I’ve been meaning to write this post since I arrived back home from the Baptist Identity Conference but couldn’t quite get the text moving. The recent controversy into which Ed Dr. Stetzer’s names has been dragged provided proper impetuous to finally put text to word processor.

For context, read my thoughts on Ed’s presentation at the Baptist ID conference. The clearest summary of my evaluation reads:

Don’t get me wrong…I want to like this guy and I’d really like to learn from him…Stetzer has some good material. However, it is washed out in his insistence that the church of this culture must meet the culture with its own culture. Aggravating the main problem there is the wash of statistics and pragmatic motivations that he uses to bolster his thesis. I just disagree fundamentally.

That really summarized my opinion of Ed at the time of writing. I’d listened to him speak at Resurgence conferences and had thumbed through books that he’d written (or been cited in) while I worked at Lifeway. Each time I came away with the same conclusion: this guy is right on the cusp of saying the things that need to be said while maintaining Biblical and Theological faithfulness but regularly went over the line into some kind of postmodern (speaking of era, not Ed’s position) church growth guru.

Therefore I sat in the room at Union University and listened to Ed present what someone has called “probably the most important thing a Baptist has said about the Convention in some time” and, low and behold, I heard the same thing I’d expected to: some good but presented with a lot of unhelpful (and in my opinion unneeded) emphases.

After the presentation, more in the interest of full disclosure than anything else, I went to Ed. One, as I said, I wanted to be honest with the man I’d just written an unfavorable review of. Two, I knew Dr. Stetzer had a perspective that I didn’t and could be useful if I could figure out how to filter it properly; thus I was looking for him to clarify or, if not that, sell me on what he was saying.

That conversation was brief and I’m not sure Ed will remember it one year hence but for me it was thoroughly humbling and enlightening. When I introduced myself to Dr. Stetzer he said in a very kind voice “Nice to meet you Jeff. Glad to hear you hate everything I’m doing.” This was initially disarming as it indicated that Ed had actually read something I’d written on my blog, something that very few people in this world could actually say. Not only had he read something on my blog but he’d also read what I’d just written.

I won’t go into the full details of the conversation because (a) I don’t feel like typing it and (b) you probably wouldn’t find it all that interesting but I do want to put some highlights up which I believe speak positively to Dr. Stetzer’s character and what he is trying to accomplish.

Let me first say that the initial “kind voice” Dr. Stetzer greeted me with continued throughout the entire conversation. Keep in mind that I had written what I hope wasn’t unkind but obviously wasn’t affirming comments about what Dr. Stetzer had presented. We were 15 minutes past the time he’d presented and I’d blogged those things and yet the entire time Dr. Stetzer treated me with the utmost civility and according me respect I’m not sure I deserve. Let me explain. I have no illusions about my status in the Let me first say that the initial “kind voice” Dr. Stetzer greeted me with continued throughout the entire conversation. Keep in mind that I had written what I hope wasn’t unkind but obviously wasn’t affirming comments about what Dr. Stetzer had presented. We were 15 minutes past the time he’d presented and I’d blogged those things and yet the entire time Dr. Stetzer treated me with the utmost civility and according me respect I’m not sure I deserve. Let me explain. I have no illusions about my status in the world of the movers and shakers. I’m an undergrad level educated fellow who happens to read more than the average bear and maintains a little blog; not even one of the influential blogs at that. On the other hand, Dr. Stetzer is a nationally known figure cross denominationally and in evangelicalism. He’s a published author and hold degrees from institutions (Southern Seminary and Beeson Divinity School) that I’m not sure would even accept me as a student. So there’s me, Mr. Nobody, and Dr. Stetzer, a guy who regularly interacts with people I consider heroes. I don’t undervalue the local church or pastor when I write this but in terms of the overall direction of our convention Ed Stetzer is much more important than Jeff Wright.

Furthermore, Dr. Stetzer is paid to study the issues to which he speaks. Even without the degrees I mentioned before one has to consider that someone who studies the issues of his field and is in perpetual presentation, discussion, and fine tuning of what conclusions he reaches from those studies would be an “expert” on his subject matter. I, on the other hand, do not. I listen to his presentations, skim through his books, and post snarky criticisms as if I were the one who ultimately understood the field better.

Every bit of what I just wrote is true and forms a context for what happened the moments following my self-introduction to Dr. Stetzer. And you know how he responded to this little know-it-all who is really in no position to know much of anything about the topic? He treated me like I had a valid point. There was no ill response to my post, there was no “Who do you think you are?” attitude, and there was no condescension. He responded to someone like me by listening to my gripes and explaining his position even more.

Now, according to Dr. Stetzer on some level I’ve misunderstood what he was saying. I heard “meet culture with culture.” I, not one to run from culture, think that this plan (as you can see in my early post if you so desire) leaves the church always running one cultural trend behind those we’re trying to reach. My opinion was that culture was useful to the church as a tool by which we might communicate truths of the gospel using elements from culture that are already understood (on a popular level) in a manner like Christ’s use of farming and fishing metaphors to explain His kingdom to His immediate audience. After speaking with Dr. Stetzer I’m of the opinion that what I initially heard from him is not what he was saying at all, rather that his position is similar to the one I hold to. Please don’t read that as me saying since Dr. Stetzer is close to my position he’s validated. What I’m saying is that my criticisms were directed at a straw man I constructed through misunderstanding. Remember how I said the conversation was humbling?

Now, remember everything that Dr. Stetzer Now, remember everything that Dr. Stetzer could have said to me. Now add in that he could have belittled me for being so bold in shredding a caricature of his position. Instead, when I articulated my understanding of the Church’s relation to culture he said “There, that’s it. I need to go re-write my paper” as if I had spoken more clearly than he did. Believe me, that isn’t the case. You, I, and Dr. Stetzer realize that the problem isn’t with his communication but rather in my understanding. Yet he was gracious enough in our conversation not to brutally expose that fact. If that weren’t enough, Dr. Stetzer offered to send me a copy of his book Breaking the Missional Code because it would help me in reaching the culture God has assigned my church.

So am I now 100% in line with Dr. Stetzer’s message? No, I’m not. In preparing to post (and going through some re-evaluations) I listened to Dr. Stetzer’s presentation at the Baptist ID conference again. I heard him say that “our focus must shift from the methods of those times to the motives of those times—which involved reaching the lost with the best practices of the day.” Speaking of “practices” as necessary to reaching culture still makes me cringe. However, I now have a much greater respect for Ed than I did before our conversation. Furthermore, I realize now that I need to listen more closely and, stunningly enough, learn from Ed’s learned missiological perspective. I knew Ed was a brother in Christ. I now know that he is someone I need to be learning from. I’m thankful that he took the time to clear up my misunderstandings in such a gracious manner. I’ll close with one of the most valuable snippets of our conversation, one that I don’t think Ed would mind me sharing.

After explaining to Dr. Stetzer that my field of ministry was incredibly rural I explained to him that I’m trying to reach “rednecks, meth-heads, and trailer parks”, set in contrast with the postmoderns that are so often discussed when the subject of reaching culture comes up. His advice? “Love those people and communicate the gospel to them.”

Amen.

Ed Stetzer – Toward a Missional Convention
Audio
PDF (Thanks to Joe Thorn)