“If one is overtaken in
any trespass, you… should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.” (Galatians 6:1)
[I just wrote
this as a newsletter article for my congregation]
One of my favorite classes of all
time was “Constructive Theology” during my senior year at seminary. Twenty students sat around a large table,
each one spending an entire class hour presenting our own eight page tightly-argued
paper which laid out our theological position, addressing the assigned major biblical
themes (God, Christ, the atonement, the Bible, etc). Then the other students sitting around the
table were given the opportunity to either seek clarification about a statement,
or actually challenge the presenter on specific points. At Luther seminary there was a lot of
diversity of opinion (from “conservative” to “liberal”) about these matters. Discussion was often vigorous. After our presentation, we each met with our
professor who assigned us further research and reading for the purpose of revising
and strengthening our initial paper. I
wondered at the time why my wonderful professor was not appreciated by the rest
of the faculty. To this day I regard his
contribution to my life then as
foundational. However, he did not
receive tenure (a permanent position) at that school, and for years I wondered
what became of him…until the day I stumbled onto him as he spoke over the
radio. He was taking one side of a radio
“debate” on the resurrection of Christ (I can’t remember the particulars),
which I sadly turned off well before the engagement concluded. I could not listen because he was belittling
his opponent. That encounter horrified
and embarrassed me, and I resolved that I would not be like him and would never
engage with people in such a disgusting manner.
From time to time you hear me speak,
both from the pulpit and in class, of the importance of being equipped as
Christians to engage with our culture in the truth of the Gospel. You are also aware of my involvement in two
public debates. I want you to understand
that I am not suggesting that every Christian become a public debater (being a
debater, properly understood, is not a bad thing). Far from it.
What I seek instead is that Christians become so comfortable in what we
know and why, that being “on attack mode” never enters our thinking. We are invited to love people into the kingdom of God, not belittle or argue them
in. Yet it is also true that the more we
know (and why we believe) the more comfortable we become around people who
think different than we do. And unless
we imagine (wrongly) that we must trumpet our knowledge, the more comfortable
others become around us.
The existence of another blog than
my own was just recently brought to my attention. The address is http://www.worldvieweverlasting.com/2013/09/13/an-intellectual-tragedy-of-moralistic-proportions/.
It
concerns a famous apologist whose daughter (perhaps in her early 20’s)
announced that she had now become an atheist.
The blogger, Jonathan Fisk (a fellow LCMS pastor), highlighted key
“transgressions” (on the part of the apologist) which he alleges contributed to
the journey of the daughter into her atheism.
For the record I largely share the list of objections that Fisk listed
on his blog. But I sharply disagree with what
I heard of the father’s theology and training tactics in a number of
areas. But at the same time I am also
disgusted at the lack of humility and compassion on the part of the LCMS pastor. The rejection by a daughter, of the values of
a parent, may or may not be warranted depending on the circumstances. For the record I do not agree that the specific
disagreements of the daughter warranted her embracing of atheism. But this is not my point. Whenever such rifts happen there will surely
be a heavy dose of pain and embarrassment for one or both parties. So I ask, is the exposure of sin and its
consequences to be our final word, and in such a public manner?
To be continued...
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