Foreword
Foreword
I grow weary of Christian voices telling me I have got to read “the five latest books on Paul’s theology of X” or “this year’s top six commentaries on Y” or “the recent top ten Christian books for a successful Z.” I am a working minister serving a small, vibrant congregation and I’m not able to keep up with every recommended book cast my way—nor do I want to! When my parishioners and friends ask me to make book recommendations, I usually suggest those that are nourishing and digestible, ones that have had a long shelf life—preferably for decades or centuries instead of months or years. Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God meets these criteria. It is not a got-to-read book; rather, it is a get-to-read book.
Why Read This Book
Gordon makes an obvious but bold assertion in his book: “If we are going to count for much in the postmodern world in which we now live, the Spirit must remain the key to the church’s existence.” These words are still as relevant as they were when he first wrote them in the mid-1990s, if not more so today. The ubiquity of the internet, the influence of social media, and the geopolitical shifts that have occurred since 9/11 were not envisioned in the world in which Gordon wrote this book, but Gordon’s insight was keen and far-reaching at that time, and it continues as such today. He recognizes that the church always needs a reformed and reforming faith rooted in the experienced reality of the Holy Trinity, especially when faced with the contemporary seductions posed by the “modern trinity” of relativism, secularism, and individualism.
I suspect that one of the ongoing threats that the modern trinity’s influence poses to the church is dualism. Often, unhelpful dualistic and polarized perspectives creep in when questions of priority are asked. What is more important? . . .
The body or the spirit?
The intellect or the emotions?
The individual or the community?
The present or the future?
The gifts of the Spirit or the fruit of the Spirit?
Belief or behavior?
Private prayer or social action?
What you will discover in this book is Gordon’s insistence—based on his close readings of Paul’s letters—that the answers to these questions can be found by replacing every “or” with “and.” In the power of the Spirit, the apostle Paul held these realities in tension; Gordon follows his example. Gordon coins a striking phrase to express the tension of this space—namely, “the radical middle.” It is in this radical middle where we find balance, strength, and hope in the face of the “winds of doctrine” that blow within our contemporary culture.
This radical-middle, Spirit-filled life is what Gordon has taught and preached to pastors, congregations, fellow professors, and students in countless churches and academic gatherings throughout his career. He has done so, usually accompanied by his intrepid wife Maudine, for decades. Often with a booming voice and always with a gentle heart, he has sung this song from places as varied as war-torn Croatia to the windswept Canadian prairies, from the Church of England’s Holy Trinity Brompton to the Pentecostal churches of Bangalore, from cosmopolitan colleges in Boston to pastoral congregations in the Gulf Islands. The theology and themes of this book have traveled well and continue to bear fruit.
How to Read This Book
If I have indicated why I think today’s generation of disciples and those who disciple them would benefit from reading this book, then here is how you might read this book. Of course, like any book, you could read it on your own. However, it would be even better to find an opportunity to read it in fellowship with other people. Maybe you can gather a couple friends to join you in reading it over a weekly Saturday-morning breakfast. Most of the chapters comprise a manageable eight to twelve pages and take about thirty minutes (or less) to read. This would be a great book for pastors to use in a sixteen-week teaching series. If you follow the Christian calendar, the book will fit perfectly into the season of Pentecost, which kicks off, of course, on Pentecost Sunday. In my own congregation, we have a monthly series called Little Books, Big Ideas. We read good, short books and then gather in homes for small group discussions. Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God works well in a setting like that.
The most important advice that I attempt to give readers is that, if possible, good books like this be read corporately and then lived corporately. This may not be easy, but it will be worthwhile. As with all good theological literature that stands the test of time from generation to generation, the goal isn’t simply to check it off a reading list. Rather, the purpose of engaging good theology is to be conformed into the likeness of God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This happens when we walk in the Spirit, and usually it takes a lifetime, or longer, for transformation to occur. Or, to use one of Gordon’s memorable metaphors, “When we receive the Spirit at conversion, divine perfection does not set in, but divine ‘infection’ does!”
For over thirty years—almost a biblical “generation”—Gordon has been one of my spiritual fathers in the faith. His life and teaching have shaped who I am, the way I approach theology, and how I serve in pastoral ministry. Gordon has treated me as one of his children—and it is an honor and a joy to share in this fellowship along with a host of others in the family of Christ who have learned with and from Gordon. Now, it is an honor and a joy to commend this book to a new generation of his “children.” May his tribe increase!
Dean Pinter
Epiphany 2022