Tuesday, October 16, 2007

What Do You Think of the Regulative Principle?

Timmy Brister asked this question of Mark Driscoll:

"Do you believe that the Scripture not only regulates our theology but also our methodology? In other words, do you believe in the regulative principle? If so, to what degree? If not, why not?"

As I type this, his question is in first place. Many are adding some good comments. I'll go ahead and give my answer here:

What I see of Paul is not that he taught methodology, but that he taught theology and applied it to the circumstances of each church, group of people, or person in order to derive proper methodology. This is why it's important to understand Paul's audience at any given time. The theology must remain firm, but the methodology must provide the appropriate conduit for instructing different people in different places. I think Christ backed this up through John in His particular messages to the seven churches.

The key term here is "appropriate conduit". Churches cross the line when they cease to be appropriate and they cease to be a conduit. "Appropriate" doesn't cause people to stumble. "Conduit" refers to a reliance on God's provision for the message. Every element of corporate worship and ecclesiological conduct should serve to open communication between our Lord and His people. Neither "appropriate" nor "conduit" should occlude any part of the message of Christ.

Mark will probably have a more thoughtful answer. What are your thoughts?

Labels: , , , , ,

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

i think you mean Mark DRISCOLL.

Thu Oct 18, 11:41:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Jim Pemberton said...

Yes I did, and I thank you for correcting me. I've updated the article with the changes.

Thu Oct 18, 06:10:00 PM GMT-5  

Post a Comment

<< Home