Avoiding Wisdom For Pragmatics
An Evangelical Temptation
One of the frequent temptations I see for many evangelicals is the deep belief that there was a perfect (or near perfect) time in history. Maybe the perfect age we fantasize about is the 1950s, or maybe it is Calvin’s Geneva, or maybe it is the earliest church (Corinth anyone?). Regardless, we are tempted to think that if we can only get back to that time, or mimic some feature of that time, then things will finally work again.
We can put this temptation differently by saying that we are tempted to avoid discernment and avoid the Spirit and replace them with pragmatics.
I worked at Willow Creek Community Church for a Summer in college. It is unclear what my job was, but I basically answered emails and phone calls from random people who had questions for someone at the church (if they got to my email or phone number it was obvious that no one else wanted to deal with it). I often received emails or phone calls like, “What kind of carpet do you use?” or “What sort of coffee machine do you guys use there?”
The calls were from other churches who were looking for answers. But the answers they sought were from superficial questions. They weren’t exploring deep things, and they weren’t seeking the Spirit. Wisdom was the farthest thing from their mind, and discernment wasn’t anywhere on their radar.
One of the driving features of modern evangelicalism is the desire to trade wisdom for pragmatics. Discernment is difficult, messy, and inefficient. It is just easier to give someone a personality profile, a spiritual gift inventory, or a strength-finder questionnaire than it is to wrestle through questions of calling, discernment, and wisdom. We might still use personality profiles, inventories, and questionnaires, but assuming they lead us into wisdom, or somehow reveal something in the Spirit, seems, at best, naive.
The desperation for a shortcut defines an evangelicalism shaped so deeply by the Second Great Awakening. The desire for a one-sized-fits-all solution to every church, every ministry, every location, reveals the hope that we can avoid asking the questions:
How are we called to follow Jesus in this present evil age?
Given the unique makeup of our church, what might it look like for us to bear witness to Jesus given where we are and who we serve?
What might it look like for me to embrace my calling given the fact that God’s power is made perfect in my weakness? (2 Cor. 12:9).
The problem we’re facing today is that we’ve sold a vision of the Christian life that is spiritually bankrupt, and are reaping a generation of folks who are coming to see that. We’ve pretended that we can avoid wisdom, depth, and discernment by offering passion, excitement, and a big vision for following Jesus that proves to have no grounding in reality.
Life in the Spirit by faith will often be messy, confusing, and will inevitably confound expectations. This means we have to cultivate a life of wisdom and stability in Christ as he unravels our flesh, folly, and fantasy to reveal a deeper way.