Reformed or Rob Bell?

We welcomed a few new members to our group since our last meeting. Brandon Stern, a student at Boyce College in Kentucky, and Jordan Huff, a soon to be graduate from Baptist Bible College in Pennsylvania. Both have affirmed the doctrines necessary for membership and are adding to our discussions.

This week we continued in our discussion of how to encourage correct thinking within the Christian church. We discussed a few local churches in the Chicagoland area as well as part of Rob Bell's book called Velvet Elvis. We found that Rob may be a typical example of the wrong thinking that plagues so many of our churches. While many of the local churches in this area don't go as far down the road of doctrinal error as Rob, they are beginning down that road as they deny Sola Scriptura and place their own ideas in place of God's for His church. This is what Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill (not Mars Hill Church, just Mars Hill) had to say about scripture alone.

"This is part of the problem with continually insisting one of the absolutes of the Christian faith must be a belief that scripture alone is our guide. It sounds nice, but it is not true. In reaction to abuses by the church, a group of believers during a time called the reformation claimed that we only need the authority of the bible, but the problem is that we got the Bible from a church voting on what the Bible even is. So when I affirm the Bible as God's Word, in the same breath I have to affirm that when the people voted, God was somehow present, guiding them to do what they did. When people say that all we need is the Bible, it is simply not true."

I would then ask, "Rob, what else added to scripture is our guide? Is it our perception of what scripture teaches? Is it things gleaned from our own depraved nature, intellect and reason? Is it culture pleasing practice?" Ultimately, when you run away from the authority of Scripture alone, you end up denying God's authority alone over His church; something which is ironically stated in an article Mars Hill uses to describe its view on the authority of scripture.

This may be an extreme example, but it is one that is taught by a leader in the emergent church movement. These Lite versions of church are trickling down into churches that once were solid, but now seem to be drifting away from plumb-line of scripture. We must continue to encourage the churches around us to approach God with the humility of a created being, with the deference of a redeemed individual, and with the passion of God's elect. There must come a time when we can no longer tolerate making God's Word subordinate to man's ideas. Perhaps that time is now. If so, what can we do to effect change in the church? Like other great earth shattering moments, this may happen with a simple hammer and a nail.

Next week we will be finishing our discussion on chapter V of the first book of the Institutes and continuing through chapter VI. If you don't have a copy, I've placed a link to the Institutes at the top of the Reformed Links to the right. Also, we need to think of ways to encourage the churches around us to continue in proper doctrine.

Keep your hammer's bright and your hands ready.

What Ails You, O Church?

This morning was a fantastic discussion with fellow member of DOW, Isaac Ferrell. As we dialogged about the purpose of our group we fell into a discussion about the main threat to Christianity today. We both agreed that the threats from without were small in comparison to the threats within Protestantism. We isolated two main threats which occupied much of our discussion: Not holding to Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), and not seeking Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone).

Sola Scriptura is an essential Biblical and Reformational doctrine which speaks to Scripture as being the foundation for what we believe. We are not supposed to supplement it with feel good lectures, liberal methods, or our own ideas about what will be successful. As the Protestant church has moved away from this doctrine, the church has adopted worldly methods of "doing church". Our goal is to make the congregates feel warm and loved and leave with a spring in their step and a good feeling in their soul. That will surely make them come back for more. Rather, we must preach what scripture says. Sometimes that message is, "Repent, O wicked sinner, for you are nothing apart from Christ." I need to be reminded of that more than once a week for me to keep my humility and reverence of the Father. There is room for joy of course, but that joy comes from a knowledge of redemption and freedom from the law. It's not about how I can change my life by living better, it is about how Christ has already changed my life. The difference can be subtle at times, but is it ever important.

Soli Deo Gloria is also being missed as people seem to be more interested in what they can get out of a church rather than what they can do to honor God through a church. When God is not placed as supreme in everything, we tend to place ourselves pretty high.

As these issues were discussed we decided to approach reform of the church in the same way as our predecessors, Calvin and Luther. Calvin, in the introduction to The Institutes, writes a letter to the King of France. This is not a letter of condemnation, but a letter of encouragement and partnership. There are rebukes and exhortations, but Calvin is not trying to alienate himself from the establishment. Rather, he is trying to reform using the establishment. We know from history that this didn't work, forming the Protestant church, but I think the model is still a good one to follow. As this group grows, we will be sending letters, encouraging church leaders to follow the example of the reformers to stay close to the Solas as they run their churches.

We will be reading and discussion Chapters 1-4 of the institutes (Book 1) for next time. Feel free to read along with us and join the discussion online. Keep hammering brothers. There is much work to be done.

Discussion #1: The Institutes Part 1

Tomorrow morning's discussion will center around the first few chapters of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find a copy of these by clicking on the link to the right for the Center for Reformed Theology and looking under Calvinism on the left of that sight. I look forward to posting the results of that discussion this weekend. Until then, happy reforming.

Welcome to the Doors of Wittenburg

Welcome to the Doors of Wittenburg. This a discussion group that meets bodily on Friday mornings to discuss reformed theology and how it relates to the culture God has placed us in. We will be reading through and discussing John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and applying the truths therein to scripture. I'll be posting the results of those conversations as well as interacting with your comments. Thanks for your involvement in this group. Feel free to join us at our Friday morning meetings.