Episode 169: Recovering Bold Shepherds' Voices Amidst Compromise - Jared Luttjeboer (Part2)

“I fear we've compromised [our] heritage…through decisions that do not align with a faithful reading of the Bible…Genuine church reformation…requires leadership to uphold the authority of the Word of God and demonstrating its transformative power in their lives and seeking to honor and glorify God in all that they do in that way.” -Jared Luttjeboer

Last call– 2024 Messy Reformation Conference

The Courageous Leadership Conference in Green Lake, WI is a week away–April 15-17! If you haven’t signed up yet, there is still room. Go to https://themessyreformation.com/p/courageous-leadership-2024-conference-c66. 

Summary of this Episode

Jason and Willy are back with Jared Luttjeboer, Director of Marketing at Mid-America Reformed Seminary (MARS) and an elder at Beacon Light Community Church in Gary, IN. The conversation picks back up on the urgency of the current moment of the CRCNA. While the orthodox or traditional marriage side has been criticized for being too harsh or impatient, Jason points out about the progressive or revisionist side, “Not only is there no evidence of repentance, there’s blatant public refusal to repent…There are public statements being made that we will not repent…There [are] groups like Better Together…encouraging churches to go to Synod in protest of Synod.” Jared sees it as time to be like Martin Luther, “the bull in a China shop.” “There is a rebelliousness, a stubbornness, a capriciousness, a viciousness of recalcitrant hearts that have been shut off from the gospel…‘Our’ side [has done things] in prayer…The tension is requiring prudence and discretion and carrying out with patience, but the need for preserving true doctrine and godliness by removing persistently unrepentant leaders or churches is evident in Scripture. So we know that needs to happen.” Jason reminds us of Hebrews 3:13, “...Exhort one another every day…that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” 

Willy reminds us that we’re to keep watch, and therefore discipline, on matters of both life and doctrine. Often doctrinal issues will bleed into how people live. The trio touch briefly on the quickness that Synod 2019 dealt with kinism and yet are spending years on matters of sexuality and marriage. Jason sees it as a struggle in the DNA of the CRC that is wanting to be loved by the world. “It’s a really poor version of Kuyperianism that wants to engage the world but has lost the antithesis.” Willy expands by identifying contemporary Kuyperianism as becoming synonymous with “woke” or a social justice agenda rather than how it was traditionally intended as a transformationalist, kingdom-focused mindset.

Thinking of bigger picture reformation in the CRC, Jared hopes if we can put the current issues to rest that “...The CRC would rediscover…the real passion and love for God’s word that defined it…in its golden age.” While many local churches are confessional, he yearns for a denomination that is such. “I fear we've compromised [our] heritage…through decisions that do not align with a faithful reading of the Bible…specifically…the denominationa’s stance on hermeneutics and the approval of women in ecclesiastical office…While seeking unity and understanding between differing views, we actually ended up allowing contradictory positions that cannot both at the same time faithfully reflect the teachings of Scripture…We [made] a decision that amounts to an illogical claim that God somehow affirms two opposing perspectives.” 

There’s agreement that the CRC of today really is having to clean up issues that the denomination created for itself from the 1970s-90s. Jared nails it, “[This has] prevented full-bodied denominational effective ministry from working…Classes are divided, churches within classes are divided…The local option…doesn’t work. It divides the denomination. You’re pitting people against one another.” Jason agrees the Women in Church Office decisions did not actually bring about unity.

As they head toward the end, Jared encourages every level of our denomination to seek after faithfulness to and love of Scripture, our creeds, and our confessions. We should see those as the most faithful framework and worth promoting. He highlights Colossians 1:28 as the work of the church, “...teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” We don’t just want to develop a few godly thinkers in our churches; everyone should be! That’s why he still desires for children to grow up learning the Catechism, why congregations need good, godly, Christ-centered preaching from all of God’s Word, and church leaders prioritizing biblical literacy and spiritual formation. “Genuine church reformation…requires leadership to uphold the authority of the Word of God and demonstrating its transformative power in their lives and seeking to honor and glorify God in all that they do in that way.”