This book was a great read, so much so that I recommended it to
my wife and mom. I found Kapic’s chapter on humility and repentance (Chapter Seven) most
intriguing in that I have experienced the full force of this false dichotomy
with Church leaders; in fact, if all Christians got a hold of this one chapter
it would cause a veritable revolution in the Church today. Speaking to pride and how it causes arrogance
and an inability to recognize “the gap between the holy Creator and sinful
humanity, producing self-absorption and contempt for others,”[1] it is easy to see how
there is more pride in the Church than there is humility; one might even wonder
if Church leaders understand the concept of the word.
I have (about a year and a half or so ago), in obedience to the Lord my God, separated
myself from the Church I was a big part of because I began to see and question
why the opinions of one person mattered more than the wisdom of God; it was
very apparent that there was no changing the mind of said person. And as Kapic
states, “Anyone who stands at the end of his days and claims never to have
changed his mind should not be praised for unwillingness to compromise but
rather pitied for naïve pride.”[2] It got to the point where
there was no reasoning with this person, anything and everything this person did was right, there was no questioning any of it and if you did you were wrong; this person could do no wrong. It also became very clear that
what had become more important was the church building rather than building the
Church.
When this happens, and sadly it happens all too often, the
shepherds God raises up become hirelings and the sheep suffer for it. Humility
is thrown out of the window. Love is thrown out of the window. A desire to see the sheep grow and
mature is thrown out of the window. Not to mention the spiritual state of the shepherd,
he/she has become a “theologian of glory”[3]. And as far as repentance,
Kapic is clear that a true sign of humility is recognizing when one is wrong
about his or her theology and being willing to repent or turn from that error
and allow God to minister. It benefits the church immensely when leaders recognize that they can
actually be wrong every now and again. Holy Spirit, help them.
To reconcile this dichotomy, because it is such a sensitive
part of Church culture to not question senior leadership in any way, those who realize it must pray
and fast. Kapic reminds us that the theologian needs grace in order to accept
the revelation of God and be moved to repentance[4], that only comes
by the prayer of a discerning Christian(s).
[1]
Kelly M. Kapic. A Little Book for New
Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology, (Downers Grove: IL, 2012), 71.
[2]
Kapic, 73.
[3]
This is what Kapic, quoting Forde, defines as considering grace as something of
a supplement to whatever is left of human will and power. Kapic, 77-78.
[4]
Kapic, 78-79.
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