I’ve been trying to point out lately that the Church seems to have lost its taste for fighting good fights, or dying on the right hills. When it comes to speaking out on difficult issues, Christians have often become so docile that they’re reluctant to die on any hills, let alone the right hills. There are, of course, plenty of wrong hills to go around too. We need to learn how to discern which is which – no easy thing.
I was excited to see a book come out last year which appeared to be on this exact topic: Gavin Ortlund’s Finding the Right Hills to Die On. It arrived in the post looking like it had already been through a few fights of its own. The whole thing was soaked and sodden from the package being left out in the rain. I wasn’t sure whether or not to take this a sign of divine providence!
Theological Triage
Christians have
often become so
docile that they’re
reluctant to die on
any hills, let alone
the right hills.
The central motif of the book is the idea of “theological triage”. This is what medics do when assessing which emergency patients are in most urgent need of attention. They decide upon whether someone’s broken leg is more important/urgent than a headwound or a chest infection, and so forth. It’s a fairly straightforward concept, and one I’m sure most people likely employ already without thinking about it. But it’s helpful to know that such decisions aren’t merely spur-of-the-moment intuitions, but based on prior rationale.
This is where Ortlund’s book is helpful in thinking through how to make sense of a competing variety of voices. He discusses the kind of doctrinal debates which occur between different denominations on things like the sacraments, or the end-times. Ortlund gives good examples and contextual information relating to how such debates often tend to play out. He also separates different issues into categories of primary, secondary, and tertiary concerns, denoting levels of importance vis-a-vis the Gospel. All this is very helpful.
Clear But Surpriseless
Yet the book doesn’t quite go far enough to help us. Methodologically, this is the kind of common sense wisdom found in the iterations of most public leaders. That is, there is nothing particularly surprising in the book. Perhaps there ought not to be, but there was also little to inspire us for the battles that lie ahead. Instead, it rehearses familiar-sounding conclusions we’ve come to expect from those saying and doing similar things. But what if much of the received wisdom – “the done thing” – is itself in need of reform?
Ortlund’s book
rehearses familiar
conclusions…But
what if much of the
received wisdom
– “the done thing” –
is itself in need
of reform?
This is often the case with “Gospel-Centred” TGC-style books. They’re not wrong; they’re very clear and often very helpful. It’s just that they’re unlikely to emphasise things in any way that you could not already predict in advance. The conclusion will always be the same and said in the same way. This can be reassuring if you’re wary of the excesses of newness in some churches, where ever fresher “seasons” are announced at every opportunity. But it does mean there is a tendency that this becomes telegraphed theology. It holds the line well but is little help in responding to the imminent attacks of the enemy.
It’s probably a little unfair, but it reminds me a little of Treebeard and the Ents in Lord of the Rings, who take the best part of a day to say ‘good morning’ to one another, when more urgent discussion/action is needed.
Humility and Self-Protection
In the conclusion, Ortlund offers a call for humility in how we approach all issues, taking the stance that we don’t know everything, that we don’t know what we don’t know, etc. This is all well and good. But this again echoes the predictably middling stance that we see too often from Evangelical publications of late. i.e. Crazy Extremist #1 says X; Crazy Extremist #2 says Y; but Perfect Medium (Me) says Z. The problem with mediums, of course, is that they’re often out of touch with reality. In Ortlund’s case, although he’s aware that some see humility as a veil for cowardice, he still emphasises it as the chief virtue at the present time.
Pride and arrogance must always be countered, whatever is being spoken about. But emphatic stress upon humility is often used as a get-out-of-jail-free card (sometimes, quite literally!). Humility is always fundamental, particularly for Christian engagement with doctrinal controversies. But in order to flourish, humility must be accompanied by other virtues such as courage. As G. K. Chesterton once said: “It is the humble man who talks much, for the proud man watches himself too closely.” In the end, the perpetual call for humility may turn out to be not all that humble after all. It may even be a willful neglect of self-sacrifice in favour of self-protection.
As much as pride and
arrogance must always
be countered, emphatic
stress upon humility
can be used as a
get-out-of-jail-free
card (sometimes,
quite literally!)
Avoiding Controversial Hills
Ortlund’s book focusses deliberately on doctrinal debates rather than public or ethical issues. The problem is, it’s all those thorny public/ethical issues which tend to cause all the problems. They don’t remain mere “public” issues for very long, either. Sooner or later, and usually with astonishing speed, such issues find their way into the Church. They may come in through the back door, the open window, or welcomed at the front with a red carpet. Either way, they’ll be there.
Many churches have grown functionally “adoctrinal”. True, they might affiliate themselves with a version of the orthodox Creed via a cut/paste job from a prominent Evangelical institution on their website. However, the real motor of many churches – the “will” that drives them – is often things like marketing, worship style, mission programmes, leadership personalities, and coffee rotas. It’s not that outright heresy would be welcomed, by any means; more that “doctrine” is seen as largely irrelevant. It’s too complicated, too impractical, better left for pastors and theologians to worry about. As long as someone’s put some sound-sounding doctrine in the larder (and as long as it stays firmly in there ’til the Sunday sermon) few will spend much time thinking about it.
What they will spend time thinking about, though, are “issues” of politics, ethics, society, culture, and everyday life choices. This is actually how you find out what a Christian believes today, “doctrinally”. And you can usually tell what a church leader values theologically by seeing what issues they do (or don’t) choose to speak up about.
The subtlety of
the fight we’re
now facing calls
for a sharper edge.
Realising this is
itself one of the
“right hills” for
which Christians
will need to fight.
And they will need
to realise this far
sooner than
they think.
The Real Hills
This is why I think Ortlund’s book fails to provide what the Church really needs at this time. It misses the actual theological battleground for most churches. Despite the helpful wisdom at hand for general doctrinal discussions, the subtlety of the fight we’re now facing calls for a sharper edge. Realising this is itself one of the “right hills” for which Christians will need to fight. And they will need to realise this far sooner than they think.
The life of the average Christian today is heavily infiltrated by all sorts of problematic opinions, worldviews, and issues from the surrounding culture. Podcasts, news articles, boxsets, political debates, sporting controversies, etc. all play a disproportionate role in shaping the thought-life of Christians. The average churchgoer spends dozens of hours each week imbibing outright blasphemies without batting an eyelid. But since these things are just “everyday opinions” and don’t seem to be anything to do with “God”, they don’t notice what’s happening.
Given time, though, such things will subtly re-shape and/or erode deeper theological commitments. These supposedly secondary/tertiary “non-Gospel” issues will eventually find their way right to the centre of a person’s most fundamental beliefs.
Looking In, Out, and Up
We must learn to discern what it is that the Church is currently struggling to talk about, and why. Why do some issues get more airtime than others? What voices does the Church seem to be listening to a little too enthusiastically? Where are our blind-spots, our cracks in the wall? Finding the right hills cannot be easily graphed or tabulated in advance, but we need to be alert to the right questions.
A commitment to the prayerful reading of Scripture should always be our starting point:
They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
they are far from your law.
But you are near, O LORD,
and all your commandments are true.
– Psalm 119:150-151
It is encouraging, in these confusing times, to know that the God of all the heavens and all the earth is near at hand, whose Word is a beacon of truth in the fog. There is hope to see what we need to see if we are only willing to turn our eyes to the One who can help:
I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.– Psalm 121:1-2