Scott Fillmer » disciple

An Old Argument: Academic Theologian vs Discipleship and Bonhoeffer

Scott Fillmer — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:26:13 +0000

We Christians seems to be in many pendulum debates amongst each other that have no clear resolution, but this is one of them I hear more than others at times. Those who are deeply involved in discipleship speak about the evils of seminary or staying in a continued state of theological study. Those in higher education (seminary specially) talk about how we are raising a generation or two now that know nothing about their own faith. To me, Jesus is the ultimate example. He was a discipling theologian. He could go toe to toe with the smartest theological minds of his time (see Luke 20:19-40), and he could raise up the “lowly” of his day to become incredible disciples for Christ (see a fisherman named John and a few others).

To me, it has never been an either-or. It has always been both, even if I stink more at one than the other (or quite possibly at both), I think the true follower has to look at the example Christ gives us where both knowledge and discipleship are equally important in the Christians life. We live in an interesting time in history due to the technological advances we have, and this is perhaps widening the gap between theology and discipleship. It has never been easier to be able to get into higher education if you are called to do so, although the work isn’t any easier once you get in there. You also no longer really need that piece of paper that says you know what you are talking about (CT on Why People Aren’t Going to Seminary), to be a good leader or pastor, just ask Perry Noble, and you certainly don’t need a seminary degree to be great at discipleship.

I say all this, because last night I was trudging through the Bonhoeffer biography late last night, and came across Bonhoeffer’s statements on this very subject from way back in the 1940′s. In Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, he said:

Bonhoeffer had in mind a kind of monastic community, where one aimed to live in the way Jesus commanded his followers to live in his Sermon on the Mount, where one lived not merely as a theological student, but as a disciple of Christ. ( Read more at location 5056 )

Bonhoeffer saw that a large part of the problem was Lutheran theological education, which produced not disciples of Christ, but out-of-touch theologians and clerics whose ability to live the Christian life—and to help others live that life—was not much in evidence. ( Read more at location 5065 )

I called it a pendulum debate because throughout time it has swung back and forth with the landscape of history. I’m sure someone, somewhere, has a great chart of church history and the rate of seminarians to discipleship, but just common sense tells you it swings back and forth. I don’t know that much about Bonhoeffer yet, but the more I learn about him, the more I understand that he, in at least some respects, got it right. Most couldn’t argue that he wasn’t a great theologian, but he was also a man devoted to discipleship.

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And Then There Was Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Scott Fillmer — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:58:38 +0000

So I guess I am probably the last person in the world to read Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz but I did finally get a chance to read it this week. My summer semester at Liberty finally ended this week (and the fall semester doesn’t start for a week) and I have had a few days to pick up some, non-threatening read because-you-want-to, books, and the first one was Blue Like Jazz. This book was published back in 2003 and reminded me a little of Churched by Matthew Paul Turner [jesusneedsnewpr] (which I forgot to review but should soon), and even slightly Roose’s Unlikely Disciple (also unreviewed yet), in the fact that it was autobiographical in nature.

Miller takes a self deprecating approach to his life as a Christian and, although he is not a theologian, he is as real and genuine as it gets. He takes the philosophies of growing up as a modern evangelical, that which many of us in the southern bible belt are all too familiar with, and turns it on its head. Miller shows us that there really are orthodox believers, [that is: those who want to hold fast to the teachings of Jesus regardless of denominational affiliations (even those of grace and love)], that live outside of the belt that runs from Texas to Alabama to South Carolina. [We really do know that Christians exist outside of the belt but sometimes we think we are the important ones (especially if you are in the buckle part of the belt) since we hold up the faith's pants.]

Jesus Was Not a Democrat or a Republican

Who knew. One of the best reminders I took away from Blue Like Jazz is that Jesus was not a Democrat or a Republican (or a liberal or conservative for that matter). If we truly want to follow Jesus’ teachings, we have to follow Him fully, not necessarily some party affiliation. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have opinions one way or the other, but if we seriously look at what scripture says, there are certainly issues that go against (and for) both party affiliations. Jesus taught unconditional love, something that seems almost impossible for us evangelicals to actually live out, every day.

After the first few chapters I almost put the book down thinking Miller was going to just spew a political agenda, but that was really the point. Jesus didn’t have a political agenda during His earthly ministry, he was interested in our salvation, not our politics. I connected with Miller because his background growing up was similar to mine, but that’s where it ended, and it was very refreshing to read a totally and completely different perspective on what it means to be a Christian, not just an evangelical.

Notables in the Text

I try never to read a book any more without a pen handy to underline and take notes with. This book wasn’t a huge notation text but there were several things that caught my attention. One was the story Miller told about buying an extension cord at The Home Depot in the money section. That story was worth buying the book right there. Others that caught my eye were:

many of the students hated the very idea of God, and yet they cared about people more than I did
[Jesus] didn’t show partiality, which every human does… and neither should we
the tricky thing about life, really, [is] that the things we want most will kill us
the undercurrent running through culture is not giving people value based upon what they believe and what they are doing to aid society… [it] is deciding their value based upon whether or not they are cool
what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do
no drug is so powerful as the drug of self-[addiction]

There were many more but that is a good start. Blue Like Jazz is certainly well worth the time, and if you grew up in the southern bible belt surrounded by the evangelical machine it is a must read. I am now looking forward to reading some of Miller’s other books as well. Next up is Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson, but this one will be read on the beaches of North Carolina (yeah), so it might take a little longer to finish.

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People are not Called to Misssions

Scott Fillmer — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:54:03 +0000

That was the statement our friend Biscuet (he also talked about this great story here) made in his message this morning, no one is actually “called to missions”. Although this truth rarely seems to be stated in the American church, it is stated in scripture throughout the Bible but most recognizably in the last verse in Matthew. Jesus was not giving us a suggestion here, it was a definitive statement for His message to reach all nations and to have a heart for those who are living a Spiritually dead life.

Sometimes our Americanized version of missions is to see who is “called to missions” then send them on a sort of mission vacation to a vaguely understood culture, and see what kind of impact can be made. This might be an exaggerated cynical statement, but those of us who profess Jesus as their Savior are called to a worldwide missionary life. We are certainly not all called to China like Biscuet but we are called to be missional.

I happen to be reading a passage in a book last night that put this in context. I am about half way through God’s Passion for His Glory by John Piper which is written in two parts; the first part is a biography on Jonathan Edwards, the second part is The End for Which God Created the World by Edwards himself (see also my essay on Edwards famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God entitled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Historical Look at It’s Preachability in the 21st Century). Many don’t associate Edwards with missions but he spent many years working directly with Native American Indians in the 18th century. In speaking about Edwards, Piper talks about privatism in religion and says:

The worst form [of privatism] is with evangelicals who think they are publicly- and socially- minded when the have no passion for missions of perishing people without the gospel that alone can give eternal life, and without a saving knowledge of the Light of the world who can transform their culture. So the first message of Jonathan Edwards to modern evangelicals about our public lives is: Don’t limit your passion for justice and peace to such a limited concern as the church-saturated landscape of American culture.

Lift up your eyes to the real crisis of our day: namely, several thousand cultures still unpenetrated by the gospel, who can’t even dream of the blessings we want to restore.

No graphic that I have seen more emphasizes this as the one below from the IMB called You are the Light of the World. I first saw this in poster form in bslash’s office one day and it has stuck with me since that day. The dark places in the world, even 2,000 years after Matthew 28:19 was spoken, are large, and on every continent. Biscuet pointed out today that we, as American’s, can no longer take the Message effectively to a Moslem nation, but we can invest in people who can, like the people in China, but before we can make a huge step (like living in China or Hong Kong), we must be willing to take many many smaller steps and be open to following our Leader, Jesus.