Bojidar Marinov has some strong words about the Ligonier Conference this year:
It’s about time for Ligonier Ministries to come out of the nursery. R.C. Sproul helped so many of us to make steps forward toward developing a solid Biblical worldview. This conference is a step back, a return to our days as infants. We don’t need that, and the Church doesn’t need that.
The Church needs a clear, relevant, victorious call for battle (1 Cor. 14:8). These are times when people and ministries either lead or follow. If they neither lead nor follow, they better get out of the way. I know Ligonier has all the resources to lead. It’s about time they use them. Read the entire article.
I find myself agreeing with his overall critique. Still, I see a distinctively political agenda in Bojidar’s words. As someone committed to the Reconstruction of the culture under the authority of Jesus the Lord, but I am also fully committed to the Reconstruction of worship under the authority of Jesus the Lord. In fact, the political agenda is useless without it being under-girded by worship. Worship is warfare (see also For all the Saints).
Perhaps ministries like Ligonier and American Vision should use conferences (or at the very least include in these conferences) to teach pastors how to lead their congregations in jubilant Psalm-Singing, as an example. The Church, as God’s primary institution, sets the agenda for all political endeavors. If we fail to produce worshipers in our education, politics will go to hell in a handbasket. Whether emphasizing basic apologetic questions or emphasizing political take-over, in one sense, both suffer the same fate of nursery-like ideologies.