Carl Trueman writes about the American neo-Reformed world

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2011/04/home-thoughts-from-abroad.php

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2011/04/what-hath-jerusalem-to-do-with.php


http://pastoralized.com/2011/04/19/a-not-famous-pastors-take-on-the-evangelical-hollywood/


The challenge of being neither cynical nor a fanboy amongst the neo-Reformed is a constant struggle. Really I would say that the struggle to not fall into either of these ditches on the roadside is pertinent regardless of what path you're traveling as a Christian. Carl Trueman has written some stuff recently that makes me think that some of this trouble is a trouble with Americans. Americans are apt to embrace personalities and particular leaders regardless of their church affiliation. American Catholics have these heroes, American Baptists have others, American Orthodox have still other heroes, Pentecostals have this, Wesleyans and Lutherans have that. Even when we profess to be above all that we tend to demonstrate it in invisible ways just after we thought we established our bona fides for being above all that. Trueman refers to how this American habit distinguishes itself in the conference circuit:


First, the conference [in the UK, not the US] was built around content not speakers. In fact, I was almost refused entry to my own final seminar because I could not find my armband. I was unrecognized by the steward even after speaking three times. Fantastic. In the UK, people come to hear what is said; they do not particularly care for who is saying it. This is subtly evident in the way events are marketed in the two countries. It also points to a major cultural difference. In the US in general, there is great suspicion of institutions yet huge and often naïve confidence placed in individuals. This is part of what makes celebrity culture so important, from politics to the church. In the UK, there is an often naïve trust in institutions but far more suspicion of individuals. I make this point as an observation; but also to flag the fact that US culture lends itself more readily to the problems Paul highlights in 1 Corinthians.


Carl Trueman notes with disappointment:


Second, no speaker made reference (almost obligatory when speaking at trendy Reformed evangelical conferences in the US) to how gorgeous his wife is. That is an odd and most distasteful American phenomenon. As one friend recently pointed out to me, such men are actually boasting about themselves, not honouring their wives. It amounts to little more than the old rugby changing room protocol where the male of the species draws attention to how virile he is on the basis of the bird/babe/chick (choose your demeaning noun) he has been able to 'pull.' One wishes that references by American speakers to their wives focused a little more on their godly characters and a little less on their vital statistics.

Ah, so I'm not the only one who has noticed American Reformed types must all speak about how lovely their wives are! I pointed out in an earlier blog entry here that among the neo-Reformed it is paradigmatic for a guy to say he is a Christian, husband of X, father of Y and Z, and pastor at such and such a church. If Reformed preachers and teachers get any more zealous in trumpeting the hotness of their wives I expect to see measurements, dress size, and shoe size trotted out as proof of how hot the pastor's wife is.


Yes, I do sometimes wonder if some of these Reformed pastors shouldn't just list the measurements and dress sizes of their wives for good measure. Does that, by chance, signal that I struggle with being a cynic? I wouldn't want to be too subtle about that, now. But this observation of Trueman's really sticks with me because I often get the sense that mentioning the invariably "lovely wife" and the brood really does end up being praise of the man in the blog entry or by-line rather than being praise of the actual wife and children.
Now I do know at least one pastor in the neo-Reformed orbit who will praise his wife but he does not tend to talk about how hot she is but about how loving, patient, kind, and smart she is. I'm not going to name names but I can say in response to Trueman's second observation that I do at least know ONE American neo-Reformed pastor who has said more in public praising his wife's character than her "vital statistics". Maybe Trueman would say that proves his point. Well, maybe there's no point in attempting to cite exceptions if they're going to be taken as proving the rule. :)

But to grant the sharpness of Trueman's point, let's reverse the observation and look at women bloggers or speakers. One of my favorite blogs to read is Practical Theology for Women and I can't say as Wendy has the same kind of formula listing exactly who she has been married to for how many years and the names of her children. These things are valuable to know if she is your friend but if you simply follow her blog it's stuff that you kinda, sorta don't exactly need to know. Just from her blog entries you'd find out she is a wife and mother without her having to announce the vital statistics. Seriously, go and look at any Christian blog written by a woman and tell me if she raves about how hot her man is. Maybe there are a few out there that I just didn't spot because I only read so many blogs.


Perhaps the most cutting observation Trueman makes is in "What Hath Jerusalem to Do with Hollywood? In it he recounts an email from a European who visited the Gospel Coalition conference, showed up early, and got some good seats about 10 rows from the front. When the person returned after a break it had turned out that the seats had been cordoned off as for VIP guests only. Ten rows from the front is VIP seems like a big conference to me. It would seem that while we pay lip service to just preaching what's in the Bible we can be guilty of breaking precepts taught clearly in the scriptures while finding ways to defend our breach of apostolic instruction. Sure, I know all sorts of things can (and maybe should) be said about false dichotomies and so on. I wonder, though, if trotting out the "false dichotomy" defense is what we do to make sure we innoculate ourselves against certain kinds of criticisms that could touch a nerve. Just throwing that out as an idea, for what little it may be worth.

P.S. I sympathize with Jared Wilson's pushback some because, well, I'm a Tim Keller fan myself. :) Keller's lecture/sermon about how to preach Christ from Old Testament texts is very good.