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What if our mission is not to 'be Jesus' to other cultures, but to join with the Holy Spirit? By J. Todd Billings In recent decades, scores of books, manuals, and websites advocating "incarnational ministry" have encouraged Christians to move beyond ministry at a distance and to "incarnate" and immerse themselves into local cultures. Some give a step-by-step "incarnation process" for Christians crossing cultures. Some call us to become incarnate by "being Jesus" to those around us. Indeed, many of these resources display valuable insights into relational and cross-cultural ministry. But there are serious problems at the core of most approaches to "incarnational ministry"—problems with biblical, theological, and practical implications. I encountered these problems myself as a practitioner of "incarnational ministry." At a Christian college, I was told that just as God became flesh in a particular culture 2,000 years ago, my job was to become "incarnate" in another culture. Eight months later,...

14 December, 2012

  “Calvin's Comeback? The Irresistible Reformer” by J. Todd Billings According to a Time magazine article earlier this year, the "New Calvinism" is one of "ten ideas changing the world right now" (March 23). The New Calvinists cited include megachurch pastor and author John Piper of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis; R. Albert Mohler Jr., head of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, who has remade the seminary according to a Calvinist agenda; and raw, hip pastor-author Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. The New Calvinism is found in the doctrinal commentary on Web sites like Between Two Worlds, in the notes to the ESV (English Standard Version) Study Bible (World Magazine's 2009 Book of the Year) and in the popular "Passion" conferences featuring the tunes of the David Crowder Band. The New Calvinism movement has reclaimed Puritans like John Owen and Jonathan Edwards. Indeed, in New Calvinist circles, you may...

01 December, 2009

by J. Todd Billings From the Church Herald, April 2007 (denominational magazine for the Reformed Church in America) There is a new buzz in the neighborhood, called "emergent churches" or the "emergent conversation." Whether they self-identify as "younger evangelicals" or "postmoderns" or "post-evangelicals," this group of Generation X and Y Christians moves to a different dance from the "baby boomer" generation. No more seeker-sensitive, boiled-down Christianity, with its obsession with "relevance"--as if the New Testament was written in 1970 or so. Instead, "ancient" is better, and "tradition" is becoming a good word again. While we should be cautious about passing trends, the movement known as the emergent church has begun to capture the attention of the RCA. Brian McLaren, a key emergent leader, addressed the 2006 General Synod on how to become a missional church. In west Michigan, steeped in Reformed perspective, 12,000-plus persons flock weekly to Mars Hill Bible Church, with emergent...

01 April, 2007

We jettison 'nonessential' theology at our own peril By J. Todd Billings IN A RECENT ecumenical meeting of Christian leaders discussing, theology and worship, two evangelical representatives expressed a shared dilemma: How should they integrate concerns for justice and care for the poor into worship? One complained that modern praise songs do not speak about these issues. Given their nondenominational backgrounds, they were not sure where to turn for help. These evangelicals hit one roadblock that arises when "mere Christianity" severs our ties to theological traditions. At its best, mere Christianity can be summed up by the proverbial saying: "In essentials, unity. In nonessentials, liberty. In all things, charity." Mere Christianity should also remind us to celebrate the oneness of all believers, united through our one head, Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:15). However, mere Christianity will disappoint when it becomes a substitute for the Christian faith: At its worst, mere Christianity shifts with the trends...

08 February, 2007

By J. Todd Billings Modern Theology 21:1 January 2005 For about a decade, John Milbank has been developing a trinitarian theology of grace using the language of “gift” and “gift-giving”. In the first part of this essay, I examine a series of his early articles which articulate his gift theology, as well as his account of opposing viewpoints.2 In these early works, the Reformed tradition as such is never referred to, but Reformation thinking in general is an invisible opponent which exemplifies a “donative” or “unilateral” view of grace. Milbank criticizes doctrines in which grace is “passively” received, along with its corollary in Anders Nygren’s “unilateral” portrait of agape.3 After presenting Milbank’s early gift theology, I give a possible response in terms of Calvin’s theology of grace. The second part of this essay continues the same task with Milbank’s more recent book, Being Reconciled, published as the first in a series of books...

08 January, 2005

By J. Todd Billings Missiology: An International Review 32:2, April 2004 “Incarnational Ministry” has been a significant missiological concept for over two decades. It has earned a place in missiological textbooks, and still spurs debates.[1] Yet, although the notion obviously has Christological roots, there has been little systematic theological reflection on the topic. Certainly, some of this may be due to the variety of ways in which the concept is used. Writers employ it to promote and explain the process of missionary inculturation,[2] criticize the distant missionary compound approach as colonial rather than incarnational,[3] and justify “relocation” as a central principle for urban ministry.[4] In general, this cluster of related yet distinct meanings[5] is justified with a references to two sets of verses: Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be...

08 April, 2004

(meditations on Gregory of Nyssa's "On Virginity") by J. Todd Billings Regeneration Quarterly, 8:2, Winter 2002 No one actually wants to be a virgin. At least that's what you'd think from surfing the channels of popular culture. A virgin wandered onto the set of Seinfeld a few years ago, and after getting over her initial shock, Elaine kindly reached out to her over lunch, filling her in on the rules of casual sex. Virgins are all but silent in the debates of contemporary sexual politics. It is easy to get the sense that just as it is one's right to drink Pepsi and drive a sleek new car, it is one's right to get laid every now and then. It's healthy, isn't it? Good exercise. Invigorating. There is, of course, a counter-movement in conservative Protestant churches, led by parachurch bishop Josh McDowell, that aims at convincing teens to wait until marriage for sex. But let's...

27 December, 2002