Beeson Podcast, Episode #497 Kevin Vanhoozer May 19, 2020 >>Announcer: Welcome to the Beeson podcast, coming to you from Beeson Divinity School on the campus of Samford University. Now your hosts, Doug Sweeney and Kristen Padilla. >>Doug Sweeney: Welcome to the Beeson podcast. I am Doug Sweeney, here with my co-host Kristen Padilla. Today on the podcast we want to play for you the sermon that my dear friend, Dr. Kevin Vanhoozer, gave as my installation address this January in Hodges Chapel. Kristen, would you please tell us more about what listeners can expect to hear on the podcast today? >>Kristen Padilla: Thank you, Doug. As always, it is a joy to be with you through this medium. Today on the show we are playing for you Dr. Kevin J. Vanhoozer�s address he gave on January 28, 2020 during our spring opening convocation service for Dr. Sweeney�s installation as Dean. Dr. Vanhoozer is a research professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois and a leading evangelical Christian theologian. If you are a regular listener then you have heard Dr. Vanhoozer on the podcast before. He was our guest a few months ago on March 10, episode 487, and several years ago with Dr. Timothy George as host on episodes 376 and 417. Dr. Vanhoozer�s message that you�re going to hear today is entitled, �A Wisdom Worthy of the Gospel,� based on Philippians 1:27-2:3. Speaking within the context of an evangelical seminary, Dr. Vanhoozer says seminaries are first and foremost places where one comes to learn Christ who is the wisdom of God. This kind of wisdom, Dr. Vanhoozer, says �requires humility for the sake of unity.� For seminaries like Beeson then to aspire to this kind of wisdom he suggests three actions that we want you to listen for today: get understanding, give understand, and be understanding. Dr. Vanhoozer gave a beautiful and inspiring message about being Christlike and we are glad for you to hear this today. Also, as someone who does marketing for Beeson, Dr. Vanhoozer gave us some marketing advice. Even a new tagline. So, listen for it and let us know what you think. Doug, do you want to say a few more words? >>Doug Sweeney: Yes. Dear listeners, Kevin Vanhoozer is one of my best friends in all the world. I really do believe he is one of the most important theologians at work in the world today. I commend him to you with the utmost enthusiasm and I invite you now to Hodges Chapel to listen to Dr. Vanhoozer preach from the Book of Philippians a talk entitled, �A Wisdom Worthy of the Gospel.� >>Reader: A reading from Philippians 1:27-2:3. �Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one Spirit, contending as one person for the faith of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved - and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my job complete by being like-minded, having the same love; being one in Spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vane conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.� The Word of the Lord. [Thanks be to God] >>Kevin Vanhoozer: Good morning. It�s a great pleasure, a very great pleasure to be with you on this auspicious occasion. It�s a wonderful day. One of my favorite people in the world gets installed in one of my favorite seminaries in the world in what is certainly my favorite chapel in the world. This is a service of convocation. We�ve been called together, summoned, for a purpose. The Bible frequently mentions people being called together, primarily to worship. �Come, let us sing to the Lord.� By way of contrast, Genesis 11:4 describes an unholy convocation. �Come, let us build a city and a tower and let us make a name for ourselves.� To which the Heavenly council responds with a convocation of its own, �Come, let us go down and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another�s speech.� We continue to suffer the effects of that curse. Even when we share the same language. That�s sadly attested by the discourse taking place in Congress, attacks on both their houses. Now, Christians are in no position to cast stones, however. Too often our denominational differences over how to interpret the Bible erupt into inter-Nicene warfare. With Lutherans and Wesleyans and Presbyterians talking past one another, or sometimes simply talking trash. Academic convocations remind me of the Lord�s invitation to Israel, �Come now, let us reason together.� Yet reasoning, in general, in higher theological education in particular is facing major challenges today. That achy feeling seminaries have had for some decades has become a bona fide institutional flu and the fever is reaching a crisis point at many of our sister schools. One long-standing symptom is the fragmenting of theological education. What should have been a seamless garment, learning to read and administer God�s Word has often been shredded into a number of discreet academic disciplines, each with their own agendas, jargons, and professional societies. So, the responsibility for putting the curricular Humpty Dumpty back together again often devolves to the poor student, who�s often ill-equipped for the task. The Yale theologian, David Kelsey, claims that what ought to integrate the various departments in a divinity school is the common goal of understanding God truly. And I can sign on to that mission statement, especially if I get to add a couple of amendments. First, that theological schools help students understand God truly when they enable them to read God�s Word rightly. Second, that true understanding is practical, a matter of life and not just theory. I agree with the Puritan theologian, William Ames, who defines theology as the doctrine of living to God. Theology teaches us how to live in accordance with God�s Word. With God working in us to God�s glory. There�s a second challenge confronting those of us involved in theological education expressed by T. S. Eliot. He asks, �Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?� And today we might add where is the information we have lost in Instagram? But I think Eliot is right. Today�s students suffer not from a lack, but from a surfeit of information. Anything you want to know can be instantly accessed through a variety of digital platforms. One wonders whether the university is still what Robert Groves, Provost of Georgetown University, once called �the ultimate information-based organization.� Now, I sincerely hope that what happens in a divinity school involves more than the exchange or transmission of knowledge. Students can access encyclopedias, they can listen to lectures on their iPhones ... so, why should we ask them to drop their fishing nets, or whatever else they�re doing, and come to seminary? If we lecture, they will come ... is wishful thinking. An academic field of dreams. No, if we�re going to persuade them to enroll, it must be because we have something to offer not available online or YouTube. A community experience in which students not only receive but learn how to process information. How to think biblically and theologically about God, contemporary culture, issues of daily living. As my own dean, Graham Cole, helpfully says, �Wisdom is not reducible to the accumulation of data, information gathering, or knowledge acquisition. Even though all three have their place. Wisdom knows what to do with data, information, and knowledge.� He�s channeling Proverbs 4:5, �Get wisdom. Seek understanding.� The translators of the NIV render Proverbs 4:7 in even more urgent terms, �Wisdom is supreme, though it costs all you have. Get understanding.� And no doubt those translators we�re still paying off their student loans. A seminary is first and foremost a place to learn Christ. Because Christ is the wisdom of God. And to learn Christ means more than learning about Christ. It means becoming Christlike, delighting in and doing God�s will, and thereby prospering in all that one does. So, theological education must do more than fill the mind. It has to shape the heart. I agree with John Webster who says, �A theological school is a school for the formation of gospel character.� I hope that our graduates can say with the Apostle Paul, �We have the mind that is the attitudes and the dispositions of Christ.� Come now, let us reason together. Better � come now, let us understand together. Best of all � come now, let us pursue wisdom together. Reasoning is good, understanding is better, but pursuing wisdom is best of all. Good, better, Beeson. [laughter] Be Beeson. The marketing folks can thank me later. [laughter] As we heard earlier, Psalm 1 calls us to meditate on and walk in accordance with God�s law, and thereby flourish. It�s not an enthronement Psalm, even though that would have been appropriate. It�s a wisdom Psalm. And the New Testament fleshes out this picture of the way of wisdom with the story of Jesus. Christian wisdom means walking in accordance with God�s law and gospel. And this brings us to Philippians. Paul�s most joyful epistle. Do you remember his opening lines? He says, �I thank my God and all remembrance of you, always. And every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.� And this is my prayer for Beeson and your new Dean as well. You are my joy, as the church at Philippi was for Paul. There�s just one thing. That�s how Paul begins our passage in Chapter 2:7. That the word �monon� � only. A single Greek term that Karl Barth translates as �just one thing.� And he says that this phrase, �just one thing,� serves as a warning finger. Just one thing: conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. That�s Paul�s sole exhortation to the Philippians. But it is all encompassing. It covers every aspect of the Christian life. It also provides a Christian university with its marching orders. Conduct your studies, scholarship, and teaching in a manner worthy of the gospel. Whatever your particular field of study understand how it relates to God�s plan to unite all things in Christ. Get a wisdom worthy of the gospel. The imperative Paul uses here in verse 27 is unusual. It�s built on the word �polis,� which means city. Some commentators translate the verb, �live as citizens.� And indeed Paul says in Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship is in Heaven. Now, the city of God is not a democracy. Jesus alone is Lord. But I think it�s nevertheless suggestive to view a divinity school as educating disciples to be good citizens of Heaven. Men and women who know how to live out their identity as Christians now on earth. And all the lectures and term papers in the world are for naught if they don�t contribute in some way to helping students become competent citizens of the city of God. Winsome ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. And this is another reason why a wisdom worthy of the gospel requires a community of learning. You can�t learn to love, much less to forgive, in virtual isolation. Gospel citizenship is ultimately a corporate responsibility. Now, every ten years or so the Association of Theological Schools conducts an accreditation assessment. They have several standards. The exercise is often helpful and illuminating. Yet the ultimate standard of theological worthiness is determined not by ATS but by the gospel. Paul know full well that pursuing wisdom in a manner worthy of the gospel will sometimes be countercultural. Which is why he goes on to encourage the Philippians and us to stand firm in one spirit. With one mind, striving side by side, for the faith of the gospel. And this unity of purpose is a function of our communion through the Holy Spirit. Now Christian scholars should not be contrary simply for the sake of being contrary, but from time to time we may have to be contrary, that is opposed to the social conventions and cultural consensus, if we�re to be faithful to the gospel. So, to this point we�ve seen that the purpose of a theological school is to understand God truly and that the way we pursue this project, like everything else we do as Christians, must be worthy of the gospel. And turning to Chapter 2:2-3 we see what a wisdom worthy of the gospel actually looks like. Verse two, �Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind.� The gospel is the good news that in Christ there is a new humanity reconciled to God and to one another through the Holy Spirit. And that believers are one body in Christ. That�s the indicative truth from which Paul derives his imperative. Oneness in Christ sounds the death knell to all factionalism. Hence, the pursuit of wisdom that should be the vocation of a divinity school calls for practices that unite rather than divide. I�ve already said that Beesonians give me joy. Now, make my joy complete by being of the same mind. It doesn�t mean you have to march in lockstep, read the same Bible translations, or use the same critical methods. Unity allows for diversity as evidenced by the different academic and ecclesial approaches to the Bible represented in this chapel. We belong to different academic disciplines. We belong to different church denominations. And we are the richer for this diversity. What makes us all partners in the ministry of the gospel is an underlying koinonia enabled by the Spirit. Now, the key term in verse two is �phroneo,� a verb Paul uses ten times in Philippians. It�s referring to a particular type of thinking. A thinking that is more than simply logical analysis. Phronasis is a practical and effective reasoning that involves both head and heart and results in a positive course of action. So, to be of one mind means exhibiting a common phronasis, a common pattern of thinking, valuing, and acting that�s characteristic of citizens of the gospel. Practical wisdom means knowing what a citizen of the gospel should do in any given situation. It�s the understanding disciples demonstrate when they participate rightly in God�s drama of redemption. Speaking the truth in love and doing what makes for mutual edification. Learning Christ means learning His practical wisdom. What to say and do in order to embody His mind everywhere before everyone at all times. It�s this common mind, this common framework of understanding that allows us to be in full accord even when we disagree about secondary or tertiary issues. So, complete my joy by being single-minded in your purpose to live our your common gospel orientation. Come, let us [phronine 00:19:39], reason practically, together. Verse two exhorts us to display the unity we have in Christ. Verse three gives us the necessary conditions for doing so. �Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.� It�s wrong to do something, including academic work, from selfish ambition. A scholarly career is no excuse to build an ivory tower to make a name for ourselves. That way lies Babel. Those who pursue careers are more interested in making their own names great, a desire that inevitably gives rise to envy, competitiveness, and factionalism. By way of contrast the vocation of a Christian educator, individual or institution, is to magnify the name of the Lord. It�s also wrong to do something including academic work from conceit or kendoxia, vainglory. In our image and status conscious culture where Amazon tracks the ebb and flow of your book sales, it�s very easy to be swept up in vainglory or to despair. But conceit, like selfish ambition, eats away at community. It undermines our sense of common purpose. And it prompts actions not worthy of the gospel. Well, those two wrongs are followed by a right. Paul says, �In humility consider others better than yourselves.� Oh my. That may be the biggest challenge yet for academics. After all, we�re trained to prove the superiority of our theses. Can�t I just give away my earthly possessions? That would be easier. Please, not my pet theories. [laughter] I�m sorry, but a wisdom worthy of the gospel requires intellectual humility and sometimes even mortification. Humility is the quintessential and distinctive Christian virtue, because as Paul goes on to say in verses 5-11, �Christ Jesus, who was in the form of God, emptied himself and took on the form of a human servant.� Christ, the wisdom of God, made himself nothing for us and our salvation. Hence, a wisdom worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ requires humility for the sake of unity. How might this apply to Beeson and other like-minded seminaries who aspire to be both interdenominational and truly evangelical? Which is to say in accordance with the gospel. Let me suggest three action points. Get understanding. Give understanding. And be understanding. Get understanding. This is Proverbs� urgent appeal. And as we�ve seen it involves more than exchanging information. God is the generous giver of wisdom. God�s Word and Spirit are the means of this sapiential grace. The Church and her servants, the seminaries, are the best locations to receive the gift. Get understanding. But also give understanding. To consider others superior to one�s self requires great efforts to listen to and sympathize with them. But the effort is worth it, because as Kierkegaard says, �it is a blessing to be understood.� It takes humility to give understanding to those in different disciplines who don�t do it the way we do. Or to those in different denominations who are following God�s word differently. I agree with J. A. Metters who says the greatest weakness of Calvinism is Calvinists, who think that they�re the only ones who think correctly about God. And he speaks from experience. He writes in his book called, �Humble Calvinism,� he writes, �For years my Calvinism was filled with data. Toughed-up-ness. Systematically arranged verses, talking points, arguments, anger, and quotes from Puritans.� Well, puffed-up-ness is hardly unique to Calvinists. Now, Beeson is already an exemplary model of a school that gives understanding. Thanks, in large part, to its founding Dean, Timothy George. I�m thinking particularly of his essay, �Why I Am An Evangelical And A Baptist.� In this essay he makes clear how we can affirm our own denominational distinctives as things that distinguish, but don�t necessarily divide us from other Christians. And things that may actually be gifts to the one holy catholic Church. It�s a blessing to have one�s denominational differences understood in those terms. And I encourage you to grow further into your identity as a school that gives understanding. Be more Beeson. Finally, be understanding. To be wise you have to become a certain kind of person who desires and is able to understand others, and willing to make the effort. As we�ve seen, this sometimes will involve mortification. When, in humility, we count other ways of reading scripture or doing church as possibly as good or even better than ours. Maybe they have something to teach us. It�s only fitting then that you�ve selected as your new Dean a Church historian, who is indeed the kind of person who considers others, like Luther, Jonathan Edwards, as better than himself. Now, to become the kind of person who could make himself nothing in order to magnify others requires not only education but sanctification. Martin Luther called marriage a school of sanctification. What better place to understand the second greatest mystery in the universe: the opposite sex. But I wonder whether Luther would agree with me in viewing parenthood as the graduate school of sanctification? Because nowhere is theological education needed more than in raising children, where the aim is to communicate wisdom to the next generation. Again, back to Proverbs. Proverbs is a book of parental wisdom to a son born to be king. Now, as parents, Doug and Wilma Sweeney have raised a godly young man, David. Not a king, to be sure, but an exemplary commoner and Christian. That feat alone that I have witnessed firsthand stands as a compelling commendation of your new Dean and his wife. If you would learn Christ, imitate Him; imitate them. In conclusion, if I rejoice with you here at Beeson on this important day, it�s not because this installation is part of my grand plan to place former students in the most important academic positions in evangelicaldom. [laughter] No, my real joy comes from sharing with Doug Sweeney the same mind about the gospel and the purpose of theological education. To further the formation of Christ-focused practical reasoning. Yes, we all face serious challenges � financial, demographic, cultural, and intellectual. Church historians know better than the rest of us that this is nothing new. In the second century, Tertullian wrote his famous apology, commending Christianity to its cultured Roman despisers. His most powerful argument, I think, was his description of the Christian community itself. �See how they love one another.� My prayer for Beeson is that you will grow further into your unique identity, as a learning community, united in your intent to understand God truly, not least by listening to those who may disagree with you, and listening to the whole communion of Saints and scholars � past and present. I pray for you that others will say of Beeson, �Look how they understand one another.� Paul�s words to the Philippians speak to all ages of the Church and to ours in a fragmented, polarized, age where some denominations are fading away and others are tearing themselves apart. Paul directs our attention to our common project: learning to live out our life in Christ. This is the meeting point of all our departmental differences, the healing of our denominational feuds, because here doctrine and practice are webbed together as we each do our part to help everyone in this community progress to maturity in Christ. So, come, let us wisdom together in a manner worthy of the gospel and to the glory of the triune God. Amen. >>Kristen Padilla: You�ve been listening to the Beeson podcast. Our theme music is written and performed by Advent Birmingham of the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. Our engineer is Rob Willis. Our announcer is Mike Pasquarello. Our co-hosts are Doug Sweeney and, myself, Kristen Padilla. Please subscribe to the Beeson podcast at www.BeesonDivinity.com/podcast or on iTunes.