Wilson/Detweiler Discussion on Rhetoric

So there I was minding my own business drinking one of the finest ports I have ever had with dear friends at a party, enjoying my time like the summer of ’69, and then a friend asks if I had listened to the Wilson/Detweiler conversation on the Veritas Vox podcast. Mind you, these two men are friends of mine on Facebook, and while I have known Pastor Wilson personally for a long time, Detweiler seems to be doing quite a stellar job in getting the word out that Jesus is Lord in the educational department. I suspect he has the tattoos to prove his record.

When my friend encouraged me to take a listen, he prefaced by saying that someone is pushing back against Wilson’s rhetoric. So, I put the information on the California side of my brain and then went home. That side, for the record, usually goes forgotten the next day for some reason. Then, as I was about to close the evening, another friend points out the debate with a link and all. At that point, the stars lined up and I knew it was a sign from God that I should take a take-up and listen. Where two or three are confirming…

The conversation, which I suspect was the first of two, touched on a subject quite familiar to Wilson and his tribe. Back in 2000, Wilson, Piper, Sproul, and a few others were on a panel at the Ligonier Conference. Piper used the opportunity to opine on Wilson’s serrated edge approach in the Credenda Agenda magazine. For Piper, Wilson went too far. Piper argued that we do not combat the evils of this age with superior force, haughty contempt, or satiric wit. We use holy tears to plead with men. We do not mock, we plead with deep affection for the lost to come and find refuge in Jesus.

Wilson can handle his own, of course, and he did so quite eloquently back in the day arguing that we must follow the rhetoric of Jesus as he opposed the religious leaders, which incidentally is the rhetoric of Elijah and the prophets as they attacked the Baalite religion in all forms in the Old Covenant. To take things just a step further, let’s just say that Adam should have gone all prophetic on the serpent, but he took the approach of some in our day and therefore plunged us all into a rhetorically confusing universe.

While we are at it, let’s contemplate that we are image-bearers and that there is a distinct method given to us for how we are to speak to the mockers of this age. A proper imitative theology would say that when God laughs at late-night salon gatherings by the elite–which he does in Psalm 2–our response should not be, “Well, that kind of approach is perfect, and we are not, therefore, we should stay back and wait.” Nay. We should corporately pull out our front-roll open mic laughter and let it roll– deep-belly, uncontrollable, horses and chariots sort of ha-ha-ha! Our mockery towards the evil schemes should be leading the charge, rather than timidly being expressed in the silence of ivy-league libraries.

I find that the psalms of imprecation can go a long way in teaching you what is acceptable and what isn’t. The songs of Zion should shape the volume of your laughter. I have chosen long ago–with Doug–that I like my volume robust and the kind that leaves an impression on the hearer for a day or two after the initial experience.

I am not here to add too much to that fine discussion because I think if you listen to the dialogue you will see that those two fellas have the gravitas of educational titans. But I am here to support the Wilson cause because Wilson has proven right again and again in his assessment of culture. He did so long ago when I thought he was on something rather than on to something. Whereas I was a bit too hopeful about my old denomination–the PCA–Wilson was already seeing that gayness no longer has the same meaning it did when Lucy and Ricardo talked about it. And, there is something really special when you are making the right kind of enemies. I can attest that Wilson’s collection is better than yours.

I think that the argument for tenderness and love in discourse needs to be present, but I think such discourses need to be selected carefully in our day. I am all about Latin hugs and kisses and sweet greetings among friends and even grandmotherly unbelievers. But Christopher Hitchens did not need a sweet Wilson, he needed Gospel serratedness. So, he did get the kindness that should come along with your fries, but he also got the rough edges which should come along with your Scotch.

When Jesus came into Jerusalem, one of the first things he did was to destroy all the hallmark cards written in his honor. People were expecting Jesus to walk in holding a sheep with flowing blond hair sustaining his rhetorical discourse. But when he came in, he looked like Elijah and Knox. He saw all the revolutionaries gathering inside and outside the temple courts. He brought out his inner Jeremiah and scolded them with rhetoric and physical force. “The temple is for the nations, and you have turned it into a John Hagee fest filled with charts and worse, you have gathered the thugs of Israel, including maybe even Barrabas to lead the Bible studies.”

May I say, boys and girls, at that moment, Jesus did not pull out Phil Vischer’s magic vegetables for a presentation. He pulled out his serrated rhetoric and went to town tearing down idol after idol, table after table, and politician after politician. The religious leaders wanted baby Jesus at that moment, but they got the mature God/Man wrapped in “Hell hath no fury” like a man called by the Father to speak truth to powers.

Of course, there is time for kindness and gentleness to rule the day. And I suspect Piper and others would concur that there is time for happy scolding of thugs. But in this calculated effort, I prefer to be Mark’s Gospel over the Gospel of Russell Moore. I prefer to use my rhetoric to call people back to soberness in an age of drunken stupors by our elites, even within the church. And further, I have seen too often that those who hold back have also been viciously silent when they should be the ones acting like maniacal prophets screaming from the rooftops.

Not everyone can be a Wilson, and as I have warned my congregation, young cage-stagers should keep their keyboards very discerning. They should do a whole lot of serving their communities long before they feel like they have earned the tables Jesus earned with his itinerant ministry. Many are not prepared to do what Wilson does, and how he does it. But I am glad that he is on my side, and I approve of his message.