Providence Reformed Baptist Church

Reformed Baptist Church in Remlap, Alabama

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Theological Illiteracy

In his groundbreaking book, No place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?, Dr. David Wells lamented in his introduction:

I watched with growing disbelief as the evangelical Church has cheerfully plunged into astounding theological illiteracy. Many taking the plunge seem to imagine that they are simply following a path to success, but the effects of this great change in the evangelical soul are evident in every incoming class in the seminaries, in most publications, in the great majority of churches, and in most of their pastors. It is a change so large and so encompassing that those who dissent from what is happening are easily dismissed as individuals who cannot get along, who want to scruple over what is inconsequential, who are not loyal, and who are, in any case, quite irrelevant [David F. Wells, No Place for Truth or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1993), p. 4].

When Dr. Wells first wrote those words it was 1993. Twenty-six years later not much has changed in the evangelical Church. “Theological illiteracy” is a problem which is still as pervasive as it was in the early 1990s. Despite the resurgence of Reformed Theology among American Evangelicals, with the mushrooming and popularity of national conferences like TG4 and The Gospel Coalition – yet, by and large, evangelical Churches have seemed to settle for ministries that are big on activity while small on theology.

As it was in the early 1990s, the focus of many churches is still fixed on numerical growth at the expense of having the most minimal understanding regarding the theology of God’s Word. In fact, what appears to be advocated in our day, is that the church will be more relevant if we are socially engaged in the culture wars – while being less engaged in an actual ministry of biblical discipleship and evangelism. Moreover, if we want people to stay in our churches, then the “experts” tell us to spend more time in offering “practical talks” – which call attention to one’s daily temporal needs in the world, as opposed to their walk with God.

The sad result in all of this are professing Christians who wear their “theological illiteracy” as if it is a badge of honor and a virtue to be admired. “The less you know what the Bible teaches the better off you are!” This is the unwitting attitude and spirit of so many who populate churches across this country. Yet, what these poor and pitiful believers do not realize (if, indeed, they are true believers), is that their intentional ignorance of biblical truth is only robbing them of a greater spiritual growth and health which is theirs to receive and enjoy in Jesus Christ.

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The Whole Gospel

Amidst evangelicalism in our present culture, there’s been a revival of sorts with returning to and rediscovering the Gospel. Whether its seen in conferences, books, or on Internet websites and blogs – the Gospel of God’s grace is “all the buzz”, if you will. To see and hear more talk and teaching explaining how God saves sinners by His grace alone through Christ alone is both encouraging and necessary. We must be clear about the Gospel. We must know what it means and the way to unpack it for sinner and saint alike. All such discussion among Christians is an ear-mark of biblical spirituality.

Yet, while there’s so much to be celebrated in this gospel-revival – like most movements in church history – there’s always something lacking, with some error that actually minimizes the rediscovered truth. In the present case, the excitement over this great renewed interest in the Gospel, has in many circles, laid an exclusive weight on nothing but the Gospel indicatives. This refers only to what God has done to save sinners. Obviously this truth is at the heart of the Gospel and must be preached and understood – if we’re to be faithful to what the Bible bears witness to, as to why any sinner is rescued from their sin and reconciled to God (e.g., Rom. 3:21-5:11; Eph. 1:3-14; Col. 1:13-14).

However, if one places all their emphasis on what God has done to save us, then they will end up with only half of what makes the Gospel good news. And thus, unwittingly, they will wind up in serious error. In fact, where this accent is so strongly pressed on the indicatives of the Gospel, it has brought many professing Christians to embrace ideas about the Christian life that literally truncate all that Scripture reveals about God’s saving grace. And what’s cut off from their understanding are the imperatives which the Gospel calls every believer to live by.

To say it another way: many Christians in our day think that to be Gospel-centered is to only talk about what God has saved us from, without also confessing what God has saved us to. It’s reading only the first eleven chapters of Romans, while ignoring the last five chapters which tell us how Gospel-centered Christians live. The practical outworking of misreading the Gospel in this way, is that you have Christians claiming God’s forgiveness without God’s mandate to pursue holiness (cf. Heb. 12:14). In other words, obedience to God is optional since we’re “under grace and not under law.” This is the mind-set behind an indicative only-gospel.

But let’s be clear: this way of thinking is wrong because it’s reading only half of what the Gospel is about. Since God has saved us in Christ, then our lives should give proof of what the Lord has actually done. This is why, for instance, in Colossians 3:1-17, we begin by reading what God has done for us in salvation – by raising us up with Christ and enclosing our lives in Him. This is the indicative of the Gospel. However, the teaching doesn’t stop there. Since we’re united in Christ, with a new life in Him – there’s now a distinctive way this spiritual union is applied. Colossians 3:5 starts the application: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire…” Here’s the rest of the Gospel. It’s in the imperatives. It’s God’s divine call for His people to flesh out what He has done for them, by living lives in obedience to Him.

And this obedience God commands from us is not impossible, because it’s carried out by God’s power (cf. Phil. 2:12-13). This is why the Lord’s imperatives are the other half of the Gospel – because the life God is calling us to live is the new life we have received due to His saving grace. Therefore the pursuit of holiness, godliness, and righteousness tell the rest of the Gospel story. It demonstrates the power of God’s salvation for all the world to see with both feet on the ground.

So then, in all our “gospel-talk”, let’s remember this: the biblical Gospel declares what God has done, while commanding us how to live. There’s no separation between the two: The Gospel is both indicatives and imperatives. “And by this we know that we have come to know [Christ], if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).

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Self-Feeders?

We’re living in a day and age where the New Testament doctrine of the church is fast becoming an antiquated idea for many professing Christians. In fact, the most popular trend among American evangelicals, is being what is called, “a self-feeder.” One of the biggest cheerleaders for this idea is the leading evangelical marketing consultant, George Barna – who, in 2005, wrote a book entitled, Revolution: Finding Vibrant Faith beyond the Walls of the Sanctuary.

In this book, Barna’s main objective is to make the case that the “revolutionaries” have found that in order to pursue an authentic faith they had to abandon the church. Who needs the church when you have an iPod? Thus, for Barna and his revolutionaries, Christians cannot survive in the 21st century if they retain any commitment to the local organized church. Christians must find their intimacy with God and growth in Christ in their own ways and by their own methods, without depending on the church to aid them and hold them accountable to such growth. Hence, the Christian of the 21st century, according to Barna, is a self-feeder.

Sadly and tragically, in our American culture of rugged individualism, the Christian as a self-feeder appeals strongly to the flesh. It caters to that gravitational pull of wanting freedom and independence without having to answer to anyone for what we think, feel, say, or do. It recoils against submission to authority and resists the very notion of personal accountability. And for many professing Christians in this American culture, they see the local church – as designed by God – with its leadership, order, and discipline as the greatest threat to their liberty.

The New Testament doctrine of the church therefore is under siege – by self-serving, self-centered, self-feeders who have been deceived into thinking that their maturity as Christians has grown beyond their need for the church. But what they believe is the answer to a greater walk with God, will only prove in the end to leave them in spiritual infancy with all the hang-ups and hindrances that come with those who never truly mature (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Hebrews 5:11-14).