When Timmis says he and The Crowded House take Gospel community seriously in a way that confessional evangelicals have not traditionally, he refers to an emphasis on living out one’s theology in the crucible of relationships with others who are seeking to do the same.
In “Total Church” Timmis and Chester make the statement, “The theology that matters is not the theology we profess but the theology we practice.” Later they say what counts is teaching that leads to changed lives.
“As I look at the church and look at my own life, my problem isn’t the theology that I know or the talks that I have listened to, it is the life that I live,” Timmis said. “It is actually living out that life and being obedient as a child of God.
“So, I can talk about the sovereignty of God in lofty theological terms and I can cite Calvin and the ‘Institutes’ until I am blue in the face. But if I don’t submit to His sovereignty in the intimate details of my life then I know nothing of sovereignty. But (rightly understanding and living in light of) His sovereignty is that which, when my five-year-old is dying in the hospital, that His truth sustains me. That I fall back into His sovereign arms with my heart breaking because I know that He is a God who is good. So, that is what we mean by it (the theology that matters is the theology we profess).”
Timmis said that while confessional evangelicals have done a good job of teaching sound theology, their work at seeing people live out such theology has been lacking.
“What we want to do is equip the people not to be theologically smart so that they can pass exams, but people who are intentionally godly, who are radically godly in how they live their lives,” he said. “So, we have got to place as much emphasis upon Bible learning as we have upon Bible teaching. We have been satisfied with preaching a good sermon. We have told the Bible well and we go home and we have a sense of satisfaction, patting ourselves on the back and that is just very dangerous. We have got to find a way to take that word and massage it deep into people’s lives so it changes life.”
Excerpt from Towers “Steve Timmis on the Nature of Local Church Ministry.” We encourage you to read the full article here.
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