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Jumpstarter 8 of 10

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Question 8

Kevin Vanhooser’s “free-range theologian” warning compares traditions to “dwelling places” in the Father’s house: not consumer choice, but inhabiting a room while building up the whole house; what tradition or “room” have you inherited or chosen, what are its “500 years of mistakes” you most want to disown, and what would it look like to build up the whole house while staying honest about those failures?

Another way to ask: What church tradition (or “room”) have you grown up in or chosen, and what parts of its past do you most want to distance yourself from? How could you help build up the wider church while still being honest about those failures?

Direct Answer The transcript doesn’t name which “room” each student occupies, but Dean’s principle is that you can inhabit a tradition without being suffocated by it, and you should “own” its mistakes rather than pretend you’re starting fresh. Building up the whole house means being non-sectarian—salty in conviction, yet pursuing peace—while learning from and serving the broader church.

Support from Transcript:

Vanhooser critiques the “free range” posture and prefers that to “lone ranger,” which he says resembles how heretics are described.
He compares traditions to “dwelling places” in the Father’s house: much to gain by inhabiting a room, but “confinement… can be suffocating.”
Key aim: “whichever room you occupy, you should aspire to build up the whole house.”
Dean applies this to Anabaptist identity: “People… think… Anabaptists are all perfect… No… it’s our 500 years of mistakes is the reason why we should own it.”
He warns against “starting all over again” because you repeat past errors.
He ties it to anti-sectarianism: “Don’t be sectarian with it. By all means, don’t.”

Discussion Follow-ups What would it look like to publicly acknowledge your tradition’s failures while still receiving its gifts? How might “building up the whole house” reshape how you talk about other Christians?

Jumpstarter 8 of 10