Bert Waggoner, the National
Director of Vineyard USA, has long contended that it is important for
the Vineyard to continue to develop theologically, to grow and deepen
in its heart for Scripture and careful thinking. Bert himself
continues to be a voracious student of theology, and his perspectives
as the National Director are consistently undergirded by his wide
reading and sustained reflection over many years as a pastor and
church planter. We recently asked him about what he sees as key
theological themes in the new century, as well as important emphases
for us to be considering in the Vineyard.
What are
you seeing as the key themes of theology that are emerging as especially
important today?
I think that eschatology, with its
message of hope, will continue to be at the forefront of theological
development. In addition, there is now a renewed focus on the Trinity,
as well, which is wonderful. Though we in the Western church have always
had a theology of the Trinity, we haven’t really had an experience
of the Trinity. The reality of the Trinity ought to affect everything we
do. It should influence our prayer lives, our approach to social
relationships—how we relate as husbands and wives, how we relate within
the church—and it should also affect our worship. Our worship should
reflect a holistic, Trinitarian focus. (One of the best books I’ve found
on this was Millard Erickson’s little book, Making Sense of the
Trinity.)
There is much being written today in
theological anthropology, which is fundamental to our understanding of
spirituality and how we minister to people. The nature of personhood is
a driving question in our time. So many of our views of spirituality
have wrongly, I think, been shaped by Greek thought—which divides the
person up into parts—instead of Hebraic thought, which sees people
holistically, sees them as eschatologically moving toward true
personhood. Stan Grenz’s book on these matters, The Social God and
the Relational Self, is very helpful.
Are there certain themes we in the Vineyard to which
should be paying special attention?
I think the Vineyard needs to
continue to develop its focus on social justice. As evangelicals, our
tendency is to emphasize personal piety and shy away from social
justice. The book highlighted in a previous issue of Cutting Edge,
Divided by Faith, emphasized our evangelical tendency to be blind to
many social issues because of our focus on spirituality and the
individual. I think we need to be challenged continually to address
those issues.
Also, our understanding of the
kingdom of God has focused especially on ministering to people with
words of knowledge, healing, “power ministry,” and so on. But I believe
we need to carry our focus on the kingdom into other areas, as well. So
when we take Communion, for example, we are partaking of the reality
of the kingdom and the presence of Christ. The same thing would be true
of water baptism. Water baptism is more than a “symbol” of something
internal. I believe that something very significant happens.
Historically baptism was understood as a moment of deliverance, and a
point at which one was filled with the Spirit, experienced an
in-breaking of the kingdom.
I think we should apply this
perspective to our preaching, as well. Preaching is not just a
communication of nice ideas; Jesus is really speaking. We should
expect in the preaching event the dynamic of God’s kingdom to be
present. As we continue work out a fuller theology of the kingdom, it
should influence us in all of these matters.
The Vineyard is growing, with a
larger number of churches both here and around the world. What does that
growth mean for us theologically?
The Vineyard is becoming
increasingly diverse, which means, first, that we must continue to
choose to love those within orthodoxy even amidst our theological
diversity. We need to be united in the essentials, and choose to love in
our differences. That’s a small statement with big implications. Within
those commitments to Jesus, Scripture, the creeds of the church, and the
kingdom of God, we have room for a lot of diversity which has been in
the Body of Christ for 2000 years. Robert Webber articulates a very
healthy position on this in his book, Ancient-Future Faith.
Of course, we will also be
influenced as the Vineyard grows internationally. Much of our theology
here in the United States was shaped in the context of the
Enlightenment, in scientific rationalism and pragmatism. However, in the
Two-Thirds world, for example, they do not think in these same
categories. As I’ve interacted more this year with the Vineyard leaders
in South and Central America, I’ve realized that they are going to
challenge us in a lot of our assumptions. The more we relate to the rest
of the church in the Two-Thirds world, the more we will be challenged to
restate our theology in terms that take into consideration paradigms
that are new to us. Of course, the folks in the United Kingdom also
influence us, because they have not been so shaped by fundamentalism as
we have here in the United States. And the believers in
Germanic-speaking nations who have been influenced by the prominent
European theologians will increasingly challenge us about the way we
state our theology. I think we are being enriched by these
relationships, and I think this will grow even more as we have more
consistent time with believers from Africa and Asia, as well.
How should we best approach this growing diversity in
the Vineyard?
We need to embrace our increasing
diversity as something from God. I believe there are many forms that
Vineyards can take. We can have seeker churches, “traditional”
Vineyards, churches that are more given to liturgy, large churches,
small churches. God uses all of these, and more. It is our essence
that defines who we are: We have to be Jesus-people, ones who have him
at the center of our faith without pretense or hypocrisy. We have to
live under God’s word and his Spirit, live in the expectation of the
in-breaking Kingdom, and be deeply committed to one another in love.
Community is perhaps the single most important sign of the kingdom of
God. And we are a missional community. “Mission is to the church as
burning is to fire,” as Emil Brunner says. Worship, of course, needs to
remain central.
I believe that real energy comes
when we take seriously Paul’s commission to us to embrace the whole
church. As I am pushed to look at theology in a different way, say by a
Reformed preacher or a Methodist scholar or a Lutheran professor, I find
my faith energized and enriched. Isolated reflection does not produce
spiritual energy; it produces sectarianism and spiritual pride. I think
anybody who just stays within their own tradition in their reading and
thinking is going to be robbed of perspective. We need the whole Body of
Christ in order to experience the full energy of God’s people and his
kingdom.
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