Sep 16 2007
theologically accurate speech award
This was the second week in our on going series called “Recycled.” It was another great sermon and service. I got to serve as host in the new venue and I can already tell, that I love the new venue and really like to serve as the host up there.
I will have fuller sermon reflections throughout the week, but I want to start by giving an award to Ron Zink for theologically accurate speech. Ron and his wife Debbie (who is a co-worker at Mountain) shared about the renewal they have experience. If you want to hear their powerful testimony you can go here. (The sermon won’t be up for another day, but it was part of the second message in the Recycled series.)
But let’s get to the point. In that message, Ron was talking about some stuff that had gone wrong, and that in the middle of things going wrong, some good stuff happened that was especially possible because of the things that had gone wrong. To describe this, Ron said, “God worked that for good.”
[Ron Zink on behalf of your theologically accurate speech I hereby give you permission to go to a trophy shop and buy yourself a plaque and throw a party for yourself.]
What he did not say was, “Isn’t it wonderful how God orchestrated this situation because God knew that I needed ____________.”
He didn’t say it, but lots of us do. I can’t tell if it is a slip of the tongue or true theological error, and that is why accurate speech line Ron’s makes such a difference. Romans 8:28, does not say that God causes all things, or that bad situation are God’s fault. Rather it says that even when things happen outside of God’s will, God can find a way to make good out of this situation.
I think that a whole series of post on sovereignty is brewing inside me and I have a few outlines started, but for today it is enough to say, “Way to go Ron.” Language matters. And it matters especially when it isn’t the main point. This is how theology is shaped, one accurate sentence at a time.
on the walk
-Ethan
Ps. I promise the other reflections will be on the main point of the services.
[Note: I would like to thank the anonymous reader who quickly noticed that I originally suggested that Ron buy himself a plague. Of course I meant for him to a buy a plaque and have since corrected my error.]
