learn what God has willed to us, we learn what we may claim as our heritage, we learn how we should pray. But faith itself must rest on the character of God.

Is this difficult to see? Why are we not stressing this in our evangelical circles? Why are we afraid to declare that people in our churches must come to know God Himself? Why do we not tell them that they must get beyond the point of making God a lifeboat for their rescue or a ladder to get them out of a burning building? How can we help our people get over the idea that God exists just to help run their businesses or fly their airplanes?

God is not a railway porter who carries your suitcase and serves you. God is God. He made heaven and earth. He holds the world in His hand. He measures the dust of the earth in the balance. He spreads the sky out like a mantle. He is the great God Almighty. He is not your servant. He is your Father, and you are His child. He sits in heaven, and you are on the earth. --Faith Beyond Reason, 44.

 Places! Let's remember our places, folks. . . . And God's!

From One Great Preacher For Another

Since college days, I have loved reading of George Whitefield, evangelist of the 18th century to both England and America. His story truly does read like an apostle of Jesus Christ. And his love for his Master exuded from him everywhere. That another of my "heroes" of the faith, Martyn Lloyd-Jones should speak to Whitefield's life makes this video that much more enticing. Apparently, this video will only be online for a few more days. Watch it with interest, and be blessed!