From Sampler to Sower

No one could describe the Word of the Father;
But when He took flesh from you, O Theotokos,
He consented to be described,
And restored the fallen image to its former state by uniting it to divine beauty.
We confess and proclaim our salvation in word and images.
(Kontakion on the Triumph of Orthodoxy)

Chances are you probably didn’t sing that hymn in worship yesterday. Let’s face it, chances are, you didn’t even know that yesterday was the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Yet Christians around the world who worship in congregations that are part of the Eastern Orthodox tradition celebrated what is, in their estimation at least, one of the most significant events of Church history: the Seventh Ecumenical Council, also known as Nicea II.

Let me save you a trip to your church history books. The seven truly Ecumenical Councils were synods held by the Church to which bishops from the whole of Christendom were called to wrestle with heresies confronting Christianity and to define the boundaries of orthodoxy.  (The Roman Catholic church considers 21 councils to be ecumenical; the Eastern Orthodox church only acknowledges seven.  It seems hard for me to consider any council not affirmed by both East and West to be truly ecumenical.  Either way, however, both main streams of Christianity consider Nicea II to be an Ecumenical Council.)

This council predated not only the Protestant reformation, it predated the Great Schism itself. It is a truly Ecumenical council, an event that all Christianity shares. In other words, this isn’t just their history. It is our history. And the truth it defended has profound implications for our theology and liturgical practice. Here’s why:

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Dr. Louie Bustle, Director of Nazarene World Missions

After a great lunch with a good friend, Tony Fightmaster, talking about the excellent scholarship opportunities that exist at ONU for Nazarene students, I returned to College Church for session four of the Holiness Summit on Monday afternoon. One of the highlights of the worship service was hearing George Wolfe sing Larnelle Harris’ song “Were it not For Grace.” Especially after my concerns about the implications of the self-help book metaphor for sanctification from the preceding presentation, those words “Forever running but losing the race, were it not for grace” were especially apropos.

The speaker of the hour was Dr. Louie Bustle, the World Mission director for the Church of the Nazarene. Preceding his message, a student read from Luke 24:49, which Bustle cited as Christ’s promise to give his disciples power through the Spirit.

After citing that verse, Bustle acknowledged the common question in the denomination’s theological circles: Are we Wesleyan?  Or are we American Holiness?  Bustle’s answer: “I say yes.  But even more than that, we should be Biblical.”

And then he spent the next 30 minutes completely ignoring Scripture.

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The third session of the Holiness Summit at ONU followed very quickly on the heels of session two.  After a 15 minute break we filed back into College Church’s sanctuary, being met at the door by ushers passing out half sheet fill-in-the-blank handouts for a message entitled “Sanctification for Dummies.”

I wasn’t sure what to think of these portents, especially following the depth of Dr. Quanstrom’s message.  It was a morning session rather than an evening service.  The congregation gathered were primarily pastors, university professors and theology students.  I wasn’t sure we were really eager to hear the doctrine presented for the sake of “dummies.”

The presenter for this second session was Rev. Mark Fuller, pastor of the Grove City Church of the Nazarene in Grove City, OH.  Chaplain Benson prepared us for his message with an invocation in which he declared “We don’t want to be mere dabblers, but doers.”  After a time of worship, a student read Romans 12:1-2 from the New Living Translation – certainly more accessible than some of the other translations, but it left me wondering if something of the power of that passage was lost in translation.

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Dr. Mark Quanstrom, Professor of Theology, Olivet Nazarene University

Our first full day of the Holiness Summit at Olivet Nazarene University began Monday morning in the sanctuary of College Church of the Nazarene in Bourbonnais, IL.  ONU’s chaplain, Rev. Michael Benson opened the service with a quote from James Allen’s classic As A Man Thinketh.

And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you secretly most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn, no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.

This is not just some new-agey thought inspired by The Secret.  It is an affirmation of a Wesleyan holistic psychology which affirms our actions and our achievements are shaped and driven by our affections.  And it was a good reminder that what we think about these things really matters.

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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.

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