Comments on Commenting on the Purpose Driven Life (PDL)
This post is sparked by another post by Phil Johnson at awesome up-and-coming blog, Pyromaniac...this one regarding The Purpose Driven Life
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Phil has done an amazing job throughout his ministry with which I am
familiar defending the gospel. It is obvious that he loves Christ and
that comes out in his passion for doctrinal fidelity. Many readers,
however, may fall into a category of loving "theology" without loving
the God of which it speaks. And on the other side, many may read who do
not even know the God of whom we are writing. In both cases, it is the
duty of the Christian to bear testimony in word and in spirit to Christ
our Savior.This particular entry was entitled, "Marginal Observations about PDL". I agree with the substance of every marginal note that Phil made and referenced in his original post; however, I think that we must be careful about how we present our distrust of the book. The fact is that many people respond to this book, and they have the seeds of the gospel sown (I know the gospel is not even really presented here, but nevertheless, after reading this book people may be interested in "God" or "spirituality") and they may then stumble upon this blog looking for someone to walk with them toward God. It's our job to then point them to the cross and humbly walk with them (not tell them how to get there but walk with them) to the foot of the cross. I know that all of our concerns swirl around the the very issue of the cross (PDL simply doesn't present a great need for it because sin is minimized, the subject of the message is self and not God, repentance is non-existant, no substantive mention of justification or imputation, etc), but if one who was not "schooled in the ways of reformed blogging" stumbled onto this site after reading the book, I think that they would write us off as separatist lunatics or a jealous fringe and not as something attractive, definately not those who they would look to to offer them further guidance (again, please note, I am not speaking of the original blog post but to the rather harsh tone of the comments following). Then they'll end up going to a seeker-sensitive church that will give them nothing but a good feeling on their way to Hell. So I just want to encourage all of you and encourage myself as well in the midst of our blogging to consider the weaker brother. I cannot presume Phil's intent in writing these warnings; his entry appears to be just marginal notes alerting himself and his readers to read this book with caution, pointing out its glaring deficiencies. However, judging from the commenters that came out the woodwork, those who like the type of critique that Phil offered appear more interested in lambasting the book and the author than helping those who have read it find a more complete presentation of the Gospel.
So for two reasons, I would like to henceforth remind myself of Colossian 4:5-6, "Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt..."
- There are outsiders who read what we blog. Therefore, in the hope that God might "grant them repentance" let's "Correct our opponents with gentleness (2 Tim 2:25)" and "restore [transgressors] in a spirit of gentleness, keep[ing] watch on yourself (Gal 6:1)." Let's make sure that people see Christ in us. Although I will fall short often and hope that the Christian blogging community keeps me accountable to it, I want to look to my own sin before I blog, especially when I blog on that with which I disagree. Christians can be the harshest of all people which is utterly inconsistent with everything we claim to believe. Ultimately (I talk about this in my blog on the Beatitudes) if we are inconsistent with our creed we demonstrate a lack of faith. Let's guard our hearts and the hearts of our readers against this in the manner in which we blog, seeking to encourage before we admonish.
- There are those apparently "within the church" who are drawn astray by controversy. This is utterly unchristlike. Unfortunately, like I attempted to bring out in my last post sparked by Phil's site, there are many in the Christian community--particularly the Reformed Christian community--who enjoy doctrine but are oblivious to the effects that it should have on their own life. I have been particularly guilty of that. So as we seek to repent where that is reflective of our lives, let's help others by hosting gracious forums. Gracious doesn't mean that we overlook bad theology, but we can fight against it without personally attacking those who have fallen prey to it (I am speaking particularly to Douglas' comments). Just like nonbelievers need the Gospel, let's make sure that we are preaching it to each other as well, in word and in spirit/attitude.
