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On Being Reformed
By admin | February 6, 2008
On Being Reformed
Or, Why I am neither Evangelical nor Emerging
Stefan T. Lindblad
Pastor, Trinity Reformed Baptist Church (Kirkland, WA); 2002 Graduate of WSC/IRBS
The landscape of twenty-first century Christianity becomes more complex by the day, or so it would seem. One of the major reasons for such complexity (or, better, confusion) is the recent ecclesiastical phenomena known as the emerging church, labeled as such because its adherents profess to be emerging out of the supposedly moribund and modernity-riddled ways of twentieth century evangelicalism. Despite the difficulty of actually defining postmodernism, emerging church pundits contend that, in the wake of postmodernity’s phoenix-esque rise from the ashes of modernity, the church – regardless of theological commitments or denominational boundaries – must be the spiritual equivalent of a butterfly and emerge out of the cocoon of modern ways of communicating the Christian faith (specifically those of fundamentalism and evangelicalism), speaking instead the language of postmodernity in order to reach postmoderns. The church must simultaneously appropriate the apostolic faith and speak this gospel in an “authentic” or “genuine” (read, postmodern) manner to satisfy adequately the spiritual taste-buds of those who live and move and have their being in a postmodern world.
As a minister of a confessional Reformed Baptist Church – and up until this point, little more than a casual observer of this current trend – I have read a few proponents of the emerging church movement only to walk away wondering if they have ever heard of anything other than evangelicalism or fundamentalism. That is, do they believe that their “postmodern” version of Christian spirituality is the only viable alternative to those “modern” forms proffered by evangelicalism? And if so, what happens when postmodernity collapses, or when (not if) postmodernity morphs and becomes something other than what it is at this very moment? Must the church morph as well? If not, what will fill the spiritual and ecclesiastical void that remains? Let me suggest that there is another, better, way than what the emerging church is attempting to offer us: the Reformed faith.
The emerging church, despite its protest to the contrary, is guilty of the same errors for which it impugns evangelicalism, namely, an overly subjective view of the Christian life, where privatized forms of piety are the standard, and a spirit of accommodation to the cultural and philosophical whims of this passing evil age. But, to be frank, the redeemed bride of Jesus Christ – otherwise known as the church – is, in its very nature and practice, counter-cultural. Certainly not in a hermetic sense, where the church is sealed off from the world altogether in monastic fashion, nor in some ethereal sense, but because we are united to Christ, who is in heaven, and marked out by our fidelity to him and his Word. The church militant is a pilgrim church, loyal to the true and living God who is in covenant with us in Christ – and that makes all the difference.
This is why I am neither evangelical nor emerging. Instead, I am Reformed. Perhaps by focusing briefly on the issue of piety or spirituality the central issues at stake will come into greater focus. Both evangelicalism and emerging forms of piety focus, by and large, upon the isolated individual. In either case, whether the revivalist and pietist evangelical views of spiritual formation or the emergent church’s revival of certain medieval mystical forms of spirituality (e.g., Celtic Christianity), the individual is king. Despite a purported emphasis on community in the emerging church, community is only of value as it serves my needs, and helps my privatized spiritual journey. Making matters worse, both the mega-church (evangelical) and the meta-church (emerging) are marred by a form of worship that attempts to appeal to the culture-at-large; the only difference being their respective understandings of what that culture is, what it thinks, what it values, and the like. Reformed Christianity, while recognizing that the Spirit of Christ effectually applies the merits of Christ’s work to the believer as an individual, has not, however, constructed a view of piety that caters exclusively to an individualistic impulse. To put it bluntly, Reformed piety is hardly self-centered, if for no other reason than that the God-ordained elements of the corporate worship of God are understood to be central in the life of both Christian and congregation. Moreover, Reformed Christianity has not forged a version of spirituality and piety based on its viability in this fallen world, but with no regard for this age (other than its sinfulness) simply attends to the means of grace appointed by Christ.
As others have described it, Reformed piety is confessional.(1) We have a confession that is biblically and theologically objective: the whole counsel of God revealed pre-eminently in the Word incarnate, the system of truth contained in the Word written, and the pattern of sound words summarized by the ecumenical creeds of the early church and the confessional systems of the Reformation and Post-Reformation periods.(2) To speak of Reformed piety as confessional, however, has more in view than simply adhering to a body of orthodox truth. Reformed spirituality and piety is confessional ultimately because it has in view the very act of confessing that body of truth. The gathered church, in corporate worship on the Lord’s Day, confesses Christ – particularly his grace and his lordship – through the outward and ordinary means of grace, namely, the word (read and preached), the sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper), and prayer (both spoken and sung; see especially Matt 28:18-20 and Acts 2:41-42). In his good and wise providence, God has ordained that the church in this age, redeemed in Christ already but yet awaiting the consummation at Christ’s return, grows in the grace and in the knowledge of Christ as the Spirit of Christ works effectually through these elements of public worship. Question 88 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism provides a helpful summary of Reformed piety: “What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption? The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer, all of which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.”
Certainly much more could be said to distinguish Reformed Christianity from evangelicalism and the emerging church. Nevertheless, piety is where our faith (what we believe) meets our devotion (what we do). In this way, Reformed piety, as simple as it is and as boring as it appears, sufficiently demonstrates that the general ethos of Reformed Christianity is decidedly different from the subjectively-derived and culturally-driven ethos of either evangelicalism or the emerging church. It is, in a word, God-centered. Indeed, rather than a concern for what works, what wins, or what woos, Reformed Christianity has one concern: what God has said. In this way, Reformed Christianity is biblical, confessional, corporate, and counter-cultural, while these other forms are, despite their very real differences, highly individualized and culturally defined. Reformed spirituality is churchly – in fact, the whole Reformed system has its telos in the redeemed people of God glorifying Him both now and forevermore – and as such it is fundamentally concerned with what Christ has commissioned his church to be and to do, regardless of either individual desires or cultural winds.
“Christians,” writes Kevin Vanhoozer, “must not ‘correlate’ with postmodernity or let concerns and frameworks other than Christ and canon set faith’s credenda and agenda.”(3) Unfortunately, the emerging church has not heeded this wise counsel. Indeed, those who have portrayed the emerging church movement as the answer to the problems of evangelicalism have, in reality, exchanged one error for another, ignoring the real answer provided by confessional Reformed Christianity. May Christ open the eyes of his church, granting us the grace to turn back to biblical truth and to God-honoring forms of piety and spirituality, instead of blindly going forward in a way that will ultimately leave us looking more like this fallen world. May God grant us his Spirit, that in both faith and practice (or, credenda and agenda, to borrow Vanhoozer’s terminology) we might be conformed to the inspired, inerrant, and infallible pattern that God has so graciously revealed in his Word.
ENDNOTES
1. D. G. Hart is one who has described Reformed Christianity as “confessional” in the sense described below.
2. I have in view here the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Three Forms of Unity, the Westminster Standards, the Savoy Declaration, and the 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith.
3. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, “Pilgrim’s Digress: Christian Thinking on and about the Post/Modern Way,” in Myron B. Penner, ed., Christianity and the Postmodern Turn (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2005).
Topics: Confessions, Means of Grace, Reformed Theology | Comments Off
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