One age-old fallacy in Christian circles is that you can’t believe in Reformed theology and care about sharing Christ with others. This faulty logic is based on a false dichotomy between man’s responsibility (to forsake sin and to trust in Christ alone for salvation) and God’s sovereignty (in unconditionally choosing a people for Himself from before eternity past). Others, unwilling to go that far, associate “Reformed” with being old-school, inflexible, and unwilling to adapt to cultural changes. In other words: You can’t be both Reformed and missional.
Since I think the above association is sad and mistaken, I was delighted to learn that Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California is hosting a Conference on January 18-19, 2008 on the topic Missional and Reformed: Reaching the Lost & Teaching the Reached. They conference organizers note:
The claim of the emergent/emerging churches to represent a truly “missional” approach to ministry, witness, and evangelism is generating much interest and ink. This conference considers what it means to be Reformed and missional. We start with the conviction that Christ the Lord has established an institution (the church) and has given to it a mission to make disciples of all the nations. Without the church there can be no mission and where there is no mission, there is no church. Tough questions remain and this conference doesn’t promise to have all the answers, but we hope to ask right questions about mission and ministry in our pluralistic age.
The schedule features six plenary sessions, each of which bears an engaging title and is led by a Westminster Seminary California Professor:
“The Mission and the Confession of the Church: Friends or Foes?” (W. Robert Godfrey)
“Why the Mission Needs the Marks of the Church” (R. Scott Clark)
“Why the Marks of the Church Need the Mission” (Michael S. Horton)
“Mission According to Paul” (Joel E. Kim)
“Mission in a Pluralistic Age” (Hywel R. Jones)
“Mission and Missions: Evangelism in the 21st Century” (Julius J. Kim)
There is also a time for Q&A.
Registration is only $45 through November 26th.
(HT: Tim Challies)