Rediscovering the Gospel: Part 2-Conversations with Joe Small: The Nicene Creed

Last month I was privileged to participate with other pastors and CREs in the Synod Kaleidoscope at Ghost Ranch Retreat Center. Joe Small, retired director of General Assembly’s Theology and Worship Unit, was the keynote presenter: a beautiful soul in an inspiring setting with delightful fellowship. Our conversations with Joe throughout the week asked the question, “What is the Gospel?” and “How can we proclaim the Gospel to a world (and a church) that thinks it knows it already?”

            After reviewing the profoundly secular culture in which we live, move and have our community in Christ Jesus, Joe proposed to us a radical vision for church renewal: rediscover the Nicene Creed! While some of you reading this may rejoice at Joe’s suggestion while others may roll their eyes, I think both reactions need to hear the context from which Joe’s admonition arises. For the earliest Christians, “doctrine” was less a set of proscribed items for mental assent and more a way to be guided toward a living, immersive experience of life with Jesus Christ.

            For example, while the Nicene Creed may seem at once both familiar and odd to the postmodern, Christian ear, Nicene grew out of controversy when a pastor named Arius sought to accommodate the Gospel for the sake of evangelizing pagans. In response to pagan confusion related to polytheism versus monotheism as these relate to Christ, Arius highlighted the Oneness of God by making Jesus created and something less than God. The Church responded quickly: if Jesus is not God, then God is unknowable, above and beyond, which means believers cannot be certain of salvation. Bishop Alexander felt that Arius threatened the assurance that Jesus announces God's good will. Further, if the Holy Spirit is not God, how can we be confident that our spirituality is of God? The debate was not about doctrinal lines of thought but about the spiritual dynamics of faith and the need for theology to express and guide Christian living.

            Dr. Small went on to make two salient points: “We see creeds as matters of assent but the early Christians saw them as guides intended to be a proclamation of the Gospel we must hear, a proclamation shared by all and responded to in faith and with faithful living…Our first obligation in responding to a creed is not to question or ignore but to ask why our forbearers felt the need to confess this faith? Why was this faith so important, and how can we receive their offering with gratitude rather than scorn?” Great questions! So here is your homework: Look up the Nicene Creed and put it into your own words as an expression of what it means to live as a follower of Jesus – “the only begotten Son of God…God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God.” How might these words shape, guide and give focus to your living in Christ Jesus?

            Finally, let me point the teaching elders and commissioned ruling elders toward the next Synod Kaleidoscope, which will be led by Andy Dearman, professor of Old Testament at Fuller Seminary’s Houston campus, and formerly of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Andy will be teaching on proclaiming stories from the Old Testament as well as looking at some of the ways our methods of biblical interpretation lead to different results with the text. A good time is sure to be had by all in Tempe, October 19-21. Registrations can be found at synodsw.org.

Grace and peace,

Brad Munroe

Conversations with Joe Small

Last month I was privileged to participate with other pastors and CREs in the Synod Kaleidoscope at Ghost Ranch Retreat Center. Joe Small, retired director of General Assembly’s Theology and Worship Unit, was the keynote presenter: a beautiful soul in an inspiring setting with delightful fellowship. Our conversations with Joe throughout the week asked the question, “What is the Gospel?” and “How can we proclaim the Gospel to a world (and a church) that thinks it knows it already?”

In an early lecture, Joe outlined the new secularity in which we try to communicate Jesus Christ:

• An absence of God from our public spaces both in terms of reference and relevance - (with the exception of politicians’ token prayer of “God bless America),
• The emptying of meaning in religious belief and practice, - (no more Blue Laws in the South or meatless Fridays for Catholics),
• The shift from a culture in which one’s highest moral and spiritual aspirations were to seek God to a culture in which God is subordinate or even unnecessary to support one’s highest moral goals - (the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a great charity without God talk),
• The decline of corporate and community life and the rise of individualistic and interior practices - (“spiritual but not religious”).

How can we proclaim the Gospel to this world and in these kind of communities? For Joe, the answer seemed to be: Move Forward to the Past!

Joe’s prescription for church renewal is for us to rediscover the rich tradition of our theological heritage, not for the sake of “subscriptionism” (the list of beliefs to which one must give cognitive assent in order to be “in” the club) but for the sake of being able to enter more deeply into a dynamic relationship with God in Jesus Christ. What do we mean by what we say? Why is confessing the faith in a certain way vital for our life together? How do our beliefs connect with our real, actual, lived experience of being in Christ Jesus?In the coming weeks, I am going to review a few of Joe’s thoughts on theology, baptism and communion, but I invite you to reflect upon what is central to your faith. So often we argue the periphery and neglect to celebrate the tremendous centrality we share together in Jesus.

Finally, let me point the teaching elders and commissioned ruling elders toward the next Synod Kaleidoscope, which will be led by Andy Dearman, professor of Old Testament at Fuller Seminary’s Houston campus, and formerly of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Andy will be teaching on proclaiming stories from the Old Testament as well as looking at some of the ways our methods of biblical interpretation lead to different results with the text. A good time is sure to be had by all in Tempe, October 19-21. Registrations can be found at synodsw.org.

Sexual Misconduct Prevention

Sexual misconduct prevention and child, youth and adult protection are both the work of communities. Each individual must learn and grow in the ways of safety and prevention, but the entire community is also responsible to ensure that its ethos is directed toward protecting our most vulnerable. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that both Grand Canyon and de Cristo presbyteries have available to them online training courses.

            These courses are offered through the two presbyteries' primary insurance carrier but are offered to ALL members. To clarify things from last week: all candidates, all active teaching elders (whether honorably retired or, more likely, still working stiffs, the key word is “active”), and all active CREs will be required to take one training course on an annual basis, pending approval of said policy from the respective presbyteries. However, any member can ask to take the online training courses by emailing Carolyn McBurney in the presbytery office. Your particular church is covered for training through the presbyteries regardless of its insurance carrier.

            The first course, “Meet Sam,” took me 20 minutes to complete. I was dismayed to discover that I did not know all the material already! My wife is a therapist who has worked in programs treating both victims and perpetrators of sexual abuse, and in my hubris I thought I knew all the course would cover. So imagine my shock when in a pre-test early in the training I got only six of seven questions correct.

            In Meet Sam I learned the difference between preferential, situational and indiscriminate molesters and how they relate to children, youth and the social environments constructed by the adults trying to create safe space. Can you describe these differences to another person? If not, it is a helpful distinction to learn. I learned also about the three keys a perpetrator needs in order to abuse. Can you say what those three things are? If you cannot, this course would be a great place for you to start deepening your awareness of the issues. (Hint: the three things needed are access, privacy and control, and the course explains them in detail.) I learned about the importance of physcial, emotional, behavioral, and community boundaries: to set clear limits for each and to be aware of anyone who violates them either intentionally or unintentionally. Finally, I learned the percentages of abuse perpetrated by family, friends and strangers. Can you name which category of relationships perpetrate the most abuse? This is the question I got wrong in the pre-test. I answered “friends” but the correct answer is family (60%), then friends (30%), and then strangers (10%).

            As a final observation, let me share a personal note: I felt sick throughout these 20 minutes. I resisted going in-depth into the material. I realized I prefer to remain ignorant. The thought of sexual abuse is repulsive to virtually all of us, which is why denial is so easy. And this is why these online training courses are so important: denial is not an option.

Grace and peace,

Brad Munroe