A Vision for PNW Churches (Part 1)
My prayer for the congregations of the PNW is that they “have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” That is the definition of spiritual maturity.
Over the last few years, a debate has arisen in theological circles about whether the gospel-centered church planting movement (championed by organizations like The Gospel Coalition and Redeemer City to City, led by Tim Keller) that led the culture of the PCA in the ‘00’s and ‘10’s was sufficient to strengthen the church for the cultural pressures that have increased in American culture over the past couple decades.
Tim Keller’s philosophy of ministry was by far the most prominent model in the church planting efforts of those years. Tim Keller was a godly man who loved the Lord, inspired many church plants, and had a passion for sharing Christ with unbelievers. Keller is best celebrated as an evangelist who led many thousands to trust in Christ. His book Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering is one of the best treatments of the subject I have read. For this I sincerely praise God, and continue to see him as a model of a pastor who had a deep heart of love for the lost. I hope our generation remembers the honor that is due him. I thank God for the influence he has had on my life. (You can read more about my appreciation of Keller here.)
However, in his efforts to win a hearing with non-Christians, Keller’s preaching sometimes left important controversial areas of the Christian life and American culture unaddressed, or advanced conclusions about them that were not faithful to Scripture. Keller was a bridge builder, and in his desire to remove obstacles to the gospel, he avoided conflicts with the culture that needed to happen. Keller did not preach through many of the more obscure sections of the Bible (I have his collected sermons in my Logos library). In his book on marriage, he did not talk about the importance of children in God’s purpose for marriage. He suggested to college students that acts of homosexuality will not send someone to hell (contra 1 Cor. 6:9-10). In another place he suggested that Christian schools and government schools are equally idolatrous. He supported secular theories of white guilt and he was also supportive of theistic evolution. Generally speaking, by claiming the gospel is neither left nor right culturally (a common theme in his sermons), he suggested a moral equivalency between the two, making people vulnerable to progressivism, which, generally speaking, is a heresy (see here and here) that runs counter to to Christian ideals at a fundamental level (which is not true of conservatism, as they stand now).
These and other examples have left important areas of life and culture vulnerable to secular influence among God’s people. Keller may have seen these as a distraction from the central message of the gospel. That said, we actually agree with his great statement, “The gospel changes everything.” He repeated this statement over and over. What a magnificent and profound truth. In fact, I so deeply agree with this maxim that my hope is for our churches to be willing to embrace more fully the implications of it.
To discern good and evil means to make judgments about the world around us, namely about matters not directly addressed in the Bible.
In this series of articles, I want to articulate some of the areas of life and culture that I believe the next generation of pastors need to address more clearly in their discipleship of God’s people in the Pacific Northwest. It might make some uncomfortable or fearful to speak more clearly about these matters. This is hopefully not a rejection of Tim Keller or the gospel-centered movement, but a maturing of it. Many of us were called by God into ministry through the gospel-centered movement. I am grateful for the foundation laid by those before us, and hope to build on it and deepen it. The author of Hebrews describes for us what that maturing looks like:
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb. 5:12-14)
My prayer for the congregations of the PNW is that they “have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” That is the definition of spiritual maturity. To discern good and evil means to make judgments about the world around us, namely about matters not directly addressed in the Bible. The Bible doesn’t talk about iPhones, government schools, the Supreme Court, transgenderism, or American immigration policies. It says many things that have significant implications on these matters, which people in our culture are talking and thinking about all the time. If we don’t make judgments about these things, we leave our people as immature, spiritual children. Not only that, if we don’t speak about them, they will find other teachers (in podcasts, counselors and social media) who will.
Pastors and elders in our churches must be willing to speak with wisdom and boldness to help God’s people think about these things biblically. This does create a clash with the culture around us, but as we read through the book of Acts, we can’t help but expect that to happen. Every chapter is filled with conflict.
Our desire is for our pastors to be models of the fruit of the Spirit, both publicly and in private.
If our pastors won’t speak with courage and boldness in their churches filled with people who largely agree with them, how will they ever do so out in the world that is often more hostile? If the church does not speak, people will turn to other places to be shaped in their worldview. The void will be filled. The gospel-centered movement has often left ethical matters unaddressed—or addressed in a way that sought the approval of the world—because these are seen as “secondary” issues, and leaders of the movement wanted to avoid the charge of legalism or moralism. But the Christian ministry is a paradox. We must both “not go beyond what is written” (1 Cor. 4:6) and “bring every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5)—which involves doing and believing things the Bible doesn’t explicitly address. There is risk in broadening the areas on which the church takes a stand. This takes wisdom and courage. But we cannot back away from the challenge or we will leave our people ill-equipped to serve Christ in our generation.
A FEW AFFIRMATIONS
In light of all this, there are certain aspects of the gospel-centered movement that I want to reaffirm as essential aspects of the mission of our church. I don’t want to move on from the gospel-centered movement, but to build on it. My hope again is that it grows and matures. Here are a few affirmations:
We agree that the central engine for the Christian life is the forgiving grace of Jesus Christ to sinners, offered in the gospel and by the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. Believers receive the power of the Spirit when they hear the good news of the gospel and trust in Christ’s saving grace. “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? … Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:2, 7). Therefore, we agree with the gospel-centered movement that the whole Bible is about Jesus, and that both believers and unbelievers need to repeatedly have the gospel offered to them, so they can repent of their sin and trust in God’s grace for salvation.
We agree that this continual reminder of the grace of Jesus Christ to sinners creates a culture of love, compassion, and humility in a Christian congregation. Without the gospel, our churches will become joyless and see little transformation in true holiness.
We agree that Christians should seek to speak the truth of God’s word in love and avoid unnecessary offense. Peter says that we should make a defense of our faith always with “gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15). There is a tendency in masculine Reformed circles to take a “shock jock” approach to rhetoric. As our culture is in moral collapse, it is argued that we need to wake people up by saying shocking things to get their attention. “This is a time of emergency,” it is said. While that may be appropriate at times, often people use the excuse of emergencies to justify speaking and acting in ways that are unwise or immoral (Prov. 12:18; 15:1; Col. 4:6). When people use outrageous rhetoric, they must remember the old adage “What you win people with, is what you win them to.” When men are won and discipled with an abrasive spirit, they will be molded into that image, because it is what they signed up for. Our desire is for our pastors to be models of the fruit of the Spirit, both publicly and in private. We want our pastors to be learned, dignified, and pious men who clearly love their congregations and who, like good fathers with their children, tell their people clearly what they should believe about God and the world.
We agree that the church should have a heart for the lost, and should never lose its evangelistic spirit. Pastors should lead the congregation in building relationships with non-Christians and having a clear strategy for sharing the gospel with them.
We cannot simply teach people the gospel; we also have to teach them how to live.
In addition to these gospel basics, there are a number of areas of life, especially in the God-ordained institutions of the church, family, and civil government, where God’s people, who are filled with the Word and Spirit, play an important formative role. It is sometimes thought that the basics of the Christian life are summarized mainly in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. Though both creeds profoundly summarize the gospel, God’s law (summarized in the Ten Commandments) has also always been a part of the Rule of Faith (i.e. the basics of Christianity) along with the Lord’s Prayer (i.e. the means of grace). Therefore, teaching Christian law and ethics is a first-tier responsibility of the church in its mission to disciple the nations, which includes ”teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). We cannot simply teach people the gospel; we also have to teach them how to live.
In the articles that will follow, I will give more examples about how the church should engage the culture around us in the generation ahead.
