Pastor Voddie Baucham’s discussion of The Elephant Room and his removal from the men’s retreat at Harvest Bible Church following ER2

Baucham’s post is one of many sage responses to ER2 (read blog posts by Thabiti Anyabwile, Frank Turk, James White, Larry Rogier, and Chad Vegas <edit: post removed by author>; read a summary of James White’s tweets; listen to an interview of Carl Trueman; watch a video on T. D. Jakes’ Prosperity Gospel teaching from Wretched; that’s a start). I’ve been asked by a few friends for “my two cents” on the issue. Since others have weighed in so capably, I’ll limit my comments to the unique angle of a young-ish fundamentalist targeting other young-ish fundamentalists who may read. Here are a few brief points (which may be fleshed out by my sermon on Jude at the 2011 Truth Conference).

1. Separation is a Bible strategy. It’s not “old school.” It’s as necessary today as ever.

Many who have grown up in self-identified fundamentalist churches have grown weary of ecclesiastical separation. Much of that is due to a pendulum-swing away from what they perceive to be abuses of separation in the past—separation that was more a matter of turf than truth. Many think of separation as an eccentricity of their grandparents’ and parents’ generations—an embarrassing “tick,” if you will. “It may have been necessary at the time. But we’re so past that. It’s time to give peace a chance.” They’ll acknowledge that the battle for doctrinal orthodoxy that gave rise to the fundamentalist/modernist controversy was necessary. They may begrudgingly acknowledge that the ecumenical evangelism of early new evangelicals like Billy Graham in the mid-20th century was a mistake. “But those discussions are old and tired. Separation is so Second Millennium.”

Well, those ideas have been crunched like a wicker chair in an Elephant Room. Drawing lines of exclusion in response to unorthodoxy outside the body of Christ and unrepentant sin within the body of Christ is actually very first Millennium. First century, in fact. Bob Jones University didn’t invent separation. Whether or not our fundamentalist forebears always got the application of separatist principles right—whether they exercised separation with the right people, at the right times, for the right reasons, in the right spirit—the principles themselves were and are biblical. Scripture clearly forbids having ecclesiastical fellowship with false teachers (2 John 7-11; 2 Cor 6:14-7:1; Rom 16:17-18). And it clearly forbids maintaining normal ecclesiastical fellowship with Christians who are perpetually unrepentant of sin (Matt 18:15-17; 1 Cor 5; 2 Thes 3:6-14; Titus 3:10-11). (Note: I say “perpetually unrepentant” because we’re all “disobedient brothers,” which is the common description used when discussing separation. The New Testament calls for censure and separation when a sin is persisted in.) So setting boundaries for fellowship isn’t old school. It’s orthodoxy. And the ER2 mess displays once again what happens when biblical commands to break fellowship are denied or ignored.

2. Separation is being exercised outside of fundamentalism. This is a good thing.

I grew up thinking that fundamentalists were right on separation and new evangelicals wrong. There was truth to that, though it was a bit simplistic. But today, broader evangelicalism is more complex than ever. We can’t think merely in terms of “fundamentalist” and “new evangelical.” What we saw this weekend and in the months ramping up to ER2 is biblical separation being both eschewed and embraced by evangelicals. Men who are orthodox(ish) themselves (McDonald, Driscoll, etc.) are holding hands with those who are not (T. D. Jakes). That’s wrong, albeit clarifying. On the other hand, men who don’t wear a fundamentalist label are exercising biblical separation, both from false teaching and from brothers who tolerate it—what has typically been called first and second degree separation. That’s what Dever did by canceling his participation in the Elephant Room. That’s what Anyabwile and Trueman and Team Pyro did by their bold warnings about the Elephant Room. That’s what Baucham did, both by his refusal to speak at ER2 and his stepping away from the Harvest Bible Chapel retreat following ER2. That’s what Chad Vegas did by pulling out of Acts 29. The message should give fundamentalists a sense of Deja vu: “If you hold hands with that guy (the unorthodox, here personified by Jakes), you can’t hold hands with us (the orthodox separatist, here personified by Dever, Baucham, Vegas, and others).” Bravo. We may not always agree with others’ applications of separatist principles, but we should applaud the fact that they’re defending the faith with both their words and actions.

3. “Gospel” matters more than “Coalition.” It’s unclear to me if the Gospel Coalition sees this, or at least acts on it consistently.

I was relieved to see McDonald withdraw from The Gospel Coalition. Whether he quit or was “fired” is unclear. Probably a bit of each. But “unclear” is the perfect word to describe the official TGC statements on the matter, crafted by D. A. Carson and Tim Keller. Both this statement from a couple months ago and this statement from last week work so hard at being gracious to ER participants that they leave readers like me wondering where TGC really stands. Did they draw a line in the sand? Did McDonald? What if he hadn’t resigned? Does TGC think his inclusion of Jakes was biblically wrong, or just a differing opinion? Was there any censure, or just an amicable exit? And what about the other TGC Council Members (Mark Driscoll and Crawford Loritts) who participated in ER2?  Back-room solutions to front-page problems are insufficient. I would love to see TGC leaders speak with greater clarity, as some TGC members have. Connect the dots for the thousands of people that are watching. Show leadership regarding what will continue to be a watershed issue for this generation—not just ER2, but the principles it brings back to the limelight. Bidding McDonald Godspeed as he pursues God’s will for his life (about which you appear to disagree?) leaves TGC in no man’s land. “Absolutely. Maybe.”

I rejoice that there are people both within and without self-identified fundamentalism that are drawing lines in the sand on this and other vital issues of our day. It’s a time for clarity, not obfuscation.

Here are 1-minute demos of the two CWM songs on the CD:

• For the Sake of His Name (Grand View Singers)
• His Robes for Mine (Grand View Singers)

1. Jesus corrected a common misconception about hardships. The chapter begins with the disciples questioning Jesus about the cause of the poor beggar’s blindness (John 9:2). They assumed that it was due to some great sin, either on his part or his parents’. It was a common assumption (John 9:34; Luke 13:1-5), but an inaccurate one, denying both common grace and universal sin. And it’s a cruel assumption, assigning blame where there should be compassion. 

We may be tempted to think that we’re beyond the mistaken idea that every trial can be traced to personal failure. But are we? Do we not assume that hardships—from a flat tire to a diagnosis of cancer—are God “zapping” us for disobedience of some sort, as though He were in heaven just waiting for us to skip our devotions for a day so He can bop us on the head? More pointedly, the notion that hardships can be traced to frailty is the dark side of Joel Osteen’s seemingly cheerful lessons about having your best life now. “Prosperity Gospel” types come off as such an optimists, but in reality, there’s a cruelty in the notion that I’m sick or poor or unemployed because I lack the faith to make the change. Really? Far better to submit to the teachings of Christ in John 9:3. Yes, hardships exist in our fallen world. And Jesus has compassion on us. But our trials aren’t random. God has ordained them to magnify His work through them. Even our headaches and heartbreaks are part of a God-glorifying plan—and that’s fine (Phil 1:20).

2. Jesus displayed His deity by the manner in which He healed the man. Just restoring sight to the blind is a sign that Jesus is God. It shows omnipotence. It fulfills Messianic promises (Luke 7:18-23; Luke 4:16-21; Isaiah 61:1-2). But the way in which He did it is especially striking. I love this. Jesus could have healed with a thought, or a word, or a touch. But this time, He acted very intentionally and symbolically. He spat on the ground, made a mixture of mud, then applied it to the man’s eyes. It’s no random detail—the “mud” is recorded in John 9:6, 11, 14, and 15. Why’d He do that?

Well, throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus has claimed to be God. John started the book by saying that Jesus was the Creator of all things (John 1:3), and he’s in the process of presenting evidence of the deity of Christ (John 20:31). Jesus’ use of mud to heal the man’s blind eyes is an audacious and glorious allusion back to the original creation of man. In Genesis 2:7, Christ formed man from the dust of the ground. He created galaxies with just a word, but He formed man with attentive delicacy. Now, in John 9:6, He again uses the dust of the ground to repair His creature—to “remake” him, if you will. It’s a beautiful, meaningful act.

3. Jesus used the miracle to show His power to save. The miracle of mercy is beautiful to behold. However, Christ had a bigger agenda. He preceded the healing by announcing again that He is “the light of the world” (John 9:5; cp. John 1:4, 5, 9; 8:12). Then he used a physical miracle to prove it. It’s very like Matthew 9:1-8, where Jesus healed a paralytic for the specific purpose of proving that He had power to do something far greater—to forgive the man’s sins. Similarly, Jesus heals the blind man’s eyes as part of a greater plan: (1) to save his soul (John 9:35-38; cp. a similar circumstance in John 5:14), and (2) to introduce a discussion on spiritual blindness (John 9:8-41). Jesus healed the blind to display His power to give “sight to the inly blind,” as John Mariott put it (cp. 2 Cor 4:4-6).

What a Savior He is! Grace!

(Note: John Mariott’s great hymn “Thou, Whose Almighty Word” is a delight to sing to the tune Italian Hymn, usually associated with “Come Thou, Almighty King.”)

His Robes for Mine 

• Here is an MP3 of His Robes for Mine from a recent service. (I posted a previous recording, but they were missing some key musicians during that service.) The whole thing is beautifully done, but the organ and brass transition into the last stanza is amazing. It just about moves me to tears every time I hear it. (Horns!)
• Here is a PDF (zip) of Paul’s orchestration for congregational accompaniment. We’re providing it for free, but a suggested donation of $25 can be made here.
• Here is an MP3 of Chuck Swindoll making extemporaneous comments on the hymn, its doctrine, and the gospel.

As always, the PDF of the hymn version can be downloaded here and an explanation of the text found here. Other hymns can be found at ChurchWorksMedia.com. May the Lord use His Word in song to point both sinners and saints to the Savior.

(Note: While posting this I received word that the hymn has been translated into Chinese. Grace!)

“In the real world, many, perhaps most,  of us worship and work in churches of 100 people or less; life is not loud and exciting; big things do not happen every Sunday;  budgets are incredibly tight and barely provide enough for a pastor’s modest salary; each Lord’s Day we go through the same routines of worship services, of hearing the gospel proclaimed, of taking the Lord’s Supper, of teaching Sunday School; perhaps several times a year we do leaflet drops in the neighbourhood with very few results; at Christmas time we carol sing in the high street and hand out invitations to church and maybe two or three people actually come along as a result; but no matter — we keep going, giving, and praying as we can; we try to be faithful in the little entrusted to us.  It’s boring, it’s routine, and it’s the same, year in, year out.   Therefore, in a world where excitement, celebrity, and cultural power are the ideal, it is tempting amidst the circumstances of ordinary church life to forget that this, the routine of the ordinary, the boring, the plodding, is actually the norm for church life and has been so throughout most places for most of the history of the church; that mega-whatevers are the exception, not the rule; and that the church has survived throughout the ages not just—or even primarily—because of the high profile firework displays of the great and the good, but because of the day to day faithfulness of the mundane, anonymous, non-descript  people who constitute most of the church, and who do the grunt work and the tedious jobs that need to be done.   History does not generally record their names; but the likelihood is that you worship in a church which owes everything, humanly speaking, to such people.”

(HT: Ryan Shanahan)

Christ Has Won!

Born in sin, so sin I craved—
Born, and from that birth depraved.
Till I turned to Christ from sin
And by faith was born again.

Refrain:
Christ has won! My soul is free—
Loosed from Satan’s tyranny;
Loosed from sin’s enslaving cord;
Free, and bound to Christ my Lord!

Dead in sin, my hopeless state—
Dead, with death my timeless fate.
Till by dying, Christ won life;
Raised with Him, I shall not die.

Lost in sin, I groped for help;
Lost, and slinking down to hell.
Till Christ, piercing moral night,
Rescued me and gave me Light.

Bound by sin, I was a slave;
Bound to self from birth to grave.
Till Christ broke my dungeon grim,
Loosing me from me, to Him.

1.  Sin is the barrier.
2.  Sin must be dealt with.
3.  There is a real hostility between God and sinners.
4.  Reconciliation is God’s work.
5.  Reconciliation proceeds from the love of God.
6.  The reconciliation must be received.

That’s good. I’d clarify by offering two more points which I believe are essential:

5b.  Reconciliation is rooted in the cross-work of Christ.
7.  The goal of reconciliation is restored fellowship between God and sinners.

That last point is thrilling to me. Not only is estrangement and enmity ended in Christ, but a positive, loving relationship with God is gained. I don’t just get pardon—I get God!

Spend some time in the verses mentioned above. Meditate on the amazing truth that we can have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace!

The text below will almost certainly go through some tweaking after I’ve lived with it awhile and before it’s joined to music. But I’m excited about it. I believe it faithfully progresses through her solitude (v. 1), her spiritual thirst (v. 2), her forgiveness (v. 3), her transformation into a worshiper (v. 4), and her joyful evangelism (v. 5).

Stylistically, I decided to write in a format that would make the piece both an expression of praise to God and an invitation to fellow Samaritans. “Come! Drink! Rest! Joy! Go!” Also, the story (and, I suppose, the meter) brought to mind a lot of hyphenated compound modifiers, which developed into a motif throughout the piece. That’s not typical for a hymn text, I realize. There’s probably a good reason for that. But she’s not typical. Her Savior certainly isn’t! At any rate, I hope the text will help people wonder at the immense mercy of Christ. If nothing else, it’s been good for me to go through the exercise, as with the other texts published at CWM. Grace!

Come, Lonely Heart

Come, lonely heart, to the outsider’s Friend—
To Jesus, who seeks out the lost.
Your soul-wrenching solitude will fin’lly end;
Find welcome—find home—at the Cross.

Drink, thirsty heart, of the water of life—
Of bountiful, thirst-quenching grace.
The world’s broken cisterns cannot satisfy;
A Savior is what your heart craves.

Rest, guilty heart, in forgiveness of sin—
In pardon from shame-stirring vice.
Though Satan and sinners and conscience condemn,
Your soul may be spotless as Christ’s.

Joy, grateful heart, in the Father above—
In God who is seeking your praise.
The sinner becomes through His life-changing love
A trophy and trumpet of grace.

Go, brimming heart, to declare what you’ve found—
To share that Messiah has come.
Go, that the glory of God may redound
Through Jesus, the world-saving Son.

(Note: If you wonder what this all means, I encourage you to listen to this brief gospel presentation, which tells how sinners can be right with God through Jesus Christ.)

However, there are still more parallels between the Passovers of the two Testaments, and they are richly described by Leon Morris in The Atonement: It’s Meaning and Significance. In addition to the “deliverance” parallels, there are positive “assembly” parallels. God wasn’t just breaking Egyptian bonds; He was gathering a people for Himself (Ex 6:7; 19:6), collecting a nation to serve Him (Ex 8:20; 9:1; 10:3). Redemption has both doxological and corporate purposes. Morris explains:

“The Passover commemorated not simply a deliverance, but that deliverance which made a nation out of the slave rabble into which the descendants of the great patriarchs had degenerated in Egypt…. In a very real sense the Passover commemorated the birth of a nation and that nation the people of God.” (p. 91)

Morris goes on to note that just as the initial Passover event had a corporate, assembly-making purpose, so later observances celebrated community. The entire nation was required to travel to Jerusalem, and “the gathering at the temple when the sacrifice was offered gave the necessary emphasis to national unity” (p. 99). Beyond that national observance, even the individual meals were corporate affairs:

“Passover was a time when the idea of community was very prominent. Jews gathered from all the world to keep the feast, a fact which was significant in itself. Passover was not a purely individual affair to be observed according to individual taste. While the most important part of the celebration took placed in homes with small companies of people, the occasion was corporate, not individual…. Passover was a time for the collective joy of the nation, not the private happiness of individuals.” (p. 98)

Christ is the church’s Passover (1 Cor 5:7). He has delivered us from spiritual bondage by His propitiatory death. We remember that by observing the Lord’s Table, the new Passover meal. But He has also gathered us into a spiritual nation by that deliverance (1 Pet 2:9), claiming us for Himself and uniting us with one another. And we remember that by observing the Lord’s Table, as well. We are delivered from sin, unto God, into the church—all for God’s glory. Grace!

(Note: Some of these themes are contained in the hymn “Gaze on the Christ,” where I allude to the Passover theme in relation to Christ.)