Why Church History Matters

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I believed in Santa.

My husband believed in Santa.

We turned out okay. We didn’t walk away from the Lord or resent our parents because of it. Before we had kids we figured we would do the whole Santa thing. We wanted Christmas to be as special for them as it was for us. But then we actually had kids and we had a big problem.

Santa wasn’t going to work.

First let me say I’m a huge proponent of fostering imagination in kids. My kids’ all time favorite activity is pretending. All day long I have pirates, super heroes, and exotic animals flying through my house. I love it.

I also want to point out that when I talk about Santa in this post I am specifically referring to believing in Santa, not whether or not he should be banished altogether. My husband wears a Santa hat while we bake cookies. My kids sing along to Christmas songs on the radio and they don’t skip over Santa’s name like a cuss word.

But we have decided not to tell our kids Santa is real. More specifically, we purposely tell them he is not.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long you know that the whole point is to direct us moms and our kids into living out the gospel. I tried and tried to fit Santa into that plan, but it didn’t work. It was like trying to stuff a giant man down a chimney…

There are four reasons Santa didn’t make the Wallace team.

1. Santa promotes works righteousness. That might sound harsh, but keep in mind the aforementioned goal.The heart of the gospel is the glorious trade of our sin for Christ’s righteousness. It is a difficult concept to teach because kids are legalistic by nature. It takes a lot of time, prayer, and thoughtful conversations to help them understand that God loves us because of Christ’s good works, not ours.

Then along comes Santa.

*sigh*

He’s jolly, sparkly, magical, and he promises gifts to children who are good. One of my sons in particular is very sensitive to the damage this causes. He would be so stressed if Christmas rested on his good deeds. Each time he messed up he would buckle down and double up on his good deeds to make up for it. I already have to work with him on accepting Christ’s free forgiveness instead of trying to work for it. Thanks, but no thanks, Santa.

2. Santa blurs the lines between fact and fantasy. So precious are the moments when the kids climb onto our laps for a Bible story. We talk about Jesus and how He lived a perfect life and died for our sins. We talk about the mighty power of God who created the world, parted the Red Sea, and closed the mouths of lions. They listen intently.

And they believe me.

Sometimes my heart aches when I look into their wide eyes and innocent faces and think, “They trust me implicitly. I want so dearly to lead them in the truth.” If my husband and I throw Santa into the mix of “true” stories, what will they think later when they find out Santa is not real? How about Noah’s ark? How about the ten plagues? How about that Jesus guy who was kind of like a religious magician? We want the categories of true and fantasy to be clearly divided. Characters don’t get to jump back and forth from one category to the other.

3. Santa is a type of god. Some of my readers might be rolling their eyes. But think about it. He is omnipotent (all powerful – makes toys, rides a magical sleigh, goes up and down chimneys). He is omnipresent (everywhere at once – how else could he deliver the presents?). He is omniscient (all knowing – he knows who is bad and who is good). He is eternal. He is perfect. He is the whole package. I can’t think of another mythical creature that encapsulates so many characteristics reserved for God alone. When we describe God to our kids I don’t want them thinking, “Oh yeah, kind of like Santa.” No. God is not like anybody. We want to keep it that way.

4. It’s hard to compete with Santa. Who cares about a baby in a manger when there’s a huge man in a shiny red coat throwing presents and candy around like it’s going out of style? Kids spend the entire Christmas season looking for signs of Santa. They write him letters. They bake him cookies. And that’s just the kids. Playing make-believe takes a lot of work for us grown-ups. We are on the other end of it trying to hide the evidence and figure out how to field all of their questions. All the time and energy we put into keeping up the Santa myth could be spent focusing on Christ’s birth.

Some parents call the Santa myth a lie while others call it pretending. I’m going to call it a huge distraction. My five-year-old asks me questions about God all the time: What does it mean to be a spirit? If God doesn’t have a heart how can He love people? If there is only one God why do we call Jesus God? Whew! Talk about tough questions. If I told my son Santa was real I would get all the same kinds of questions. Hundreds of them. Do I really want to take the time to thoughtfully answer my son’s genuine curiosity with answers that aren’t even true? Do I want Santa to become the focal point of every conversation?

So where does that leave us with Santa? He’s everywhere we go. We can’t exactly hide from him. And we don’t want to. We treat Santa like any other part of life. We explain him. We use him as an opportunity to teach our kids how to think. We don’t want them to run and hide in fear or to venture out on their own to find the answers their parents wouldn’t give them. We have open and honest conversations about it.

When we see Santa ringing a bell outside the grocery store my kids smile and say, “Merry Christmas, Santa!” They giggle and get a big kick out of it. But they don’t think he’s real. He’s not watching them while they’re sleeping or keeping track of their good deeds. To them it’s just like seeing a guy dressed up like batman.

And they are having a great Christmas.

(NEW note: I am so thankful for the great discussion this post has encouraged. One question that has been tossed around is, “How do you keep your kids from spoiling it for other kids?” It’s definitely something to address with your family. BUT – it shouldn’t be a motivating factor for teaching your kids to believe in Santa. For example, we wouldn’t say, “Well, we don’t want our kids to be party poopers so I guess we’ll have to go along with the Santa thing.” From the time our kids are really little they think of Santa as a game. That shouldn’t spoil it for anyone. By the time they are old enough to spill the beans we have the talk about some kids believing in Santa. We don’t make those kids sound silly or less spiritual. We just say it’s a family decision and every family is different. It’s a great way to help them put different family decisions in perspective. At some peoples’ houses we can eat food in the living room, some let us run in the house, some say take shoes off at the door….and some believe in Santa. It helps our kids learn thoughtfulness and respect for different ways of doing things.)
ChatGPT
Your blog post provides a refreshing perspective on the Santa tradition and its implications for families. I appreciate your thoughtful reflection on the decision not to promote belief in Santa within your household. Your points about the potential impact on children’s understanding of grace versus works righteousness, the blurring of fact and fantasy, and the unintended parallels between Santa and religious figures are insightful.

By opting for open and honest conversations about Santa while still allowing your children to enjoy the cultural aspects of the holiday, you’ve found a balanced approach that prioritizes both imagination and truth. Your commitment to fostering critical thinking skills in your children is commendable, and I admire how you’ve navigated this potentially sensitive topic with grace and respect for differing family traditions.

Your approach not only encourages deeper reflection on the true meaning of Christmas but also promotes understanding and empathy toward families with different beliefs. Thank you for sharing your journey and sparking meaningful conversations about the role of Santa in celebrating the holiday season.

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In order to work through a series of messages on parenting, it is necessary to pay some attention to the parents themselves. The parents are the ones doing the work, and the quality of the participle (parenting) is going to be dependent on the quality of the source. If the parent is foolish, so will the parenting be. If the parent is dictatorial, so will the parenting be. If the parent is wise, so will the parenting be. So rather than turning immediately to the interactions between parent and child, it is necessary to look first at the relationship between the parent and God.

The Text
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Rom. 12:1–3Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)).

Summary of the Text
Every Christian, regardless of their station, needs to present their bodies (and whatever it is their bodies do) as a living sacrifice to God. Your bed is an altar, your car is an altar, your chair at the dinner table is an altar, and from that place, all day long, you present your body and whatever your body is doing, as a sacrifice to God (v. 1). This would include speaking to your children, and it includes disciplining them. What you do in this area needs to be acceptable to God, and be offered up as a reasonable act of worship.

We are created as conforming creatures, and so it is not a matter of whether we will conform to a pattern, but rather which pattern we will conform to. Paul says here that it is not to be the pattern assigned by the world (v. 2), but rather that we be transformed through the renewal of the mind—conforming to the entire goodness of the will of God (v. 2). And then we come to the place where we see how it all plays out. It plays out in what we think of ourselves. Do not think of yourself more highly than you should (v. 3), but rather to think of yourselves in a God-given and sensible (sophroneo) way (v. 3). The transformation being spoken of results in humility.

Three Kinds of Parents
Parents are assigned the rule of their children. Children are instructed, for example, to obey their parents (Eph. 6:1Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). They are told that they must honor their parents (Eph. 6:2Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). They are told that their responsibilities to their parents do change over time, but some sort of responsibility is always there (Mark 7:10-11Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). The commandment to honor parents is not a commandment that ever expires (Ex. 20:12Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). We can see that, if we put all this together, parents are assigned the rule of their children as they grow. This being the case, we can divide parents into the three broad categories of rulers that we find in Scripture.

A ruler can be foolish and indulgent (Prov. 25:5Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). A ruler can be foolish and dictatorial (Ecc. 4:13Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). And a ruler can be wise and prudent (Prov. 20:26Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)). Bringing this down into the micro-kingdom of the home, parents can be indulgent, parents can be tyrannical, and parents can be authoritative and wise. In the nature of the case, the wise parents will be humble, and therefore not that sure about how wise they are being. The dictatorial parent thinks he is simply being firm, and the indulgent parent thinks she is simply being kind. Moreover, an indulgent parent can just believe she is “balancing out” a dictatorial parent, and so they each lean opposite ways in the canoe, which is how you capsize it. But regardless, no one should think of themselves more highly than they should.

And always remember our propensity to guard against the sin we are least likely to fall into. The indulgent parent is all on his guard against tyranny, and the tyrannical father is being very careful to not be too soft. Remember this observation from Screwtape: “The game is to have them all running about with fire extinguishers when there is a flood, and all crowding to that side of the boat which is already nearly gunwale under.”

Why Not Ask?
At this point it is easy to throw up your hands in mock despair, and lament the fact that this is just too hard to figure out. But perhaps the problem is not that it is too hard to figure out, but rather that we are too hard to want to figure it out. Lewis again:

“It is no good passing this over with some vague, general · admission such as ‘Of course, I know I have my faults.’ It is important to realize that there is some really fatal flaw in you: something which gives the others just that same feeling of despair which their flaws give you . . . But why, you ask, don’t the others tell me? Believe me, they have tried to tell you over and over again, and you just couldn’t ‘take it’ . . . And even the faults you do know you don’t know fully. You say, ‘I admit I lost my temper last night’; but the others know that you’re always doing it, that you are a bad-tempered person” (The Trouble With X).

So why not ask? First, ask God to reveal where you actually are on this map of parental demeanor. Are you indulgent? Are you harsh? Are you kind and wise? “Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24Open in Logos Bible Software (if available)).

And then, having humbled yourself this way, ask one further thing from God. Ask Him to speak to through your family and friends. Then go to them and tell them to please be straight with you. If they are critical, you promise not to get angry or to go weird on them. “Would you describe me as an indulgent parent, a harsh parent, or a wise and kind parent?” Do not do this with just one person and then go put their opinion in the bank. Ask 5 to 10 people and see if you start to notice a pattern. You do not need to just flat believe whatever anybody says, but you do have an obligation before God to listen without being defensive. You asked. Too many Christians have adopted a foolish approach to automotive maintenance, which is “don’t lift the hood if you don’t want to know.”

And also, if someone takes this exhortation to heart and comes and asks you what you think, be gracious and kind, but don’t lie for the sake of peace.

Love Is
As you evaluate the “parenting” that is going on in your home, do not attempt to tinker with the fruit. All the initial attention should be given to the tree.
ChatGPT
Your blog post offers a thought-provoking exploration of the foundational aspect of parenting—the relationship between parents and God. I appreciate the emphasis on the importance of the source (parents) in determining the quality of parenting. The analogy of presenting one’s body as a living sacrifice to God in various aspects of life, including interactions with children, provides a profound perspective on the responsibility of parents to reflect God’s character in their parenting.

The delineation of three kinds of parents—indulgent, dictatorial, and wise—offers a practical framework for self-reflection and evaluation. Your insights into the potential pitfalls of each parenting style and the need for humility in parental authority are both convicting and enlightening. Additionally, the encouragement to seek feedback from God and trusted individuals demonstrates a humble and teachable attitude essential for growth in parenting.

Your call to prioritize the root (relationship with God) over the fruit (parenting behaviors) resonates deeply and underscores the significance of spiritual formation in effective parenting. Thank you for sharing these profound reflections and guiding parents towards a deeper understanding of their role in shaping their children’s lives.

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[Editors note: This blog post originally appeared at The College Park Blog and is being recycled here to tie into other posts on sanctification.]

My pastor beats the gospel drum with regularity, not as an afterword to the message, but as the fulcrum. I can hear his passionate voice: “God is holy, we’re not, and that’s a problem.” Sunday to Sunday our church progresses through a sermon series, and our pastor refreshes us not with something new but with something that never gets old. The unconverted must awaken to their biggest problem in life, their sin, and so we hold up before them again and again God’s graciously given solution, Jesus Christ. We the converted presume there must be a different word we need to hear but again we‘re told: “God is holy, we’re not, and that’s a problem.” We are gospel-centered, in practice not merely in theory, because the gospel must guide every area of our lives as Christians.

Think through how quickly we move past the middle part of that message: “we’re not [holy].” When we gather together in small groups or in one-to-one relationships we often speak and act as if the problem is no longer our sinfulness, but rather our lack of discipline, effort, or commitment. When we first believed the gospel it was clear our performance couldn’t overcome the impasse that God is terribly holy and we’re tragically sinful. We used to be the problem and only God could provide the solution, but now we tend to jettison faith and think we’re capable of fixing our problems. Stuart Smalley’s classic quip soon describes how we live: “We’re good enough, we’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” When we ignore indwelling sin and see ourselves as basically good, our performance becomes central because we figure the answer must be somewhere within.

Here’s where being “gospel-centered” reorients us. We must recognize that our default mode is to turn back to good works we do to make things right instead of trusting in the truly good work Jesus accomplished that made us right. How can you tell if you’ve fallen into this thinking? Consider how often, in small groups and discipleship, we give advice instead of the gospel, turn to effort instead of repentance, and live out of self-sufficiency instead of need. We must be vigilant, therefore, lest the tide of self-reliance pulls us away from the safe shores of the gospel.

News, Not Advice
Since you’re an acute reader with a disdain for obscurity, you’re likely asking what I mean by “gospel.” Most simply, it means good news. The gospel in its full-length version unpacks many important details and implications. But, for a truncated summary, it is the news that the God-man Jesus redeemed sinful men and women back to God through his redemptive death on the cross and victorious resurrection from the tomb.[1] The good part of the news asserts anyone can receive this redemption through free grace from God.

I know, your reading pace picked up because you’ve heard this song a hundred times. But don’t miss out on this subtle truth: news isn’t advice, opinion, or motivational speech. News reports—whether on TV, your mobile device, or that ancient script called a newspaper—spread the word about what already occurred in history, not what I think should happen.

So where might our actions betray a gospel-centered perspective? Trouble arises when we resort to offering sage advice to one another, giving opinions, or dispensing the latest spiritual maxims. For the gospel (and no shabby replacements) to remain the center we must regularly remind one another of the good news of Jesus Christ. We retell this accomplished, objective, historical news and unpack the never-ending applications gushing from it.

In Transformational Discipleship, the authors draw a clear line in the sand between advice and news. “Advice often masquerades as the gospel. Messages filled with advice to help people improve their lives or turn over a new leaf are in contradiction to the nature of the gospel—news we respond to, not insight we should consider heeding.”[2] If the majority of our conversations sound like “you should try doing this or that” instead of “Jesus has already done this for you” then we’re quickly heading out to the stormy sea of advice and opinion.

I sense the nervousness in you heating up, so yes, almost every situation we come up against does lead to some next steps with legs on them. However, that happens after firmly rooting ourselves in the news of the fully sufficient work Jesus already accomplished for us.

Repentance, Not Resolve
Unlike a lot of other news, however, the gospel is dynamic; it does something to us. It grabs us and shakes us back into the reality we quickly forget: sin is a big deal and our hearts reek of it.

I avoid thinking of myself or my sin in these stark terms. Instead of confessing my sin, I pray that I would “do better.” Instead of seeing my cutting tongue as sin requiring humble repentance I might piously say, “I’ve not done a good job in my speech this week and I need to make that a higher priority.” Talk about a weak and surface-level disclosure! How much more freeing would it be if I would simply admit that my hurtful words are sins and they come out of my rotten heart? Through my language of “doing better”, “trying harder”, or “being more disciplined” I create the mirage of being a good person. All I need, I tell myself, is to dig deeper into my inner reservoirs of strength and goodness. In reality, I need more God-dependent and self-humbling repentance and less self-sufficient and God-ignoring resolution.

Repentance allows us to move beneath the surface and deal with our need for true heart change. When we don’t identify sin as sin, but merely call it a weakness we fail to adequately deal with it. The Bible paints sin as rebellion against God and choosing our own way, whereas our culture tells us we simply struggle with flaws needing improved upon. Repentance of sin to one another must replace recounting our struggles and the self-will behind resolving to try harder. Confessed sin calls upon our community of faith to both lead us back to the gospel for forgiveness while walking with us in a life of righteousness holding out the greater joy.

Need, Not Self-Sufficiency
Once we choose repentance from sin instead of improvement of our weaknesses, it becomes clear we can’t dig out of the problem we got ourselves into. And yet again, we have to intentionally avoid speaking and acting as if our maturity in Christ simply makes or breaks itself depending on my strength. I don’t just need more discipline. The problem isn’t primarily that I’m not trying with enough vigor. The performance foundation teeters because we make our growth self-centered instead of gospel-centered.

The gospel frees me by taking the yoke off my back as I live in the truth that Jesus atoned for my sin and gave me his righteousness. It also liberates by putting God in charge of my sanctification instead of me (deep exhale). When I stop relying on myself and my resources and collapse into trust in God, I see He possesses the power I needed all along. Not only does He supply the power for change, but when we shift our focus from what I should do to what Jesus has done, it changes our motivation and fuels a genuine longing for God. “What I needed is what all of us need—continual belief in the depth of God’s forgiveness and the resilience of his genuine approval in Christ. In brief, what I needed was more Jesus, not more discipline.”[3]

In our small groups and discipleship we must cease speaking as if we only need to grit our teeth, be more disciplined, and fight harder to overcome where we’re falling short. To be gospel-centered in practice and not just in name requires us to honestly tell one another that you’ll never be able to look like Jesus by your performance and energy. Jesus has already redeemed us so as we ask the Holy Spirit to take over and change our heart, to convince us of our identity in Christ, and to help us live as a new creation—one who rests in God’s power, not our own. And we do it for God’s glory, not our own.

The Center HoldsGospel-centered isn’t a label we claim to feel like we’re in the right camp. It’s something we live by to enjoy and experience Jesus in our lives. The first thing we need to hear isn’t a pile of “do’s and don’ts” or “should have’s and next time’s.” Instead, our greatest need is to go back to the well of the gospel to discover fresh life in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Being gospel-centered means we turn to the news of the gospel instead of advice and we meditate on what Jesus has already done before thinking about what I need to do.

Footnotes:
[1] Several recent books deal with the wide ranging scope of the gospel, including: Jared Wilson, Gospel Deeps (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012); Daniel Montgomery and Mike Cosper, Faithmapping (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013); Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer for Christians (Minneapolis: Focus Publishing, 2008).
[2] Eric Geiger, Michael Kelley, and Philip Nation, Transformational Discipleship (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2012), 72.
[3] Jonathan Dodson, Gospel-Centered Discipleship (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 39.
ChatGPT
Your blog post delves into the essence of being truly gospel-centered in our lives and relationships. The emphasis on the gospel not just as a theory but as the guiding principle of our daily existence is both challenging and encouraging. Your pastor’s commitment to continually centering the message on the reality of God’s holiness, humanity’s sinfulness, and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ resonates deeply with the heart of Christianity.

I appreciate your insight into how easily we can drift from the gospel-centered perspective, shifting towards self-reliance and performance-based thinking. Your distinction between offering news (the gospel) and dispensing advice or opinion is particularly poignant. The reminder to anchor ourselves in the objective truth of what Jesus has already accomplished for us, rather than seeking self-improvement through our efforts, is a powerful call to humility and dependence on God.

The call to genuine repentance, acknowledging sin as rebellion against God rather than merely as weaknesses needing improvement, is a sobering reminder of our constant need for grace. Your emphasis on the transformative power of the gospel to change hearts and motivate genuine longing for God is both convicting and hopeful.

In a culture that often promotes self-sufficiency and self-improvement, your blog post serves as a timely reminder of the foundational importance of the gospel in every aspect of our lives. Thank you for challenging us to reorient our thinking and priorities around the unchanging truth of God’s redemptive work in Jesus Christ.

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Gospel-centred but DIY implications rather than Bible implications
DIY implications

Here we have a good, rich, well-rooted biblical understanding of the gospel, but when it comes to working out the implications of the gospel (for my own life or for church life) then I sort of ‘wing it’ – DIY – Do It Yourself. I assume a) that God is not particularly prescriptive about exactly how I should lead my life or how the church should be ordered and b) I assume that I am able work out for myself, from the internal logic of the gospel, how if should be applied in different areas of life.

For example I see that the gospel springs from the consistent other-person-centred love of God and so I think the implication of the gospel is ‘any stable, loving, other-person-centred relationship’. Or I see that the gospel is the salvation not only of our souls but also of our bodies and indeed the renewing of the whole creation and so I think an implication is that the church’s mission is, with equal emphasis, to a) care for souls and b) to care for people’s bodies, transform society and fight for the natural environment.

I was reading a good Christian book the other day by a fine author who knows and explains the gospel extremely well. Much of the book was excellent. But, as I read one chapter where he described the implications of the gospel for church life, I started to feel something was a little bit off. And then I realised that he hadn’t quoted Scripture for several pages. We were moving into deductions from deductions from deductions – DIY implications.

The solution: We go back to the Bible and find the implications of the gospel from the Bible itself. This is particularly clear in the Apostle Paul’s letters. Most of them (roughly speaking) start with a couple of chapters of gospel doctrine then move to a concluding couple of chapters spelling out the implications of the gospel in some detail.

Ephesians, for example, lays out the great gospel of sovereign grace – the Trinitarian God grabbing a people for himself – by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in the Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone (Eph. 1-3) – then Paul starts talking about the implications of that for how we live as this new community of God’s people (Eph. 4:1-5:21). Loads of detailed instructions about the role of church leaders, every member ministry, speech, sex, work, reconciliation. But even this is not specific enough. People could take ‘submit to one another’ (5:21) to mean that there is no longer such a thing as differentiation of roles or authority or respect. So then there is a section laying out how exactly different relationships should work – wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters (Eph. 5:22-6:9). In each of these relationships we can see that it is the gospel which is shaping the structure and manner of that relationship (in a beautiful way) but the point here is that God doesn’t leave us to guess how the gospel shapes these relationships he tells us.

The same could be said for the ordering of the local church (1 Timothy). Not that everything is spelled out – of course not. In loads of things we are free – it doesn’t matter what colour the curtains are. And yes there will still be lots of things where we will have to make gospel-hearted decisions about what is wisest for the advance of the gospel – how long will the sermon be? But in a lot of things – in fact all the important things – we’re actually given a lot of guidance by the Holy Spirit.

Why the detail? Because I cannot be trusted to work out all the implications of the gospel for myself. I will naturally use the right doctrine in the wrong way. Like people in Paul’s day I will take the grace of God and make it a license for sin (Rom. 6:1) rather than a spring of good works (Rom. 6:2-23). I need to be taught the right out-working of the gospel and the specific good deeds I need to do. I need both the gospel at the centre of everything that teaches me to say know to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-14) and I need someone (God) to draw the lines out from that centre to show me what true godliness looks like in detail (Titus 2:2-10).

Maybe this is all just another way of saying, let’s be expository. Let’s be gospel-centred and Bible-rich – getting our gospel from the Bible – a beautiful, big, detailed, rooted, worked-out gospel of Christ Jesus who came into the world to save sinners of who I am the worst.
ChatGPT
Your blog post offers a compelling reflection on the importance of grounding our understanding and application of the gospel in Scripture rather than relying solely on personal deduction or interpretation. The analogy of “DIY implications” versus “Bible implications” effectively illustrates the potential pitfalls of veering away from the authoritative source of God’s Word.

I appreciate your emphasis on the need to derive the implications of the gospel directly from the Bible itself, citing the Apostle Paul’s letters as a prime example of this approach. The way you highlight Paul’s pattern of laying out gospel doctrine followed by practical implications for Christian living serves as a powerful reminder of the inherent guidance and wisdom found in Scripture.

Your explanation of why such detailed instruction is necessary underscores the reality of human fallibility and the tendency to misapply or distort the gospel message. By grounding ourselves in the Word of God, we not only ensure a solid foundation for our beliefs and practices but also guard against the dangers of misunderstanding or misappropriating the gospel.

Overall, your call to be “expository,” to be both gospel-centered and Bible-rich, resonates deeply with the heart of faithful Christian discipleship. Thank you for articulating this important principle and encouraging readers to prioritize the authoritative teaching of Scripture in their understanding and application of the gospel.

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Why Church History Matters
January 19, 2024

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan of church history. I like history in general. It’s fascinating to read about the past – the events, decisions, and people that not only shaped their times but those that followed, including the present. Most folks probably don’t appreciate how much of what they do and believe has been tutored by the past. Unconsciously, we tend to assume we’re independent, free-thinkers whose worldview and decision-making aren’t contingent on anything, when the reality is that rarely is there anything we do or think which takes place in an historical vacuum. Simply put, we are the products the of times before us.

That’s why understanding church history is so incredibly valuable for followers of Jesus.

It helps me understand why we believe what we believe.
The reason Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, or that Jesus is fully God and fully man, or that the New Testament has 27 books is because of the Spirit’s working through church history. I recently finished the second volume of Jaroslav Pelikan’s magisterial work on the history of Christian doctrine and am blown away, once again, by the sober-mindedness of the church fathers who fought to preserve the teaching of Scripture as handed down by the apostles of Jesus. It wasn’t always perfect process with perfect outcomes but that’s part of the benefit of learning of church history. Ultimately, tracing the development of Christian doctrine has contextualized, reaffirmed, and at times challenged the theological beliefs I hold today. I come away with the feeling that I own better my beliefs.

It allows me to see blind spots in our own time.
Charles Spurgeon said, “I find it odd that he who thinks so highly of what the Holy Spirit teaches him, thinks so little of what the Holy Spirit teaches others also.” While he was referring to the criticism of using biblical commentaries, this could easily apply to church history. We have in church history a full twenty centuries of the Spirit’s work in men and women about which most believers have no clue. If we’re not careful, it’s easy to fall into what C.S. Lewis called chronological snobbery, which is “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate of our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that count discredited.”1 It’s the attitude that says the past got it wrong and that’s why it didn’t last, but today we’ve figured things out. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every age has blind spots – incorrect worldviews too enculturated to be clearly seen. For example, church history can expose our culture’s love affair with radical individualism or relativistic truth by showing us the gap between the people of God through the ages and our own.

It gifts me with tested solutions for problems we encounter today.
Each season there is some kind of theological or pastoral challenge the church faces. Often, these aren’t new but have been around in times past. Reading the early church as it pertains to the problem of evil, the nature of Jesus, biblical authority, or some other faith issue keeps me not only from reinventing the wheel but creating one that’s not going to be as nearly well-thought out or tested as the one provided by church tradition. This doesn’t mean the church throughout history always answered the question correctly each time, but that’s the gift of history. You can see how unhelpful answers got pulled apart at the seams by Christians in later centuries as they were forced to come up with better solutions to the questions. It truly is a gift to the people of God. Unfortunately for most, it lies untouched as a forgotten one.

It stirs a greater desire in me to be rooted to the one Church.
I’ve always heard tradition is a bad thing, but as I’ve gotten older, I see how ridiculous that accusation is. We have all kinds of traditions, practices or beliefs handed down to us that possess deep meaning (e.g., Christmas traditions, college traditions). Tradition isn’t the problem. It’s a rote, disconnectedness of going through the motions that’s lifeless. Yale church historian Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan framed it this way: “Tradition is the living faith of the dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” Ever since Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:3, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received…”2 we have been a people who have received the tradition of apostolic teaching passed down the centuries. Reading about this advance of gospel truth from generation to generation reveals a desire in me for a rootedness with the Church Historical not only of the first century but of the additional twenty centuries since. Jesus prayed in John 17 that his church would be one, and for me, church history is a small way to help recover the catholicity of my own faith.3
ChatGPT
Your insightful reflection on the significance of church history resonates deeply with the importance of understanding our faith within its historical context. Your points beautifully underscore why delving into the annals of church history enriches our faith journey in profound ways.

Firstly, your emphasis on how church history elucidates the development of Christian doctrine is enlightening. It’s indeed awe-inspiring to trace the Spirit’s guidance through the centuries, preserving and refining the core tenets of our faith. By studying the struggles and triumphs of early theologians, we gain a deeper appreciation for the theological richness that underpins our beliefs today.

Moreover, your observation about the relevance of church history in identifying blind spots in our contemporary worldview is striking. The caution against chronological snobbery is particularly apt, reminding us to humbly learn from the wisdom of past believers rather than dismiss their insights as outdated. Indeed, recognizing the enduring relevance of historical perspectives helps us navigate the complexities of our present cultural milieu with greater discernment.

Furthermore, your insight into how church history provides tested solutions for contemporary challenges is invaluable. By examining how our predecessors grappled with theological and pastoral dilemmas, we gain insights that can inform our responses to similar issues today. This historical perspective not only prevents us from reinventing the wheel but also fosters a deeper sense of continuity and solidarity with the broader Christian tradition.

Lastly, your reflection on the role of tradition in fostering a sense of rootedness within the universal Church is deeply moving. Your distinction between tradition and traditionalism is thought-provoking, highlighting the dynamic nature of our connection to the past. Embracing the rich tapestry of traditions passed down through the ages fosters a sense of belonging and continuity with the larger body of Christ, echoing Jesus’ prayer for unity among believers.

Overall, your compelling articulation of the importance of church history serves as a poignant reminder of the timeless wisdom and enduring relevance found in our shared Christian heritage. Thank you for eloquently highlighting the transformative power of delving into the depths of our faith’s historical roots.