I am a Theological Anomaly and that often makes me feel like an Orphan in the Body of Christ

I am a Theological Anomaly. There, I said it. Now it is out in the open.

What a strange way to start a article, right. For many of my readers, you hear in your minds all kinds of things, things that may stretch the spectrum from those who are “coming out of the closet” to those who are deconstructing and becoming #Exvangelicals. Let me put your mind at ease here first. This is none of those things. I am as devout and faithful to orthodoxy today as I have ever been. Perhaps more so.

Let me explain:

Currently these are your basic categories of faith communities (there are variations but for simplicity I will just paint with a broad brush):

Calvinist or sometimes referred to as Reformed. By the way, as a side note here I wish Calvinism had not co-opted the term Reformed. There were many other great things that came out of the reformation and a Calvinist view of soteriology is not the sole thing that should be worthy of the label “Reformed” that came out of the reformation.

Standing starkly in a tense dichotomy is the Arminian camp.

Then you have your cessationists camp, they believe the gifts of the Spirit have ceased, well at least the charismatic, or sometimes referred to as the miraculous or power gifts, have ceased. They are totally OK with the other gifts still being in operation today. The opposing view is the continuist view. These are typically your Pentecostal groups who believe the gifts of the Spirit, all of them, continue today. It is worth noting that there has been some crossover happening in these circles where former cessationists have become continuists. Some notable people in this crossover group are Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, and Sam Storms.

Then there is the Complementarian camp, they believe that women’s roles in the church are defined by scripture as being unable to hold the position or role of Elder, Pastor, or Teacher. Egalitarians also believe they find their position in scripture and women can hold the position or role of Elder, Pastor, or Teacher within the church.

Typically, Calvinists are cessationists and complementarians. Although some may be continuist.

Typically Arminians are also cessationists but are egalitarian.

If an Arminian is a continuist they oft fall under the label Charismatic or Pentecostal.

Then of course there are your progressives. They typically are more antinomian in that they believe that in Christ there is freedom to be whoever you want to be. This camp typically espouses an “inclusive” and “accepting” posture to alternative lifestyles such as the LGBTQ lifestyle.

I realize these are extreme oversimplifications of these faith communities. There are not enough pages available in this blog to drill down into each of these positions but this oversimplification should be enough to describe the vastly polarized opposing views we find ourselves in today when we are looking for a church. Being a Pastor is no different. This is where oft I feel like an orphan. I will come back around to that. For some, it is super easy to find your tribe. If you can easily align with all of the Calvinist Reformed positions then there are a ton of really great churches to belong to. If you align with Arminian theology there are also plenty of great churches you could belong to.  If you’re Charismatic/Pentecostal there are many great churches you could belong to.

I am a historic premillennial Arminian continuist who is complementarian and ascribes to a Plurality Eldership model of church polity. Wow, that is a mouthful. And it is also an anomaly. Matter of fact besides my own grown sons I can not name a single person I personally know in church leadership who would say the same as they define their theology. And as such, I often feel like an orphan. I have no tribe of faithful believers who believe the way that I do. As I am painting with a broad brush here please grant me a little latitude. If I go to the Charismatic/Pentecostal camps I need to align with a Dispensational view of eschatology (typically pretrib) and I need to align with egalitarianism and quite possibly a prosperity gospel, of which I can not. If I were to go to a Calvinist camp I would need to align with Calvinistic soteriology and typically be a cessationist, again of which I can not. If I were to go to an Arminian (non-charismatic) camp I would need to be a cessationist and an egalitarian, of which I am not. What camp do I belong to?

As I have pondered these things of late, mainly since I left the last church I Pastored in, one in which there were many theological conversations I simply avoided for the sake of not wanting to create any division or disunity within the church, I have wondered how we will ever achieve the unity Christ prayed for in John 17? How will we ever see the unity described in Psalm 133? What is worse to me is how we have taken to the use of terms like heretic with ones who do not belong in our camp. If there is error, error is not heresy. Disagreement is not error or heresy. There is so much uncivil discourse happening on all sides of all the camps. Just read some comments on social media and you will see what I mean. Look at professing Christians who will bash another Christian for things like being a continuist or being an Arminian, or being a Calvinist or a Charismatic. In some circles, I am called possessed of the devil for my continuist embrace. In others a misogynistic chauvinist for my complimentarianism. Of which I am neither.

And yet in it all I find great hope for unity in the Body of Christ. As such, I keep searching for my tribe and continue to preach and teach the truths of God’s word as if they were the only way unto life because they are. “In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas.” In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity. Quoted during the thirty years war in the 1600’s following the reformation when Protestants, Anglicans and Catholics were deeply at odds over Theology. Today I think is a good day to rethink on this.