Donald Miller, author of the now infamous “Blue Like Jazz,” has stirred controversy on the Catalyst website by questioning the link between academia and the Church. Though Miller’s article was thought provoking (I must say that though I understand what he is trying to say I disagree with both his assumptions and conclusions) the comments following the article are perhaps more telling than the article itself.
First, we might ask what Mr. Miller means by “being led?” Does he mean the minister/pastor? The elders? The board or leadership? The denominational hierarchy? Those, like himself, who write books and articles for the rest of us to read, take note of? Surely, he is not suggesting the he quit writing books and articles for us to buy and read to help us lead?
The apostle Paul clearly teaches that Christ is the “head of the Church” (Eph. 1:22, 5:23; Col 1:18). Mr. Miller is not arguing this point but we might ask the question…who is leading the leaders? If Christ is the head of the church should we not be following Christ? I don’t think I have ever met a “church leader” who would debate that they thought that they were trying to follow Christ…and yet the pragmatic results of such leadership so often does not a appear “Christ-like” whether they were academic or not!
The comments seem to focus on the leadership issue as opposed to the need for education, or not. Many might suggest that Jesus was the ultimate leader and he did not have a seminary degree, nor was he an academic. My studies in various religious movements and mythologies have rarely suggested that a deity need earthly education or training. However, this is EXACTLY where Jesus is different.
Paul says it like this, “Who, being in very nature God...made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil 2:6ff). Jesus, who was at his essence—God (assumes omnipotence) and yet he knew he would need to become a student. Even at a young age he was in the temple with the teachers of his day, he became an outstanding rabbi (“do not think that I have come to abolish the Law…I have not come to abolish [it] but to fulfill [it].” He is simultaneously the teacher and the student, the leader and the follower, the Son of God and the Son of Man.
The beauty of the body metaphor is that we need the diversity of gifts that God gives to each of us. We need thinkers, doers, leaders, followers, etc…. Clearly, Mr. Miller is correct about at least one thing…”there are a million ways to be the Church.” The problem is, regardless of their level of education, far TOO many people still want to “go” to church instead of “being” the Church, and even fewer are interested in carrying their cross to follow Jesus, the Head of the Church. As Cyprian said, “no one can have God as their Father who does not have the Church as their mother.” We as the Church are hopelessly stuck with each other...we should learn to serve together!
You can read the full text of Mr. Miller’s article here:
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