As I mentioned before, there is currently a theological war going on within evangelicalism on the same scale of the Protestant Reformation and the Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy of the early 1900’s. The crazy thing about this ‘war’ is that it is really NOT about theological matters or even doctrine (unlike some of the other theological splits and wars).

This battle is more about control and the worldview through which one reads the Bible.

Jimmy Spencer put it this way last week on Tony Campolo’s “Red Letter Christans” blog:

“Over the past couple years we have seen a growing hostility between conservative and more legalistic traditions of Christianity here in the USA and the more progressive traditions who focus more on loving and serving others. This doesn’t cleanly break across strictly denominational lines either.

Watch.

You’re witnessing something big right now.
You’re witnessing a new split in Protestant Evangelicalism

This thing is going to split wide open.

I’m not saying it is a good or bad thing…but I can tell you it’s coming. It doesn’t have all the vocabulary put to it yet—but it is coming. It has been a bit under the radar for much of the Christian world—but it will spill out into the streets and the media and be a fullblown separation.

We have all felt tremors of this thing coming for a couple years now…

Rob Bell’s book will play a huge part in triggering this split.

This is not just about theology.

It’s about control of the story of Jesus.
It’s about the entire framing of God and The Gospel.

It’s gonna be something we mentally mark
It’s gonna start something big

It may not be nailing 95 theses on a door…”

Then today, Scott McKnight published an article on his “Jesus Creed” blog by Jeff Cook stating:

“And let’s not kid ourselves, I suspect the fire behind the debate is often about envy and resentment of a very talented man, about our own inability to get a hearing in the public square, and about the fear that new ways of talking about Jesus might trump what some have preached for decades.

The issues at hand are about culture and control, about how the theology of emerging Christians will be defined, and about the continuing fight between postmodern and modern expressions of Christianity. This seems clear to me now, for I would like to defend the following claim:

There’s not one controversial idea in Love Wins that is not clearly voiced as a real possibility by the most popular evangelical writer of the last century, CS Lewis.

Lewis and Bell hint at a number of theological possibilities in their writings that cut against what we might call the majority opinion, including: the possibility that those in hell might journey toward the grace of God after death, the possibility that those who have not heard the name of Jesus might find salvation in and through the image of Christ in their own pagan stories and myths, the possibility that some will eventually receive God’s grace freely after death, the possibility that hell is about bigger things than God’s wrath, the insistence that the metaphors describing what Jesus’ cross accomplishes and how his work is applied to us are culturally subjective, and that some ancient pictures of the atonement may be too confusing to help us right here, right now. All of these lines of thought were in Lewis’s writings before they were in Love Wins.

But that’s just it. The debate over Love Wins is not actually a fight only about doctrine. It is about angst caused by different cultures and philosophical precommitments. It’s about language and how we articulate what is real. It’s about the acceptance or rejection of postmodern ways of expressing what is most vital to us. It is about two cultures crashing together like a cold and warm front and causing a storm.”

The political cultural wars of the past few decades have moved into the church building and are threatening to tear apart evangelicalism…

What is very, very, sad is that neither group is right or wrong. As referenced above, differentness between these groups is not doctrine or theology – it is a cultural worldview. Instead of fighting each other, we should approach each other the same way we approach global missions – i.e. when you preach the gospel in South America you use culturally relevant words, concepts, and stories connect that with the people.

The same thing is true here – only since it is happening in our own backyard, we either don’t see or don’t want to see the cultural worldview shift. Lord, open our eyes and let us see what You are doing!

This theological war also highlights the importance of having a Kingdom of God worldview and allowing King Jesus to guide us versus relying on human wisdom, doctrinal tradition, statement of faiths, or creeds.

As King, Jesus wants a relationship with us and wants us to reach out to those around us.  As King, He has the authority to take us where He wants too – regardless of whether or not we like it. Accordingly, we should stop fighting with each other and start walking out His commandment. (and no, I don’t think this is easy for there are many pitfalls…but then again, Jesus never said it would be easy, He just said to follow.)