I am noticing a disturbing trend both at our University and at another school dear to my heart: Wheaton College. I’ll start here.
Problems here
Another faculty retreat has come and gone at our University. This was, in my mind, the worst ever. I can’t complain about the efficiency with which it was run. Dean Papa Bear ensured that everyone was in the right place at the right time. The big problem was the speaker.
The speaker was Charles Marsh. If you don’t know who he is, you’re lucky and you probably don’t want to know. Let me just give you sense of this guy’s message. He used the phrases “social gospel” and “liberation gospel” as if they were good things.
He must not have realized where he was. Here at our University, we believe in the Bible. The Bible is very clear that we are not here to help other people. We are here to believe in Jesus, get other people to believe in Jesus, and be saved by his death on the cross.
I said, “he must not have realized where he was,” but I’m starting to wonder. Apparently our provost, Rudyard, suggested that the committee invite him. Apparently Rudyard knew who he was and something about what he would say. (Rudyard is on notice in my book.)
What can this mean?
Rescued by my hermeneutical hero
Once the speaker left, things got better. Our local hermeneutics expert led the devotional before communion. Thank God for people like my hermeneutical hero. We conservative evangelicals can never hear enough of the Gospel and we can always count on him to preach it! He read a scripture and reminded us that this scripture, “in one stroke, demolishes the idea that Jesus was merely an example for us to follow!” This is exactly what conservative evangelicals need to be reminded of again and again and again and again. We just can’t get enough of the Gospel.
So, I felt a bit better about our University. But still, there seems to be a movement now even among some of the leadership away from the Gospel of Jesus’ blood sacrifice taking away the sin of those who believe the right things. This worries me because that’s basically all the Bible talks about.
Problems at Wheaton
Just as a start to feel better about our University, I read the most recent alumni magazine from Wheaton College. The cover story is Taking a Stand: Why is Student Activism on the Rise? I assumed that it would be about how Wheaton is “taking a stand” against student activism… or at perhaps by “activism” they mean “convincing people to believe the right things”. No! The article was in praise of activism and examples of activism included working to help with the AIDS epidemic in Africa. There is an “increased response of the Wheaton community to issues on environment, world health, politics, social justice, peace…”
I was sick to my stomach with concern about Wheaton’s apparent abandonment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then I noticed the “President’s Commentary”. I’ve written many blog entries in praise of Wheaton president Duane Litfin. The faithful reader won’t be surprised to hear the he has, once again, restored my faith in my faith.
Litfin’s contribution
He writes what is obviously an apology for the way activist students are living. But some of the language he uses made me realize what an uphill battle he is fighting. He felt compelled to praise what these students were doing before going on to explain that their activities are not and should never be anywhere near the top of our list of priorities.
As usual, when it comes to Litfin, I like to let him speak for himself. I never feel that I can word things as well as he does.
We view justice and compassion ministries as buttressing our gospel witness, not replacing it.
It is relieving to know that the students’ so-called “activism” is really just a front to help them reach new audiences with the Truth.
We are not a church, or a mission agency, or a relief agency, much less a “first response” relief agency.
Litfin clearly does not approve of students having this un-Biblical focus.
…we must never allow our activism to eclipse our verbal witness. This is a genuine danger, one which previous generations of Christians have not always avoided.
I’m looking at you, Jesuits! And especially you, Mother Teresa! Martin Luther King Jr., your name is mud.
The temptation to reduce the contribution of the church to the so-called “social gospel” is always before us. Why should that be so? The perennial reason is that the name of Jesus remains a scandal. He will always be a line in the sand, a “stone of stumbling.” Feed the poor, heal the sick, stand up for the oppressed and the world will often approve. But name the unique claims of Jesus Christ and it will often not be applause you hear. Jesus said so Himself.
Sure, it’s easy to feed the hungry, give to the poor, heal the sick, release the prisoners, and all those things that have nothing to do with Jesus. Those of you who seek the applause of men can just go on doing that. The real challenge is to get people to see the sense and truth in our doctrine that their sin requires a blood sacrifice and God killed his own son (who was his own self) so that that blood would allow him to forgive those people who sense the truth in this doctrine. Indeed, when we make these claims, we don’t meet with applause… just as Jesus predicted.
Moreover, this perennial challenge is further complicated by our own cultural moment. We live in a generation that has lost confidence in the ability of language to bear the weight of truth. Truth claims of any sort are often resisted if not censured. In such an environment, proclaiming the powerful claims of the gospel is especially challenging. Hence the temptation to allow social action to stand in for our verbal witness.
Litfin then quotes St. Francis’ famous saying, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Then he goes on to say that if we took St. Francis’ saying literally, “it would be false.” The only true way to interpret St. Francis’ saying is to say that he meant that our actions should “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour”.
The gospel cannot be “preached” nonverbally. The gospel is inherently a verbal thing. It requires verbal expression. Social activism can never take its place.
They will know you are my disciples by your words
As Jesus taught, the only way that people will know that we are his disciples is by our preaching. It is not by love or our fruits that they will recognize us. It is by our words. How do we know whether or not a person knows God? Scripture is very clear. It is not through actions, as if love were the criterion, it is through words.
At Wheaton we are striving to keep in mind that it is this proclaimed gospel that is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16), not our social action.
Litfin doesn’t need to address the argument that when Paul uses the word “gospel” that he might talking about the social gospel of the pre-resurrection Christ. Litfin has handily refuted that argument elsewhere in his writings.
It is not food that saves the hungry! It is not help that saves the poor! It is not housing that saves the homeless! It is not release from prison that saves the prisoner! The only thing that saves the young girl who is raped weekly by the local police is believing it when she is told that Jesus defeated Satan because Satan didn’t know about the secret cosmic law that said that if an innocent person died, then God could bring people who believe in that to heaven after they die. That is the only thing that can save.
Concluding remarks
Our University and Wheaton are in trouble. I hope you will all join me in praying. I’m sure that if enough of us pray, God will do something. Those liberals might think that if they all get out there and get things done by their own effort then they can overcome our prayers. Well, we’ll see who’s stronger: is it activists working to help the poor, sick, and hungry people or is it God answering our prayers to stop them?
Finally, remember: Jesus was not anointed by God to give to the poor, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and release prisoners! Jesus spent his time trying to convince people that he was God! Why would he have been killed if he was just trying to set up economic and social equality? That makes no sense! The only reason people kill preachers is when they claim to be God. Nobody ever got killed for working for economic and social equality.
Stay tuned. In my next blog post, I talk about why the death sentence should be reinstated for communist and anarchist agitators.
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[...] He begins with a series of rhetorical questions, the obvious answer to each of which is “no”. Papa Bear is a big fan of Litfin who clearly states that we Christian Universities are not “a mission agency, or a relief agency, much less a ‘first response’ relief agency.“ [...]
[...] college is “not a church, or a mission agency, or a relief agency, much less a ‘first response‘ relief [...]