Theology Fail: Who Needs Straw Men When We Have This Guy?

A lot of times, we "radical Duke Students" get accused of hammering on a straw-man version of conservative Christianity unfairly, just to make a point. "People out there really aren't like that, you just need an easy target to slam to make yourselves feel smarter and superior."

To those people I say: Meet Wes Pastor--that's right, his last name is Pastor. Pastor Pastor is the President of New England Theological Seminary, a church planting group that are perhaps one of the most outspoken evangelical voices in New England. The church I attended from 7th-12th grade was a plant from this organization--so no one say I am just picking on a random group.

My point is this: Every single person who graduates from Duke Divinity School needs to ask themselves the question: "Do I have the theological tools and am I living a life in the church which would make it impossible for me to ever write the following letter and think that it was an accurate representation of the church's mission?"

So without bashing or name-calling or Duke-ego-tripping, I give you Wes Pastors' Letter from the NETS fundraising Newsletter that came in my mailbox yesterday. May we be people who can tell a different story.

(Disclaimer: This might be like one of those emails you should sleep on before deciding not to send, but this letter upset me and I hope this is a safe forum to be upset in. Apologies if I should have kept my mouth shut.)

Minding The Mission
by Wes Pastor

Sue and I just returned from a week of teaching at the Wales Evangelical School of Theology (WEST) near Cardiff. It was my privilege to instruct some 15 eager young English and Welshmen who desire to plant churches in places like Liverpool and Birmingham and throughout Wales. I spent the week examining the mission, message and methodology of the apostolic church as the basis for the NETS ministry. The topic spoke to their hearts, and already WEST has invited us back next year and initiated a WEST-NETS partnership for the near future. What a privilege to instruct these sharp, dedicated young men!
At week’s end, Sue and I travelled to London for a day of sightseeing. On our arrival, we found the streets in the entire center city blocked off and tour busses shut down in anticipation of the immensely popular Gay Pride Day parade. I admit, I became a bit sour, not only over the open decadence before me, but for the seeming ruination of our day in London. And frankly, it irritated me further that my wife did not see it similarly.
As Sue and I interacted, she put me right. She kindly reminded me of our mission, a mission which I was in danger of abandoning. From her perspective, our mission was to spend a relaxed day in London together, enjoying each other as we took in the spectacular sites. She sweetly encouraged me to move past the parade and to stay on task, to mind the mission.
As they say in the UK, Sue was “spot on!” I had lost my focus. I had forgotten why we were there. Even with the day half done, we began to enjoy ourselves, visiting the Crown Jewels after a lovely trip down the Thames to the Tower of London; visiting Buckingham Palace; and closing the evening with a romantic dinner at a winsome little Italian restaurant.
Why do I share this? I believe that the church, like me, is in greater and greater danger of abandoning its mission.
Increasingly, we are told that social and not merely evangelistic responsibility is a part of our commission (Stott, Christian Mission in the Modern World); we are told that faithful presence and not faithful proclamation is how we’re to engage and transform the culture (Hunter, To Change the World); we’re told that Jesus wants to save Christians from believing that it’s principally about the hereafter and not about the here-and-now (Bell, Jesus Wants to Save Christians). Passages like Matthew 25:31-46 are regularly wrenched from their context to burden the church with combating social ills from child-trafficking to poverty to orphans to AIDS.

Over and against all this is the mission of Jesus (“The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost;” Luke 19:10), the mandate of Jesus (“Go, therefore and make disciples of the all the nations;” Matthew 28:18-20), and the model of the apostolic church (Book of Acts), not to mention the entire Old Testament which finds its fulfillment in the fin- ished work of Christ on the cross. Like me, the church needs to be gently encouraged to stay on task, to mind the mission. We are not to remake this city or to transform this culture - tasks we can never hope to accomplish. Our mission is to help create a new, heavenly city “whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10), a mission accomplished solely through the preaching of the gospel, with our tangible love for one another as the chief and necessary apologetic (John 13:34-35).

This is the NETS vision. We want to help plant churches that mind the mission. That’s why we hired Craig Combs – to better equip our church-planting pastors for this gospel-proclaiming mission. That’s why we want to start NETS training centers in places like Boston and Cameroon, and even the UK, Lebanon and the Ukraine, that will train men to plant churches that mind the mission. That’s why we need and covet your prayers and financial support, and thank God for your partnership (Phil.1:3-5). Brothers and sisters, let us stay on task; let us mind the mission.