First, there is a danger of labelling churches or ministries
that are word-centred as rationalistic. Here we must ask whether God himself is
word-centred. John 1 tells us he is, as does the existence of the Bible itself.
The first Christians devoted themselves to the apostles teaching (Acts 2v42).
Paul preached through the night even after one hearer fell out of the window
asleep, died and was raised! The book of Hebrews ends describing itself as just
a “short” letter.
Second, there is an equal danger of labelling churches or
ministries that make much of emotion or music as relativistic. Here we must ask
whether God makes much of these things. The picture of the saints praising God
in the book of revelation, and the existence of 150 psalms tell us he does. The
first Christians were marked by joy, praising God day by day (Acts 2v43f). Paul
taught that song was a particular mark of being filled with the Spirit. And
even in the Old Testament temple, choirs were employed just to sing the psalms,
with the whole range of emotion they portray.
The point is this: In all cultures it should be a both-and
to the above, not an either-or. It is not that word-centred churches better
reach rationalistic modernist people, and those stressing emotion and music the
relativistic postmoderns. No, the worship God looks for is one that worships
him in spirit and in truth (Jn 4).
Consider a biblical anthropology: We reject God as our
hearts desire what is sinful, and so we refuse to accept his word with our
minds. Conversely, when converted the Spirit of God uses the word of the gospel
to change our hearts so that they desire God and so will accept his truth (1
Peter 1v23). And from that point, the means by which we engage with him is as
his truth informs our mind and, by that means, enflames our hearts so that we
love and want to obey him (Eph 4v17-24, Rom 12v1-2).
It is striking that in some churches, it is either the sheer
quantity of Bible teaching that is assumed to prove God’s presence with the
church, or the atmosphere evoked by a certain style of music or an inner sense
of God those at the church claim to have. But a cursory look through the early
chapters of Acts reveals that the post-Pentecost feelings that mark the
presence of God the Holy Spirit are not so vague. They were certainly related
to the tireless preaching the apostles gave themselves to. But they were the
feelings that came in response, when the heart was gripped by their teaching:
deep conviction when grasping the seriousness of sin (Acts 2v37, Jn 16v8),
reverent fear when grasping God’s holiness (Acts 5v11), and joyful thanks when
grasping his grace (Acts 2v46-47, Col
3v16-17). First and foremost, the primary feeling the Spirit evokes in the New
Testament, is one of deep love towards God as our creator and redeemer (Gal
5v22).
Given all this, we can start to ask what a church infected
with rationalism or relativism might look like.
We have seen that rationalism is not about engaging reason
per se. All our teaching and wider ministry should do that. No, it describes
those who rely on reason for knowledge rather than God. So a church is infected
with rationalism when the teaching of the Bible is rejected because people
think they know better – rejecting certain truths because they don’t understand
them or can’t rationally accept them. Rationalism may also be seen in the
preacher who presumes that just by teaching scripture people will understand,
rather than by combining this with fervent prayer for God to enlighten them. It
is seen in the preacher who simply preaches to the mind, rather than to the
heart through the mind; ie. the preacher who fails to emphasize the appropriate
emotional response, focusing simply on what should be believed or done. It
would also be seen in the church that doesn’t help the congregational to
respond from the heart by giving adequate time to pray home what is said, or express
conviction of sin in confession or joy and thanksgiving in song.
Similarly, relativism is not about expressing feelings per
se. We have seen that all our teaching and wider ministry move us to that too.
No, relativism describes those who see all truth relative to what the individual establishes it to be, often grounding this in their subjective sense of what is right or wrong rather than the objective revelation of God. So a church is infected with relativism when the teaching of the
Bible is rejected because it just doesn’t feel right and makes people
uncomfortable. It is seen in the preacher who simply appeals to people’s hearts
with exhortation and anecdote, rather than actually explaining the scriptures
so they understand. It is seen in songs and music that seek to elicit emotions
that are not in response to God’s truth. It is seen when it is assumed that a
certain atmosphere or inner sense reflects the presence of God, rather than
locating his certain presence in feelings of conviction, reverence, joy and
love fanned into flame by the gospel.
Of course a final question is over how best to teach
congregations that inevitably contain those who lean towards rationalism or
relativism. The answer must be, by teaching the whole Bible - by making much of
its internal logic and argument, and much of its images and emotion; by
teaching not just Paul’s letters, but the poetry of the prophets, not just the
law, but the gospels etc etc.
