Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Ryken on Legalism

"Christianity is not a performance-based religion. Those who are saved by grace also live by grace, and their growth in grace is due to the gracious work of God's Spirit. This is what preserves Calvinism from legalism. If someone who claims to be a Calvinist turns out to be a legalist, he or she must not understand the doctrines of grace very well after all, because the true Calvinist is overwhelmed by God's mercy for sinners. A graceless Calvinist is thoroughly repugnant to the gospel, for unless the pursuit of holiness is motivated by an ever-deepening love for God and his grace, it quickly becomes joyless and fruitless."

Philip Ryken

What is a True Calvinist?

How Are Our Prayers & God's Soverignty Related?

Recently I've been working through the Basics of the Faith series of booklets published by Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing. I've found that the booklets in this ever-growing series (now numbering 30+) are extremely accessible and helpful in giving overviews of their various topics.

In reading Stanley D. Gale's Why Do We Pray?, I came across this nugget that I thought I'd share:

"How do our prayers relate to God's eternal plan? The answer is that God has ordained our freely offered, honestly expressed petitions as his appointed means to accomplish his eternal purposes."

Somehow, in a way I don't (can't?) fully understand, God's power is at work in and through my prayers, not working independently from God's sovereignty, but rather as an agent of it. So let us pray!

8th Annual Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology

This weekend, in honor of Reformation Sunday, our church hosted the 8th annual Mid-Michigan Conference on Reformed Theology.  Our speakers were five pastors from throughout the region and this year's conference dealt with the Reformed doctrines of the TULIP:

• Total Depravity
• Unconditional Election
• Limited Atonement
• Irresistible Grace
• Perseverance of the Saints

I'm pleased to let you know that the conference was a rousing success.  Click here to listen to any of the messages from the conference, and please send me an email (Pete@CalvaryFlint.com) if you would like to receive information about future conferences.

Love Jesus More Than Your Theology

I recently entered the "Twittersphere."  By the way, if you'd like to follow me, you can click here. What I have found on Twitter is that I have been blessed by the many edifying tweets I read on a daily basis.  This morning one such tweet that came from Anthony Bradley read, "The idolatry of precision & certainty tempts Calvinists to assume they have no blindspots."

This led to a discussion with my senior pastor, Hal Polk, in which he made comment that I found quite helpful.  The essence of it was that we always need to remember that though their theological constructs might not be as good as ours, many Arminians are far better Christians than we are.

Certainly, my prayer is that I might always strive to know truth and to know it truly.  But may I always love Jesus far more than my theology.

Younger, Restlesser, Reformeder

Much has been made in recent years of Reformed Theology's increasing place in the evangelical community.  I suppose this was most prominently highlighted by Time’s 2009 list of “10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now” with their inclusion (at #3!) of “The New Calvinism.”   This followed on the heals of Collin Hansen’s book on the Reformed resurgence, Young, Restless, Reformed and his 2006 article in Christianity Today by the same title.

Who better to comment on this boom than the people who brought you Kinda Christianity: A Generous, Fair, Organic, Free-Range Guide to Authentic Realness?  You’ll recall that Kinda Christianity was a sardonic look by Ted Kluck and Zach Bartels at the emergent church, styled after Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity.  Well, now they've aimed their satirical wit in a new direction with the latest offering from Gut Check Press: Younger, Restlesser, Reformeder, a self-described "Good-Natured Roast" of the New Calvinist movement.

Ted and Zach are friends of mine.  Ted and I met at a conference a couple years ago and though Zach and I have never actually met, we’re friends on facebook.  That counts, right?  Anyway, I’m going to give you basically the same type of advice I gave when I reviewed Kinda Christianity.  There are plenty of people who won’t like this book.  You might be one of them if you:

• Don’t like satire
• Don’t have a sense of humor
• Can’t stand to have someone point out many of your own idiosyncrasies and foibles

If these words decribe you, you can stop reading right here.  Certainly don’t waste their time by reading the book.  You’ll note I said don’t waste their time.  The reason I say their time is, I know what will happen if you are the aforementioned type of person and you read it.  You will get upset.  You will write Ted and Zach a nasty letter or write a terrible review on your blog.  Nice guys that they are, they will feel compelled to respond, and you will have wasted their time.

On the other hand, there are some of you who are Reformed in your theology and willing to have a hearty laugh (no, those are not mutually exclusive categories).  If you are among this number, and are still willing to laugh even if you’re the butt of the joke, then you might want to check out Younger, Restlesser, Reformeder.

In this book they make fun of us young Calvinsts (okay, so maybe I’m not quite so young anymore) in ways that could often be labeled “over-the-top generalizations” (read: good satire).  As I read the book and considered their jabs, I vascilated between two reactions.  At times, I would somewhat condemningly chuckle to myself, “That’s so true.”  At other times, I would find myself painfully admitting, “That’s so true about me!”

They lampoon the teachers we learn from, the books we read and the conferences we attend.  The media we take in and our use of the internet are also fair game, as are our attitudes toward politics, pyramid schemes and anyone who thinks differently than we do (i.e., the right way).

Take this example from their section on being obnoxious, which far too often is a descriptor that fits us Calvinists to a “T.” (Though Kluck and Bartels insightfully point out that “New Calvinists” are not nearly as obnoxious as new Calvinists.)

"Here’s the thing: Once you’ve come right out and said that God himself has chosen who will be saved, nothing else you could say could be more offensive, from the world’s perspective, so go ahead and celebrate the Crusades, justify the Salem witch trials, and hand out anathemas like they’re Bit O’ Honey bars left over from when you used to celebrate Halloween.  What have you got to lose?  Really, how innocent are doves?"

In the end, if you are young, reformed and especially if you live in Michigan, this isn’t just the book for you…it’s the book about you.  Don’t take yourself so seriously.  Sit down, take an hour and read it, and have a laugh at your own expense.

A Reformed Health and Wealth Gospel

The second chapter of Don't Call It a Comeback is by Collin Hansen and is entitled The Story of Evangelicalism from the Beginning and Before.  It is a sweeping overview of the history of evangelicalism, alerting the reader to the key figures, dates and movements that have formed much of the foundation of today's evangelical church.

In this chapter, Hansen points out that in the last century, "Pentacostals have outpaced the growth of all other expressions of evangelicalism."  While not disparaging Pentacostalism as a whole, he goes on to point out, "Unfortunately, the Pentacostal impulse is all too often accompanied by an appeal to God to grant health and wealth in return for faith."

This statement prompted a series of thoughts in my mind.  Indeed, far too often Christians (and not just Pentacostals either) want to make this kind of bargain with God: "health and wealth" in exchange for "our faith." For most solidly Reformed theologians, this kind of deal is anathema.  I would argue though, that not only is God okay with that bargain, it is exactly what he wants.

Now before you pull together a committee to revoke my Reformed credentials, hear me out.  There is a key (and far too often misunderstood) truth that needs to be taken into account in order to grasp what I am saying here.  Namely, this is that "our faith" is not really "our faith" at all.  It is a gift from God.  As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

You see, our faith is not something we give God, but rather something he gives to us.  In order for there to be an exchange then, it is not God who gives us health and wealth, but rather we who give it to him, not as a bill to be paid, but as a joyful expression of thanks for what he has so graciously done for us.  All of our physical well-being, all of our finances, all of everything we have really, ought to be laid at the feet of the Lord.  This is the only kind of "health and wealth gospel" of which the Bible truly speaks.