Un-Locke the Church!

Reflecting on the blessings God has given us in the United States, freedom of religion is certainly chief among them.  And for them, we owe God thanks for one certain letter, which began:

"Honored Sir, Since you are pleased to inquire what are my thoughts about the mutual toleration of Christians in their different professions of religion, I must needs answer you freely that I esteem that toleration to be the chief characteristic mark of the true church. For whatsoever some people boast of the antiquity of places and names, or of the pomp of their outward worship; others, of the reformation of their discipline; all, of the orthodoxy of their faith—for everyone is orthodox to himself—these things, and all others of this nature, are much rather marks of men striving for power and empire over one another than of the church of Christ. Let anyone have never so true a claim to all these things, yet if he be destitute of charity, meekness, and goodwill in general toward all mankind, even to those that are not Christians, he is certainly yet short of being a true Christian himself.”

So John Locke writes in his Letter Concerning Toleration, (p.13). Locke’s theology is certainly confused, but he went on to argue in his letter that folks of various theological persuasions had sufficient morality in common to be able to have a common, shared society.  2 quick comments: 

1.  Whether or not Locke (and the American founders) were right in this supposition is still open to question.  When this letter was penned, abortion was assumed to be infanticide and homosexuality was considered immoral.  What happens when large parts of the population no longer share such moral conclusions?

2.  Locke’s toleration somehow slipped from society at large into the church itself.  As Robert Oliver has observed, “By the second decade of the eighteenth century it is clear that Locke’s Letter concerning Toleration was being used in a new way. Christians were moving beyond a readiness to tolerate heretics outside the church to a reluctance to discipline them within its bounds.”

I leave larger societal reflections to others more qualified than I.  About the church, however, surely Christ clearly taught that false teachers would arise, that wolves would imitate sheep, that discernment would be needed and that discipline should be practiced.  I just preached this morning on II Peter 2, a clear call for false teachers to be rejected.  The New Testament has many other echoes of Christ’s teaching in Matthew 24 (and elsewhere).

Confusing the world and the church is dangerous on just about any level, but cultivating a "toleration" about differing ways of salvation in the church is absolutely suicidal.  Intolerance of serious error in the church promotes the Gospel.  Particularly if you are a pastor reading this, join me in agreeing to work to un-Locke our churches!

An Old Time FPC Thanksgiving Story

Thanks Mark and C.J. Happy Thanksgiving! I don’t have much to add by way of customs and habits for spiritually benefitting from this great holiday, but a number of years ago, Otho Johnson (one of our elders) pointed me to this interesting historical note, relating to The Rev. L.J. Halsey, who was the minister of our congregation, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson from 1842-1848.

THANKSGIVING AS VIEWED BY A CITIZEN
John Munn, who was born in Connecticut, was a merchant and banker living in Canton, Mississippi, when Governor Brown issued his Thanksgiving proclamation. Mr. Munn recorded in his journal on November 25, 1847:

“An unusual scene has been witnessed in our village and state this day. By appointment of Governor Brown it was selected as a day of ‘Thanksgiving’—and for the first time in this state has such a date been set apart for such purpose. This good old New England custom was a long time confined to those states—in time was adopted by the Western and middle states and for the last few years had gradually come to be observed in many of the Southern states, and on this day and this year about two thirds of the states unite in rendering thanks for the mercies and benefits received during the year now drawing to a close.

“There is something grateful and pleasant to the feeling of any man of right thought and mind in contemplating such a scene, but how much more so to one who was born on the soil of New England as he sees state after state adopting so advisable a custom. Far away from that birthplace, the observance of the day here brings a flood of recollections…

“In our village the day has been observed in a manner that would have given ample satisfaction to the most rigid observer of such days in the times of its earliest appointment. All business was suspended and quiet prevailed in our streets. There was a general attendance at church to listen to the Rev. Mr. Halsey of Jackson and seldom have I listened to a more interesting and appropriate sermon. It was well adapted for a people who were assembled for the first time for such a purpose, and those listening attentively could not but have been instructed in the objects of those who first established the custom and the reasons that demand its observance.”

Thanksgiving Exercises

What do we do differently on Thanksgiving?  A few quick notes.  Personally, I try to have a longer quiet time in which I thank God for much that I’ve been praying about that year.  As a family, we have friends over, generally Christian and non-Christian, American and international.  We will, before we eat, sing a hymn or two.  We will read a psalm and pray.  When people sit down with their food, I will read some early thanksgiving proclamations from the 17th century, perhaps from the revolutionary period, from Lincoln, and the current year’s.  (Each year the president makes a thanksgiving proclamation, which you can print out from the White House’s website.)  I’ll read a little about the history of Thanksgiving, and ask a few questions about it.  (Like, how did it get moved from the last Thursday in November to the fourth?)  My wife generally lays out 3 corns on each plate before dessert to remind us of the thanksgiving for surviving the first winter at Plymouth.  We go around 3 times, each expressing something that we’re thankful for.  This time ranges from serious to light and back again.  And then we pray.  All of this is interspersed with lots of conversation (and eating) and likely some games for those who want to stay around into the evening.  (And, ok, maybe we do watch Mr. Bean’s Christmas special.) 

Al, Lig, CJ, any customs you guys would share?

Glory must begin in Grace

"Now heaven is begun here,
or else never begun.
Grace is therefore called heaven,
because heaven is begun here.
Glory must begin in grace."
Richard Sibbes, “The Power of Christ’s Resurrection” (Works V.199)

Haven't Had a Conversation with a Non-Christian Lately?

Al, in your next blog entry please list some of your human limitations! 

Our dear brother Al Mohler is at it again, only this time on the website of the Washington Post!  They have begun a new project (along with Newsweek magazine [owned by them]) in which they want to encourage public conversation about religion.  And they have asked Al to be one of their regular contributors.

If you go to http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/ you will find there Al’s blog entry on beginning a conversation with an admission of our faith in God’s truthful revelation of Himself.  And look at all the responses he’s getting!  Read them.  Scores of them.

If you haven’t had a conversation with a non-Christian lately, the various, largely hostile, responses to Al’s simple statements will remind you of the climate we are in.  I pray reading them will inflame our hearts with a desire for God to be vindicated, to be seen to be the gloriously good God that He is, and also with a desire for these readers to learn why they are alive–to know and love and obey our great God.

Keep it up, Al.  May God make us faithful with our non-Christian friends.  And may He bring them in, even as He has us.

Unbaptized Church Members?

Here are some more of my musings on this topic.  Perhaps they will be of use to you.  I give them to you in compact form.

IF you think the congregation IS the final judicatory
     AND you think that believer baptism is both certainly TRUE and CLEARLY IMPORTANT,

          then you will require belief in believers baptism for membership in the congregation. Weaken any one of those three ideas (congregationalism; certainty of truth of believers baptism; importance or significance of believers baptism) then it will cease to be regarded as an appropriate requirement for membership.

So, among those who could reject this as a requirement for membership would be those who are

*committed congregationalists and baptists, but who simply think the issue is not really very significant;

*committed congregationalists who agree that baptism is important, but are not quite certain of the rejection of infant baptism or the truth of believer baptism;

*committed baptists who understand the importance of baptism in the church, and yet don’t conclude that the authority in the church should necessarily rest with the congregation as a whole.
FURTHER QUESTIONS:

Will you discipline people for not coming to the Lord’s Table?

Will you discipline people for not being baptized?

Doesn’t a church have to define what is and is not coming to the table, and being baptized?

Preaching Christ In Miami

Pastor Rickey Armstrong (of Glendale Baptist Church, Miami) has assembled a great group of speakers for the Miami Pastor’s Conference this year.  I got in tonight, and found myself sitting behind Tom Ascol.  We were treated to great messages by Ken Jones and Thabiti Anyabwile.  More on that in a moment.  Tomorrow and Saturday (Lord willing) will be fellowship with more of the brothers here, and teaching by Sinclair Ferguson, Kevin Smith, Michael Leach, Anthony Carter, and, our host pastor, Rickey Armstrong.

Glendale Baptist Church is lovingly hosting this event, which began this evening with 2 excellent addresses.  Both Ken Jones & Thabiti Anyabwile spoke to us from Luke 24, Ken doing the more expositional treatment of parts of it, Thabiti giving us more a summary address.

Ken spoke on the Necessity of Christ-Centered Preaching.  He first explained how the disciples Jesus encountered on the Road to Emmaus couldn’t comprehend the nature and extent of Jesus’ prophetic office, the work of God in the death of Jesus, the necessity of suffering in accomplishing redemption and therefore were set up to miss the fact and significance of the Resurrection itself.  Jesus rebuked them for their foolishness, their slowness to believe, and their not seeing the correlation of Christ’s suffering and glory.  Five lessons for the other disciples from all of this:  1) they must understand that Jesus’ words and works were in conjunction with the Scriptures; 2) that they fulfilled the Scriptures; 3) that Scripture explained His suffering and ours; 4) Our preaching consists of presenting Christ in all of Scripture; 5) the promise and power of the Spirit is in conjunction with proclaiming Christ from all of Scripture.  Ken concluded by exhorting us that if we’re to have the right questions asked from our preaching (What must we do to be saved?) the right message has to be preached.

Thabiti spoke on "Preaching Christ from the Law."  He noted that this was a timely topic for all of us (addressing ways this is especially useful for African-American preachers, because of the way both Black Theology and word-faith stuff will use the Exodus/Deliverer imagery from the OT, but will do so only by bypassing Jesus.  And this, of course, is never right.  The main body of Thabiti’s address dealt with how we should preach Christ from the Law.  1)  Preach Christ in creation and re-creation.  Thabiti rehearsed some of God’s perfections, and then showed us how Christ was the fulfillment of all of this. 2) Preach Christ as the Second Adam who reverses the Fall.  3) Preach Christ as the righteous fulfillment of all the Law’s demands.  (Some good stuff here on the role of the Law!)  4) Preach Christ as the fulfillment of the Exodus narrative.  Jesus seems to re-enact and complete Israel’s calling.  5) Preach Christ as the embodiment of the Old Testament covenant.  All its sacrifices and priesthood pointed to Christ.  All the promises of the Law are fulfilled in Christ.

Both these talks were specifically applied to African-American and Evangelical churches.  They were received well.  And I’m looking forward to the fruit of these in the lives and ministries of those of us there who preach. 

May God continue to grow all the stewards of His Word in our understanding and faithfulness to His Word, and so bless His people and glorify Himself.

On Dividing Your Life and Doctrine

CJ, thank you for letting Justin Taylor and Tim Challies post your address from the T4G conference (and your chapter in the forthcoming book).  You can find it over at www.challies.com. 

This address is a wonderful reminder of the care we should give to our congregations and our own souls, and of the wonderful care that Christ will give to us.

Extinct Emotions

.

Preaching through II Peter, seeing the warnings against immorality, and at the same time reading of current movies, I’m reminded that the immorality of Peter’s day is alive and well in our own time.  Our secular friends view our Christian morality as a losing proposition–we lose out on experience and pleasure, all for rigid, legalistic rule-keeping.

A couple of years ago, I read an interesting rebuttal against this idea.  Christianity wasn’t in view.  Rather, it was a less morally controlled present pitying a more morally controlled past.  And this is what one character in John Fowles’ novel The Magus says in response.  It’s worth considering.

“We lay on the ground and kissed. Perhaps you smile. That we only lay on the ground and kissed. You young people can lend your bodies now, play with them, give them as we could not. But remember that you have paid a price: that of a world rich in mystery and delicate emotion. It is not only species of animal that die out, but whole species of feeling. And if you are wise you will never pity the past for what it did not know, but pity yourself for what it did.” (John Fowles, The Magus, p. 149).

A whole species of feeling lost:  the price of the loss of innocence.  That’s a lot more expensive than even the over-priced movie tickets of today.