Kaleo Church Houston’s Bill Streger on the danger of legalistic “gospel-centrality.”
I’m a part of the Acts 29 network, which is at the forefront of what has been called the “new Calvinism” and the “young, restless, and reformed (YRR)” (both of which are horrendous labels that reek of too much editorial spin to sell books and magazines). This is the tribe I run in, and I love it. God is doing something very unique, and I am thrilled to play a tiny part of it. But in the midst of it all, there is this danger:
I think we’re in danger of making “gospel-centrality” an idol.
We’ve replaced “gospel” with a very distinct understanding of theology, essentially drawing a circle around a small part of the body of Christ, and then we throw verbal stones at those who are outside of the circle. We’ve created a sub-culture of language and jargon that makes us unique, and if people describe things in a different vernacular we hold them in suspicion.
My prayer, actually, is that evangel-centrality will actually mean a larger circle for evangelicalism, which is something I hinted at in my original “What is an evangelical?” post.
The shame is that the guys most vocal about it are typically one sort of guy. (My sort of guy, actually.) And that not only makes it sound like the latest evangelical fad, it makes it in actual danger of being the latest evangelical fad.
But I think it is important for those of us inside the thing to begin speaking as Bill is doing here, guarding the good word that means the good news from becoming a registered trademark of Young Restless Reformed Inc. and guarding our own hearts against idolatry.
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October 21st, 2009 | 1:01 pm | #1
Yikes. Where do these people come from?
My idea for a bumper sticker:
“Legalism: There ought to be a law against.”
October 21st, 2009 | 1:02 pm | #2
I meant to say:
“Legalism: There ought to be a law against it.”
October 21st, 2009 | 1:54 pm | #3
Amen. Great insights. Our hearts are idol factories. This post crystallizes and expands on some hazy thoughts that have bounced around in my brain for quite a while (probably since I first began learning the hyphenated dialect of modern theology and reading certain blogs). The best solution, I think, is to continually go back to the nitty-gritty work of prayerful Bible study, digesting it for ourselves, describing our findings with our own words, and then consulting with scholars/pastors, rather than primarily feeding on already-digested thoughts from leading evangelical thinkers.
October 21st, 2009 | 2:56 pm | #4
Francis, which people?
October 21st, 2009 | 6:34 pm | #5
Does this “larger circle of evangelicalism” include egalitarians like Richard Mouw, Gordon Fee, N.T. Wright and Scot McKnight or they outside the bounds of gospel-centrality?
October 21st, 2009 | 7:34 pm | #6
Dan, yes to the first half of your question (although Mouw’s circle, which from here looks fuzzy at the point on the circumference closest to the LDS church, concerns me). But no, I don’t think egalitarianism un-evangelical. I just think it’s wrong. :-)
My book draws equally from Piper and Wright, which I know is unconscionable to many in my tribe. :-)
October 22nd, 2009 | 11:05 am | #7
So the solution to idolatry is more law??
Amen. Great insights. Our hearts are idol factories. This post crystallizes and expands on some hazy thoughts that have bounced around in my brain for quite a while (probably since I first began learning the hyphenated dialect of modern theology and reading certain blogs). The best solution, I think, is to continually go back to the nitty-gritty work of prayerful Bible study, digesting it for ourselves, describing our findings with our own words, and then consulting with scholars/pastors, rather than primarily feeding on already-digested thoughts from leading evangelical thinkers.
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