We affectionately call it “Torrey Conference,” and I think this is much less of a mouthful than “Torrey Memorial Bible Conference.” I am afraid, though, we are quickly losing sight of the most important part of this title: Bible.
Title Confusion
I came out of Torrey Conference with some confusion about titles. The title of the conference was “With,” and I saw this implicitly explained throughout the week, particularly in the titles of the workshops and Ruth Haley Barton and Betsy Barber's sessions. Even so, I did not get a sense of where the theme was going. For example, how did Skye Jethani’s and Phil Vischer’s sessions fit this theme? Were they not informed? I left confused.
This problem is far bigger than just what happened at our conference. In fact, what happened at Torrey Conference was not wrong. It was God-honoring and encouraging. However, this conference embodied the problem plaguing much of the Western church in minute ways: our failure to commit to preach from a coherent collection of scriptures. It is almost as if the theme for this year’s conference — as conceptually rich as it was — was meant as a launching point for the speakers to copy-and-paste biblical references to fit the stories they told. If this was the case, it fell flat. This is not a wrong practice, except when it impinges on the coherence of a message. The speakers seemed to place different biblical references into their messages when they saw fit as opposed to basing their messages completely around scripture and adding corresponding stories to fit — with the exception of Barber’s session. Again, this is not just a Biola problem, but a Western Christianity problem. We cannot invoke a theme and call it a day.
The dangers of miscommunication
Most problems begin with simple miscommunication — and that is dangerous. When handling scriptures and presenting a message that should be formative in the lives of Biola students, clarity and coherence should be foundational in the planning of a conference. A simple solution would be to have a scriptural reference from which speakers should be required to begin. Implement a simple structure that gives basic support to more than merely a preposition. I do not believe this will eradicate all errors, but it is an easy plan to begin a sort of coherence for the whole conference.
We should not — in this conference and in our churches — begin with an idea in hopes of bumping into scriptures that support the clever themes we create. As I said earlier, the concept of “With” has many rich implications in scripture, but I feel they were largely neglected in the main sessions of this conference. If we begin with a marriage of scripture and related theme, this leaves much more space to properly present a coherent message.
If we seek to be understood and effectively propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must begin with scripture. We begin not with gimmicks, cleverness of title or miscommunications, but with scripture and the clear image of Jesus Christ. All themes derived from these ought to take their place with the scripture to which they are tied.
Overcoming copy-and-pasting
In our churches and, on a smaller level, in our conferences — listen up Missions Conference — we need to begin to think about preaching chronologically through a passage. Enough with the free-for-all of topical preaching. I see its value, but pick a passage of scripture that directly deals with the topic at hand. Instead of deriving copy-and-pasted scriptures to fit into the mold of a given topic — a practice, if I might add, that easily leads to taking scripture out of context — we need to start with a passage and derive a theme from there. We are Bible-believing Christians saved by Christ, not by a theme.
If the purpose of Torrey Memorial Bible Conferences is to expositionally teach the Bible as its name reflects, this conference fell short. If the purpose is to simply examine how students can live the Christian life and boil everything down to practical living and experiences, then it sufficiently served its purpose. Our opinion may differ on what the ends and means of the conference should be, but we know that all we need is found in the triune God and the words of life they pour forth.
