From Sampler to Sower

Dr John Bowling; President, Olivet Nazarene University

As I mentioned earlier, I’m spending a few days attending a Holiness Summit at my alma mater, Olivet Nazarene University.

I wasn’t privy to much publicity about the event in advance. Our denomination is approaching our quadrennial General Assembly, and the scuttlebutt going around the denomination is that they will be reconsidering the wording of our 10th article of faith regarding Entire Sanctification.  I was expecting a theological conference at which people presented papers and we discussed the implications, listening to a variety of voices and working through the ideas together.

In reality, a Holiness Summit is a lot like camp meeting, without the campground.  There are a total of nine services over a period of 2 days and 3 evenings.  Worship, and preaching, and not much discussion or dialog,  unless you count the aftermath in the coffee shops of Bourbonnais as pastors seek their caffeine fix after sitting through so many sermons.

That’s not to say the Summit hasn’t been good.  I’m really glad I came, and have gotten some good out of (most) of the preaching.  I’ve definitely been refreshed and encouraged.  And the best part is catching up with old friends from around the region.  It’s just not been what I expected.

We arrived Sunday night for the opening session.  All the sessions are being held at College Church of the Nazarene in Bourbonnais.  We arrived early enough to get good seats in what turned out to be a standing room only crowd.  And we settled in for worship.

The singing started with a worship chorus that while catchy, would probably have caused John Wesley to roll over in his grave.  Over and over we repeated the vacuous phrase “I am a friend of God.”  Maybe you know the song.  I wish I didn’t.  I suppose there’s some real truth in there, but I couldn’t hardly hear the music over the sound of Wesley bemoaning our tendency to be overly familiar with the great Lord of heaven and earth that was ringing in the back of my mind.

But before I get too worked up over the worship, I should also remember that Olivet’s Proclamation gospel choir led us in worship that was both scriptural and infectuous.  The service on the whole was a great encouragement.

Dr. John Bowling, Olivet’s president was the scheduled to be the summit’s first speaker.  He began with some opening remarks which were both heartfelt and challenging.  Bowling is a masterful preacher, but is known for preaching from manuscripts and carefully crafting his every phrase.  But this Bowling was walking around the stage, speaking from his heart.  It was a surprise for anyone familiar with his preaching, and added to the directness of his message.

His opening remarks reminded us of the founding of our denomination, pointing to the example of Phineas Bresee, leaving the prestigious pulpits of Los Angeles to shepherd the Peniel Mission, serving the homeless and destitute of the city.  He took the message of holiness to the people who would not have been welcome in many of the city’s churches because he believed the message of grace was for all people, and for the outcast first of all.

Bowling went on to speak of the optimism and vision of the group of believers who gathered in 1908 in Pilot Point, Texas to work through the founding of a new denomination.  He harkened back to passion for holiness that was the driving impetus behind the people marching around the Tent/Tabernacle of that meeting, praying for God’s direction for the fledgling church.

And with powerful feeling, Dr. Bowling declared that he is not about to give his life for a church whose best days are in the past.  Instead he called us to return to our roots and reclaim our heritage.  The Holiness movement, Bowling said, began when a group of people gathered together to ask the question “What would happen if we began to preach the doctrine of heart holiness?”  The Holiness Summit, likewise, grew out of that same question.

It’s a call to leave behind what Dr. Bowling called “the virus of generic Christianity” that has infected our denomination and caused many to forget the doctrine of heart holiness that lies at the core of our identity as a church.

It was at this point Bowling began his sermon in earnest.  His opening illustration alluded to the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  He pointed out this is a story that can be read at a variety of levels, but at it’s core it is the story of a man at war with himself.

In Romans 7 we read a very similar story, a story of a man at war with himself.  The Paul of Romans 7 is a “walking civil war.”  But he is a man who, albeit helpless, is not hopeless.  And his hope is grounded in the full salvation offered by Jesus Christ.

Before digging deeper into this passage, Bowling acknowledged some of the exegetical issues at stake in this passage, questions which scholars debate to this day.  Questions like, is this passage autobiographical?  Is Paul talking about himself or a hypothetical person?  Is the person described a believer struggling with an inner war, or an unbeliever struggling with belief itself?  Does Paul ever get around to offering an alternative to the internal war? What exactly does he mean by flesh?  And why does Paul use six different words for do in this single passage?

With so many questions, one wonders if there can be any answers found in this text. But Bowling challenged us to focus not on the many things we don’t know, but that which we do.

First, in verse 14 Paul stresses that the problem he faces is not a problem of understanding or knowledge.  Paul knows that the law is spiritual, but that he is unspiritual.  He knows what he ought to do.

In verse 16, Paul stresses that the problem is not a problem of desire.  He wants to do what is right, and he wants to avoid the wrong.

The problem is not one of understanding or of desire, it is a problem of power.  It’s not a matter of knowing more, or wanting it more.  It’s not that Paul is at war with God.  Rather Paul is the battlefield where the war between two principles is being waged.

In verse 25 we get to the good news of the passage.  God has made provision for this problem of power in the person of Jesus Christ.  And because sin is a twofold problem – a problem of guilt and corruption – God has made a twofold provision.

In Romans 8:1, we arrive at freedom from condemnation, the promise of an end to this war.  And the answer to spiritual defeat is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.  This answer transcends just covering it up.  It entails cleaning us up. But it’s not enough for us just to hear this answer.  We must experience this answer, and we must own this answer as our own.

In the end, the sermon was well written and even better delivered.  However, it was far from profound.  It really seemed to me like fairly standard Holiness preaching boilerplate.  There were two parts in particular that got me thinking.

The first was Bowling’s statement that the problem is not that we are at war with God, but rather that we are the battlefield where the war between two principles – sin and Spirit – is being fought.  I’m still trying to unpack that statement.  I’m not fully sure what I feel about it.  At first blush it seems that it depersonalizes the struggle that wars within beleivers, and passes the buck of responsibility to “the sinful nature” or “the flesh” depending on your translation.

On the other hand, I suppose I understand in part what he may have been saying.  After all, if it is possible to claim to be a follower of Christ while not desiring to follow Him, we should probably redefine what it means to be a follower of Christ.  That war should already be settled in the life of the believer.

The other thing that really caught my attention (and from talking with several others, theirs as well) was his phrase “the virus of generic Christianity.”  In some ways I’ve felt these meetings which were billed as interdenominational have been very Naz-o-centric.  And the emphasis on leaving behind generic Christianity might be seen as deeping that divide.

But on the other hand, I think reclaiming our heritage, at least some important parts of it, would be a good thing for our denomination.  It would do us well to remember that God raised us up as a church to preach the doctrine of heart holiness, a doctrine with a dual emphasis on personal and social holiness. We need to reclaim the radical optimism of grace that believes the gospel really can transform not only my most personal self, but also the world in  which I live.