Deconstructing: “The New Christians”

The Christian Gospel is always enculturated, always articulated by a certain people in a certain time and place. To try to freeze one particular articulation of the Gospel, to make it timeless and universally applicable, actually does injustice to the Gospel. This goes to the very heart of what emergent is and of how emergent Christians are attempting to chart a course for following Jesus in the postmodern, globalized, pluralized world of the twenty-first century. Tony Jones, TNC, Page 96 (emphasis mine)

I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek Romans 1:16

Jesus Christ the same; yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8

The very beauty, in my opinion, of the scripture is the very fact that It is universal in its application to the entire world for all of time. In my study this week of Romans 4:1-13, I see this very clearly, especially in verse 3, and in 9-12:

3What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 9Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

Paul is writing to Christians in Rome. They came from many different backgrounds, but could be placed very succinctly in two categories: circumcised (Jews) and uncircumcised (gentiles). These two categories are helpful to understanding to whom Paul was explaining this central doctrine to the Christian faith; Justification by faith. The Jews claimed Abraham as their father, Paul explained that He was father to all peoples who followed in His footsteps of being declared righteous because of their faith. Their faith was in what God said (His Word) and in who He sent (His Son, Jesus) Since Emergents like red letters, here is a quote from the latter:

28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:28-29 NIV

Pisteuo is the greek word that is translated belief in this passage, and the meaning is incredibly rich and powerful: 1. to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in 1. of the thing believed 1. to credit, have confidence 2. in a moral or religious reference 1. used in the NT of the conviction and trust to which a man is impelled by a certain inner and higher prerogative and law of soul 2. to trust in Jesus or God as able to aid either in obtaining or in doing something: saving faith So the root of our theology must be in what God has said (The Bible) and in whom he has sent (Jesus Christ).

Herein lies the problems with Tony Jones’ theology, because the Bible is not authoratative, it is like any other literature that can be deconstructed. Also, the Bible is not there to order our steps today, rather it is a grand story in which we see Jesus and we ought to emulate His footsteps (what he did) instead of listening to and obeying what he said. Tony makes the excuse in the next several pages of the book TNC that evangelism and other acts of obedience (including believing upon the Name of Jesus Christ alone for salvation) are not necessary, indeed that God can act outside of our obedience. While that is true, Tony, that God can act despite our disobedience, He cannot act out of His character.

Tony goes on in this chapter ( and so will I ) stating that theology is always changing. That is, our God, who is unchanging, indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever, who claims He is the way, the TRUTH and the life, changes, because our opinion about Him is fluid. Tony states that God does not change, yet he says in the same breath that our view of God changes based upon our surroundings, upbringing, culture, etc. In other words, the unchanging God, who wrote the unchanging word must change to fit in the context of our time and culture through our opinion of Him. (theology)

Tony also claims that this deep deconstructive emergent approach to the Bible and to theology is some blessed spiritual gift that he and other liberal theologians alone possess, as he looks down on we simpleton reformers who take God at His Word, recognizing that His Word, in fact, trancends time, culture, tradition and our opinion.

Our theology, while time-tested and well researched is too limited for our emergent friends. Instead of (heaven forbid) evangelizing the lost, we should spend our time in coffee shops deconstructing every word of scripture, making it fit to the ever-changing cultural mores of today. And then we need to do the same tomorrow, because yesterday in now irrelevant. And it does not matter that we take our time not doing what God has clearly called us to do (make disciples of all nations) because God’s actions are not contingient on what we do anyway. Besides, the emergent theologians are deconstructing Hell right out of the scripture, making Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice about mending relationships with one another, ushering a kingdom of God on this earth that we work together with God to bring about (because God is not capable, apparently) and where God’s generous orthodoxy (it does not matter in whom you believe, or in what you believe, just that you are honest about it) will welcome all people into the hereafter and the forevermore after reconciling and restoring them.

Theology does matter, Tony, and it is not an end in itself, rather a means by which we must see who God is in truth and respond in obedience. Theology is not created in a vacuum, rather, it recognizes solid truths about who God is by what He has had inspired to be written (the Bible), the creation (order, certainty, patterns) and the living Word, Jesus. It must be based on the rock, and not on the shifting sand of cultural changes and the intelligence of man.

To be continued . . .