Christ & Culture in Canada
All or Nothing at All?
By John G. Stackhouse Jr.
evangelicals need to be truly appreciative of what is both good
and not good in any event, sermon or book
Controversy continues over Paul Young’s book The Shack. I interacted publicly with Paul when he visited us at Regent College last year and I recorded my response to the novel on my
weblog. Because I refused either to condemn or commend
the book without qualification, I have been
denounced as a heretic or a spoilsport, respectively. Many people want the book
clearly labelled as either terrible or wonderful – full stop.
A friend of mine recently reported on his
experience preaching as a guest in a large
Canadian church. This friend is highly educated, well-spoken and literate. As he was
attempting to connect with his widely varied
audience, he used a common word to express what many of us feel when confronted
with the frustrations of life after the Fall. The
word was not swearing; it was an everyday
word that was simply a bit unusual to hear
from the pulpit. But several people in the
congregation later complained to one of the
associate pastors that the use of this single word was enough
to turn them off from the rest of the sermon.
It is characteristic of the fundamentalist mindset to look
at the world in binary terms. Everything is yes or no, white
or black, good or bad, in or out, us or them, true or false,
light or darkness, one or zero.
It is characteristic of the evangelical mindset, by contrast, to qualify this binary attitude in at least three ways.
The first is to distinguish between matters of truly binary
character (such as whether or not Jesus is Lord) and matters
that are at least currently open to legitimate disagreement
(such as gender roles or the use of various electronic technologies in church and outreach).
The second is to distinguish matters of primary and
secondary importance (so that Baptists can co-operate with
Presbyterians, say, on matters of mutual concern such as
evangelism or Christian education).
And the third is to retain a robust doctrine of sin such
that we expect imperfections in everything everyone says
or does.
We therefore need to be truly critical. That doesn’t mean
we cultivate a critical spirit in the sense of always looking for (and secretly delighting in) the faults of others. Instead, being truly critical means being truly appreciative of what
is both good and not good in any event.
I disagree with the 20th-century theologian Paul Tillich
about a great many things but I do agree
with his aphorism that one should be able
to write at least one “yes” and at least
one “no” in the margins of any book. We
should listen to a sermon the same way.
We can simply expect – because of either our faults or the faults of others or
even just our differences – that we will not
agree with or approve of everything we see
or hear. But if we stop reading or stop listening at the first sign of something objectionable, we will miss receiving the good in
what follows. We will lock ourselves away
in safe, reinforced and reinforcing bunkers
of settled opinion.
Again, the key here is not to substitute
a sentimental credulity for a judgmental
closed-mindedness. The key here is to become truly critical:
truly appreciative of the elements of any book or sermon
or other communication that are “true, honourable, right,
pure and lovely” while discerning what is wrong – or ugly,
perhaps, or simply trivial.
Such a truly critical spirit is also both hopeful and realistic. We hope God will continue to use the broken and
sometimes perverse messengers all of us human beings are
to convey helpful messages – indeed, to preach good news!
– to each other. We also recognize that our messages will
usually be tainted, sometimes garbled and occasionally flatly
untrue.
So let’s keep listening and reading to receive what is
good thankfully and to regretfully but charitably set aside
what isn’t. Otherwise, we might as well talk to ourselves.
And how flawless do you think that communication would
be?
It is characteristic of
the fundamentalist
mindset to look
at the world
in binary terms.
Everything is
yes or no,
white or black,
good or bad,
in or out,
us or them,
true or false,
light or darkness,
one or zero
John G. Stackhouse Jr. teaches at Regent College, Vancouver,
and is the author of Making the Best of It: Following Christ in
the Real World (Oxford).
