lifeasmission

John Piper

October 5, 2006

I consider myself a fan and supporter of John Piper, his church, his books, and his ministry in general.  I don’t agree with everything he has to say, but then, who agrees with everything that anyone has to say?

I first encountered John Piper in his book, Desiring God, which I would reccommend to you without hesitation.  I read this book during a mission trip to Russia when I was in college.  Through the first few chapters, I was looking for a way to throw it off the plane I was reading it on because I thought it was heretical crap, but by the end I was totally converted to what he was arguing for.  As soon as I returned from Russia, and ever since, I have been a regular litener to his sermons and radio shows.  I read the rest of his books, and I studied his church (by the way, Piper makes almost all of his resources available for free!).  When I had to make the decision of leaving full-time, church-staff, ministry to pursue full-time theological education, I went to Minneapolis, visited Dr. Piper’s church and spoke with him in person after one of the services in which he preached.  Even though he ecouraged me to think twice about going to the school that I am about to graduate from and to which I feel greatly indebted, I’m not sure there are many people that I respect more.

After Jonathan Edwards, Piper strives to live, preach, and teach a “God-Entranced Vision of All Things” as well as the notion of Christian Hedonism, which he explains in summary by saying, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”  I couldn’t agree more.  I respect his character, I admire his initiative, and I hope to emulate his passion for Christ all through my life.

Tony Jones, national coordinater for Emergent Village, recently posted on his blog that he got to have lunch with Piper and some others.  Certian elements of Piper’s theology stand in contrast to some of the leanings of Emergent folk, and it seems that a bulk of the conversation centered around the idea of the Penal Substitutionary atonement theory.  Where as Jones says that Piper would basically equate the notion of penal substitutionary atonement with the gospel, Jones (and I) would not – though the theory itself is not in dispute.

Jones goes on to say that Piper told him that people need “fixed points of doctrine in order to believe in Christianity” and that matters of historical context (not to mention present and future) would only confuse listeners.  I think Dr. Piper is mistaken.  Not that matters of context may be confusing to people, but that this reason is justification for settling for communcating fixed points of doctrine.

The Christian faith cannot be boiled down to points of doctrine, nor is this beneficial for those we aim to bless with the gospel.  Those who emphasize finding fixed points of doctrine, in my experience, are not so much looking to help the good news come to life as they are trying to find a truth system which makes them comfortabe and which can be defended.

I am not against doctrine and I am not against truth; I am just unwilling to emphasize either at the expense humility and grace.  Our doctrine may be wrong, and our truth may be off (even if neither are, you have to what difference it makes since the vast majority of those who call themelves “orthodox” Christians don’t live either out?).  In that case, hadn’t we better strive for something different, something more?  Would we not better serve God by approaching Scripture as a story to enter rather than a text from which to extrapolate doctrines?  Would we not serve better serve God be envisioning the Church as a covenant community called to be salt and light, a blessing to the world rather than an agency whose main task it is to help people formulate right doctrine?

I want to go back to where I began.  I strongly support John Piper and what he does.  I consider myself to stand in the reformed tradition in so many ways.  Perhaps I am wrong and I have become too loose in my theology and ideas about the nature and purpose of Scripture and the Church, but I know the lives and ministries of many of those who would count themselves among the Emergent movement and I cannot deny the presence of God and the Holy Spirit in who they are and what they do.  Thus, I am compelled to listen to what they have to say and to stand with them as well.

Some links to worthwhile Piper resources (all completely free):

Sermons
Online Books
Articles
Conference Lectures
Speaker Interviews on Various Topics from the most recent conference: The Supremecy of Christ in a Postmodern World

Desiring God (resource site) — Bethlehem Baptist (where Piper pastors)

Posted in: bible, books, church, Fuller Seminary, theology