My enjoyment of “theological non-fiction” has been growing steadily for the past several years. I love reading the truths that minds much bigger and wiser than my own have been able to extract from the Scriptures. God’s Word just seems to get deeper and deeper all the time; new-to-me insights into verses that I’ve read many times before never cease to make my heart rate climb.
Is there any real-life benefit to reading books by sometimes long-dead authors? Is it little more than dry, “arm-chair theology” (turned into even drier “cyber-theology” when blogged about)? As I’m sure you guessed, I believe that yes, there is great benefit to reading these kinds of books, and no, it’s not dry theology that has no usefulness in real world, day-to-day living.
Consider, for example, the controversies of church history recorded for us in book form. From treatises by the church fathers, to works from the time of the Reformation, to current bestsellers from today’s theologians, the back-and-forth debates within the professing church can challenge us to think more critically and study and interpret the Word more carefully. Indeed, many of the letters that make up our New Testament were written to combat the influence of false gospels that were making the rounds within the early church, and are continuing to make the rounds in the professing church right up to today. As Christians we’re not to be looking for a fight; however, we are called to engage in controversy when vital biblical doctrines are at stake.
Growing up, I didn’t have much interest in the controversies of church history (I suppose not many young people do...). I generally assumed that what I believed was what the church must also have believed and all else was error and/or heresy. I’ve only in the past several years discovered the amount of variation within the Christian church through history in regards to creation and origins, the purpose and symbolism of baptism, the extent of separation of church and state, or the nature of spiritual gifts, to name only a few.
Pastor and author John MacArthur’s 2013 book Strange Fire was my introduction to the controversy surrounding the nature of spiritual gifts. For those of you unfamiliar, Strange Fire is the book that, along with the conference of the same name hosted by Dr. MacArthur’s church, has caused a firestorm of controversy with its criticism of the Charismatic Movement’s theology and practices. It was a powerful eye-opener, and it single-handedly proved to me the value of making myself familiar with both theological debates and church history. Here’s how....
In Strange Fire, Dr. MacArthur makes a case for “cessationism,” the belief that the “sign gifts” (such as tongues, prophecy, and apostleship) given by the Holy Spirit to the first century church were only intended by God for the establishing of His church, and thus the authentic use of those gifts ceased with the deaths of the apostles and the completion of the canon of Scripture. The opposing position that MacArthur aims to refute is known as “continuationism,” which holds that those same “sign gifts” (or at least some of them) were not intended only for the founding of the church, and are thus still in use today. Though it’s a thorough work in which many facets of the modern-day Charismatic Movement’s theology and practices are examined, in the end, the bottom-line question that it caused me ask myself was this: what is my foundational source of assurance and affirmation that I am living in God’s truth and pleasing the Lord in the way I live and the decisions I make? Though some would argue that it’s an over-simplification, it seems to me that it’s got to be either “spiritual experience” or “Biblical truth.”
I would never have classified myself as such in the past, but after reading his book, I realized that I have been, for much of my life, what Dr. MacArthur calls in his book an “experience-driven Christian.” Although I wouldn’t have claimed that “spiritual experience” should trump biblical truth, I certainly felt that supernatural, “Spirit-inspired” highs (such as tongues, visions, revelations, etc) were part and parcel with a living faith. In everything from the energy-and-emotion-driven rock concert style “worship services” at youth rallies to conversations during Sunday School, emphasis and importance was placed upon having these sorts of supernatural experiences. I remember one lady sharing a message that she claimed came straight from God one night at a big youth event when I was in my mid-teens. In the middle of the service she came up on stage with a note someone had just handed her and announced, “We have a word from the Lord.” She glanced at the note and read simply, “Weapons of mass salvation.” That was it. It wasn’t even a complete thought. Though I was pretty skeptical about the divine origin of that one, a lot of the other experiences I saw around me looked pretty convincing at the time. When it came time to make life decisions I would be in turmoil, begging God to whisper His specific directions into my heart. I was afraid to act in the meantime, lest I should act in a way contrary to His plan; stepping on God’s toes, so to speak.
Dr. MacArthur’s book was like a breath of very fresh air. It was refreshing to be reminded of the implications of this passage: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (II Timothy 3:15-17). Paul is saying that the truths found in the Bible are sufficient. Sufficient to accurately and completely present God’s way of salvation to a person, and sufficient to adequately prepare us for every single good work that God has prepared for us to do. The Bible’s direction is also sufficient to lead us into walking in step with God’s will. If God should grant us some kind of spiritual mountaintop experience to encourage, reassure, or warn us, we should thank Him for it (as long as the experience falls fully within the boundaries of Scripture); but we should never depend on them for our assurance of salvation or for affirmation that we’re acting within God’s will. Although we may tell ourselves that we’re just being wisely cautious in waiting for word from the Lord, I wonder if often the reality of it is that we’re prone to disbelieving the promises that are clearly set forth in His Word, we’re unstudied in applying many of the guiding principles laid down therein, and thus we’re left asking for additional divine confirmation. How would Jesus respond to such a request? Perhaps in this way: “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it....” (see Matthew 16:1-4). As was the case with the Pharisees Jesus was addressing, perhaps repentance and a stronger belief in the revealed and comprehensive Word of God is in order.
I can’t help but wonder how much “anguish of soul” could have been avoided in my past if I’d read and heeded the instruction of a book like Strange Fire years ago. How many times of tossing and turning over questions of which direction to take in life could have been reduced to: Step One: Scripture searching; Step Two: prayerful reflection; (repeat steps One and Two as needed) and then acting with quiet trusting in God’s sovereign working of all things for my eternal good (Romans 8:28)? Enough to make the time spent reading the book considered time well spent, that’s for sure. I’m not trying to oversimplify and say all the stress would have been taken out of life, but the load would have been so much lighter!
I leave you with an insightful quote from Charles Spurgeon’s small but powerful classic All of Grace:
“[The] matured faith asks not for signs and tokens, but bravely believes. Look at the faith of the master mariner; I have often wondered at it. He looses his cable and steams away from the land. For days, weeks, or even months, he never sees sail or shore; yet on he goes day and night without fear, till one morning he finds himself exactly opposite to the desired haven toward which he has been steering. How has he found his way over the trackless deep? He has trusted in his compass, his nautical almanac, his glass, and the heavenly bodies; and obeying their guidance, without sighting land, he has steered so accurately that he has not to change a point to enter into port. It is a wonderful thing to sail or steam without sight. Spiritually it is a blessed thing to leave altogether the shores of sight and feeling and to say good-bye to inward feelings, cheering providences, signs, tokens, and so forth. It is glorious to be far out on the ocean of divine love, believing in God and steering for heaven straight by the direction of the Word of God. “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed;” to them shall be administered an abundant entrance at the last, and a safe voyage on the way.”
Wow, eh? There’s the real-world value of making oneself familiar with the works of God’s servants who have engaged in controversy to preserve Scripture’s truth for their own and future generations. Next post, Lord willing, I’ll endeavor to show how Strange Fire taught me the importance of uncovering the history of a theological controversy.
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