Monday, May 01, 2006

Christian Growth In Times Of Controversy

I recently read the latest volume in John Piper's The Swans Are Not Silent series, and in it he mentions something that we don't often hear today. We're often told that we should try to avoid doctrinal disputes and separation from moral error, for example, in order to have more unity, which will lead to revival. But some of the greatest times of Christian growth in history have been times of much controversy and division. John Piper writes:

"The witness of church history is that seasons of controversy have often been seasons of growth and strength. This was the case in the first centuries of the church. Most Christians today would be stunned if they knew that the battle for the deity of Christ was not a battle between the great force of orthodoxy, on the one hand, and marginal heretics, on the other. It was a battle in which at times the majority of the church leaders in the world were unorthodox. Yet the church grew in spite of controversy and persecution. Indeed I believe we must say that the growth of the true church in those days was because of leaders like Athanasius, who took a stand for the sake of truth. Without controversy there would have been no gospel, and therefore no church....The time of the Protestant Reformation was a time of great controversy...with controversy at the center, the Great Awakening brought unprecedented life and growth to churches in the American colonies and Britain....The same thing can be said of the Second Great Awakening....The point of these illustrations from church history is to lay to rest the notion that powerful spiritual awakening can only come when controversy is put aside. Though I would not want to press it as a strategy, history seems to suggest the opposite. When there is a great movement of God to bring revival and reformation to his church, controversy becomes part of the human process. It would not be far off to say with Parker Williamson that at least in some instances the controversy was not just a result but a means of the revitalization of the church....awakening and reformation are caused and carried by more clear perception of the glories of Christ and the repugnance of sin; and when these are seen more clearly and spoken of more precisely, division is more likely than when Christ is spoken of in vague terms and people care little for his name....as we learn from the heroes of our faith, let us resolve to renounce all controversy-loving pride and all controversy-fearing cowardice." (Contending For Our All [Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2006], pp. 23, 26-27, 29-31, 35)

3 comments:

  1. I agree--similar to the idea of being a peacemaker, not a peace-faker (Ken Sande's book). Heresy and wrong thinking about doctrine is bred in an atmosphere of false or thinly bound unity. Stronger relationships are built through genuine discussion and even disagreement that can lead to true consensus (as you mentioned from the various doctrines developed in the early church).

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  2. When I began having a blogging conversation with a woman pastor on Biblical womanhood, I found that I had to post "rules of engagement". And also continually remind people to remember that though we may perhaps be unified positionally in Christ, this does not mean we will be unified in regards to the authoritative rule of sound Doctrine... this is where "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love" must come into action. Which sometimes must entail prayerfully discerned defensive exhortation.

    In other words, no truth compromising will be tolerated. Maintaining a Christ-like attitude is the challenge... and that is part of what should not be compromised when not tolerating compromise of truth.

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  3. I have been experiencing the stress from this sort of thing lately in my opposition to my pastor's desire to impliment the PDC model. The pressure is to shut and follow the pastor's lead since he's prayed about this and knows what he is doing. Well, I have prayed about it as well and have taken the time to research the PDC and know what it REALLY consists of. God gave us minds and reason. We aren't mindless puppets blindly caveing into what people want to do in our churches just for the sake of peace.

    In Christ

    Mike Ratliff

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