Theology and Mission

Some quotes from Chester & Timmis Total Church, from their chapter on theology. [quotes from pp.151-153

Meaningful theology needs to take place primarily in the routine life of the people of God. It needs to be discourse that engages with life and arises out of life.

Mission is the opportunity to rethink which elements of what we believe do belong to the gospel and which in fact belong to our culture.

We need to rethink all of theology in missionary terms because every situation is a missionary situation. We need a missional approach to doctrine, to biblical studies, to church history, to ethics, to pastoral care and so on.

[This] also means that when issues arise in our churches and ministry, time should be taken to reflect on them theologically. They often present real opportunities to move forward in theological understanding. And without this theological reflection we will be driven by pragmatism or tradition. As theologians together, our ‘subject’ should be exploring the missiological implications of all theology in every aspect of the life of the local church and every detail of the lives of believers.

The need for a deep knowledge of God

I have been studying the early chapters of Isaiah recently (Our current homegroup Bible studies are in Isaiah, as is our assistant pastor’s current sermon series.) I have been particularly struck by the depth of Isaiah’s vision of God – in His self-sufficiency, His sovereignty over all the nations of the world, His awesome purposes in judgment and salvation.

I have been struck by how vital it is that we know God, that we approach in some measure the depth of Isaiah’s own vision. Only a deep knowledge of God will sustain us in whatever trials may lie ahead of us in our lives (as individuals, families and churches). Only a deep knowledge of God will empower us for persevering obedience and service. Only a deep knowledge of God will lift our eyes from ourselves, and give us the desire to see His glory.

This morning our assistant pastor preached on Isaiah 6. Here are some further reflections on knowing God, drawn from Craig’s sermon:

- We need the right kind of knowledge of God; not the kind of me-centred knowledge that superficially acknowledges God but in reality treats Him as someone who can meet our needs, help fulfil our aspirations; someone who can be manipulated. True knowledge of God makes us realise how radically God-centred the universe is, and how radically God-centred we need to be.

- Nor is true knowledge of God a mere knowing about, an intellectualism that finds God a fascinating object of study but is not moved to obedience and godly fear and love.

- But true knowledge of God leads us to recognition of the huge distance between ourselves and Him – not merely the sheer ontological distance between the finite and the infinite, but primarily the moral distance between a pure, holy God and me – polluted, corrupted, disfigured by sin. The six woes of Isaiah 5, denouncing the utter corruption of the people of Judah, are followed by a seventh in Isaiah 6:5. “Woe is me”, declares Isaiah, “for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips”

- But that vision of God’s holiness and recognition of our sinfulness then leads in Isaiah’s case to the reality of forgiveness. To know God is to know oneself sinful but forgiven, polluted but cleansed, alienated but reconciled. A knowledge of God without the experience of personal forgiveness is not a true knowledge of God. So whereas the six woes of chapter 5 are interspersed with warnings of God’s certain judgment on their unrepentance, Isaiah’s confession is followed by cleansing: “your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” There is no true knowledge of God that has not come to the Cross.

- Finally, to know God is to be ready to serve Him. To know God in his holiness, and experience his cleansing of our sin-stained lives, is to then be commissioned to live for His glory. A knowledge of God that does not issue in obedience and service is not true knowledge.

Reader! – these things may or may not be familiar to you, but if they are, be refreshed in your desire to know God better; persevere in pursuing God Himself. For we can drift, we can lose our focus; we can become consumed by fears and insecurities. At least I know I can, and have. I have needed a reminder of these vital truths. And perhaps you do too.



Note: Craig’s sermons on Isaiah can be found here. Please note, this is the temporary download page for Beeston Free Church. The sermons on Isaiah are the following files:
20070114am.mp3 (Isaiah 1)
20070121am.mp3 (Isaiah 2)
20070128am.mp3 (Isaiah 6)

Evangelicals and Public Theology

Oak Hill College is having a school of theology day on Wednesday May 17th which looks very exciting. The title is "A Higher Throne: Evangelicals and Public Theology" and there will be four parts, as follows:

Evangelical Public Theology: What on Earth? Why on Earth? How on Earth? – Dan Strange
Rutherford's Case for Christendom – David Field
New Living in an Old Creation – Kirsten Birkett
Gabbatha and Golgotha: Punishment by God and His Servant the State – Garry Williams

Full details can be found here

The moral goodness of business 2

On my previous post on Grudem's book Business for the Glory of God, étrangère asked...

"Would it be good also for someone convinced that business is glorifying to God and whose church is pushing that God's inheritance for us includes material blessing to be pursued through business? Does it address or would it inadvertently confound that false teaching?"

Here's my reply:

Hi Rosemary,

I find that question quite difficult to answer, which is why it's taken me a couple of weeks! Grudem does not address that particular brand of teaching. His aim is quite modest. It is not, for example, “a book on ‘how to decide the hard ethical questions in business.’” – although incidentally he is working on such a book. The aim is to affirm the moral goodness of various aspects of business activity. I suppose then that it is written to persuade Christians who either think that business is morally dubious or who are not sure, uncertain whether Christians can engage in business with a clean conscience or not. In addition, it has probably been written to encourage Christians involved in business that their activities can be used to glorify God, and to encourage them to do so.

I think that the book does present an alternative (and better!) Christian vision of business than the view that teaches that God wants to bless our wallets etc. For one thing, the emphases are God-centred and other-centred.

But whether this would be a good book for someone in the situation to describe to read, well, I think that depends. Books can be misread, can’t they? Iain Murray, for example, has expressed dismay that his book The Puritan Hope has, in his view, been misused by certain people to back up a certain kind of postmillenialism related to theonomy.1 Business for the Glory of God could be read without due care and used to bolster one’s own ‘health and wealth gospel’. As I say, Grudem is not aiming to correct that particular error. However, read thoughtfully and with help from someone else, the book could be profitable for a person in your scenario. It may help destroy false dichotomies. If the person is (a) convinced that business can be used to glorify God, (b) hears the goodness of business affirmed by those teaching a ‘wealth gospel’ (c) has heard others say that the ‘health and wealth gospel’ is unbiblical and (d) therefore associates (c) with saying that business is bad, then to hear an alternative, positive vision of business that is biblical and not about ‘material blessings are our inheritance’ could begin to drive a wedge between the conviction that business can be used to glorify God and the material wealth teaching. But this is not necessarily evident from reading Business to the Glory of God since Grudem is not addressing that issue and there would therefore probably be a need for a helpful Christian friend (you?) to help him/her think through it.

So I think Grudem here does “inadvertedly confound that false teaching”, but subtly.

Dunno if that helps; I certainly welcome further comments!

___________
1. Listen to Murray discussing the book with Mark Dever here, from approximately the 20th minute to the 25th.

The moral goodness of business

I have just read Business for the Glory of God by Wayne Grudem. It is short and packs a single, simple punch. Business is a dirty word, associated with all kinds of greed and corruption. Yet, Grudem argues, as Christians we can, and must, affirm that business activities are neither inherently evil not merely morally neutral, but morally good. Good not just for the opportunities that are provided for advancing the gospel, but good in themselves, for through them we can glorify God.

Grudem’s simple thesis is that business activities are fundamentally good and provide many opportunities for glorifying God, although they also provide many opportunities to sin. Of course there are many sinful distortions, but activities such as buying and selling, employing others, competition and making are profit are good.

I found this book very helpful, and would like to respond with two thoughts: firstly, Grudem has encouraged me to view those business-type activities that I am involved with as opportunities to glorify God and love my neighbour. Secondly, Grudem has persuaded me to encourage Christians who work in business or who are thinking of going into business.

In my own attitudes, I want to do what Grudem suggests is rarely done:

“when people ask how their lives can ‘glorify God’ they aren’t usually told ‘go into business’”
“When someone explains to a new acquaintance, ‘I work in such-and-such a business” he doesn’t usually hear the response, ‘what a great way to glorify God!’”

If you’re not convinced by my “review” then perhaps you need to read the book!