Matt Capps Arts, Christianity, Culture, Faith, Philosophy, Religion, The Southern Baptist Convention

David Nelson: “A Curmudgeon on Evangelical Worship”

A curmudgeon is a “crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man.” In my opinion this is a funny word to use in reference to critically thinking about worship music in the church today. Funny because,

1. That’s the way we view most complaints against the particulars of church life in the first place- as coming from the church curmudgeon.

2. What makes this title even funnier, in my opinion, is that Dr. Nelson knows that he will be charged as a curmudgeon for being honest. So, I guess I get the irony here…

Either way, I think these are good thoughts on trajectory of most worship music used in American churches today.

David P. Nelson is senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in systematic theology and worship. Dr. Nelson has contributed to a book on this topic titled Authentic Worship, his chapter is on “the use of music in worship.” I am not sure how many more entries he will post?

A Curmudgeon Weighs in On Evangelical Worship

A Curmudgeon Weighs in On Evangelical Worship, Part 2

A Curmudgeon Weighs in on Evangelical Worship, Part 3

The Return of the Curmudgeon: Disney-World Worship (Part 2): Musical Disproportionality

A Curmudgeon Weighs in on Evangelical Worship: Disney World Worship (Part 3): The Sovereignty of Technology

Matt Capps Christianity, Culture, Faith, Philosophy, Religion, The Southern Baptist Convention

The Gospel vs. Christianized Therapeutic Deism

The other night I was reading David Wells’ plenary address to the 2007 meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. The address was titled “Christian Discipleship in a Postmodern World.”

Part of Wells argument pointed out that we live in a culture obsessed with ‘display’ where we can “create our own lifestyle and image.” He showed examples from our culture of our obsession with “projecting our own individuality and style” and how it dominates our way of thinking.

The point, we are captivated with ourselves.  So much so that ‘we’ have become the center of our own reality, and we insist on asserting our own autonomy.

Some of you are thinking…”thank you captain obvious.” (I admit, this post is a little ironic considering that I am writing on “my blog”)

Here is where all this social analysis becomes important. Our faith is not formed in a vacuum. Many people in our culture think that the chief end of Christianity is to “make us feel better, help us make better choices, and resolve troubles.” For many Americans the gospel of Jesus Christ is about ‘themselves.’

And this becomes the message that many preachers ‘sell’ their people every week. It’s what many of the books on the shelves at the Christian book store push. It’s why we offer so many classes at our churches that have very little to do with developing true gospel maturity- seriously, think about it.

We need to realize that the point of the Gospel is not to make us  “feel good” about ourselves- in and of ourselves we have no reason to feel good about who we are. The point is that we all are radically depraved sinners and Christ is our only hope! The point of the Gospel is for us to joy in who Jesus Christ is, and what He alone can offer us!

The purpose of the Gospel is not the “help us make better choices”– but to show us that we cannot be saved by our own moral goodness (making all the ‘right choices’). The goal of the church is not to develop self willed morality in our people, but a gospel centered heart that understands and exposes sinful nature- and turns to Christ as our only hope! This kind of heart results in obedient lives.

The Gospel does not simply “resolve our troubles” but shows us that we have so many troubles that we need to be saved, we must trust in something else other than ourselves, namely Jesus Christ.

But, here is where Wells nails it-

In a culture obsessed with display, where I can project any image of “myself” I desire, or ‘be who I want you to think I am’, it becomes very easy to ignore who we really are. Or, to put it another way, it becomes very easy to project to our Christian friends ‘that which we are not.’

This is where thinking deeply about God’s word comes into play.

The Word of God is what “summons us to come outside of ourselves to know the God who transcends all cultures and times.” It is by this Word- that God “intrudes upon us, and invades our private space.”

Wells’ makes the argument that “we are captivated with ourselves” even stronger by pointing out that “it is entirely possible to affirm the inspiration of Scripture and yet miss its whole point…Scripture is not a manual for success, nor yet a textbook for therapeutic help, but the Word of God.”

This means that we- as Christians- need to be honest about who we are in and of ourselves, who God is, and who we are in Christ.

God and only God can break this captivity to ourselves and to our own autonomous subjectivity. What I fear is that the gospel message (for many people) promotes nothing more than “Christianized Therapeutic Deism” rather than a God exalting- humble realization of our own sin and a deep confidence in Jesus Christ.

May God’s Spirit do a deep work in the American church.

Matt Capps Christianity, Faith, Personal, The Southern Baptist Convention

Calvary Baptist Church: West Campus

On May 10th the family of Calvary Baptist Church will open the doors of a new campus. The opening of Calvary West will be a defining moment in the history of our church. Watch the video below to hear the testimony of our members.

Click Here to see the campus website.

Matt Capps Christianity, Faith, Religion, The Great Commission Resurgence, The Southern Baptist Convention

The Great Commission Resurgence: Hard Questions for the Southern Baptist Convention

Note: This post is for Southern Baptist’s, who like myself have signed our names to The Great Commission Resurgence commitments. These questions were developed in conversation with a few younger Southern Baptist pastors.

I usually stay away from writing on denominational issues. I think we Southern Baptist talk among ourselves enough, but I could not resist on this one. I am excited about the potential of a Great Commission Resurgence in the SBC.

We as Southern Baptist’s should always be willing to examine ourselves as a denomination. I agree and pray that the “Great Commission Resurgence” commitment should serve as the next step in the renewal of our denomination. But I have my worries.

1. In all honesty, I have concerns about our denomination as a whole. I have concerns when I consider our annual meetings; which seem to have very little participation from my generation. Is the annual meeting attendance a marker for denominational participation among younger Southern Baptists?

2. I have concerns about the allocation of our money through the Cooperative Program. How much of our money actually reaches our field workers?

3. Many Christian thinkers today are noticing the dramatic shifts taking place in culture concerning technology, social structures, community, and ideas. Obviously this has effects on “how” we do ministry. What ministries is our Cooperative Program funding, and are these ministries even effective in growing mature disciples of Christ?

4. I agree with the statement that “in order for the SBC to fulfill the Great Commission we must streamline current SBC structures.”

Is it possible that some of the SBC’s infrastructures must be completely abandoned? If so, would that mean we need to consider different approaches to cooperation among SBC churches?

5. In the statement concerning our “Commitment to Gospel-Centeredness” it is written that “Gospel-centered living will help ensure that the bloody cross of a crucified King is the offense to non-believers rather than our styles, traditions, legalisms, moralisms, personal preferences, or unhelpful attitudes.”

Take a minute to consider the “styles, traditions, legalisms, moralisms, personal preferences, and unhelpful attitudes” of the SBC.

Are we willing to be open for critique when it comes to our “styles, traditions, legalisms, moralisms, personal preferences” in the Southern Baptist Convention and make necessary changes?

As a convention we have passed some pretty embarrassing and legalistic resolutions that do nothing but cause a hindrance to the gospel of Jesus Christ going forward. To those outside the SBC we are more known for what we are against. Seriously, creating legalistic resolutions does nothing to draw people towards Christ, or create mature Christ followers. (Read Galatians)

6. I am grateful for our Southern Baptist Convention and what we stand for today. Obviously there are things that I believe we need to keep in check, which would be the case in every denomination. But here is my fear;

It would seem like many of the younger Southern Baptist’s are loosing confidence in our denomination and aligning with other associations because they are frustrated with the ‘bureaucracy’ of the SBC.

Let’s suppose that the SBC keeps moving forward and everything remains “as is.”

If we do not adopt, implement, and perpetuate a Great Commission mindset what will the SBC look like in 20 years?

I signed the Great Commission Resurgence commitment because I agree with what the document affirms. But, in order for these things to come about- we need to consider and answer the hard questions.

Click Here to see Danny Akin’s sermon titled “Axioms for a Great Commission Resurgence”

Click Here to sign “The Commission Resurgence”.