Jul 13, 2011
Creating Theological Space
Posted by Pastor Todd Murphy in Theology | Comments (0)
I have been doing some writing the last two weeks and one thing that has been impressing me is the current stalemate between what is considered orthodox Christian beliefs and creating winsome environments for exploring the faith. I think a lot of this has been pushed to the front of public debate by the emergent guys and Brian MacLaren, and most recently by Rob Bell in Love Wins. Some of the debate has turned on contrast between gospel “monologue” and gospel “dialogue.” Certainly on the one side stands historic confessional Protestants and Evangelicals and on the other will be more theologically progressive Evangelicals, Emergents and the like.
For the traditional side, for whom the litmus test of orthodoxy is right beliefs, there is a bias for the gospel monologue, what we call the regular Sunday morning preaching of the word from a pulpit. Some on this side such as John MacArthur will even go so far as to say that “discipleship” is something that primarily happens from the pulpit. Therefor in this line of thinking the way to grow as a Christian is to show up every time the doors are opened to hear the word of God. On the other side you you have those restless souls who have sat shivering within these icy doctrinaire churches for so long and are looking for something warm their souls with. These have sought out the conception of community community and conversation. But in their zeal for legitimate reform, some of these, at least within the Emergent camp, have come to downplay the role of monologue altogether. And so the battle lines have somewhat polarized.
First I have to affirm that I agree with these emergent reformers that community and dialogue are incredibly important to orthodox Christian catechesis and discipleship. The stoic and monolithic preaching of fundamentalist Evangelicalism and some Protestantism is derived from the the residual fear of the fundamentalist controversies of the early 20th century. This was the time when historic Christian belief came under fire by mainline Protestant theological liberals. As a reaction, the evangelicals were forced back on their heels into a defensive posture. They were well meaning, but out of their fear or being marginalized, they became rigid not only in belief, but in practice. And so gospel monologue lost its positive orientation as a time to sit and listen to God’s word with a submissive posture. This reactiveness more or less came to use monologue as a way to defend against questions and challenges to the the faith once delivered to the saints. But eh sad fact is this: If we are afraid to enter into dialogue, it is because of a lack of faith itself. It is a fear, and fear is not made perfect in love.
When we look to the New Testament we see a different picture emerge. We find Jesus constantly oscillating between Gospel monologue, the authoritative preaching of the word of God, and then sitting with his disciples after to discuss their questions, doubts, and even objections (think of how often Peter objected and Jesus patiently trained him anyway). In fact in this way, Jesus did not differ from his first century Jewish context. In the synagogue one would expect to hear a scripture monologue every sabbath day. But outside of that (and I am sure in that too) disciples would gather around their Rabbi to ask questions and sharpen their understandings of the law and faith.
In my own Reformed and Presbyterian traditions where I have been theologically shaped, there is always an emphasis on the preached word and the sacraments, the gospel monologue and the visible word of the sacraments. But often we overlook that the New Testament “marks of the Church” or “means of grace” are outlined in Acts 2:42 where luke describes the early Christian community as habitually practicing “the apostle’s doctrine, the life-together, the breaking of bread, and the prayers. The life together is community, and community always implies conversation. In fact from a simply pedagogical point of view, I have always found that learning is best enhanced by conversation.
Biblical Christianity does not allow us a polarized choice between monologue and dialogue. They are both incredibly important. To be sure the gospel monologue is primary. The word of God was spoken by God himself at sundry times to the fathers by the prophets (Heb. 1:1). Thus the preached word of God is the centerpiece of biblical discipleship. But it is never alone. It is not meant to be mediated at a cold and sterile arm’s length distance. We are communal and familial creatures and the the Church God’s divine family. And so like any healthy family, we are called into community and dialogue around that authoritative word. The earliest church catechism the Didache says the following about him that preaches the word of God in the local Church (4.1) “My child, remember night and day the man who speaks the word of God to you and honor him as the Lord himself. For wherever the Lord’s authority is proclaimed, there the Lord is present.” This is really hard for the Emergents to shuffle around. For the earliest Christians (yes first century) the preaching of the word of God (Gospel monologue) was so authoritative that they were to treat it as if the risen Christ was standing in front of them! But immediately following in 4.2 it also says this: “Seek daily the fellowship of the saints in order that you may persevere through their words.” So the gathering as a body was not only to hear the authoritative preaching of the word of God, but also to engage in the conversation with the saints. In fact the writer here suggests that our very perseverance as Christians is relies upon that holy and godly conversation. We could then think of this conversation as the rumination and digestion of the monologue. It is not either or, but a “both-and.” We are to create Church environments where we not only hear God’s word, but can feel safe to consider, question and understand it with the patient gentleness of God’s people. Creating a theological space for dialogue gives people the mental elbow room to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
Posted by Pastor Todd Murphy in Theology | Comments (0)
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