Introduction
Last week a random thought occurred to me, and so naturally I thought I should share it with the world. This is what that looked like:
As this sentiment garnered no little attention, it seemed that it was a topic that was worth unpacking a little bit more. So let’s do that, shall we?
Compared to What?
If you grew up accustomed to the kind of thing that passes for evangelicalism in the world of big box churches, where every worship service was a kettle of warm goop, and Jesus was your invisible sky-buddy, your first encounter with the preaching of John Piper—which your You Tube algorithm thoughtlessly handed to you—was like a two-year-old taking a sip of bourbon. I don’t know, he got up early, his parents had had a party the night before, and there was a glass with a little bit left over sitting on the coffee table. We don’t really care how it happened because all we need right now is a freeze frame of the metaphorical reaction shot.
That first encounter with big God theology was a true spiritual encounter. Something important was really there. Compared to the pabulum that was the usual menu item, that rib eye steak was really something. Compared to that paper cup with some room temperature tap water in it, the bourbon was startling and eye-opening. There are things like this in the world?
And if you happened to be a pastor, there were all kinds of ramifications—a decade’s worth of ramifications. What was your next sermon series going to be? What were you going to do about the make-up of your elder board? What was your wife going to think? Your oldest was almost kindergarten age, and what were you going to do about schooling for her? In short, you discovered you were living in a house with a cracked foundation, and you now knew you had to replace it, and you couldn’t move out of the house. You were going to be busy for a bit. Your seminary education was an airplane that needed to be repaired, and it had to be done while you were still flying it.
So let’s call this what it is, which is a promising start.
Allergic to Application
Tiny god theology actually requires no application. This is a domesticated god, one who lives in the mezzanine of your heart. You consult him from time to time whenever you need a little pick-me-up, a feel-good consult, but that’s about it. He never tells you to change anything. His priestess is your therapist, who doesn’t tell you to repent either. She agrees with you that all those other people in your life need to change, and so the status quo is going on swimmingly.
Big God theology, by way of contrast, requires application. The God of Calvinism is never content to let you just sit there. He requires application, and that means change, and this is why following Him can be so tumultuous. Following Him for a little while is tumultuous for that little while. So if the big God being preached is the God of the Bible, this is what happens in the very nature of the case.
Now from the devil’s perspective, can anything be done about this? I am reminded of Screwtape’s advice to his nephew. “So, your man has become a Christian . . .” That is a Grade-A disaster, but all is not lost. The challenge for the other team is this. How do they set boundaries for the no-boundaries God? How do they establish limits for the one who inhabits eternity? Remember that God is limited by nothing outside of Himself; He is bounded by nothing other than His own nature and character.
So the enemy’s task is to set boundaries for Him surreptiously, in the minds of His followers, that are not boundaries established by His own nature and character. The realities made manifest by the infinite God are not to be taken into the realm of culture and politics because the infinite God has indicated to us somehow that He doesn’t want to go there.
Retreat to Commitment
The devil loves inertia, and he is quite adept in his use of it. An object at rest will remain at rest unless somebody starts messing with it.
The only way for an advocate of Big God theology to refrain from active engagement in the world of culture and politics is to maintain that this is the commandment of God. God told us not to go there.
Now this is what the anabaptist tradition holds, and they have tried to hold to it consistently. Separate from the world. Let the English do their thing.
An MLK Thought Experiment
I trust you all remember the MLK50 conference? That event was sponsored by the ERLC and by TGC. Still with me? Remember that? And to date, these organizations have not apologized for it.
So the thought experiment is this. If we were to survey all the speakers at that conference in order to ask them what they would think of a huge evangelical conference, held on the 50th anniversary of Charlie Kirk’s death, commemorating his life and contribution, I believe that one word would show up an awful lot in their responses. That word would be idolatry.
In short, they would object strongly to people on the right doing what they are doing on the left. And make no mistake. They are on the left, some of them wittingly and others unwittingly.
When the Amish check out, they check out. When the third way evangelicals check out, they just pretend to check out. They hide their political commitments under the warm approval generated by the broader secular zeitgeist. “You’re not an MLK hater, are you?”
The Failure of Big God Theology
So what it comes down to is this. The failure of Big God theology has been the failure to be Big God theology. The complaint is not that