By Mark A. Horne
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? ~ James 4:1
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. ~ Titus 2:11-12
Some of you may have seen the post by Union Seminary this week where, at a recent chapel service, their faculty and student bodies worshipped plants. If you haven’t, the Washington Examiner’s post is here. There have been many memes and mockings of the incident. What really should be in all believers’ hearts is sadness. As my friend Zack Groff stated in a tweet, “I wanted to write something snarky or strident, but all I can do is lament. This seminary once housed the likes of WGT Shedd, and is located in arguably the most important city in the world. May God protect our remaining faithful Reformed seminaries from such paganism.”
One may ask, “How have we gotten to this place? How have we allowed ourselves to go this far?” Well, both James and Titus give us some answers to these questions.
First, James shows us that our hearts are not right. The Church has not held accountable the seminaries that teach our men to be sound students of God’s Word. God’s word is given to us as special revelation to “teach us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him forever; it teaches what we are to believe concerning God and ourselves” (WSC Qs.2&3). And yet we find ourselves at odds because what is being taught in the seminaries, that then spill over into the pulpits, are passions of the human heart.
The human heart is fickle. More than that, it is dead before Christ enters our lives (Ephesians 2:1, Romans 8:6). To the church at Sardis, Jesus said, To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Therefore, because we are made to worship, the human heart wants to worship something. It wants to fill a void that is there to make it alive again. Yet, because we are dead people, we follow passions of the heart (Proverbs 6:14,18) that are not of God. That is why His word is given to us. It shows us who God is and who we are and our need of salvation. 1 Corinthians 1:8 states it this way, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The second aspect of our downfall is what Titus addresses, the lack of training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. What we observe reported about Union Seminary’s chapel service is exactly this. Instead of training and preaching the gospel, instead of applying the means of grace in worship and the classroom, it has allowed the “worldly passions” into the pulpit. There is a lack of understanding of God’s Holiness and a running into wicked mischievousness. What we observe in this example among many in our time is foolish idolatry (Romans 1:18-23). There is an exchange for what is Holy for what is simply earthly and carnal. Instead of a life devoted to studying and worshipping the One True God, there is an exchange for what is foolishness and futile thinking.
So, what are we to do? We have to be diligent in our own daily walk with the Lord (Habakkuk 3:19, Psalm 89:15). Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. If we are truly following Him, He will be our utmost prize of worship – not plants, or carved images, or any man-made created things. As David Wells stated this week on the Gospel Reformation Network, “The Church is going to have to learn how to detect worldliness and make a clear decision to be weaned from it.” May it presently and forever be so, soli deo gloria.
Andrews PCA 