Broad vision on a narrow road
My posts have been reflecting upon ways in which theological thinking can be a meeting place, a place to ask important questions. I’ve been attempting to adopt a learning posture, being curious without having to be ‘the answer guy;’ communicating a broader vision, which goes beyond my comfort level, going beyond what I had described as unquestioned loyalty to my tradition, my evangelicalism. In reference to this movement, Len Hjalmarson shared this M. Scott Peck quote with me; it describes what I’ve been learning far better than I could:
To develop a broader vision we must be willing to forsake, to kill, our narrower vision. In the short run it is more comfortable not to do this – to stay where we are, to keep using the same microcosmic map, to avoid suffering the death of cherished notions. The road of spiritual growth, however, lies in the opposite direction. We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have previously been taught and hold dear. The path to holiness lies through questioning everything.[1] — M. Scott Peck
Today, I’d like to take a contrarian view to this personal enlightenment. Alister E. McGrath’s “Christian Theology an Introduction”[2] does a wonderful job of tracing, at the highest level, Christian thought over almost 2000 years. It reminded me that one of the chief ends of theology is to protect against heresy. Heresy’s redeeming value is that it makes us go deeper into our theology, and more specifically into our Christology. The best theology isn’t formed in some cloistered monastery but it’s formed when the local church is being pressured.
Here are just a few of the pressures that I’ve seen move into the churches I’ve served. 1) The pressure can be to become more rigid, to hold to a strict observance of certain laws, religious days, and rituals. 2) The pressure can come from those who advocate for a higher spiritual plain that can only be attained if you know the secrets. 3) And the pressure can come from some esoteric group that advocates bizarre spiritual practices as the means to be closer to God.
These pressures have one thing in common: Jesus becomes a little smaller; the law is lifted up, while spiritual mysteries or experiences eclipse the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ. Perhaps the greatest pressure facing the American evangelical church is simply adding. Adding more activities, more knowledge, more work – so much more that the congregant can not help but walk way and think “my faith equals Jesus plus.”
McGrath offers us a guide to Christian thought and intertwines with that all the heretical and philosophical pressures that create the context for our theology; the pressures the patriarchs, church leaders and theologians wrestled with in developing orthodoxy. For example, in the section on “The doctrine of the person of Christ” he mentions:
Philosophic arguments for or against Christ’s deity, weighing Christ’s humanity or divinity at the expense of the other, seeing Jesus as a created being and therefore less than the Father; all these and more have come and gone and will come again. These pressures might have helped define our faith 1500 to 1600 years ago, but they’re just as real today. George Santayana once wrote ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”. We also need to know our theological past, lest we allow the same heresies to gain a foothold in our churches today. Many of us who aren’t theological scholars or church historians need simple reference works like “Christian Theology: an introduction” to turn to when some ‘new’ idea is pressuring our churches.
I appreciate a broad vision, a vision that sees others and tries to understand them. I appreciate the skill of asking good questions; we have a faith that can stand up and go deep when questioned. That doesn’t mean our theology becomes broad, or pluralistic. My recent broad exploration has actually refreshed my understanding of the sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus. He says that we enter God’s Kingdom through a narrow gate.[6] Christian leaders and we pastors serve as gatekeepers. It’s a huge honor to be a kingdom gatekeeper, one that I can only do effectively when I know the rocky road of our theological history.
[1] M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled, Timeless Edition: a New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth, Anniversary ed. (publication place: Touchstone, 2003), ?.
[2] Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: an Introduction, 5th ed. (New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
[3] Ibid., 265-266
[4] Ibid., 273
[5] Ibid., 274-276
[6] Matthew 7:13-14
About the Author
Dave Young
husband, dad, friend, student of culture and a pastor.10 responses to “Broad vision on a narrow road”
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Dave,
I am so with you on your premise that it is important that we are not doomed to repeat the past. This why for some reason my theological love has resurfaced with a new vigor. It is important and paramount especially in a time like this. I pray that we all grasps the tenets of the faith that the fathers of ealry Christianity died for, burned for, lived for, and wrote for! Amen
Dave, I’ve really enjoyed getting a weekly update on your theological journey. I can see how seriously you’re walking through this. It’s been encouragement for me.
And thanks for the reminder that these theological conversations are best played out in the local church. I really feel like it’s our role to take these conversations happening in academia and continue them in the church. If we don’t then what’s the point?
“I really feel like it’s our role to take these conversations happening in academia and continue them in the church.”
Amen. If these conversations stay in academia and never reach the level of the local church and impact the lives of individual believers, what is the point?
Brian, and Nick
Thanks for the affirmation. Be encouraged there is a lot more desire to engage in theological conversation in the church then I first assumed. Sure some will shy away but as long as the discussion in some way is connected to life and faith most want to engage in it. We all need thought provoking discussion that touches the heart.
That must be a real encouragement to see people engaging in this way.
Dave,
Thanks for pointing out the connection between pressure and the need for theological clarity. Before the advent of denominations, the church faced these pressures together. I think this still happens to a point within denominations and independent groups as they articulate responses to current pressures, but it seems that today it is too easy to avoid wrestling with a question that may challenge us. It is far easier to just look for a group that already believes the way you do.
Dave, you said:
“It reminded me that one of the chief ends of theology is to protect against heresy. Heresy’s redeeming value is that it makes us go deeper into our theology, and more specifically into our Christology.
So in a very real sense, heresy becomes orthodoxy’s closest traveling companion, doesn’t it? Hmmm…
J
Dave, I like your line, “My recent broad exploration has actually refreshed my understanding of the sufficiency and supremacy of Jesus.” I do think there is something about sitting in conversations where the normal rules we use to guide the conversations are changed and we have to actually see what emerges from best thinking and wisdom that can be mustered up from a group of honestly talking people. I think we all do too far infrequently but it does tend to bless us and those a part of such conversations. I think more times than not we actually do not have the TIME that level of conversation requires. Any way . . . I appreciate you sharing your contemplative journey in this season of your life.
Like Jon, I too appreciate your quote “Heresy’s redeeming value is that it makes us go deeper into our theology.” I can see now how to welcome heresy, not as a stubborn and illegitimate focus, but rather as a way to reveal God’s redemptive power and beauty that can come from conflict. I just wish we didn’t have to kill each other to make our points.
On another note, your mention of refreshment occurring on your journey reminds me of when people say, “Oh, you went to seminary, did it destroy your faith?” For me, seminary for my masters and the conversations we’re having now in our doctorate program are actually cultivating a deeper love for God. How grateful I am to share this journey with our cohort, both for myself as well as enjoying the lives of DMIN-LGP5.
Mary (and cohort), I agree…the more I seek to learn about Christ, history and theology, the deeper my faith and convictions grow. I’m very grateful for each of you and the unique insights that you bring to the table. We grow through dialog and exposure to new ideas. I know this verse is used a lot, but it is so true that “iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another”(Proverbs 27:17 ESV).
As we discuss our journey to deepen our theological knowledge, I am reminded of Proverbs 2:2-5: “Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”