Cage Stage Provisionists

Dr. Leighton Flowers talks about the tendencies of every group to produce "cage-stagers" and what we should do about it.

Often it’s #Calvinism accused of being marked by a cage-stage (convert others at all costs) but it exists everywhere: “Cage-staggers” in any discipline are marked by a greater love for the practice than the person.

Avoiding this stage only comes by means of patience and prayer.

We will discuss this post on social media by Brandon Smith: Much like “cage stage” Calvinism was a danger for us excitable young/future pastors and theologians 15 years ago, I hope we are careful to avoid a cage stage theological retrieval in the next generation.

Here are a few signs of cage stage theology from a former practitioner:

1. A disdain for our spiritual and theological forbears/heroes/mentors. We are quick to critique or even slander those who came before us — those who taught us! — because we now feel we’ve moved beyond them.
2. Relatedly, we create disciples who are also cynical of their heroes and think that decades of faithful ministry are now, or always have been, worthless and have no benefit to the academy/church. They begin to question their own pastors, parents, etc. for being too “shallow.” 
3. We narrow orthodoxy to a particular set of categories that we neatly define, creating a type of fundamentalism that eschews generous orthodoxy for a select “in” crowd reminiscent of a high school clique. 
4. A tendency toward personal brand-building that makes us self-appointed saviors of orthodoxy. To protect said brand, we start creating history in our own image, anachronistically and/or shallowly argued that past theologians agree with all of our little pet nuances. 
5. We divide the church rather than unite the church, all under the guise of defending “orthodoxy.” As Paul said to a divided and quarreling church: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Cor. 13:

 

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