It all started when Tyler Jones, lead pastor of Vintage 21
Church in Raleigh, had his heart
broken because he knew the truth and the truth was not pretty: the church in
the southern United States
resembled a bone yard. Plenty of big, beautiful church buildings dot the
landscape of the South, yet statistically, the majority of them are either
dying or in numerical decline.
In 2008, Jones began talking with pastors from different
denominations across the South and they decided to host a conference called
“Advance the Church.” This was intended to be a conference focused on how to
revive the church, and bring it back to life, in the context of the “new urban
South.”
Jones and other pastors from around Raleigh
began gathering once a month for prayer about the conference and how to advance
the church in North Carolina and
throughout the South. Slowly but surely the line-up of speakers grew to include
Jones, J.D. Greear, Matt Chandler, Eric Mason, Daniel Akin, Bryan Chapell, Mark
Driscoll and John Piper. Interest started pouring in. The first conference was
hosted in 2009 and has been held the last two years.
This year the Advance conference was held at the Raleigh
Convention Center and featured
speakers Alan Hirsch, Daniel Akin, Eric Mason, Darrin Patrick, Tyler Jones,
J.D. Greear and NY Times bestselling author Timothy Keller. The theme of the
conference was: “Gospel: Recovering the power that made Christianity
revolutionary.” Each session featured a sermon or message on topics such as how
the gospel changes ecclesiology, discipleship, church planting, the city and
community, perspectives on current events, the global mission, church
community, and apologetics.
Keller spoke in two sessions and began by asking the
questions, “How does a life shaped by the gospel make a difference in your
life? How does it shape your heart?” He then suggested that when the gospel is
brought to bear on a believer’s heart it will do at least four things.
First, the gospel will bring “a new self image and forms of
humility” to bear on the Christian’s life. “When the gospel comes into your
life you are simultaneously a sinner and adopted and accepted and made right
with God,” Keller said.
The nonbeliever’s self image is in some way always based on
their performance. Yet, “when the gospel comes in we see that we are more
sinful than we dared to believe while at the same time being more loved and
accepted than we ever dreamed we could be,” Keller said. The gospel is quite
counter-intuitive, and thus it should “deconstruct and then reconstruct us.”
Second, Keller said the gospel gives believers a new
motivation and depth of joy. “Jesus took everything that we owe. He suffered
physically. But he suffered emotionally also. When someone loves us like that,
we love in response. Love produces love. Joy displaces fear. If you are happy
enough in the gospel, then nothing people say about you will change your opinion
of yourself or depress you.”
Third, the gospel gives the believer a new set of values by
which to live. The gospel gives the believer what looks like, by the world’s
standards, upside down values. “Jesus came not with a sword in his hand but
with nails in his hands. He won by loosing. He triumphed in defeat. He was made
famous by serving,” Keller said.
Fourth, the gospel gives the believer a general
unpredictability of thought. Keller argued that, “Christianity is the most
pessimistic and the most optimistic way of looking at the world. The Protestant
doctrine of total depravity is the most pessimistic doctrine of humanity that
exists. But the gospel is the most optimistic solution to the human predicament
(sin) that exists.”
Keller’s second session focused on how the gospel drives
apologetics, as people generally want to know what Christians believe and why
they believe it.
The “what” question is answered by the gospel and
apologetics answers the “why” question. “You have to be able to tell people
‘what’ and ‘why’ or else they won’t give you the time of day. Apologetics is a
defense of the gospel, not the gospel itself,” Keller said.
Keller warned against taking pride in doctrine or in one’s
ability and skills. Apologetics is not winning an argument; it’s about sharing
the hope and grace of the gospel.
Keller concluded by saying that at the heart of a skeptic is
really faith, as it takes faith to doubt Christianity. “The only way to judge
the natural world as being bad (evil, suffering) is to have a supernatural view
of it. Where do we get that supernatural view from? If there is no God then
everything is relative and deep down everyone knows that,” Keller said. “The
Christian has to show people that it takes more faith to doubt it than to
believe it. Tell the Biblical narrative in such a way that people wish it was
true; once you get them there, then you can do apologetics.”
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