Contending But Not Contentious: A Young Pastor's Perspective On When and How to "Fight"

by Ryan Rench, Wayne Hardy (foreword)

JOSHUA’S GENERATION FOUGHT for the land. The next generation did not. The children of Israel went from victory to apostasy because somewhere along the way, it became easier to settle than contend.

May that never happen to us.

CONTENDING BUT NOT CONTENTIOUS is one young pastor’s perspective on when and how to fight. We do not merely fight against, but for, and this inheritance we have received from the previous generation is worthy of protecting. At some point, everyone will fight for what he believes in; we just live in an era when we have the luxury of quibbling over direction, not just doctrine.

PART ONE shows how Christians have separated into “circles” or “camps,” as we call them, and why that is not a bad thing. In a world where churches inevitably change with culture, some groups choose not to change as much or as fast, and how they do inevitably change matters for how the next generations will view change.

PART TWO is about the spirit of the fight. May the next generation stand strong on truth but not be contentious.

RYAN RENCH is a second-generation pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Temecula, CA. His father planted the church in the ‘80s and retired in 2021, and the church has continued on the same path ever since.

Genres: Church

89 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 18, 2024

About the author

Ryan Rench serves as the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Temecula, CA. Ryan’s family moved to Temecula in 1986 to plant the church where Ryan was reared and is now pastor. He earned his master’s degree in ministry from Heartland Baptist Bible College in 2010.
Ryan Rench married his wife, Jamie, in 2008. They have one son named Abe (July 2012) and two daughters: Charlotte (March 2014) and Gwen (February 2016).
Ryan blogs at RyanRench.com and has published several books, including BIBS: Big Idea Bible Study and A Case For Bible College, available from Calvary Baptist Publications (CalvaryBaptist.pub.)

Reviews

[Daniel Ligon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This short book is Pastor Ryan Rench’s take on how and why to defend the distinctives of the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) movement. First, the good. I sincerely believe that Ryan is a good and godly man who desires to walk in the Spirit and honor Christ. This attitude is reflected in his (much-needed) call for all involved in these disputes to be more gracious and reflect the character of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit. I could not agree more! Thank you, Ryan, for this challenge. I’m also thankful that Ryan attempts to de-escalate the stakes a bit by admitting that he is “squabbling over minutia” (his words).

Yet I also have a number of serious problems with this book. Ryan states in the preface that he is writing about ecclesiastical separation that is not over doctrine. And I simply don’t believe that the Bible justifies such separation (see Galatians 2). He uses the story of Joshua 24 to defend this fight, yet Joshua was fighting against pagan idolatry, not gospel-preaching brothers, so I think that the application does not ring true from this passage.

Ryan argues that we cannot change methodology without changing philosophy, and we cannot change philosophy without changing doctrine. I disagree, and I think that a quick study of contextualization on the foreign mission field would demonstrate the falsity of Ryan’s logic.

Ryan writes that he need not defend a position with chapter and verse if he has a Bible principle. I tend to agree. Yet I largely agree with the principles he offers relating to music, preaching, etc…but we apply those Biblical principles differently. It seems to me that what he is really calling for is not just sharing the same principles, but applying them the same way—even in different ministry contexts.

Ryan also shares some bad history when it comes to the past and the direction of the SBC, assuming that they are taking the same trajectory as the United Methodist Church, while in reality the conservative resurgence of the 70s and 80s paints a different picture. He then seems to assume that every change from the IFB standard MUST eventually lead in the direction of a Rick Warren style philosophy which he calls ”Destination Disneyland” (whether in this generation or in the next). Yet I know dozens of faithful pastors who do not meet up with IFB standards but are not aligned with the seeker sensitive movement. In fact, many have left the IFB because they think that the IFB is TOO pragmatic and not biblical enough.

Ryan states that he is not against change, he is just slow to change and may be 20 years behind the curve on changes that are not necessarily wrong. That’s absolutely fine. But how do you justify separating from someone else who’s only 10 years behind the curve, especially if you will likely get there eventually yourself?

With all that said, I share much of Ryan’s deep appreciation for many aspects of the IFB heritage. There is much biblical faithfulness in many of these men, for which I am profoundly grateful. And I highly value Ryan’s call for more charity and grace in these difficult conversations. I pray that God would continue to bless him and his ministry as he endeavors to be faithful to God’s calling on his life.

[Ryan Rench · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author's a little iffy, but we'll let that slide.

[Addison Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for writing this book brother Rench. It was such a great help to me as a young pastor.