The icebreaker question in the study group was a good one: “Who taught you to drive, and were you happy with their approach?” The answers revealed some instructors that ranged from ‘O wow’ to ‘O dear’. My own mind was transported back to an industrial park, my brother’s blue, manual, column-shift, Kingswood – starting the ignition, and then painfully kangaroo-hopping down the road as my heart raced, mind floundered, and foot tried to control Mr. Clutch.

Yes. Mr. Clutch! The arch-enemy of all learner drivers. No wonder they invented the automatic! But ‘automatic theologians’ miss a very important lesson about how to gain speed in the Christian life. They think that it all just happens automatically, and that the gears just magically shift. In an automatic car they do, but not in the Christian life. To be sure, spiritual growth is a gracious work of the Holy Spirit, but not of the automatic kind.

Theologians distinguish between monergism (a solo work) and synergism (a cooperative work). Election, regeneration, justification, glorification are all examples of the monergistic kind, because they are all solo actions of a sovereign God. But sanctification (spiritual growth) is of the other kind, and involves our diligent use of the means of grace, and our humble submission to divine providence. ‘Manual theologians’ respectfully learn about Mr. Clutch, and eventually understand that he is not an enemy to be feared, but a friend to advance them to the higher gears and to the bigger highways.