Being new to my area, I finally journeyed over to the library of the nearest Christian Liberal arts college. I read the cover article for Time magazine that I saw last monday but did not get to read (On wealth and prosperity...good read, mentions Witherington). I should have then embarked on my survey reading of Mark that I was supposed to for class but another article caught my eye. I had to read it, and after reading it, I had to write.
It was a Christianity today
article ,
Young, Restless, and Reformed, which discussed the notable resurgence of reformed theology
. The appeal:
1) God's reknown or sovereignty vs. man's decision
2)focus on theological study vs. sloppy theology
3)historical root vs. contemporary fads
Before commenting on numbers 2&3, I will briefly deal with question number one. I am comfortable with the theological debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. I do not have all of the answers but I am not by and large disturbed by it. I am comfortable serving in a denomination that holds to what is commonly referred to as Wesley-Arminianism
On to numbers 2 & 3, let me introduce you to two guys and share my concerns about the Wesleyan Church (this could be applied to other Wesleyan Arminian churches I suppose).
Guy number 1, I'll call him Joe. I met him(or some like him) at Bethany Bible college where I received my Bachelor's degree. Joe may hold to Arminian beliefs, or say he "leans that way". He might not know what they are. He might not be interested in the differences. Joe does not like to go to class all of the time, he would rather sleep since his video games did not allow him to hit the pillow. Joe just wants to get out on the field and do ministry. Joe and his buddies go around and shoot each other with air soft guns. Joe laughs at John Wesley, why does his name always come up, man I do not follow John Wesley, I follow Jesus.
My fear is not video games (I played them) and airsoft guns, by golly the students do need mental breaks . The concern rather is this. If there is a pervasive disinterest in careful study, the Wesleyan Church (more importantly, the Christian leaders it develops) may run into shallow ministry.
Guy number 2, I will call him John. I met him and several of his buddies at a Reformed Pastor's Conference. John is Reformed. He is a Calvinist. He believes that his doctrine is crucial to faithful Christian living, to truly giving God the glory he deserves. He knows his Scriptures, he reads the theologians past and present. He has read Grudem's systematic theology, he can quote whitefield and loves the Puritans. Him and his buddies shoot theological thoughts and questions at each other (rather than air soft pellets). They take their reading and thinking seriously.
I respect John's love for learning, his churches emphasis on inductive Bible study study of the rich treasure of Christian literature. Yet I fear that such an emphasis could leave Christ's disciples locked in the confines of a Church classroom.
I have painted a picture that I hope will be untrue. I hope that the reformed camp will not let go of the call to mission (most I am sure have not), I hope they have a place for those whose background is far from academic. I hope they will take up the yoke next to Wesleyan Arminians who sit on the other side of a doctrinal distinctive.
I hope that we Wesleyans, will continue to seek to understand God's sovereignty and grace which goes before us and enables us to respond. I hope that we will take education and learning more seriously (Perhaps the Reformed emphasis on learning makes them more likely to debate). I hope our youth groups will be more than block parties, that our sunday school classes will be more than marriage seminars, and that our ears will listen to the great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. That we won't worship these men and women but recognize their contributions to the Church. I pray that we will not stay too long in the classroom. Let us not have big heads but big hearts. May we embrace a theology that calls us to witness to God's kingdom in the real world. May we fearlessly join hands with those of the reformed tradition in service to the "work of the Gospel".
From your vantage point how are Wesleyan Arminian Christians doing? What are we (our denominations) doing well, where to we need to adjust (or overhaul)?
Joseph
