Fostering a right view towards the Christian tradition is part of true Christianity. Conservative pastors will do their best to see the Christian tradition rightly viewed and used in their local churches. Living in an age which assumes that the latest point in church history is the most advanced point, a respect for tradition may not come naturally to… Continue Reading
Conservatism will have little attraction for those who fail to be skeptical of their own culture. The skepticism of which I speak must run deep; there is a sort of piecemeal skepticism that is insufficient for the task. A pack of these two-bit skeptics is currently busy occupying various cities. It is comparatively unusual for… Continue Reading
The religious scene of the country in which I minister is populated by mainline Protestant churches, some of whom place great emphasis on tradition. However, in many of these churches, the gospel itself is all but invisible, an assumed but unseen foundation of the house. The problem is, most of those in the house have… Continue Reading
A church that is self-consciously conservative has a relationship with both the past and the future. If we are conserving Christianity, we must be conserving the Christianity we have received – from the church of the past. If we are conserving Christianity, we must be doing so for the sake of passing it on –… Continue Reading
Christians’ affections are greatly shaped by the moral imagination. The moral imagination is largely shaped by the meaning of the various media it encounters. This meaning is largely contained in the form of such things. If a pastor is serious about meaning, then he must be serious about form. Form, in its simplest sense, is… Continue Reading
Ours is not a particularly reflective age. When a pastor begins speaking of the meaning of the media, devices and technologies that surround us, he may receive something of a puzzled, if not combative, reaction. Many today are oblivious to the meanings of the things they read, the music they listen to, the films they… Continue Reading
Those who advocate conservatism in worship become accustomed to accusations of elitism. This comparison is employed for several reasons. We are elitists, it is alleged, because we advocate styles of worship that are associated with Western high culture: the music we would use in worship is more commonly played at symphony hall than anywhere else,… Continue Reading
If pastors are to shepherd churches in which there is a desire to understand the meaning of the world and apply it to worship, obedience and ministry, some will need to adjust their understanding of their doctrine of Scripture (or their theories of applying Scripture). A strange paralysis has come over many evangelical pastors. They… Continue Reading
Two propositions summarize why a conservative Christian church is concerned with meaning: Christians are humans, and Christians live in the world. What is the world? The world Christians live in is a world that is the handiwork of an intelligent Being, filled with all His purposes and designs. What is a human? A human is… Continue Reading
Custom, convention, continuity. Prescription over invention. Nothing seems less likely to make a difference for Christ. We need to acquire the fire, or so we are told, even if it is started by arsonists. Prudence is for prudes. Revolution is in the air! Jacobin? Never heard of it. We have to win the world for Christ, even… Continue Reading
Many of the pastors I have met are unwitting moderns. I should know, for I am also a pastor, and a recovering modern. That is, I am someone who believed the lies of scientism: that the way to know reality is by fact-collecting, and that humans are capable of being completely objective in their fact-collecting.… Continue Reading
The cultivation of ordinate affection depends on several areas we have already covered in this series. A pastor determined to conserve biblical Christianity will be conserving several areas, each of which affect the others. Bear with me as we tie several elements already discussed to the shaping of the affections. Since regeneration is essential to… Continue Reading
Much has been said everywhere about the decline of religious belief; not so much notice has been taken of the decline of religious sensibility. The trouble of the modern age is not merely the inability to believe certain things about God and man which our forefathers believed, but the inability to feel towards God and… Continue Reading
The first and greatest commandment is to love God ultimately. Immediately after giving this command, God went on to insist that this kind of ultimate love be the most conspicuous reality in the homes of His people. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 are commands to structure the home and family life so that loving God is taught through… Continue Reading
One of the most difficult tasks facing the conservative Christian pastor is teaching that the affections are shaped, and that Christians ought to give attention to what shapes them. Once again, most Christians live with an incorrect view of the affections. They see the emotions as more or less reactions to various stimuli. In that sense, their focus is… Continue Reading
A Christian understanding of the affections emphasizes the centrality of the affections in the Christian life, and distinguishes it from modern notions of emotion. Beyond that, restoring a Christian view of the affections requires distinguishing between the kinds of affections. If the affections are our hearts’ expressions of value or response to the nature and worth… Continue Reading
Google ‘Gospel-centered’ and you will find thousands of churches and Christians who have adopted this nick as descriptive of themselves. No one wants to be law-centered, I assume, or gospel-peripheral, and so we find that gospel-centered has become something of a new Shibboleth in evangelical circles. In previous posts, I’ve already expressed solidarity with the… Continue Reading
Churches that wish to conserve and propagate the gospel must be willing to defend it. The gospel is attacked in several ways, and therefore its defenders must be aware of where the conflict will be. A battle exists over the meaning and intention of the gospel. The enemies of the gospel are forever seeking to… Continue Reading
As important as understanding the gospel is, it is not sufficient. Churches must be committed to the gospel. That is, churches must be devoted to the application of the gospel throughout church life. We have already spoken of how the meaning of the gospel must be taught, and reiterated. Beyond this, the believer’s position in Christ,… Continue Reading
First, the conservative believes that there exists an enduring moral order. This is the foundational principle of conservatism; as a Christian conservative, I would modify it thus: there is a created, enduring moral order. The point here is that the conservative is convinced that at least some things in this changeable world are unchanging, and that… Continue Reading