Generally I find the author to be a thoughtful guy, with some good insight into the faith. However, It seems in this instance Mr. Challies is on the on the hunt for heresy, real or imagined, under every rock. He doesn't think the "Together 2016" gathering to be a good thing, and I think for some rather thin reasons.
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On July 16, hundreds of thousands of young people will descend on The Mall for Together 2016. The event’s web site promises, “Together 2016 is the day our generation will meet on the National Mall to come together around Jesus in unified prayer, worship, and a call for catalytic change. We’re coming together with as many people as possible who believe Jesus changes everything.” The event features a long list of speakers: Christine Cain, Francis Chan, Ronnie Floyd, Ann Voskamp, Ravi Zacharias, and many others. And, of course, there will be the musicians: Crowder, Hillsong United, Kari Job, Lecrae, Matt Maher, and Michael W. Smith just to get started. It promises to be a massive event. A couple of weeks ago came the announcement that Pope Francis will even make an appearance via video. “That His Holiness would choose to speak into this historic day is a testament to the urgency and the need for followers of Jesus to unite in prayer for our nation and our world.”
This event was conceived and organized by Nick Hall, founder of the evangelistic organization PULSE and author of the brand new book Reset: Jesus Changes Everything. This work was timed to coincide with Together 2016 and is in many ways a call to participate in the event. To examine the book is to understand what he hopes to accomplish at Together 2016.
Reset begins as a biographical work that tells about the beginning of Hall’s ministry. A man of unusual zeal, he has an all-consuming passion to see souls saved. Since his college days, he has been touring the world holding arena-sized evangelistic events for young people. As he tells the story, it seems that he has met with great success, at least judging by the numbers he offers: “I was subsequently invited to tour with a group of bands to forty-seven cities around the country as part of Winter Jam, a gathering that drew about ten thousand … each night.” “If we needed to reset our priorities, I explained to the ten thousand or so people gathered there that night, then Jesus could help us do that.” “As a ministry, we’d already done events in thirty-nine of the fifty states, reaching two and a half million people and seeing a half million of them respond to the gospel.” “…in the end, more than fifty thousand people (that we know of) surrendered their lives to Jesus.” “Over the year to come, our tour reached six hundred and fifty thousand people.” From his description, it seems that he has spoken to many millions and seen hundreds of thousands of them turn to Christ. (Sounds like a guy you'd want to emulate.)
“Reset” is the gist of Hall’s message, his one-word summary of the Christian gospel: “Jesus offers a reset to anyone from anywhere, for anything. All we need to do is turn to him.” Or “Whatever has been tripping you up, a reset is available to you. You don’t have to earn it, buy it, beg for it, or swipe it when nobody’s looking. It is yours, free of charge. It is yours, by the grace of God. All you have to do is receive it, open hands and open heart. Say yes to the life you were meant to live. Say yes to a Father who’s good.” Time and again he leads to a call like this one: “You don’t have to go one more second in this life without knowing Jesus—his love, his care, his presence, and his joy. He is standing at the door to your heart and calling your name, asking if it’s cool to come in.” (Pretty much a call to believe in every sense of the word. This guy sounds like a hero of the faith.)
If the first half of the book is a description of the gospel through the “reset” theme, the second half is seven common ways people feel a deep need for a reset: faith, plans, self-image, relationships, purity, habits, and affections. He closes with a call for this entire generation to experience a reset.
This “reset” message will be at the heart of Together 2016. In fact, it seems that those two words, “reset” and “together,” will dominate. “Reset” will describe the personal change he wants each person to experience—Christians as they reset from bad patterns to adopt better ones and non-Christians as they reset their lives to accept Christ for the first time. Meanwhile, “together” will represent the broad call for unity Hall envisions in which denominational lines will be forgotten and all who profess Christ will stand together against division. For this reason the speakers and musicians span conservative evangelicalism all the way to traditional Roman Catholicism. It is, by design, an ecumenical event. (Indeed, but we don't know how it will manifest. "Ecumenical" is a scary word to some. We will find the author lumps in Mr. Hall's push for unity with other, compromising efforts of the past.
Regarding Catholics, well, they comprise a large number of the world's faithful, so it seems necessary to reach out to them as well. It's quite clear that at this event Catholics will also hear the Gospel message. These folks need to hear it just as much as garden variety church goers, especially those who have let their denominational idolatry color their understanding.)
I am going to offer a couple of critiques, but want to assure you that I do so somewhat tentatively. Hall is a man who is on fire to share the gospel with others. I, meanwhile, am constantly battling to be more than tepid when it comes to evangelistic fervor. I want to be careful before criticizing someone who deals seriously with God’s commands that we take the good news of the gospel wherever we go. As I read the book I was challenged by Hall’s zeal. I was inspired by his desire to dream and to actually attempt great things for the Lord. I was moved by his commitment to prayer. I was reminded of the value of speaking the gospel freshly to each generation. And yet I still had very real critiques.
On July 16, hundreds of thousands of young people will descend on The Mall for Together 2016. The event’s web site promises, “Together 2016 is the day our generation will meet on the National Mall to come together around Jesus in unified prayer, worship, and a call for catalytic change. We’re coming together with as many people as possible who believe Jesus changes everything.” The event features a long list of speakers: Christine Cain, Francis Chan, Ronnie Floyd, Ann Voskamp, Ravi Zacharias, and many others. And, of course, there will be the musicians: Crowder, Hillsong United, Kari Job, Lecrae, Matt Maher, and Michael W. Smith just to get started. It promises to be a massive event. A couple of weeks ago came the announcement that Pope Francis will even make an appearance via video. “That His Holiness would choose to speak into this historic day is a testament to the urgency and the need for followers of Jesus to unite in prayer for our nation and our world.”
This event was conceived and organized by Nick Hall, founder of the evangelistic organization PULSE and author of the brand new book Reset: Jesus Changes Everything. This work was timed to coincide with Together 2016 and is in many ways a call to participate in the event. To examine the book is to understand what he hopes to accomplish at Together 2016.
Reset begins as a biographical work that tells about the beginning of Hall’s ministry. A man of unusual zeal, he has an all-consuming passion to see souls saved. Since his college days, he has been touring the world holding arena-sized evangelistic events for young people. As he tells the story, it seems that he has met with great success, at least judging by the numbers he offers: “I was subsequently invited to tour with a group of bands to forty-seven cities around the country as part of Winter Jam, a gathering that drew about ten thousand … each night.” “If we needed to reset our priorities, I explained to the ten thousand or so people gathered there that night, then Jesus could help us do that.” “As a ministry, we’d already done events in thirty-nine of the fifty states, reaching two and a half million people and seeing a half million of them respond to the gospel.” “…in the end, more than fifty thousand people (that we know of) surrendered their lives to Jesus.” “Over the year to come, our tour reached six hundred and fifty thousand people.” From his description, it seems that he has spoken to many millions and seen hundreds of thousands of them turn to Christ. (Sounds like a guy you'd want to emulate.)
“Reset” is the gist of Hall’s message, his one-word summary of the Christian gospel: “Jesus offers a reset to anyone from anywhere, for anything. All we need to do is turn to him.” Or “Whatever has been tripping you up, a reset is available to you. You don’t have to earn it, buy it, beg for it, or swipe it when nobody’s looking. It is yours, free of charge. It is yours, by the grace of God. All you have to do is receive it, open hands and open heart. Say yes to the life you were meant to live. Say yes to a Father who’s good.” Time and again he leads to a call like this one: “You don’t have to go one more second in this life without knowing Jesus—his love, his care, his presence, and his joy. He is standing at the door to your heart and calling your name, asking if it’s cool to come in.” (Pretty much a call to believe in every sense of the word. This guy sounds like a hero of the faith.)
If the first half of the book is a description of the gospel through the “reset” theme, the second half is seven common ways people feel a deep need for a reset: faith, plans, self-image, relationships, purity, habits, and affections. He closes with a call for this entire generation to experience a reset.
This “reset” message will be at the heart of Together 2016. In fact, it seems that those two words, “reset” and “together,” will dominate. “Reset” will describe the personal change he wants each person to experience—Christians as they reset from bad patterns to adopt better ones and non-Christians as they reset their lives to accept Christ for the first time. Meanwhile, “together” will represent the broad call for unity Hall envisions in which denominational lines will be forgotten and all who profess Christ will stand together against division. For this reason the speakers and musicians span conservative evangelicalism all the way to traditional Roman Catholicism. It is, by design, an ecumenical event. (Indeed, but we don't know how it will manifest. "Ecumenical" is a scary word to some. We will find the author lumps in Mr. Hall's push for unity with other, compromising efforts of the past.
Regarding Catholics, well, they comprise a large number of the world's faithful, so it seems necessary to reach out to them as well. It's quite clear that at this event Catholics will also hear the Gospel message. These folks need to hear it just as much as garden variety church goers, especially those who have let their denominational idolatry color their understanding.)
I am going to offer a couple of critiques, but want to assure you that I do so somewhat tentatively. Hall is a man who is on fire to share the gospel with others. I, meanwhile, am constantly battling to be more than tepid when it comes to evangelistic fervor. I want to be careful before criticizing someone who deals seriously with God’s commands that we take the good news of the gospel wherever we go. As I read the book I was challenged by Hall’s zeal. I was inspired by his desire to dream and to actually attempt great things for the Lord. I was moved by his commitment to prayer. I was reminded of the value of speaking the gospel freshly to each generation. And yet I still had very real critiques.
The first critique is that “reset” does not quite capture the gospel message of the New Testament. (The author's first objection is to quibble with the meaning of a single word.)
I understand that Hall wanted to find a word that resonates with young people. The word “reset” is common in technology and, therefore, familiar to the millennial generation. Hall says “The offer of a reset is exactly what the gospel is about.” This is true, but only kind of. To reset something is to set it back to the way it used to function. Yet the gospel assures us that we have never functioned properly; we are not computers that came from the factory in perfect condition and have been gummed up with viruses and malware. We are not malfunctioning machines that need to be restarted, but dead souls who need to be given life. (Mr. Challies reads a lot into the word "reset," somehow expecting it to fully express the breadth of the Gospel. Such exacting standards would seem to me to exceed the purview of one word.
Further, it is clear that Mr. Challies' discomfort with the word is based on a misconception. He quoted Mr. Hall above: "If we needed to reset our priorities, I explained to the ten thousand or so people gathered there that night, then Jesus could help us do that." Note that Mr. Hall uses the word in another context entirely as compared to Mr. Challies' presentation, thus demonstrating a broader meaning than Mr. Challies admits.
But more to the point, is it wrong to consider the Gospel as an opportunity to reset? Not at all! The entirety of the Gospel is based on the idea of becoming a new creation, free from the law of sin and death, free to fellowship with God and to abandon our sinful ways, free to live a life pleasing to Him.
2Co. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old
has gone, the new has come!
Isn't reset the fundamental premise of being born again?
Jn. 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Like Nicodemus, Mr. Challies appears to not understand that the Gospel is far reaching in its redemptive nature. He grapples with the nature of newness of life and does violence to the Gospel message by isolating the effect of the Gospel to affect only the individual. His equation is, "I was bad/Jesus saved me." The actual equation is, "God created everything and it was good/sin entered all creation and corrupted it/Jesus set it all back to its original purpose."
Mr. Challies equation is valid, but it is a subset of the biblical equation, and thus colors his thinking about Mr. Hall. Here's some additional biblical backup:
Mr. Challies equation is valid, but it is a subset of the biblical equation, and thus colors his thinking about Mr. Hall. Here's some additional biblical backup:
Ro. 8:21 "For the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."
Re. 21:5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”Doesn't that sound like a reset to you?)
It’s not that the reset metaphor is utterly wrong, but that it is incomplete, it isn’t used in the Bible, and it isn’t sufficient, especially as the heart of the message. The full truth of the bad news and the full beauty of the good news is obscured by this soft “reset” gospel. And, indeed, Hall never deals with the full extent of our depravity and our spiritually deadness. He sets the good news in incomplete contrast with the bad. (Apparently Mr. Challies did not take the time to read Mr. Hall's faith statement:
The Fall Of Man
We believe that man was created by God by specific immediate act and in his image and likeness, morally upright and perfect, but fell by voluntary transgression. Consequently, all men are separated from original righteousness, being depraved and without spiritual life – Genesis 1:26-31, 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-21.
We believe that God’s answer to man’s sinful state is in the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, whose sufferings and shed blood have made full atonement for the sins of the whole world, both original and actual and that there is no other ground for salvation – 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:25, 26; 1 Peter 1:19, 20.The second critique is that “together” does not quite capture the gospel unity of the New Testament. Hall has determined that denominational divides must be put aside for the sake of the gospel. (This is a puzzling complaint. The quintessential nature of division in the Church is denominational. How can unity be advocated unless an appeal is made across denominational boundaries?)
If we want to have a message that resonates with the world today, we must first eradicate that division. “Jesus directly challenged a culture of division. He prayed we would be one—one family, one body. And He told us to love our enemies. Everyone loves their friends; it’s when we love those who aren’t like us that the world takes note. It’s time to come together around Jesus in a counter-cultural moment of unity and love for each other.” Yet his position is naive. (Perhaps naive, but his position is not only biblical, it is a command for Christians.)
Iain Murray explains this in Evangelicalism Divided:
The ecumenical call in [the mid-20th century] was not for truth and salt; it was supremely for oneness: the greater the unity of ‘the Church’, it was confidently asserted, the stronger would be the impression made upon the world; and to attain that end churches should be inclusive and tolerant. But it has never been by putting unity first that the church has changed the world. At no point in church history has the mere unity of numbers ever made a transforming spiritual impression upon others. On the contrary, it was the very period known as ‘the dark ages’ that the Papacy could claim her greatest unity in western Europe.(The author quotes Mr. Murray, who was speaking to another ecumenical movement, in the "mid-20th century." The author attempts to apply this critique to another movement!)
Hall’s unity extends too far. (This may be true. But we don't know if Mr. Hall intends to accommodate errant religious doctrines, or rather if he is standing firm on the one true faith once delivered to the saints. Judging by the quotes from Mr. Hall, he seems pretty intent on the historic teachings of the faith.
Especially considering how Mr. Challies admires Mr. Hall's zeal. If indeed Mr. Hall is that zealous for the faith, it seems safe to assume he does not intend to compromise in order to obtain the unity he desires.)
“We’re coming together with as many people as possible who believe Jesus changes everything.” But believing Jesus changes everything is an insufficient basis for deep and lasting unity. (Mr. Challies isolates a single statement as if it were the whole of Mr. Hall's position.)
I’m quite sure Satan himself agrees that Jesus changes everything! Hall’s unity extends a welcoming hand to those who deny the gospel of grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. (Again, unity definitionally requires people of disparate understandings to come together. How can there be a calling together of people who are already agreed?)
It denies or downplays crucial distinctions. It demands unity at the expense of the gospel. (It does? How so? Are there examples? References? Quotes?)
It extends so far that it will grant the pope the title of “His Holiness!” Yet as J.C. Ryle warned so many years ago, “Unity without the gospel is a worthless unity, it is the very unity of hell.” (Very true. But the author has not demonstrated this.)
And “Unity which is obtained by the sacrifice of truth is worth nothing. It is not the unity which pleases God.” (Again quite true. But how does Mr. Challies know this will be the case?)
Hall’s kind of unity does not and cannot please God because it welcomes those who damage or destroy his gospel. Sadly, some disunity is good and necessary when it involves separation from those who deny what is most fundamental to the gospel. (This is a bold and heretofore unproven claim. Those who hold to teachings that deny the basic truths of the Bible are the ones who need to be shown the truth, because this is the mechanism by which the Body comes together in unity.
Question: What offer of coming together begins with, "Let's get together in unity, but not you, or you, or you over there because you are heretical?" If Mr. Hall is committed to the historical teachings of the Bible, those things will certainly come forth.)
I love Hall’s zeal for evangelism. I love his fervent prayer. I love his desire to see the church united. I love his heart to reach the Millennial generation. (More praise for the man. Mr. Challies sounds conflicted.)
And make no mistake—his message is perfectly crafted for that generation. The message of “reset” resonates because who isn’t unhappy with some part of who they are or what they’ve done? Who doesn’t want a reset? “Together” resonates because who would advocate disunity or division? Combined, the two of them resonate because what young person isn’t enthusiastic enough to believe that simply gathering with a few hundred thousand others for some messages and rock concerts can actually change the world? Who wouldn’t want to be part of something so big and so exciting? But they don’t know that this has been tried before, and tried again, and tried again after that, and always found wanting. (In other words, Mr. Hall has an attractive message, the position and zeal to achieve something good, but because people have tried and failed before, there's no sense in trying again. One might wonder at this point if Mr. Challies actually believes and wants to obey Jesus' command? Let's quote it, and then ask if Mr. Challies wants to believe Jesus and act upon our clear mandate:
I love Hall’s zeal for evangelism. I love his fervent prayer. I love his desire to see the church united. I love his heart to reach the Millennial generation. (More praise for the man. Mr. Challies sounds conflicted.)
And make no mistake—his message is perfectly crafted for that generation. The message of “reset” resonates because who isn’t unhappy with some part of who they are or what they’ve done? Who doesn’t want a reset? “Together” resonates because who would advocate disunity or division? Combined, the two of them resonate because what young person isn’t enthusiastic enough to believe that simply gathering with a few hundred thousand others for some messages and rock concerts can actually change the world? Who wouldn’t want to be part of something so big and so exciting? But they don’t know that this has been tried before, and tried again, and tried again after that, and always found wanting. (In other words, Mr. Hall has an attractive message, the position and zeal to achieve something good, but because people have tried and failed before, there's no sense in trying again. One might wonder at this point if Mr. Challies actually believes and wants to obey Jesus' command? Let's quote it, and then ask if Mr. Challies wants to believe Jesus and act upon our clear mandate:
Jn. 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jn. 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Paul said the same to the Romans:
Ro. 15:5-7 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.and the Ephesians:
Ep. 4:3-4 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called — one Lord, one faith, one baptism...The question we ask Mr. Challies is, how shall this to be done, if it's not via Mr. Hall's methodology?)
None of this is to say that the event will be utterly fruitless. (This is a strange caveat. A devoted man of God, a man bearing great fruit on behalf of the kingdom, a man Mr. Challies begrudgingly admires, Mr. Hall's ministry is unlikely to be "utterly fruitless." What it sounds like to me is that Mr. Challies, locked into his preconceptions, is unable to admit that God may be working through a man who doesn't 100% agree with him.
This is a common attitude among denominational devotees, especially those of the reformed tradition. Many of them are so caught up in "proper" doctrine as expressed only by the faith tradition of their church, they cannot see their way through to admit that God works through other flavors of the Gospel.
They love to nitpick little details, looking to brand other Christians as being among the faithful or as heretics. They will micro-analyze things, "reset" for example, ever vigilant for the slightest deviation from their orthodoxy.
These techniques are very useful for categorizing people. It allows someone like Mr. Challies to dismiss the great work of someone like Mr. Hall on a technicality. Thus on one hand Mr. Challies is forced to admit that God is at work, and on the other, the work is not in a way he approves, or it is done by someone outside his approved faith tradition.
The problem is, God doesn't much care about peoples' level of doctrinal perfection. Yes, we are to treasure the great truths of the Bible and not compromise. But we are not called to be doctrinal police.
I think this is what Jesus meant when the disciples came to him about a man they saw doing miracles:
Mk. 9:38-40 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” 39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No-one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us."In other words, they said, "Hey, this guy is not like us. He's doing things differently. We think he's up to no good. We don't care that he's doing miracles. He's using your name, and that's not right." Jesus didn't ask them, "Does he believe in the Trinity? Has he been baptized? Does he tithe?" No, he told the disciples to leave him alone. Interesting.)
God works his miracle of salvation in a million different ways and he may just save his people—even many of his people—at Together 2016. I pray he does. But that alone cannot validate the event. I cannot endorse “reset” as the heart of the gospel. I cannot endorse Together 2016 as the fruit of the gospel. The first is sorely lacking and the second seriously misdirected. It may sound ironic or full-out fundamentalist, but I’d stay away from Together.
(Throughout this article I've been trying to figure out what Mr. Challies' beef is. The reasons he offers are ancillary. His analysis is superficial. His objections are weak and speculative.
Then it hit me. If the event is a success, if many are saved, if a boatload of Catholics profess Jesus and repent, if thousands become zealous for the Gospel and reap a harvest, it will invalidate everything Mr. Challies believes about "those" people. He really believes that anyone who deviates even the slightest bit from the truth as he sees it, are not Christians. And because they're not Christians, the good things that might happen must be preemptively explained away.
It's cognitive dissonance. The worst thing in the world is to have to admit that someone else, someone different, someone who doesn't toe your line, might be used of God. It destroys the specter of us-vs.-them. And then comes the realization that if they're not enemies, then they're brothers. He might have to mingle with them, pray for them, bless them, help them. Such things are unconscionable!
I know I'm going too long, but let me take this last bit of space to tell a personal story. I was exactly like Mr. Challies. I had a single-minded devotion to the study of the Word. I carefully lined out my doctrines and guarded the threshold vigorously. I knew why "they" were wrong and could recite the rebuttals flawlessly. I too was part of the Doctrinal Police. For a long time, doctrine was first and foremost.
Then I met some people from other churches in town. "They" were part of "that." "They" didn't believe the right things. In fact, I thought that not only were "they" not saved, "they" were cultists. "They" couldn't possibly right, because I was right. All my friends were right. My pastor was right. All the books I read were right.
It's easy to be right when you have isolated yourself and surrounded yourself with those who agree with you. That's what I see in Mr. Challies. "Don't go to the 'Together' event. Those people are wrong." It's almost like a communicable disease to be inoculated against.
What really happens is you will start to meet people, "them," and they are not demoniacs and heretics. They love the Lord, want to please Him and obey Him. Their faith is strong and mature, they know the Word, they're serving in their churches and communities, giving of themselves sacrificially, and raising their children in the faith.
They read the same Bible as you do. They believe that men must believe in Jesus, confess that they're sinners, and repent. They believe in the Cross, the Trinity, the existence of hell, and prayer. They are in agreement with you about every major doctrine.
They're real. And they refute your preconceptions. Now, what are you going to do about it?
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