emaciated Christians with no ethics
April 30, 2009
I am struck but the paucity of teaching on what the Christian life is like in most teaching I hear and I am deeply concerned to redress my own.
I mean practical teaching on everyday living in the spheres of life the majority of people inhabit, like living wisely and well in this world.
most ministries that I have come across look at a guy like me sitting in the assembly each Sunday and think
- make sure he is converted
- make sure he is sure
- make sure he is coming
- make sure he is giving
- make sure he becomes a full time minister
its no wonder that churches fill with spiritually emaciated men and women who feel there is little value added for them most weeks.
it seems to be me that what we maybe lacking is a theolgoy for the middle of life, and I wonder whether this may accout for the relative success of churches like Hillsong.
what I mean is this :
in evangelical circles we focus on the beginning of life ( conversion) and the end of life (assurance and the new creation) , yet maybe assume way too much about what happens in between- a theology of the middle. also called ethics.
so what is the allure of the prosperity gospel movement and other how to shamen?
they offer a more coherent and attractive vision for healthy wise and prosperous living now in the present – they need a (stronger?) beginning and end theology but at least they have a middle!
I been challenge by my friend Tim to think much more concretely and carefully about what we want a Christian to know, how God wants them to love and see in what ways they can practically serve in all spheres of life.
Everyday Christian ethics for marriage and parenting, for the workplace and for living in the communties where we are to be “salty and lighty”, that gives a coherent vision for what wise godly living actually looks like in this world.
in other words letting the gospel shape and centre and direct the whole of life very intentionally. we need to know what the good is far more concretely and know how to live it more precisely.
(aside: if Moore College makes cuts next year I pray its not in the ethics department!)
what is your church’s vision for the Christian life?
where do you think we could strengthen a theology of the middle and see Christian ethics taught well in churches?
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1. Nathan | April 30, 2009 at 10:02 am
Paul Tripp has some thoughts on strengthening a theology of the middle in his book “How people change” which seeks to address what he calls the “gospel gap”. I haven’t read the book myself, but Red keeps raving on about it to me!
2. Shane | April 30, 2009 at 10:10 am
yes Nath
its an excellent book – I should get Red to review here!
Tim Chester also has a similar book called “you can change.”
what is your church’s vision for the Christian life?
where do you think we could strengthen a theology of the middle and see Christian ethics taught well in churches?
3. Phil Nicholson | April 30, 2009 at 10:11 am
Great thoughts (as usual). I have often reflected on the fact that we seem to know what to do with younger people. Ethically: stop them having sex, challenge them on decisions such as career and ministry. Theologically: give them a good biblical foundation and answer the questions like the uniqueness of Jesus, predestination, etc.
However, once the basic theology is in place and people have already made the “big” decisions of marriage and job, I am not sure we know what to do with people next. What does it mean to keep growing and serving and rejoicing in Jesus over the next 40 years for a regular Christian?
Not sure what the answer is but I wonder if we need to be doing more work on applying what is already known rather than focusing on new or ever more esoteric knowledge. Perhaps developing practical theologies of topics like shopping, time, power, purity, etc, etc. and then teaching and discussing these together with our people. (Of course we do also need to keep reminding people the basics of the gospel too.)
I am impressed with this aspect of Driscoll’s preaching. He is one of the few preachers who consistently makes me squirm since he seems to be hitting on some very practical areas of my life that still need working on. Most preaching I hear feels as if it is still addressed to someone 20 years younger than me.
4. Phil Nicholson | April 30, 2009 at 10:23 am
Your mention of the “middle” reminded me of something else possibly related. Have you heard of the classic article “Flaw of the Excluded Middle” by Paul Hiebert? He argues that missionaries preach the big issues of God, heaven, eternity, but fail to address the middle area of everyday spirituality. He is talking about animistic societies and their beliefs in spirits, magic, shamans, etc. Missionaries with a secular background tend to just deny this rather than give a positive alternative. If the middle is excluded people may be converted but become syncretistic as in everyday life they still look to the old religions to provide practical answers to life.
I wonder if we don’t face the same thing in our way. People look to to magazines, self-help books, folk wisdom, etc to get them through life as we don’t give them practical gospel alternatives.
5. Shane | April 30, 2009 at 10:26 am
think you are right Phil
the Christian vision for the uni student was quite simple – don’t have sex and don’t get drunk.
Driscoll is one of the few who works hard at this
how to shop, how to relate to aging parents, be a blessing to others in the work place, using the internet.
Steve Timmis also models moving from the gospel indicative to the gospel imperative well.
what are you having to teach Taiwanese Christians in?
6. Shane | April 30, 2009 at 10:28 am
Paul Hiebert was exactly what I was thinking.
will have to chase it down.
its so true !
7. Andrew Katay | April 30, 2009 at 10:57 am
Shane, this has been at the dead center of my thoughts for years, since launching a congregation for young workers. The old student Christian life – don’t get drunk, don’t have sex, evangelise like mad – just doesn’t cut it anymore.
At CCIW we have tried to be helpfully clear and specific, without being restrictively prescriptive (a mouthful!).
We put it as: know, love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, his church and his world, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to the glory of God the Father.
And then, we can turn it into a grid (if you can stand the boxiness of it all) – know love and serve (or convictions, character and conduct) down the side; and Jesus, church world (and the world is divided up into human world – ie unbelievers – and the non human world – creation and institutions – and so you get a 3*4 series of areas of the Christian life.
And then fill in the content, which we seek to teach systematically.
Perhaps a bit over the top, but getting an answer with substance to your question is hard.
Another book is by Randy Frazee, The Connecting Church, which is even more obsessive!
8. Phil Nicholson | April 30, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Hi Shane,
I think it is actually easier for us here in Taiwan to identify ethical issues to address since we are working with fairly new 1st generation Christians. Their backgrounds are so pagan that there are lots of deep practical issues we need to be working on with them after they believe.
Most of our converts are sexually immoral (2nd wives, prostitutes), struggle with addictive behaviours (alcohol, betelnut, cigarettes, gambling), wear amulets and consult fortune tellers, have dysfunctional marriages, believe in the existence of many gods and face family expectations to worship their ancestors. So we have a wealth of theological and ethical matters to work through!
I wonder if some of our struggle in Australia is the fact the too often we see the normal middle class lifestyle as basically Christian anyway. So we do not see the many ways that people’s values and priorities need to be challenged by the gospel after conversion. i.e. middle class Western wickedness is not so obvious to us.
9. Jeff Atack | April 30, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Hey Shane…just want to say I love your work…spot on the money again.
10. Shane | April 30, 2009 at 4:42 pm
good insight Phil. a reason why we maybe need to be as meticulous as Andrew – though those grids and charts freak me out.
strangely enough our shared vision for the Christian life is expressed as
“Growing more and more wholehearted followers of Jesus who know love and serve their Lord , in the gospel community and in all the world”
hmmm
I’ll start a new blog – what are the top ten things a Sydney Christian needs to know in order to live well and wisely as wholehearted follower of Jesus? comment there if you could.
11. Shane | April 30, 2009 at 4:48 pm
go here
http://shanerogerson.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/h
ow-to-beef-up-a-sydney-christian/
12. Matt Stone | June 25, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Two thoughts, particularly since Paul Hiebert was mentioned. Firstly, its interesting to think through the dynamics of formal religion and folk religion. Hillsong is definitely more folky and life centred, despite reservations we may have about the prosperity stuff. Secondly, one of my complaints with Reformed theology has been the focus on justification almost to the exclusion of sanctification. I’d like to see more balance.