Recently, Dave Fitch posted his reflections on the successes and shortcomings of the missional conversation. Prodigal Christianity, which he wrote with Geoff Holsclaw, was in part meant to encourage dialogue between the different camps. A few months after publication,
progressive Christians have engaged the book, pushed back and/or had an adverse reaction. Friends who were already inclined towards this “radical” form of Christianity have embraced the book’s exhortations and been encouraged. The voices of my brothers and sisters in the Neo-Reformed camp have been largely non-existent.
He goes on to mention what he learned from the Progressive camp’s reaction:
[They] forced me to think about my communication style, how I am not connecting to justice concerns outside the church that somehow get missed in my excessive push for local discernment (for instance I think I need to talk more and explain more what I think about civil unions/marriage. Admittedly, my sometimes laser focus on the local has distracted me from addressing those concerns) …Thank-you progressives for getting on my case.
About the Neo-Reformed, Fitch wonders
Perhaps [they] are suffering from the sting from John Piper’s infamous tweet that literally catapulted Bell’s book Love Wins into NY Times bestseller status…I get why they would want to be more careful.
Fitch asked my opinion, and I replied that
I agree that the neo-reformed types have stopped talking, or at least they’ve stopped talking to the world.
I remember how exciting it was when A29 stuff first came out. They were using new technology to fill a huge gap of knowledge about Church Planting and missional thought. However, when they started naming “heretics” by name, and putting the word “reformed” (and making “gospel” a synonym), they stopped talking to the world at large.
I reached out to Austin based colleague Jonathan Dodson, who mentioned that perceived silence could be “a product of our getting on with the mission.”
Then, Tim Keller showed up and said that he didn’t really want to talk about it online:
I have never found it to be the best place for most people to have thoughtful dialogues and interactions across boundaries.
The better way to do this is for people from a conference (say Missio or a TGC conference) to invite several people from another tribe to their conference, both for some a) long private dialogues and discussions, and b) some short public panel discussions. That would go a long way toward learning from each other as well as teaching us how to treat each other with some grace. We are much, much more likely to be patient and gracious in person than on line.
To his credit, Tim lives up to this. He has addressed Fitch directly in Center Church.
Does any of this matter? Maybe. Only if our conversation makes us more like Jesus.
My fear is that whether we are picking fights (progressives), calling out heretics (neo-reformed) or spurring conversation (Fitch…who also might have occassionally picked a fight), it is all rooted in our insecurities.
The only way to get along is to so fully trust our salvation comes from Jesus that we relax, and learn to be better listeners and friends.
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