From the Pen of Newton: On Being a Consistent Protestant

Mike Leake

According to John Newton, popery “has a very extensive sense”.  Newton believe that anyone that desired to confine another person to “follow his sentiments, whether to doctrine or order, is so far a papist”.  He then described a consistent thus:

Whoever encourages me to read the Scriptures, and to pray for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and then will let me follow the life of the Lord gives me, without being angry with me because I cannot or will not see with his eyes, nor wear his shoes, is a consistent Protestant.

One of the reasons that I love John Newton so much is because of his gracious spirit and desire to see unity within the body.  He constantly strove to encourage believers of all stripes to “love one another, bear with one another, to avoid dispute; and if they must strive, to let their strife and emulation be who shall most express the life of the Son of God in their temper and conduct”. 

If we really believe the gospel and the unity that Christ has bought for us then we have no other option than to pursue the type of unity and mindset that Newton models and exhorts us towards.  Consistent Protestantism means that we believe in the priesthood of all believers and we believe that the Spirit guides others just as much as us.  It means that we humbly acknowledge that the Christ is Lord over their lives and not us or any other “vicar of Christ”. 

People You’ve Maybe Never Heard Of But Should: Bernard of Clairvaux

Mike Leake

Bernard was born in 1090 and died in 1153.  He was a French abbot who sought admission into the Cistercian order to be a monk shortly after the death of his mother.  He goes down in history as the “most powerful propagator of the Cistercian reform” not only of his day but probably of all time.  In 1115 he was sent to begin a new monastery in Clairvaux (hence the name).  Bernard was very instrumental in the Catholic development of Mary’s mediatorial role.  He was often sick throughout his life eventually succumbing to death in 1153.

Why You Should Know Him:

Bernard is one of those interesting writers for evangelical Protestants to enjoy.  His views on Mary’s mediatorial role obviously leave us shaking our heads and tempt us to confine him to the ranks of those that simply do not understand the gospel.  But then there is another side to Bernard where Protestants enjoy not only his spiritual and personable writing but also we rejoice at his conception of justification.  It sounds very close to that which Calvin and Luther would teach years later.  Bernard was passionate about imputed righteousness. 

Hundreds of years after the Protestant Reformation we are left confused at how someone could be so instrumental in formulating much of the Mariology present in the Roman Catholic Church today and ALSO someone that Calvin and Luther are able to look for in formulating a doctrine of imputed/alien righteousness. 

It is also quite possible that we owe some of the Reformation to Bernard’s monastic reforms.  In a time when the importance of Scripture reading, meditation, and prayer was drying up Bernard insisted on these—aided by the Spirit–as keys to Christian living. 

Samples:

Ever heard the phrase, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions?”  Many believe that this pithy saying is to be originally attributed to Bernard. 

Here is an example of the devotional and heart searching way that Bernard wrote:

“There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is Curiosity. There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is Vanity. There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.”

Tell me this doesn’t sound like something you would hear from evangelicals in our day?

“What we love we shall grow to resemble.”

“So far from being able to answer for my sins, I cannot even answer for my righteousness!”

“Your sins are very great and beyond number. Never will you be able to make satisfaction for them, so many and so great are they, not even if you strip the very skin from your body.”

Further Reading:

I have no idea if you can find it anywhere—I’ll let you search—but I believe Danny Akin actually did his doctoral work on Bernard of Clairvaux.

Good quotes here from Just and Sinner

Biographies:

The Life and Miracles of St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Project Gutenberg
You’ll find quite a bit on Google Books

Brothers, We Must Do Better

Mike Leake 4 Comments

A few months ago I asked the question “Is it Hard to Hug an Arminian?”  In that article I shared an experience that I had where I was an outsider coming into an already established fellowship.  I noted that:

Many of the non-Calvinists were more apt to give me a hearty handshake and say, “welcome to the group”.  Not so with those who were more Reformed…I got a cordial welcome but not an open armed “welcome to the group, brother”.  If I had been wearing my scarlet C I can’t help but think that it would have been different.

Today, an article I wrote a month or so ago was published at SBC Voices.  The article is part 1 of a series on The Root of Angry and Divisive Calvinists.  Before getting to my point please read a little bit of a back story.

Back Story

SBC Voices is a great blog.  But it is also a community of commenters that can frankly get ugly at times.  The folks at SBC Voices are working to change this and make the community more Christ-centered and less vitriolic.  I’m part of that community and I hope to help in that regard and never to cause it to go backwards. 

Because of the history of SBC Voices and especially on issues related to Calvinism I am always a little leery of posting something with the C word on it.  But Dave Miller liked my series and suggested I bring it to SBC Voices.  I was a little reluctant but thought that it might be helpful.  One thing I was worried about was Part 1.  In part 1 (if you read it) you will notice that I say little about Calvinism or any other issue.  As I noted in the “update” which was originally in Part 2 this could just as easily be titled The Root of Angry and Divisive Cheese-Eaters.  As I noted “It doesn’t matter what topic you pick because the problem isn’t as much Mark’s sermon topics as it is a much greater issue. A bigger issue that has replayed itself within different circumstances for centuries.”

Because of this open ended nature I was a little worried about what the thread would look like.  But I had hope that the discussion could remain cordial (as it has) but I never expected what awaited me in the morning. 


Brothers, We MUST Do Better

It has become a great point of irony in a post about Angry and Divisive Calvinists that I was met with many angry Calvinists.  I think they thought that I was a non-Calvinist who was gathering my sticks to torch a straw-man.  If you know me that’s funny.  Here is an example of a comment:

Meh. What a lovely little story with no immediately apparent point other than to inflame and prepare yet another straw-man, albeit anecdotal, to be dutifully set aflame.

I will freely admit that part 1 does have “no immediately apparent point”.  In part 1 it may not seem to be connected to the other parts.  But it is.  I wrote it for a reason.  And I took a good amount of time and wrote it the way that I did for a very specific reason.  I assure you that reason was not to torch Calvinism.  I’m a Calvinist. 

But what should have happened is that people should have read part 1 and identified with Mark.  Perhaps as a congregation perhaps as being Mark.  Especially after I put the update in there it should have been read as not principally about Calvinism but there is going to be something about the heart.  Though it did not appear to be connected, as a brother in Christ I should have been given the benefit of the doubt. 
I understand that Calvinists are often thrown under the bus and straw-men are argued and torched in front of us.  I’ve experienced the pain of some of those battles.  I’ve fought in a Christ-like manner and I’ve fought like a jerk.  I’ve played the game.  I’ve also experience the “us vs. them” rise up in our hearts.  I’ve labored to protect Calvinism at the expense of protecting the gospel and the church.  I’ve been “Mark”.  I don’t want to be “Mark” anymore. 

To that end I want to urge my Calvinist (and non-Calvinist) brothers and sisters to do a few things in blogging. 

1. Assume the best unless the only option left is the worst.  If you see a post title Part 1 you should probably not assume that you already know what the other parts are going to look like. 

2. If you want non-Calvinists (or Calvinists) to hear and read you fairly then do the same for them.  Many Calvinists urged non-Calvinists to just read the Gospel Project.  Wait for the whole thing to come out and then make critiques—then you can say it’s too Calvinistic or has an agenda.  But until the whole thing is out don’t assume the authors have an agenda.  I wish that same thing would have been followed in responding to my series. 

3. Read things with a gospel lens and not an us vs. them lens. 

4. Try to find truth and rejoice in it.  Even if what I wrote was perhaps unwise or unhelpful in the way that it was framed try to find some truth and rejoice in it.  It’s fine to discuss in a Christ-centered manner areas in which you disagree.  But make sure while you are loading your shotgun you remember that the guy you are getting ready to “battle” probably has a wife and kids, loves Jesus, has the same Spirit dwelling in him, and wants to love, honor, and serve Jesus too.  He might be doing it imperfectly but so are you.  So find the truth of Christ that you see in a brother or sisters life, rejoice in it, and lovingly sharpen where you can. 
—
P.S. I really hope Dave posts Part 2 very soon. 

Review of Your Church is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan

Mike Leake

I just finished reading Mark Buchanan’s new book Your Church is Too Safe.  My view of the book is different from when it first came in the mail from Zondervan for me to review.  When I first received the book I liked the cover, thought the concept was catchy but honestly figured that this would be a book that I would skim, gather a few nuggets and move on with life and ministry.  If I’m being honest, this is what most books written to challenge and reinvigorate the church end up doing in my life.  I learn a principle or two, I appreciate them, I assimilate some of the thoughts into my life and ministry, and then I move on.  That is what I expected to get in Buchanan’s new book.

Sitting here on the other side of Your Church is Too Safe I must confess that the Lord is using it to really shake me up to the core.  It’s something the Lord has been doing for awhile but something about this book served as a dagger to rip open my heart.  And I think that is what Mark wanted to do.  He wants pastors and church folk like me to read this book, be torn to shreads, and then stare over our congregation and community and ask—“what the heck am I supposed to do now”?  You won’t find a cookie-cutter answer in this book.  But I think you’ll find Jesus and that’s enough.

Summary

For those that have read a good amount of these type of books the first few chapters may not be anything all that new—at least they weren’t for me.  They are good reminders that we are called as believers to love and reflect the love of Christ.  We are called to bring the kingdom of God to bear on the communities that God has entrusted us with.  I was in basic agreement but nothing really slapped me across the face. 

Then I read what may be the nerdiest chapter in the book: Going to Mordor.  The whole thing is an analogy using Lord of the Rings to show the difference between fellowship in the midst of battle and fellowship outside the battlefield.  It’s different and meaning fellowship really only happens in the midst of battle.  Something about this chapter sparked that part of my heart that God has been kicking around for a few months.  From this point forward I was hooked.  Some chapters are better than the others but all of them use Scripture to remind believers that church (living out the Christian life with other believers) is not meant to be safe.  It’s messy.  It’s dirty.  And this is the way of the master. 

My Take

Buchanan is a really good writer.  He masterfully weaves biblical stories, personal stories and anecdotes, along with compelling and convicting truths.  As I read through this I wanted to pull out my Bible and try to argue with some of the things he was saying.  Truth is I wanted to be comfortable.  I don’t like to think that about myself but God has used this book alongside a few other things in my life to expose this idol of comfort and safety.  I want to talk missions and outreach and Christ-centeredness but I want it to be nice and neat. 

Buchanan is biblical.  And that’s partly what makes this book frustrating where others fail.  Many of the other books in this ilk have weak theology attached to them.  They keep me safe, because I can disagree with the theology, point out their Swiss-cheese biblical interpretation, and then throw out the whole book.  Buchanan’s book doesn’t really let me do that.  I want to try to argue with him but the Spirit within convicts my heart that I’m just trying to hide from what Jesus is really asking of my life. 

There is much in this book that leaves me unsettled.  There is much that leaves me asking “what does this mean for ______?”  What does a church do when you have limited resources and people that it seems genuinely do not want help but just want to milk your church continue asking for help?  What do you do when you’ve counseled somebody hundreds of times and it seems like they just want “counsel” for some reason other than actual life change?  I wish Buchanan would have answered some of these questions, but at the end of the day I’m glad he didn’t.  I’m glad because I know myself.  I would have tried plugging in a formula.  Where it stands now I’m just left to pour over Scripture, pray, and get to know more deeply the heart of Jesus.  That’s a better place.  I can’t help pastor a church that’s not too safe without the Master guiding our steps, and that’s a good place to be.

Should You Buy It?

If you want to stay safe and comfortable I would stay away from this book.  It’s kind of like David Platt’s Radical but there is something about this book that brings about a different experience.  I loved Platt’s Radical and I also found this book very helpful.  If we are honest all of our churches are too safe.  You may not rush to the store to buy this book because few people like to be made uncomfortable, but I really think it is needed and you should certainly try to get your hands on this book.

You can buy it here for 12 bucks.  Your Church is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan.

Also feel free to check out some of the other reviews that are part of the Engaging Church: Your Church is Too Safe blog tour.