Theology Is for God’s People

I am happy to announce that the good people at B&H Publishing Group and I have contracted for a major 3-volume popular-level systematic theology.

The Lord has long impressed me with the truth that theology is the responsibility of his people in the local churches.

This conviction began under the preaching of pastor Wayne DuBose, now of Minden, Louisiana.

It was then reinforced by the teaching of James Leo Garrett of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Research on the biblical and historical doctrine of the priesthood of all believers with the ThM at Duke Divinity (on the continental Reformation) and the DPhil at University of Oxford (on the English Reformation) cemented this conviction. (The latter was published by Oxford University Press).

Significant pastorates in Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina showed in practice the truth that our people in our local churches want to know how to think properly about God, his work in the world, and his Word. These pastorates above all developed a deep love to teach God’s Word.

When Lakeside Baptist Church Granbury called me to be their Teaching Pastor, I was overwhelmed with joy to ground academic theology in church theology. The combination of the roles of Teaching Pastor and Research Professor have proved beneficial for both classroom and pulpit.

In important ways, the ongoing Baptist struggle with theological modernism has been exacerbated by a divorce between church and academy. The churches rightly claim theology is for their use in worship, mission, teaching. The academies serve best when we support the churches.

The theological construction undergirding this conviction was written up for academic theological audiences in “The Formation of Christian Doctrine,” a detailed methodology published by B&H Academic in 2007. Theologians in the academy may consult that work for more detail.

Now, in my writing ministry, I plan to turn in the direction that, as my wife Karen Searcy Yarnell recently reminded me, Leo Garrett long hoped I would do: popular theology.

The American Evangelical and Southern Baptist academy is maturing theologically by leaps. Let us now build on that.

Stay tuned for more details from B&H Publishers in the next few years. For now, however, you know where my focus will be dedicated.

Theology is for God’s People.

Theology Serves Ministry: A Word for Seminarians

“Nothing can take the place of the Christian ministry. The progress of civilization, the making of many books, the increase of schools and learning, the marvelous triumphs of the press—mighty as are all of these agencies—they can never supersede the divinely sent preacher. ‘It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.’” (George W. Truett, “The Subject and Object of the Gospel,” Convention Sermon, 1899)

I am often asked how I see my role as an academic theologian. Many are shocked when I tell them the work of academic theology pales in comparison to the importance of proclamation in sermons, evangelism, missions, music, teaching, and so on.

Theology serves ministers. Theology is second.

I have more than once considered resigning my professorship. Not out of dissatisfaction with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. But out of passion—Passion to see the Word of God proclaimed through my lips to transform human lives. There is no greater joy than being the instrument of divine proclamation.

But God always calls me back. He reminds me through good and bad of this truth: I am His alone. I have refused offers elsewhere, declined nominations, turned down an election as a president. Why? Because God called me to teach at my seminary. I must teach ministers. They are more important than me.

It was a joy when the Interim President, Dr. Jeffrey Bingham, and the Trustees approved my request to be allowed to serve as a Pastor at the same time I serve as a Professor. The synergies between church service and seminary are necessary for both. 

Then, Lakeside Baptist Church Granbury and Mark Forrest called me, and my life has been overwhelmed with joy inexpressible. Now, I get to see lives transformed through my service as an elder in my own flock and then teach the truths learned at church to my students. (The idea of barring professors from serving churches is short-sighted and can be the seed of liberalism.)

My life is a demonstration of a truth held by the Founders of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminaries exist to serve the churches of Jesus Christ. We do not exist for ourselves. We are not the churches. We were constituted by the churches to serve them. We must serve or cease existence.

Over the years, I have had academics get very nervous when I speak in this way. It seems to threaten their very existence. However, it is necessary for us to remember: The Christian academy serves the churches and their ministries, not vice versa. 

We are second. Be humble. Serve.

Church, State, and COVID-19: Seven Biblical Principles for Guiding Your Church through the Crisis

Recently, Mark Forrest, Senior Pastor of the church where I serve as Teaching Pastor, asked me to write about the principles we have been following to help us determine when to reopen for worship. He shared these today with our congregation. They are shared here with other church leaders in the hope they may help your church, too.

In light of the Coronavirus epidemic, when should the church re-open? And how should it do so? Does the state have authority to decide what churches may do? The questions your church leadership faces have few parallels in modern American history. In response to this unique crisis, we are seeking to obey the Word of God and honor the wisdom of human beings.

Here are seven biblical principles which are guiding our church:

• First, the Lord commands believers to gather regularly for worship (Heb 10:25; 1 Cor 11:25).
• Second, God also commands us to honor the governments He constituted (Rom 13:1-17; 1 Pet 2:13-17). 
• Third, Christ remains the sole ruler of his church (Matt 28:18-20; Col 1:18). 
• Fourth, if a government instructs the church to stop preaching, we must, with utmost respect, obey Christ (Acts 4:13-21). 
• Fifth, God’s people must pursue the welfare of the broader community (Jer 29:7). 
• Sixth, we must receive wise counsel (Prov 11:14, 12:13, 19:20, 24:6). 
• Finally, we must seek God’s help in prayer (Phil 4:6).

Because of our respect for God-given government, and in order to pursue the welfare of our entire community, we rightly submit to health instructions at the national, state, and local level. We believe Lakeside Baptist Church has been blessed, because God granted us responsible governments, who seek the best social counsel possible while respecting our fundamental right of religious liberty. (However, even if worrisome signs appear, we must remember to honor the government God has given yet also preserve religious liberty.)

In conclusion, we are seeking God’s will, which is always the best way. Would you join in praying that God will make clearly evident to everyone the right way forward for the worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for the welfare of others? Let us trust He will!

          

Lakeside Baptist Church of Granbury, Texas is borrowing a 3,000-seat outdoor venue this Sunday to re-start our formal physical gathering.

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; on the third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven and was seated at the right hand of God the Father, Almighty, from where he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life.

Amen


[The creed is a poetic masterpiece constructed for use during worship but also properly used for theological instruction. Notice its explicitly Triune form. Notice, moreover, that the second part, which summarizes the apostolic kerygma of Jesus Christ, is the fullest of the three articles. Strikingly, Christ’s death and resurrection, the gospel in sum, thus stands at the very center of the creed.

Because the descensus ad infero clause, which may be translated as “descended to hell” or “descended to the dead,” was not found in the earliest manuscripts and currently remains a matter of dispute among evangelical Christians, it has not been included here. This is not to say the translator necessarily disagrees with that doctrine. However, its use in worship may distract the minds of some from the centrality of the cross and the resurrection.

This version of the Apostles’ Creed has been specifically designed for use in congregational worship, thus its style recalls a poetic cadence and a centralized emphasis upon the gospel. It was first used at Lakeside Baptist Church, Granbury, Texas, on Easter Sunday, 16 April 2019, where I am the Teaching Pastor. An earlier version of this translation appeared in a more traditional form in my God the Trinity: Biblical Portraits (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2016).]