"Defending the Faith"

As I finish up writing my thesis for my M.Div, I continue to do research. One of the main persons that I look at in my critique of Brian McLaren and the Emerging Church is J. Greshem Mechan who was the main figure in the fight against Protestant Liberalism. In my thesis, I have identified the root cause of liberalism as being the root cause of the Emerging Church: cultural accommodation.

Because of the rise of modernity and the affect it had on the cultural perception of the gospel, many liberals abandoned the historical gospel and replaced it with a more "relevant" gospel. In the name of evangelism, liberals created a gospel that was unoffensive, and thus, unredeeming. The Emerging Church, I believe, is doing the same thing.

But J. Greshem Machen was the leading figure in the 1920's against the rise of Protestant Liberalism. I have read Machen's classic book Christianity & Liberalism (Part 1, Part 2) and it continues to influence how I think and engage liberal movements. But I knew very little about Machen.

Recently at a conference at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, I had the opportunity to listen and to meet DG Hart, scholar and historian. I was impressed by how well Hart understood Machen and was interested in reading what he had written regarding this important man. Therefore, I picked up his book, "Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism in Modern America."

Hart not only survey's the life of Machen, but looks at who Machen was, his theology, his philosophy, his critique of liberalism, and even his politics. This is the work of the scholar, therefor,e it includes concepts and has a writing style for scholars. But for the most part, even the average person could pick up this book and read it.

One of the things that struck me was how Hart discussed Machen's view on engaging the culture. In Christianity & Liberalism, Machen rightly points out that liberals went wrong whenever they accommodated to the culture which was, at that time, modern. But the question arises, how then do we engage culture without corrupting the gospel?

Oftentimes, those who speak negatively of the culture are viewed as being anti-culture as if we cannot be affected by the culture, like the Minnonites. But that is not the case, and Machen is a good example of this. Just because Machen was critical of liberalism and their love affair with modernism doesn't mean he was a hermit. Machen was actively involved in politics, which I found really interesting. Machen publicly endorsed a candidate for President, who lost in the election, and continued to have strong political beliefs. For example, Hart details that Machen was a libertarian in economic policy.

Machen was very much engaged with the culture he was surrounded with, but he refused to hand the gospel over to it, let the culture corrupt it, and essentially abandon the saving grace of Christ. Machen, as I learned through Hart, is a wonderful example of someone who although critical of the effects of the culture on the faith, was at the same time very much involved in the culture, not just as an academic scholar, but as a believer trying to make sense of doctrine and reality.

I highly recommend Hart's book especially for someone interested in the debate between liberals and conservatives. I also encourage you to read Machen's book, Christianity & Liberalism, for although it was written almost a century ago, it is still applicable today.

"Everything Must Change"

Brian McLaren, is the leading voice in the Emerging Church moment. I have read almost all of his works and am currently writing a M.Div thesis on McLaren and the Emerging Church movement. No one can understand McLaren until they read Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope.

Everything Must Change is essentially a sequel to McLaren's previous book, The Secret Message of Jesus, where he laid out Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God. In short, the Kingdom of God is here and now and not primarily about the afterlife. To McLaren, Christians have become so preoccupied with life after the death that they have forgotten about life before death and thus has neglected their Christian responsibility to carry out the business of Jesus' Kingdom here on earth.

The Kingdom of God is the central theme of the book. Without understanding that, one will be lost in McLaren's argument. McLaren, in fact, defines the gospel as the Kingdom of God. This is basic McLarenian theology. The Kingdom of God is the message of Jesus and His followers. The gospel is more than just about getting one's butt out of hell, but about the journey of faith in Him that is incarnational and active.

And so McLaren seeks to guide his reader into how they can serve in God's Kingdom right here and right now. To do so, McLaren identifies a number of crisis' that rank high on his list that need to be dealt with.

The first list begins with the "Prosperity Crisis," defined as "Environmental breakdown used by our unsustainable global economy, an economy that fails to respect environmental limits even as it succeeds in producing great wealth for about one-third of the world's population." The second issue is the "Equity Crisis," defined as "the growing gap between the ultra-rich and the extremely poor, which prompts the poor majority to envy, resent, and even hate the rich minority - which in turn elicits fear and anger in the rich. Thirdly, is the "Security Crisis," defined as "the danger of cataclysmic war arising from the intensifying resentment and fear among various groups at opposite ends of the economic spectrum." Finally, is the "Spirituality Crisis," defined as "the failure of the world's religions, especially its two largest religions, to provide a framing story capable of healing or reducing the three previous crisis'." (5)

Later, McLaren adds to this list. Other major crisis' that we need to face and deal with include hunger and malnutrition, climate change, financial instability, water and sanitation, population/migration, education, corruption in government, poverty and hunger, gender equality that empowers women, child mortality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases (46-47).

McLaren sees the Kingdom of God as God's presence in mobilizing believers around the world to deal with these issues. Although McLaren does not believe in Utopianism, he certainly comes close. He offers ideas, solutions, thoughts, opinions, analysis, etc. in order to encourage the reader to deal with these issues. But I have a number of concerns regarding McLaren's book.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD PRESENT, YET FUTURE

McLaren is right in criticizing Christians for only interpreting the Kingdom of God as only a future hope and neglecting it as a present reality. However, McLaren commits the same mistake he is criticizing others of doing: emphasizing one over the other. The message and meaning of the Kingdom of God is both/and. The Kingdom of God is both present and future. Christ has set up His Kingdom, but we will never attain it until He comes in glory and majesty in the end times.

Of course, that is one of the many areas where McLaren and I differ. I have a high eschatology because Scripture demands it. The Old Testament prophesied of it, Jesus foretold of it, and John described it. It is in the end time narrative that the Kingdom of God is finally set up and in place and not until Christ returns a second time.

McLaren will have none of this. Throughout Everything Must Change, and his other books, McLaren all but mocks such a notion. For example, he writes, "We don't have a violent 'Second Coming' Jesus who finishes what the gentle 'First Coming' Jesus failed to do, but we have a poetic description of the way the gentle First Coming Jesus powerfully overcomes through his nonviolent 'weakness' (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25), a prince of peace who word of reconciliation is truly mightier than Caesar's sword" (145).

So, in essence, McLaren is not interested in apocalyptic, end-times eschatology. Rather, he proclaims a Kingdom that is present set up by Christ in His first coming that is fulfilled by Christians. Although I appreciate McLaren's efforts calling attention our need to focus on the present reality, he is wrong in virtually denying the future hope of the Kingdom. Sinful man, no matter how pious he might try to become, will never bring the Kingdom to fruition. It must and can only take a holy, righteous, and just God to physically set up His Kingdom to right all the wrongs, to end injustice, and to resolve poverty. We mere mortals and sinners cannot attain such a goal, though we must fight for it with all that we have, but apart from Christ own work and action, we will fail.

THE KINGDOM IS THE GOSPEL, THE GOSPEL IS NOT THE KINGDOM

Another frequent problem I have with McLaren, this book, and his other books is his confusion over the gospel. I will not go into detail on what he has written regarding sin, original sin, salvation, the cross, penal substitution, the atonement, depravity, repentance, and other foundation issues surrounding the gospel. But, in brief, McLaren believes that the gospel is summed up in the phrase, "The Kingdom of God is at hand."

Again, I think McLaren is on to something, but he isn't quite where Jesus, and revealed Scripture by which we know Christ and His teachings, takes us. McLaren sums the gospel as the Kingdom, whereas Scripture would point to the Kingdom as the gospel. The difference is significance. What McLaren offers, though he would deny it, is a postmodern version of the social gospel. Because of his emphasis on the "here and now" of the Kingdom, he can do no other. This entire book is about ending poverty and stopping global warming with very little (in terms of positive) regarding the subsitutionary atonement of Christ through the cross (in fact McLaren virtually rejects such a notion).

McLaren even refers favorably to the number one figure in the social gospel Walter Rauschenbusch. McLaren quotes Rauschenbusch's book, "A Theology For the Social Gospel" in order to make the point that "many of our religious institutions have taught us to see no horizon for the message of Jesus beyond the soul of the individual (243). What is significant about this reference isn't just that McLaren clearly finds inspiration from Rauschenbusch, but that the two are very much the same. When I read McLaren, I oftentimes hear Rauschenbusch in the background applauding. The difference between the two men is cultural epistemologies: Rauschenbusch was modern, McLaren is postmodern.

The Kingdom is the gospel in the sense that a right theology bears right living. The Christian that does nothing in serving the poor, the needy, injustice, etc. does not understand the gospel. Sadly, McLaren is reacting to abuses to the gospel by rejecting the gospel. And he does so to the damning of his own and others souls.

POLITICAL UNFAIRNESS

I do not want to spend much time on this issue, but it is important nonetheless. McLaren is no fan of capitalism, the Religious Right, conservatism, Republicans, or anything associated with the political right. I have no problem with that. At times, McLaren raises important issues. I do not want to discuss politics with McLaren.

My problem, however, is the imbalance of criticism McLaren offers towards the left. Though he claims that Jesus is neither a Republican or a Democrat, Capitalist or socialist, right or left, McLaren criticizes the right much more than the left.

For example, throughout the book McLaren criticizes Capitalism because of its greed. This is a common theme for McLaren. A major problem he has with Capitalism is that being founded on greed, it leads to nothing but greed: consumerism, a widening gap between the rich and poor, etc. That is all find and dandy, but McLaren's almost complete silence on the dangers of socialism is frightening. By saying little concerning this economic theory invites the reader into thinking that McLaren is a socialist. If the danger of Capitalism is greed, the danger of Socialism is theft. Socialism implies that government must take from one person and give it to another without permission. That is equally as sinful as greed.

Here, I must return to a previous point made regarding the Kingdom of God. No economic or political theory will bring about McLaren's dream of bringing the Kingdom to earth here and now. Why? Because man is sinful and serves only himself. This is why we are to be preaching the the pure gospel, not a social gospel. The gospel deals with man's humanity, the social gospel does not.

CONCLUSION

Overall, McLaren writes a book that will be adored by Emergent and Postmodern alike. McLaren will continue to be a leading voice among "new kind of Christians." My main concern is that these new kind of Christians are not Christians.

At this point, Emergents will shout that I am still lost in the modern world full of propositions and systematic theology. I respond, "no, I am trapped in the world of Christ. I don't need culture to define the gospel. Jesus already has."

Once again, we must remind ourselves of the transcendence of the gospel "once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 4). It does not need to be updated or changed. If our problem (sin) is not affected by culture, neither is the solution (the gospel). Therefore, rather than focus on what man can do, let us preach what Christ has already done . . . and then roll up our sleeves and get to work to the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

"Twelve Ordinary Men"

Dr. John MacArthur is my favorite pastor, author, and scholar today. No one is as dedicated to God's Word than he and it is evident in everything he says and writes. Recently, while studying for an upcoming sermon, I went back and read one of my favorite books of his, "Twelve Ordinary Men: How the Master Shaped His Disciples for Greatness and What He Wants to Do with You."

The book, in short, is about the twelve disciples. MacArthur marches the reader through each of the twelve closest "learners" of Christ, their triumphs, failures, characteristics, and their ministry. MacArthur is faithful to Scripture and gives the reader the detail and application they need taken from the twelve. For example, the first disciple discussed is Peter in whom MacArthur discusses, in great detail, his life, his background, all that we know about him, and what tradition says about him following the events in Acts. But in Peter, MacArthur finds a great model of leadership and so guides the reader through imperative traits of a godly leader.

Likewise, MacArthur's discussion of Simon the Zealot is encouraging. As he points out, Simon was a terrorist who would have rather slay a Roman or a tax collector than serve them. And one of the disciples was a tax collector. MacArthur guides the reader through what it meant to be a zealot in Israel in the first century and the power of God's grace as evident in Simon's life.

It is this book that we walked through our youth group through a number of years ago. Although I am no longer a youth minister, I found it interesting how the youth were surprised at how real these men were. Yes, they were ordinary. Yes, they made mistakes. Yes, they were failures. But nonetheless, they were loved by our Savior and through Him changed the world.

I highly recommend this book of MacArthur for both its faithfulness to Scripture and its application to the reader. While your at it, pick up anything by MacArthur and thank me later.

"Tell the Truth"

It is imperative that when doing evangelism that one has a sound theology and an effective method. Oftentimes the evangelist has one or the other; and most books on the subject have one or the other. Rarely does it seem that a book is written where sound theology and an effective, practical method are presented. Will Metzger has written such a book.

Metzger has much experience in evangelism and missions as he has shared the gospel on virtually every continent in the world through various ministries. In Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People, he offers both a theological foundation for evangelism with practical help for effectiveness.

Summary

Will Metzger’s evangelistic book is divided into four parts. The first part looks at the content of the gospel. Here, the authors lays out in clear terms what the message of Christianity is. To Metzger, too many Christians are using an unbiblical and/or incomplete gospel as they evangelize. This only creates more problems than it solves. Converts are not converts if they have accepted no gospel at all.

Metzger, then, guides the reader through the critical parts of the gospel. One of the problems with the message that many Christians preach and evangelize with is too Me-centered rather than God-centered. The author compares and contrasts the difference between a Me-centered gospel and a God-centered gospel. For example, the Me-centered gospel believes that "humanity is sick and ignorant" whereas the God-centered gospel believes that "humanity is spiritually dead and lost" (36). The Me-centered gospel is oftentimes played out by emphasizing God’s love in an incomplete way. The author makes clear that "there is no love without wrath" (48). Therefore, to no preach and make clear God’s wrath with the consequences of hell is an incomplete presentation of the gospel.

So what is the gospel? Metzger points out five primarily foundations of the gospel. The first is that God is our Owner, our Father, and our Judge (53-58). A right view of God will lead to a right understanding of the gospel. Secondly, God expects perfection, yet we fall short (58-62). Thirdly, we are enslaved to sin (62-67). Fourthly, Jesus Christ is our only hope (67-75). Finally, we must respond to the gospel message. To minimize, change, or ignore any of these five points is to diminish the gospel as laid out in Scripture.

The second part looks at the conversion of the individual. The author begins by discussing the difference between regeneration and conversion. The difference is that one is God-centered (regeneration) while the other is man-centered (conversion). Furthermore, to be merely converted oftentimes ends in little change in lifestyle. The author, then, helps the reader, and the evangelists to guide the repentant sinner into the process of living a regenerated life.

The third part looks at the foundation for evangelism. The author begins by looking at grace and argues that grace is only for those who are "powerless" (112). One of the key issues that the author raises throughout this section is Divine Sovereignty and human freewill. There are many myths, the author argues, regarding these issues, but a careful study and an accurate understanding and application of them are critical to effective evangelism.

The final section of Metzger’s book regards the "character and communication in witnessing (159). The first chapter in this section guides the reader with some practice advice and insight into understanding our culture and common problems in evangelism. The author writes in some detail regarding the "new definition of tolerance" (160) and our pluralistic society and how it affects evangelism. Pluralism and our culture’s obsession with tolerance creates a number of problems when one evangelizes and so the author provides a number of resources, arguments, and advice on how to be successful.

The author continues to provide for practice advice for his readers on effective evangelism and communication. In short, though no method is perfect, there are some things one can do to be effective and the author walks the reader through these helpful hints. One of these hints is to understand the various types of people. Understanding the various types of persons is key to being effective to each individual person the evangelist reaches. Likewise, the author gives a number of conversation starters that turns the conversation towards the gospel.

The whole point of the book is to help the reader become a more effective evangelist that is faithful to the gospel without watering it down or compromising Biblical truth. The author provides both theological foundations and practical help in order to reach that goal.

Critical Evaluation

There is much to like in Metzger’s book. First and foremost, Metzger is unashamedly faithful to Scripture and the gospel. His challenge to modern evangelicalism and it’s cheap gospel is timely and right on. Sadly, too many Christians today have diluted the gospel as a result of cultural hostility and dislike. Metzger’s call for Christians to present the "whole gospel" is missing in modern evangelism and by making the gospel the central point of his book, Metzger calls the reader to the centrality of the gospel in evangelism.

One of the most sobering applications of this approach is that Metzger cares more about real converts rather than many converts. Metzger argues that emphasizing numbers over true regeneration is dangerous. We must not tells ourselves or "converts" that they are redeemed whenever we have presented them with a diluted gospel that was not "whole."

Another important issue raised by Metzger regarding the gospel is the balance between action and words. It is popular among Christian today to let their actions speak louder than their words. However, very few words are usually accompanied by those actions. Metzger, though admitting that actions are critical to effective evangelism, makes it very clear that to only have actions without verbally proclaiming the good news is unbiblical and dangerous. He argues that, "to remain silent and let others interpret our actions is wrong; God himself did not do this" (25). Metzger is right and more should heed his words.

Furthermore, Metzger’s discussion on the "three myths that obscure grace" (121) is helpful. Here, Metzger points out three "myths" that people have regarding grace. These three gifts hit the nail on the head. After following Metzger’s argument, the reader is challenged to abandon these myths and embrace a more Biblical theology. If Christians would embrace the theology presented by Metzger in this section, the less prevalent confusion and apostasy will be in the Church.

Also, Metzger has an ability to take what is difficult and put it into words that are simple and yet profound. Perhaps one of the best examples of this comes from his discussion on how we do not have free will, but a "freed will." The debate over God’s Soveriengty in salvation verses human free will continues to wage and divide, but Metzger is clear: unless the God takes the first step, via the Holy Spirit, no one would ever repent and be saved. The problem is not with God, but with the bondage, as Luther put it, of our will.

Metzger provides a helpful illustration that makes his point clear. He concludes, "sovereign saving grace gives power to obey, as well as grants a pardon for disobedience. My will is freed" (144). Of all of the treatments of this subject, and this one is brief, this is perhaps the best. Metzger, as is typical in this book, does not diminish or apologize for his theological convictions, rooted in Scripture. Rather, he shows the reader how the theology applies and is necessary in a way that virtually any reader could understand.

Conclusion

Overall, Metzger deserves credit for writing one of the best books on evangelism that is both theologically sound and practical for every reader. Any author wishing to write on evangelism must have these two components, and Metzger succeeds flawlessly. The author offers a book that can, and should, be read by virtually any Christian regardless of theological background; whether a scholar, a saint, or a starter.