Episode 170: Expository Courage Amidst Theological Drift - Dave Ten Clay (Part 1)

“The affirming side, the progressive side, they don’t have to win. They just have to not lose. They’re fighting a guerilla war…They just have to keep hanging on and not be decisively beaten, and as long as they do that…they just outlast the faithful. If the faithful orthodox side is unwilling to discipline, to do the hard things, the guerilla warfare…wins out.” -Dave Ten Clay

Summary of This Episode

Welcome back to The Messy Reformation podcast where Jason is joined this week by Rev. Dave Ten Clay. Dave is the lead pastor at Bauer CRC, just north of Hudsonville, MI. He also pastored Immanuel CRC in Burbank, IL, on the southwest side of Chicago. Dave did not grow up in the traditional Christian Reformed Church path. He was raised in Sheldon, IA, attended a Reformed Church in America (RCA) congregation and was educated in public schools. For undergrad studies, he attended Northwestern College before heading to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS). Initially, he was on track for ordination in the RCA before deciding to change over to the CRC.

Given the uniqueness of Dave’s calling, Jason explores that. Dave felt a draw to ministry already in high school, when he was asked to speak at youth Sunday services, and was encouraged by others to consider ministry. When he started in college, he was planning to go into teaching, but working at Camp Geneva in Holland, MI, pointed him in the direction of becoming a pastor. His choice of seminary came at the recommendation of his pastor at the time as well as personal theological differences with Western Theological Seminary on biblical inerrancy and being a complementarian. Already in the 2000s, Dave felt and experienced tension with the denomination he was raised in and its seminary on such important issues. He started turning to the CRC when he worked with Roseland Christian Ministries, and was eventually ordained in the CRC in 2013.

Quite a bit of the episode focuses on preaching. At Trinity, Dave was taught and trained in expository preaching. That involves breaking down the text and letting the sermon be based on its structure. “The main point of the text, that’s the main point of your sermon.” They both lament the four-page method being taught at Calvin Theological Seminary that does not seem to be preparing pastors well for their primary tak. While many assume being in the Reformed tradition, which has emphasized the Word and preaching, that our seminary would be doing a solid job of training pastors, it feels like a bit of a let-down in this area. Jason points out, preaching carries over into many other parts of our ministry, so if it is lacking, there will be a negative impact throughout. Looking at the grassroots movements that have been successful recently, he wonders, “If the denomination’s going to do this poorly, then local churches are going to start stepping up and…equipping pastors…to be able to preach more effectively…People are so hungry for [expositional preaching]…[They’re] looking for a church that would preach God’s Word…What they’re meaning by that is that the text is bright in the sermon, and the sermon says what the text says…” Dave adds that good expositional preaching equips people to read the Bible better themselves.

The end of this episode focuses on comparing the CRC and RCA. It’s often been said the CRC follows and does the same thing as the RCA, just five years behind. Dave continues to see some truth to that, which gives him some pessimism about our denomination. He brings up how the RCA, on paper, holds marriage as only between a man and a woman, yet, practically, congregations have done what they want. RCA General Synods have looked good—he’d consider their work a victory for orthodoxy—only to find that the other 51 weeks out of the year, the denomination or its churches would neglect, ignore, even act against what General Synod had decided.

While there are polity differences between the two denominations, he strongly cautions against what gives the appearance of a local option (each church deciding for themselves and not being held accountable). Dave summarizes it, “The affirming side, the progressive side, they don’t have to win. They just have to not lose. They’re fighting a guerilla war…They just have to keep hanging on and not be decisively beaten, and as long as they do that…they just outlast the faithful. If the faithful orthodox side is unwilling to discipline, to do the hard things, the guerilla warfare…wins out.” He encourages people to be true to their convictions, live with integrity, but for those who are on the affirming side of the CRC, the message is for them to leave. It’s difficult, he’s done that himself, but life does go on. For the orthodox, exercising discipline must be understood as not meanness, despite what others will say.