Mark Beeson: Is Heresy Dead?

Seems that Mark Beeson, Senior Pastor at Granger Community Church has been taking more shots about the methods they use to reach lost people with the Orthodox Gospel of Jesus Christ. He says,

I had another guy poke me in the eye because of the creative methods we use to present the orthodox Good News of the Gospel story. Well, he didn’t actually poke me in the eye, but that’s just because I’m quick as a mongoose.

I wish such folks were as concerned about “presenting” the orthodox Gospel as they are about “how” presentations are done.

I think that this argument against using creative methods to reach people far from God is really silly…but it is also dangerous too. When the Church stops looking outward to reach outsiders, then we cease being the Church Jesus created in the first place.  There have been these kinds of arguments forever, I suppose. For example, the early church, in Acts 15, said that you needed to have a surgery to be a true follower of Jesus Christ! And it wasn’t a minor surgery at that, fellas! Just a very short time after Jesus walked the earth, the early followers began to teach unorthodox ideas and came under sharp debate with Paul and Barnabas.

I love where the conversation and debate leads to finally…James, the half-brother of Jesus speaks up to put the debate to rest. He says, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” (Acts 15:19) Awesome!

The issue between this story and what happens often in our modern context is the matter of orthodoxy. The early church was in error and straying from the orthodox faith of the first century church. To use Beeson’s examples, when we are bothered by using new methods to “tell the old, old story,” we have a problem! When we are frustrated that our congregation “never brings their Bibles anymore” because they carry multiple translations on handheld devices, we have a problem! When we are frustrated with the music style and the “audacity” to sing modern songs to reach people on their own terms, we have a problem! We can go on and on, right? I remember when we were planting our church in Nixa, there was quite a little debate about why we didn’t have “Baptist” in our name. My thought was, “we aren’t planting a church for Baptists, but for people who don’t have any religious affiliation or who might even be turned off (I know, it’s crazy!) by the name ‘Baptist.'” Beeson started a church many years ago that was started in the same way…not to necessarily reach Methodists (of which they are affiliated), but to reach any and every person with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In essence, the focus is on orthodox Christianity carried out in a proper context. When we decide to make methods “sacred,” or “orthodox,” that is when the problems set in. Therefore, we must examine our lives and doctrine closely so we don’t fall into heresy while at the same time searching the heart of God for new and fresh ways to reach people far from God.

I appreciate Beeson’s final analysis of the situation…especially because he brings it back to the Scripture.

So if you’re more bent out of shape about how we engage the mission than which mission we’re on, take it down a notch. A wide range of acceptable mission tactics can be employed. Paul, himself, said he became all things to all people so that by all possible means he might save some. Paul had flexibility in his methods and tolerance for tactical nuance. But he had one orthodoxy.

Know this: living and sharing the orthodox faith is critically important, even foundational, to the culturally nuanced methods of mission engagement.

We are called to one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of us all. Lose that Truth and your methods won’t matter …. period.

You need to read the entire post! Mark Beeson: Is Heresy Dead?.

So tell me, what are some “sacred orthodoxies” in your life that shouldn’t be sacred–they are/were simply methods? What “new methods” does your church employ to teach the Orthodox Christian faith? Have you gotten push back for employing these methods, like Beeson talks about?