Hello? Puritans calling
Monday night I had my first class of the semester. As he always does, and does very well, Dr. Johnson began laying the exegetical foundation of the class by unpacking the early chapters of Genesis on the topic of "calling."
(The first time I took a class from Dr. Johnson I remember thinking, as he spent a good deal of time exegeting the biblical basis for the course, "When's he going to get to the real content of the class?" Then about halfway through I realized, "Wait, this is good stuff!!" and wished I'd been taking better notes. Those were the pre-laptop days. Now I type like a fiend to get as much as possible.)
In the course of his lecture Dr. Johnson referred to the Puritans and their view on God's call and the believer's vocation. A part struck me. In essence he described how the Puritans viewed those with ambition, envy and impatience with suspicion. Their focus was more on perseverance. Those overly ambitious were seen as lacking proper contentment.
There's a lot we can learn from the Puritans on this. Too much of the Church today lacks contentment, whether it's the church growth movement with its tendency to focus on attendance numbers ("If you're not growing, you're not a healthy church." Really?!?), the prosperity gospel with its focus on money, or the megachurch movement with its focus on success. Doing things with excellence for God's glory is one thing, as is seeking to be a good steward of the resources God has entrusted to us. The Puritans didn't have anything against wealth per se, but against covetousness. And against lack of contentment with the place to which God has called you.
But today we're consumed with being number one, of growing bigger, of being viewed as successful by the world. As a result Christian bookstores are full of all sorts of books borrowing from business and management techniques that really haven't passed the test of being biblical, and church and parachurch ministry leaders buy them up like so many treasure maps.
The Puritans had it right on this one. They knew where their treasure was really hidden.
(The first time I took a class from Dr. Johnson I remember thinking, as he spent a good deal of time exegeting the biblical basis for the course, "When's he going to get to the real content of the class?" Then about halfway through I realized, "Wait, this is good stuff!!" and wished I'd been taking better notes. Those were the pre-laptop days. Now I type like a fiend to get as much as possible.)
In the course of his lecture Dr. Johnson referred to the Puritans and their view on God's call and the believer's vocation. A part struck me. In essence he described how the Puritans viewed those with ambition, envy and impatience with suspicion. Their focus was more on perseverance. Those overly ambitious were seen as lacking proper contentment.
There's a lot we can learn from the Puritans on this. Too much of the Church today lacks contentment, whether it's the church growth movement with its tendency to focus on attendance numbers ("If you're not growing, you're not a healthy church." Really?!?), the prosperity gospel with its focus on money, or the megachurch movement with its focus on success. Doing things with excellence for God's glory is one thing, as is seeking to be a good steward of the resources God has entrusted to us. The Puritans didn't have anything against wealth per se, but against covetousness. And against lack of contentment with the place to which God has called you.
But today we're consumed with being number one, of growing bigger, of being viewed as successful by the world. As a result Christian bookstores are full of all sorts of books borrowing from business and management techniques that really haven't passed the test of being biblical, and church and parachurch ministry leaders buy them up like so many treasure maps.
The Puritans had it right on this one. They knew where their treasure was really hidden.
Labels: Church Planting, Seminary
