The “Cross Story” and Sanctified Rape in the Church
Originally published January 21, 2013
“Be sure of it: this is how Calvinists think; this is their worldview.”
“Don’t misunderstand: the problem of ‘victim mentality’ is not even on the radar screen — they have removed the word “victim” from their metaphysical dictionary.”
“Justice necessarily implies victim. Victim necessarily implies worth. All three are conspirators with the glory story.”
Martin Luther had more on his mind than silly Popes when he nailed his 95 Theses to the front door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany. That protest launched the Reformation, but six months later Luther presented the systematic theology of the Reformation to the Augustinian Order in Heidelberg. Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation laid the foundation, and John Calvin later articulated and applied its basic principles to the full spectrum of life in his Institutes of the Christian Religion.
The Cross Story and the Glory Story
Luther’s cross story, or theology of the cross is the crux of the Heidelberg Disputation and introduced in the first sentence of the Calvin Institutes:
Our wisdom, insofar as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.
That’s Luther’s theology of the cross: a deeper and deeper knowledge of our putrid humanity as set against God’s holiness. And NOTHING in-between. All of creation, all events, and all reality contribute to deeper knowledge of one of these two, and then both as a deeper knowledge of each gives more understanding to the other; knowledge of both, and the experience of both. Hence, every blessing, including our good works which are done by the Holy Spirit to begin with, lends more understanding of God’s glory. Every evil event, sin, and tragedy lends deeper understanding in regard to our total depravity and worthlessness. But of course your mother is dying of cancer; I am amazed that God would give anyone as many years as He has given her. Who are we to think we deserve even one year of life? And what a wonderful opportunity for her to suffer the way Jesus suffered for us!
This is the cross story. See the illustration below. This is a contemporary depiction from that camp—this is their assessment:
Anything else at all that gives any credit to humanity—Christian or non-Christian is the “glory story.” That would be our glory specifically, and not Christ’s. To the degree that humanity is considered, the glory of Christ is “ECLIPSED.” This is the theses of a book written by John MacArthur associate Rick Holland: Uneclipsing The Son. Everything is perceived as speaking through one of these two perspectives. ANYTHING coming from what is perceived as the “glory story” is summarily dismissed. Be sure of it: this is how Calvinists think. This is their worldview.
In one of the former Resolved Conferences sponsored by John MacArthur and Holland, in one of his messages, Holland extols a letter written to Puritan Christopher Love by his wife as he awaited execution. Holland forgot to mention to those listening that Love was executed for espionage against the English government while letting the audience assume he was executed for loftier spiritual-like reasons. The following is excerpts from the letter:
O that the Lord would keep thee from having one troubled thought for thy relations. I desire freely to give thee up into thy Father’s hands, and not only look upon it as a crown of glory for thee to die for Christ, but as an honor to me that I should have a husband to leave for Christ…. I dare not speak to thee, nor have a thought within my own heart of my own unspeakable loss, but wholly keep my eye fixed upon thy inexpressible and inconceivable gain. Thou leavest but a sinful, mortal wife to be everlastingly married to the Lord of glory…. Thou dost but leave earth for heaven and changest a prison for a palace. And if natural affections should begin to arise, I hope that the spirit of grace that is within thee will quell them, knowing that all things here below are but dung and dross in comparison of those things that are above. I know thou keepest thine eye fixed on the hope of glory, which makes thy feet trample on the loss of earth.
Justice? That implies that humanity has some sort of value. That implies that life itself has some sort of value. That implies that humanity should be protected through threat of punishment. That’s the glory story. Therefore, Calvin stated the following:
Those who, as in the presence of God, inquire seriously into the true standard of righteousness, will certainly find that all the works of men, if estimated by their own worth, are nothing but vileness and pollution, that what is commonly deemed justice is with God mere iniquity; what is deemed integrity is pollution; what is deemed glory is ignominy (CI 3.12.4).
Death by Biblical Counseling
The church must face up to a sobering reality in our day. The vast majority of biblical counseling that goes on in our day is based on this construct—you will be counseled from the perspective of the cross story, and anything that smacks of the glory story will be snubbed. You are not a victim. There is no such thing as a victim. Christ was the only true victim in all of history. Don’t misunderstand: the problem of “victim mentality” is not even on the radar screen—they have removed the word “victim” from their metaphysical dictionary. “Victim” is part of the glory story; Christ as the only victim is the cross story. I am not a victim. That’s impossible because my sin nailed Christ to the cross. Thank you oh Lord that I was raped. Thank you for this opportunity to suffer for you. Thank you for the strength to forgive the one who raped me in the same way you forgave me. What a wonderful opportunity to show forth your gospel!
Hence, when the leaders of a Reformed church came to inform parents that a young man in that church had molested their toddler, this was the opening statement:
Today, we have before us an opportunity to forgive.
The parents were then counseled to not contact the authorities. Those who do are often brought up on church discipline. Justice necessarily implies victim. Victim necessarily implies worth. All three are conspirators with the glory story. And be not deceived: this is the logic that drives Reformed organizations that are supposed to be mediators in the church; specifically, Peacemaker Ministries and G.R.A.C.E. A major player in the Biblical Counseling Movement is Paul David Tripp. In 2006, he wrote a book that articulates the horizontal application of Luther’s theology of the cross: “How people Change.” Of course, the title is a lie; if he really believed people change, that would be the glory story. Notice also that it is, “How People Change” and not, “How Christians Change.” That’s because this bunch see no difference in the transforming power of the new birth and ordinary Christ-rejecting people.
In the book, Tripp, like all who propagate Luther’s theology of the cross, posits the Bible as a “big picture” narrative of our redemptive life. The Bible is a mere tool for one thing only: leading us more and more into the cross story and away from the glory story. This is accomplished by using the Bible to enter into the cross narrative and thereby seeing our preordained part in the “big picture” narrative of redemptive history. Though Tripp is not forthright about it in the book, this is known as the Redemptive Historical Hermeneutic. By seeing our life through the cross story, we are empowered to live life for God’s glory. This is done by seeing ALL circumstances in life (Heat) as preordained in order to show our sinfulness (Thorns) and God’s goodness (Fruit) for the purposes of having a deeper understanding of both resulting in spiritual wellbeing. In other words, all of life’s circumstances are designed to give us a deeper understanding of the cross story: God’s holiness, and our sinfulness. I have taken his primary visual illustration from the book and drawn lines to the cross story illustration to demonstrate the relationship (click on image to enlarge):
Understanding this lends insight to Tripp citations on the Peacekeepers Ministries website:
Paul Trip wrote a great post over at The Gospel Coalition blog all about the need for pastors to pursue a culture of forgiveness in their ministry. Pastors (and anyone serving Christ) have a choice:
“You can choose for disappointment to become distance, for affection to become dislike, and for a ministry partnership to morph into a search for an escape. You can taste the sad harvest of relational détente that so many church staffs live in, or you can plant better seeds and celebrate a much better harvest. The harvest of forgiveness, rooted in God’s forgiveness of you, is the kind of ministry relationship everyone wants.”
Then he describes three ways forgiveness can shape your ministry. I’ve listed them, but you can read how he explains them in detail.
“1. Forgiveness stimulates appreciation and affection.
2. Forgiveness produces patience.
3. Forgiveness is the fertile soil in which unity in relationships grows.”
He closes with this exhortation:
“So we learn to make war, but no longer with one another. Together we battle the one Enemy who is after us and our ministries. As we do this, we all become thankful that grace has freed us from the war with one another that we used to be so good at making.”
And concerning another author, they also stated:
Last week, Steve Cornell at The Gospel Coalition blog posted some really great insight into the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. They also offered up some excellent and biblically sound steps in dealing with a situation where an offending party is hesitant to reconcile.
Here he summarizes a key distinction:
“It’s possible to forgive someone without offering immediate reconciliation. It’s possible for forgiveness to occur in the context of one’s relationship with God apart from contact with her offender. But reconciliation is focused on restoring broken relationships. And where trust is deeply broken, restoration is a process—sometimes, a lengthy one”…. His ten guidelines for those hesitant to reconcile are rooted in scripture and, I think, incredibly helpful.
1. Be honest about your motives.
2. Be humble in your attitude.
3. Be prayerful about the one who hurt you.
4. Be willing to admit ways you might have contributed to the problem.
5. Be honest with the offender.
6. Be objective about your hesitancy.
7. Be clear about the guidelines for restoration.
8. Be alert to Satan’s schemes.
9. Be mindful of God’s control.
10. Be realistic about the process.
Notice the overall blurring of distinction between the offended and offender with the subject of forgiveness.
The Cross-centered Anti-justice Pandemic is No longer Exclusively a Reformed Thing
Apart from Calvinism, the redemptive historical cross-centered approach is crossing denominational lines en masse. We at TANC see doctrines that were born of Luther’s theology of the cross in non-Reformed circles constantly; specifically, heart theology (deep repentance), exclusive interpretation of the Scriptures through a redemptive prism, Gospel Sanctification, and John Piper’s Christian hedonism. And we also see the same results. It is not beyond the pale for a pastor who has raped a parishioner to be the one counseling the victim sinner. You know, the “sinner saved by grace.”
God is a God of justice, and throughout the Scriptures He demands that we be people of justice. He demands that we come to the defense of the victim. I close with fitting words from church historian John Immel:
And this is the challenge. This is the challenge that I have as a man who is passionate about thinking: to inspire people to engage in complex ideas that drive tyranny. So here’s my challenge to those who are listening.
Do not be seduced into believing that righteousness is retreat from the world.
Do not be seduced into believing that spirituality is defined by weakness and that timid caution for fear of committing potential error is a reason to be quiet.
Do not be intimidated by vague, hazy threats of failure.
Do not let yourself believe that faith is a license to irrationality. I’m going to say that again to you. This is good. Do not let yourself believe that faith is a license to irrationality.
Do not mistake the simple nature of God’s love for a justification for simple-mindedness.
Do not deceive yourself with the polite notion that you are above the fray, that your right to believe is sufficient to the cause of righteousness. There is no more stunning conceit.
Do not pretend that your unwillingness to argue is the validation of truth.
Know this: Virtue in a vacuum is like the proverbial sound in the forest–irrelevant without a witness. Character is no private deed. To retreat is nothing more than a man closing his eyes and shutting his mouth to injustice.
Virtues are not estimates to be lofted gently against evil.
Virtues are not to be withheld from view in the name of grace.
Virtues are not to be politely swallowed in humble realization that we are all just sinners anyway.
Love is not a moral blank check against the endless tide of indulgent action.
Love is not blind to the cause and effect of reality.
Love is not indifference to plunder and injustice and servitude.
The time is now, you men of private virtue, to emerge from your fortress of solitude and demonstrate that you are worthy of a life that bears your name. The time is now, you men of private virtue, to answer Mick Jagger and all the nihilists that insist we are living on the edge and we cannot help but fall. It is time for you men of private virtue to take up the cause of human existence and think.
~TANC 2012 Conference on Gospel Discernment and Spiritual Tyranny: John Immel; session 1, “Assumptions + Logic = Action.”
paul
PsychoHeresy Unawareness: Dr. John Street Shot the Sheriff, but He Didn’t Shoot the Deputy
Originally posted September 30, 2012
No doubt, PAM reveals many problems with the biblical counseling movement that one may expect when it is based on a false gospel. But John Street’s real sin is his participation in a mass propagation of a false gospel.
Dr. John Street, founder of Clearcreek Chapel in Springboro, Ohio has finally made it big in the biblical counseling movement. This is evident from the fact that he has become a target of PAM (PsychoHeresy Awarness Ministries). PAM is directed by Martin and Deidre Bobgan who, without a doubt, are the most formidable critics of the “biblical” counseling movement.
John Street is an elder at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in California, and the Chair of the graduate program for biblical counseling at the seminary associated with MacArthur’s church. Also, last time I checked, Street is the president of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors (NANC).
In the most recent PAM newsletters, (http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/street_tmc&s.html and http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/street_tmc&s_2.html) Street is barbecued for practicing counseling methods that the Bobgans deem unbiblical. PAM primarily decries the biblical counseling movement’s “problem-centered counseling” verses “Christ-centered Ministry” (http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/e-books/CCMpcc-ebk.pdf ).
I am not sure what PAM means by “Christ-centered ministry,” but it seems to be a passive approach regarding the disciple’s role in sanctification:
This is why we say that those who minister to one another need to get in the way and out of the way. They need to be available, but they need to let God work rather than push their own agenda.
The idea of pushing our own agenda could mean “let go and let God” instead of pushing an agenda that just so happens to be God’s agenda. The wording is unsettling. Elsewhere the Bobgans write the following:
Christ-centered ministry encourages spiritual growth and depends on the Lord to do the work in each individual through His Word and Spirit. Therefore, one can confidently assure believers that this ministry is more effective, long-lasting, and spiritually rewarding than problem-centered counseling for those who are willing to go this way.
Depend on the Lord to do the work? At the very least, the Bobgans need to clarify their position more thoroughly because by and large, gospel contemplationism is the primary thrust of NANC counseling. One wonders if PAM is accusing NANC of what they are guilty of: an overly passive approach to sanctification.
And, NANC, when they were (past tense) helping many people, encouraged an aggressive role in sanctification by the counselee. Christians are called to “study to show thyself approved,” and then aggressively apply that truth to their lives in order to have a life built on a rock (Matthew 7:24).
This was NANC’s approach in the past, and it did result in massive professions of faith, and real lasting change. I know; I was there; I am a firsthand witness. This was before David Powlison via CCEF and company infiltrated NANC with the gangrene of progressive justification. Unbelievably, in broad daylight, Powlison admitted (during a lecture at John Piper’s church while Piper was on sabbatical searching for different “species of idols” in his heart) that NANC’s “first generation” counseling was in contention with “second generation counseling” over the very definition of the gospel!
And this is my point: PAM is focused on the supposed evil of “problem-centered” counseling (is the gospel itself not problem-centered? The gospel did not come to solve a problem?) while the real issue is that NANC and CCEF both propagate a blatant false gospel. The counseling is based on the fusion of justification and sanctification with gospel contemplationism as its practical application.
CCEF’s counseling is based on Sonship theology. Dr. Jay E. Adams nailed that doctrine specifically as the fusion of justification and sanctification in his book, “Biblical Sonship” published in 1999. Adams, in the book, decried Sonship’s position that regeneration is powered by the finished work of justification. CCEF then effectively infiltrated NANC and took it over with the same doctrine. I use over 200 pages to document all of this in “The Truth About New Calvinism” (thetruthaboutnewcalvinism.com).
Hence, we must assume that NANC counseling yields many ill results, and I will say this: PAM points them out though they are missing the much larger issue. Case in point:
The truth is that counselors and especially counselors with an agenda (their particular approach) too often take credit for successes and attribute failures to the counselees. The trumping truth is that success is primarily in the hands of the counselees….
And worse yet, the counselee’s “failure” ends up in church discipline!
Also:
Problem-centered counseling is typically a one-to-one relationship. Sometimes couples and families are involved, but the relationship is generally artificial and restrictive. The counseling relationship itself usually does not extend outside the counseling room. The relationship lasts as long as counseling is being provided and normally does not extend to other involvement, even in most biblical counseling centers. Problem-centered counselors commonly do not involve themselves with counselees outside the counseling room. That is why both psychological and biblical counselors sometimes use intake forms requesting a great deal of personal information. Because this relationship is generally isolated, the counselor and counselee can be selective as to what they want to reveal about themselves. In fact, as we mentioned earlier, research shows that counselees often lie to their counselors and protect themselves by concealing important information.
The great advantage of Christ-centered ministry is that it is not limited to an artificial one-to-one relationship where one has the problem and the other supposedly has the solution. In the Body of Christ all are growing together. there are many opportunities to know one another and to interact in genuine relationships. When a believer is experiencing problems, more than one person may be involved in ministering to that individual. One may be teaching. One may be reminding. Another may simply be extending support and fellowship. Another may be helping in practical ways. Another may be exhorting. Another may be admonishing. And, in a few cases, some may be exercising the responsibility of disciplining a fellow believer for the sake of restoration. But, all can be praying and encouraging the individual in the direction of the Lord. And, through all this, all are growing together and the relationships may deepen with one another as well as with the Lord.
No doubt, PAM reveals many problems with the biblical counseling movement that one may expect when it is based on a false gospel. But John Street’s real sin is his participation in a mass propagation of a false gospel. It reminds me of Eric Clapton’s ode to one who objects to being accused of shooting a deputy when he really shot the sheriff.
paul
Betrayal Never Had a Bigger Smile
On January 23, 2015, Dr. John Street will make the statement loud and clear on behalf of John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church and the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors that clergy has the right to do whatever they want to the laity in general, and counselees specifically. John Street, the founding pastor of Clearcreek Chapel, is the featured speaker there for the Chapel’s 2015 “Family Enrichment Conference.” Right.
The title of Street’s message for the affair makes it apparent that he has bought into the progressive justification false gospel that has swept the institutional church: “The Gospel-Centered Marriage: Unique Challenges and Hope.” I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but what is disturbing is the absence of common decency that is part and parcel with this doctrine. Earlier today, I sent this letter to the executive director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors suggesting that the biblical counseling movement recommend itself with some measure of common decency. Not holding my breath.
God’s people should not be deceived; there is no real disagreement among the tyrants that rule over the institutional church and make merchandise of God’s people. They all fuse justification and sanctification together resulting in some form of salvation via institution.
As one who served as an elder with John Street for five years and even considered him a mentor, this is indeed the deep pains of betrayal. However, it has now come into full focus why my pleadings for intervention were ignored. They all believe the same thing, and always have.
But this is clear: anyone participating in the institutional church is totally on their own. This is spiritual caste on steroids. Think about SGM, ABWE, etc.; there is a reason why the victims are summarily dismissed. There is a reason for all of the silence.
I look forward to the new possibilities ahead now that I see things clearly for what they are: I was naive; there was never any real love in the institutional church. It is void of the common decency that does unto others as you would want others to do to you.
John and I are now separated by differing gospels, and differing fruit for I never passed on an opportunity to defend him. Let it be so, everyone must choose their own path.
paul
Today’s Christian Husband and Father: Killing His Family with Awesome Preaching
Originally posted December 6, 2012
Bob is on his way to Jerry’s house for dinner. Bob is the chairman of their church’s elder board. Jerry is being considered for eldership and Bob will be dining at his house for a pre-interview en lieu of further discussion. Pizza is the cuisine. And apparently, not just on this night—Bob notes that every trashcan in the house is stuffed with pizza boxes. Dishes full of M & Ms also adorn many of the table tops. Bob is taken to the kitchen by Jerry to meet his wife, and Bob perceives no less than twenty-five bags of potato chips staked about in various places. One corner of the kitchen is occupied with a tall stack of Coca-Cola 12packs. Big on taste—small in nutrition.
Precious few will disagree that Bob’s family is headed for serious health problems if they do not change their ways. Yet, Bob is a picture of how the vast majority of Christian husbands oversee the spiritual diets of their families. However, the “Bob” motif falls woefully short of making the point; at least Bob knows what his family is eating for better or worse. Christian husbands of our day don’t even know the difference between Redemptive Historical hermeneutics and Grammatical Historical hermeneutics. In fact, when the subject comes up, a rolling of the eyes follows.
That’s because the preaching/teaching is awesome where they go to church. Uncompromising, and God glorifying. As one pastor exhorted me when inquiring about what hermeneutic he used in his preaching: “Come and see if it tastes good, and if you still want to, we will talk about theology.” But I never doubt it will taste good. Who doesn’t love pizza for dinner, potato chips as a side, Coke to drink, and M&Ms for desert?
Fact is, nearly 90% of preaching/teaching in today’s American church is fundamentally based on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation. This document is the very heart of the Reformation and the engine that drives the present-day New Calvinist movement. Its premise was based on the idea that all spiritual reality, wisdom, and truth comes from the combination of two perspectives, and only these two: the holiness of God, and the wretchedness of all men whether they are Christians or not. Luther called this perspective the “theology of the cross.” It has come to be known as Gospel-Centered preaching/teaching. It is also the foundation of the Calvin Institutes. Everything in the Calvin Institutes, in some way, points to the glory of God “as set against our sinfulness.”
This has become job one: as described in the Heidelberg Disputation; this way of teaching is the “cross story,” and all other spiritual wisdom is the “glory story.” Hence, the contemporary clarion call of the Reformation derived from Luther’s Disputation is, the centrality of the objective gospel outside of us. Anything at all that has anything to do with us is “subjective,” and part of the “glory story.” Unless it concerns our wretchedness. Therefore, the Disputation ridiculed a negative attitude towards suffering as well for this serves to further reveal our woeful state in life which magnifies the redemptive work of Christ and our utter worthlessness. The whole motif can be visualized by the following Reformed chart:
Yes, you can preach wonderful sermons on those two dimensions. They are both abundantly true. Charles Spurgeon is known as the “prince of preachers.” All of his sermons are based on the “cross story.” All, I repeat “all” of John Piper’s sermons and the (seems like) 600 books he has written are based on nothing but, I repeat, nothing but the “cross story.” Amen, pass the potato chips. In circa 1994, John MacArthur abandoned the “glory story” aspects of his preaching and now focuses on the “cross story.” Amen, pass the M&Ms. And those babies slide down nice with a big swig of Coca-Cola.
“But Paul, what’s so sweet about focusing on our own wickedness?” My dear friend, haven’t you seen any Staples commercials? It’s easy. You totally stink. Nothing is expected of you: “Hey honey! Good news! We don’t change! Our marriage isn’t about a bunch of do’s and don’ts! Our failures make us wiser!” That was easy. In fact, teachers like Michael Horton and John Piper continually espouse the idea that expectations are just, “more bad news.” And regarding leaders? “Alright, time to prepare my message for tomorrow, and all I have to do is look for two things, and two things only in the text: how great God is, and how bad we are.” That was easy. In fact, we find the following on a well-known Reformed blog regarding instruction on how to prepare a Bible lesson:
At this time, resist the temptation to utilize subsequent passages to validate the meaning or to move out from the immediate context. Remembering that all exegesis must finally be a Christocentric exegesis.
Look for Christ even if He isn’t there directly. It is better to see Christ in a text even if He isn’t, than to miss Him where He is.
But as the apostle asked rhetorically, “What saith the Scriptures?” Is there another story other than the “cross story”? Anybody interested in the House on a Rock story?
Matthew 7:24 -“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Learn and do. That’s how we have a life built on a rock. It is the very definition of a disciple:
Matthew 19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
So, here is my suggestion. When you go to church this Sunday, and other days following that involve sitting under the teachings of your leaders, take a legal pad with you. Draw a line at a downward angle on the bottom labeled, “our sin.” Draw a line at the top with an upward angle, and label it “Christ.” Then draw a line in the middle and label it, “What? Why? And How?” Or, “Not only what Jesus did, but what did He SAY?” Or simply, “Life built on a rock.” If there isn’t a three-dimensional balance—get out of there. You either love your family or you don’t. You will be judged by Christ accordingly.
I was approached by my wife Susan this morning. My son by marriage had approached her asking questions about demonology. Apparently, he had questions concerning some things he had heard about the subject (demonology) in the secular realm. I was astonished; though both of them have been in church for a combined total of 72 years, they didn’t even know the basics regarding this subject. My wife wanted to know the answers to his questions—other than the usual answers: “Jesus” and “gospel.”
And if we don’t know, the world will gladly inform our children accordingly. Knowledge equals authority.
Men, wake up.
paul
Book Review: Russ Kennedy’s “Perplexity,” All you Need is the Cover
Really? Christians need yet another book on gospel contemplationism? In Perplexity: Bringing My Questions to God, the theses is a very familiar one in our day. As I was reading through the Kindle version while riding in the family car with my wife Susan, intermittently reading aloud, she commented, “It sounds like the same ole’ stuff.” Indeed, the institutional church will continue to relentlessly pound this one simple message into the heads of Christians in different ways, and anyone who comes up with a different version will be lauded accordingly.
It’s ironic, Russ Kennedy, the “pastor” of Clearcreek Chapel in Springboro, Ohio was at the center of one of the most perplexing seasons of my life. Had this book been published at that time, perhaps I would still be there, and living according to its age-old theses. But I wanted answers, and according to the theses of this religion, a very ancient one, that’s arrogance. Yes, perplexity is a good thing because it humbles us, it reminds us that we can’t know anything except that we are perplexed, and living in the dark cave of life. Hence, see the cover of the book. This is not perplexing at all; you are in the dark cave looking up, and the light seen at the mouth of the cave is the gospel. If you know what Russ Kennedy et al believe, all you need is the cover—it says it all in a visual bumper sticker.
Let me interject something here: that perplexing time of my life was only perplexing at the time. That’s one of the real truths of biblical perplexity; time often reveals exactly how God uses the evil of the world for His divine purposes. In the midst of severe, dark trials, we continue in well-dong and wait for God’s answers (1Pet 4:19). That’s difficult, we will need the love and truthful encouragement of other Christians. Yes, in rare instances, we will have to wait for glory to know the answers, but we can be sure that God is working all things for His divine purposes, and for the believer, that isn’t for the express purpose of showing us how worthless and depraved we are. Conspicuously absent in Kennedy’s book is the following concept:
Deuteronomy 29:29 – The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
According to Kennedy and the long history of those who supply thoughts for him, the only thing that Christians can DO is the same gospel that saved them. We are in the dark cave, and all we can do is contemplate the light outside of the tunnel. Our reality is a subjective dark cave, and according to a former elder that supplied the overall philosophy for the Chapel, “New Covenant Theology presumes a Christocentricity to the understanding and meaning of all reality.” Said elder, Chad Bresson, departed from the Chapel, also dubbed “Cloudy Creek Chapel” by many former members, at approximately the same time of a controversy concerning an accusation that the Chapel elders were teaching, “some kind of Christian mysticism.” Go figure.*
So, if Christians can’t really know anything objectively except the suffering of the cross, what’s the point? Well, that answer isn’t perplexing at all: joy. As you look up from the dark cave of life and humanity to the only thing you can know, the light of the glorious cross shining outside of the cave, the result is the stripping away of everything treasured at all other than Christ resulting in joy while in the cave. Joy, regardless of circumstances, is the payoff. Joy in the cave is the payoff. Like Hinduism, the cause and effect of knowledge and the application thereof are toys that we discard as we mature spiritually, IF we come to realize that life is a completely preordained god-narrative that points us to a light that transcends empirical knowledge. As Kennedy states in the book, answers to life’s problems are “shadows.” Right and wrong answers are not the issue; the arrogant assumption that you can know anything except the suffering of the cross is the issue.
Listen, I was perplexed, and paid a price for wanting answers, but I see now that God used those dark circumstances to incite me to seek godly knowledge. I would only change one thing: I shouldn’t have been ignorant in regard to authentic church history and its progression of various soteriologies. My own ignorance and lack of knowledge led me to that darkness. Instead of letting me suffer the full brunt of my lazy Christianity, viz, letting others think for me, God restricted the circumstances to awakening me out of my pathetic slumber. That’s grace in sanctification my friends. When it gets right down to it, I can’t blame Russ Kennedy mysticism for what happened; we live in an information age, I was a know-it-all according to everyone else’s “knowledge.” Christ died to save me from the law, and gave me a “helper” to sincerely love Him with God-given talents. Instead of utilizing that, I did not study to show myself approved—it’s on me. For certain, I do not deserve what God has done to rebuild my life, but be sure of this, I have learned from it.
What have I learned? I have learned that the present-day chaos in the church is not perplexing at all. It is as simple as the cover on Russ Kennedy’s book. Frankly, the audacity of Plato’s cave adorning the cover of this book shouldn’t surprise us. The framers of the American Constitution readily observed that the colonial Calvinist Puritans of that day were followers of Plato. That, coupled with the tyranny that they experienced growing up under the colonial Puritan theocracy of that day inspired them to create one of the greatest experiments of all time—the American ideal, which God has used to wreak more good on the earth since the good news of the gospel. For one example, the Puritans, like the one Kennedy cites in his book, called Benjamin Franklin a devil for inventing the lightening rod. The only thing that saved Franklin from the fate of others who tried to improve the human condition through knowledge was the fact that his lightening rod saved churches from burning down via lightning strikes.
Platonism eventually became Gnosticism which was nemesis #1 for the New Testament church. The Neo-Calvinist resurgence of our day is a return to that Gnosticism in every respect, and the teaching method is no different than that used by Kennedy in his book:
1. Focus on being rightly descriptive about how trials and the rigors of life are experienced. This makes the listener think that you understand where they are at.
2. Exploit the fact trying to do the right thing the wrong way is very prevalent in the human experience. Then interpret those failures as a misconception regarding the very interpretation of reality. Interpret those failures as part of the overall failures of reason itself: i.e., Plato’s shadows in the cave. Our existence is experienced subjectively via the shadows of the true forms. The Puritans merely changed Plato’s true forms into the gospel/Christ, and our human existence is the cave.
3. Offer the alternative of gospel contemplationism, using proof-texting with verses that only tell half of the story: mysteries that belong to the Lord—which can only be experienced by joy and not known. This is the crux of Gnosticism. All reason and human knowledge are only shadows of the mysteries of Plato’s trinity: the true, good, and beautiful. They merely make Plato’s trinity “the gospel.” Any member at Clearcreek Chapel who is honest with themselves will see this concept woven within all of Russ Kennedy’s teachings sometimes plagiarized from John Piper’s Christian Hedonism which led to his dismissal from a church in Illinois.
Church history tells us that Gnosticism has always had mass appeal and has always been the greatest challenge to true Christianity. This is because it feeds our propensity towards lazy thinking, and enables us to step back from the rigors of life and observe them from afar. It also enables us to escape responsibility, and change by glorying in our ignorance while appearing spiritual. Yes, we are the humble totally depraved who “know nothing but Christ and Him crucified.” Change is hard, and many will exchange it in a heartbeat for the easy way while having the added bonus of looking humble and spiritual to boot. This is the mass appeal that has always been Gnosticism, a kissing cousin to Stoicism.
Wow! Look at his faith in the face of this immense tragedy! If only I had faith like that!
Faith? Or a Gnostic indifference towards reality? Was it faith that led a son to stand up at the funeral of a godly pastor and proudly proclaim that his father was a “wicked sinner”? What of the disdain shared by a Clearcreek elder in regard to his mother-in-law’s grieving because she was terminally ill and would not see her grandchildren grow up? The disdain evolved around her treasuring of her grandchildren more than Christ. Grandchildren are mere shadows.
There is only one false religion: antinomian sanctification. A rejection of knowledge in sanctification under the guise of “knowing nothing but Christ and him Crucified” portrays a certain mindset about justification. It exchanges love in sanctification for fear in justification. If we must keep ourselves justified by a humbleness defined by knowing nothing, we indeed need the Russ Kennedys of the world which is why he wrote the book. But one best ponder the very words of Christ: “Because of anomia, the love of many will become cold.”
Strange, once again I am inadvertently ministered to by tyranny. Susan and I have been considering a change of direction as this ministry is a very lonely ministry that fights the uphill battle against completely unnecessary perplexity in the American church. A recent sermon by Andy Stanley has Christians “troubled” and “perplexed.” In the sermon, Stanley proffered the idea that Christ put people before “his religion” which he made synonymous with the law. Supposedly, the Pharisees did the opposite by putting the law before people. Stanley then defiantly dared anyone to ask for a practical application to the sermon. Stanley then concluded the “sermon” by stating that he didn’t know where the theses would lead, that of course, would be decided by the Lord. As one blogger noted:
With all due respect, I submit that if Andy Stanley did not know the answers to the questions posed above, he should have never delivered the sermon.
With all due respect, Christians need to stop being perplexed in regard to where these antinomian teachers are coming from. We find the same exact concept in this book published by Kennedy. In the difficult questions of life and times of darkness, you don’t look for answers; you only meditate on the gospel and not shadowy reason. In death, you seek more death, so that the joy of the cross may abound in your heart. This is what you do while waiting for the Lord to change your circumstances at a time of his choosing. Of course, this is a counselor’s dream; one size fits all. Every counselee walking in has the same problem: they value life. Don’t be fooled by multiple layers of nuance and careful choice of synonyms, this is the crux of the matter; you either treasure Christ alone, or you treasure all else but Him alone. It’s either the dark cave or the light, period.
Their god is the god of confusion, not ours. And perplexity is not a glory; it is the disdain of lady wisdom and a lamp-less dark path to destruction.
paul
*Incredibly, the Chapel still benefits from the biblical counseling movement started by Dr. Jay Adams in 1970. The movement was a true revival because it called the church back to practical application in sanctification. As a former pastor at the Chapel, I witnessed this doing reformation (at its peak in the early 90s) firsthand because the Chapel was a NANC training center at the time. The movement was neutralized by a Gnostic form of biblical counseling followed by Russ Kennedy and his elders. Nevertheless, they represent themselves as advocates of the original movement and its tenets. As they deceptively allow people to come into membership under this false pretense, controversy arises later due to the contradictions involved. Much of the energies expended by the Clearcreek Chapel elders involve damage control.
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
leave a comment