Simple Church Bloggers and Their Murky Theology

It's an odd thing that so many simple church bloggers have murky, soupy, grayish, ill-defined theology. It's odd because most Christians who blog about simple church life do so out of biblical conviction. They read what the bible says about church life and then say, "This is the way it should be now." They, myself included, then look to the institution and say, "No thanks!"

Now to the odd part. A significant number of bloggers who espouse simple church principles at the same time call into question numerous points of theology that the church as a whole is in general agreement upon (or at least used to be). It's weird. Many of the same simple church people who point to the bible for church life then ignore the plain teachings of the bible when it comes to theology, salvation, cultural issues, etc. It is a strange situation indeed.

My biggest concern is the simple church bloggers who call into question Jesus Christ's atoning work on the cross. It appears to embarrass them just as it does the liberal "Christians." This is extremely problematic because the atonement is at the heart of salvation. Simply put, if there is no atonement there is no salvation - period. Jesus certainly did more for his people than just die on the cross in their place, but he did die in their place. It was a substitutionary, penal atonement. Those who call this into question are left with an empty theology of salvation.

Speaking of salvation, a good number of simple church bloggers don't hold to a literal existence of Hell. Now, I'll say that I myself am not sure of Hell's specifics. However, I'm certain that it is an eternal place of torment; whether or not that is physical or emotional in nature I do not know. I do know that it is a spiritual Hell that will last forever. Some in simple church prefer annihilationism; this apparently squares with their understanding of a loving God. Apparently they conveniently ignore the holiness of God in coming to this conclusion.

Delving deeper into the issue of salvation, I've found that most simple church bloggers detest the doctrine of predestination. That's unfortunate since the bible tells us that some are, in fact, predestined. Some bloggers go far beyond rejecting predestination and instead hold to a near universalism. Yuck. As for the process of sanctification, I've read bloggers who basically say that since God saves and loves, it's O.K. to go right on sinning. Yet again, it requires a great deal of ignoring the bible to make a claim like this. God expects increasing holiness post-salvation.

What other issues are there? Well, some simple church bloggers have completely accepted homosexuality; others seem dazed and confused about the whole thing. Many just want everybody to get along. As for women's roles, it appears that the vast majority favor an egalitarian approach to church life (that complementarian thing is just too old-fashioned apparently). Regarding spiritual gifts, nearly anything is acceptable.

What is going on here? I see three major factors at play. First, these simple church bloggers are not being fair or consistent in how they interpret scripture. While they demand a literal understanding of the text when it comes to the N.T. model for church life, when it comes to these other issues they think of the bible as a sort of play thing. Second, these bloggers are clearly questioning both the infallibility and authority of the bible (at least when it is convenient). Third, and possibly the largest factor, these bloggers are bowing to secular cultural norms in a variety of areas.

I admit that at times I'm not consistent while interpreting scripture. Everybody makes mistakes. However, we ought to all try to understand the bible in as consistent a manner as possible. Either it is infallible or it isn't. Either it is authoritative or it is not. As we do this, we must keep factors such as historical context and genre in mind. We should also take a long look at the church's understanding of the issue throughout its history.

The simple church bloggers I'm referring to in this post need to start being honest. They cannot pick-and-choose how they are going to approach the bible. If the New Testament in particular shows us how the church should function, then it also shows us what we need to know about these other issues. To all you murky blogging types, you cannot cling to some scripture and ignore the rest. Either take the whole bible or leave it all.

A Fun Reformed Meme

This meme may have been out for a while, but I still find it funny. Part of what makes it so humorous is that it is accurate. I've been through all stages myself.

Having been raised in a Wesleyan-Armininan church, the idea of God's sovereignty over salvation seemed nearly abhorrent to me. However, once confronted with scripture (this about 10-15 years ago while in seminary) I quickly entered the shock and then denial stages. After a few difficult months, I moved on to realization and acceptance. Unfortunately, shortly after that I began that very annoying phase where I tried to convince other unsuspecting Christians that predestination is true. I was, as they say, a bit of a jerk. A cage would have been a good place for me.

I don't know about that last stage. I've never been much of a sage about anything.

A word of clarification: while I strongly hold to Reformed thinking as it pertains to salvation, I disagree with much of it regarding the life and function of the church. Therefore, I'm not really Reformed. Rather, I just love the Doctrines of Grace.

Pendulum Swinging on God's Sovereignty

God's sovereignty is a wonderful thing. It would be horrid if God didn't have control over His own universe. In fact, if He did not He wouldn't be God at all. As far as I know, all Christians take comfort in God's omnipotence.

That being said, Christians have managed to find various ways to argue over this doctrine again and again and again. I've been part of that argument in the past and have been all over the place on the issue. You may have as well.

I was raised in a Wesleyan church in western New York State. I recall fondly discussions of how great God is, how wonderful God is, and how we can trust Him to care for us. However, when it came to salvation it was basically all in my hands. God was waiting for me, of my own free will, to select Him. God was portrayed as a sort of cosmic cheerleader, hoping I would surrender to His Lordship. It was completely up to me.

Many years later, after moving to Georgia and joining a Southern Baptist Church, I went to seminary. While there I swung on the theological pendulum all the way over to the other side. I became firmly entrenched in the Calvinism camp. Somewhat interestingly, this did not occur because of any of my seminary classes. Rather, a few friends of mine leaned in that direction. Upon their suggestion I began reading authors like John Piper and R.C. Sproul. The rest was history. God selected some, didn't select others, and that was it.

In the years since that time I've mellowed. As for the theological pendulum, I've swung back somewhere near the middle. While I believe God is sovereign over salvation, I also believe that each individual has a real responsibility to repent and believe. This is a real choice. It matters. While we do not have complete freedom of the will (how can a sinful person have that?), we also are not robotic in nature. Upon hearing the gospel message, we have what amounts to a real, true choice between God and the world.

As for daily living, I cherish God's care over life. He is active. He is involved. However, He also allows things to happen. What we do impacts the world for better or worse. God controls from behind the scenes, but we are real participants in what occurs in our lives - and the lives of others.

This is an important issue. We should all think it through. However, we should not allow this to divide us as followers of Christ. Sadly, this has through the years been extremely divisive doctrinally. Whole denominations have formed over the issue. Sometimes the opposing sides actually call the salvation of the other into question. This must stop!

I firmly believe that God cares much more about the unity of His body than He does about whether or not any of us knows exactly how sovereign He is. I don't know where you are on the pendulum related to sovereignty/free will. However, I do want us to be united. That is of first importance.

What Is It With Predestination and Division?

There is little that stirs up debate in the church more than the doctrine of predestination. There's also little that leads to strong reactions and volatile emotions more than a hearty discussion of predestination.

Why is this?

One reason the debate rages is that both sides can easily point to bible passages that seem to support what they believe. For every Ephesians 1:3-5 there is an Acts 17:30-31. For every Romans 8:29-30 there is a John 3:16-18. For every Acts 13:48 there is a Romans 10:12-14. And on and on it goes.

Another reason the predestination argument continues is that the two sides (and unfortunately it has become "sides") believe the other side is grossly misrepresenting the character of God. For example, those who emphasize God's sovereignty often portray the other side as describing a weak, powerless God. Conversely, those who emphasize the free will of man say that the other side believes in an unloving, unmerciful God. Both sides frequently employ straw man arguments.

Finally, the two sides usually refuse to actually communicate, instead talking past each other. This only increases the problems.

What can we do about this? For one thing we must realize that this should not be a cause of division. Jesus has made it clear that He expects His body to be united. Christ never made a claim that we have to believe a certain definition of predestination.

Second, let's actually communicate. When we do, we often find that on issues like this we agree on much more than we think at first.

Third, let's avoid straw man arguments. They are unhelpful and only lead to increased division.

Fourth, we may have to agree-to-disagree. This does not mean that we have "caved in" on what we believe, but rather that we will hold to the unity of the body in spite of our differences.

Fifth, we must avoid taking sides. When we avoid this, we make unity much more of a possibility.

Like so many other doctrines, predestination should never be an excuse for disunity in the body of Christ. We can hold to different definitions but remain united in Christ. This can and should be a real unity that includes fellowship as opposed to simply some sort of theoretical "unity in spirit."

Predestination has the potential to be divisive if we are determined to win an argument. It also has the potential to unify the body by teaching us how to live together despite our differences.

Only Two Kinds of People

"There are two kinds of people in this world: followers of Jesus Christ and potential followers of Jesus Christ."

A few minutes ago it struck me that only two kinds of people really exist. I posted it on Facebook, but I wanted to write about it briefly here, too. The two kinds are those who are in Christ and those who are potentially in Him.

The greatest difference between people is not skin color, socioeconomic status, language, geographical location, political party, favorite sports team, or even whether or not they like bacon. The largest difference carries significance far beyond all the others. That difference is one of eternal salvation.

Our tendency is often to think in terms of "Christian" and "non-Christian." I think it is more helpful to think about people as those who know Jesus and those who potentially know Jesus. This is not simply a matter of semantics. Rather, the words we use often hint at our frame of reference and even shape it to some degree. When we think of unbelievers as potential believers, it also helps us think about how we can influence them positively for Christ.

I believe that God predestines all he chooses to salvation. I also believe that the gospel message is for anyone and everyone; all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Exactly how these truths fit together is beyond my small brain. Therefore, I want to remember and I encourage you to remember that anyone who doesn't know Jesus Christ as Lord has the great potential to do so.

No Longer Reformed, But I Still Love the Five Solas

A decade ago, after about a year in seminary, I became one of those newly-turned-Reformed guys that you just don't want to be around. As the saying goes, I should have been locked up in a cage for a year or so. I wanted everyone to embrace my new understanding of predestination and thought everyone should. I knew I was right and was certain of it (Steve Scott just wrote an interesting post about this entitled The Neo-Calvinist Certitude).

For a while there I even considered myself to be part of the Young, Restless, and Reformed Movement.

A few years back I realized that it was all a bunch of ridiculousness. More specifically, it's an example of what occurs within Christianity when a sub-group overemphasizes one aspect of faith and/or practice. In this case the overemphasis is on God's sovereignty. If we actually let the scriptures speak, we see that while God is sovereign over salvation, man has a real, actual responsibility to repent and believe. How do these two truths fit together? I'm not sure. God is the one who knows, and that is good enough for me.

Regarding the term "Reformed," I rejected it a few years ago. I'm done with all labels other than "Christian" or "Christ follower." "Brother" is my favorite.

One of the things that is commonly associated with the Reformed is the Five Solas of the Reformation. I still love these truths, along with the Doctrines of Grace. Therefore, while I reject the notion of being part of some sort of Reformed group within Christianity, I cherish many of the same beliefs about salvation.

The biggest issue that forces me to reject the term "Reformed" is the typical Reformed view of the church. Ironically, the Reformed view of church falls far short of Sola Scriptura. In fact, while the Reformation view of salvation broke far away from that of Rome, the Reformed view of the church itself didn't move all that much. For example, a typical Protestant worship service isn't all that different in form from a Roman Catholic Mass. The only key difference is that the Eucharist was replaced by the sermon.

On my blog I have a page entitled Five Solas. I'm keeping that because they describe much of what I believe. However, I'm no longer Reformed and never will be again. Like many of you, God has revealed to me something far greater that his church can be. I don't want to be constrained by man-created definitions. Rather, I just want to follow the Holy Spirit as he leads us to be the body of Christ as revealed in the pages of the New Testament.

Why Bacon is Good for You

Yummy!

Can Reformed Theology be a Distraction?

Let me say first of all that I love the 5 solas and the Doctrines of Grace. I fully embrace the biblical teachings of God's complete sovereignty over salvation.

When I use the word "Reformed" in this question, I'm referring to salvation, not the church.

So, the question again is, "Can Reformed Theology be a Distraction?"

I'm sad to say that the answer is, "Yes." That does not mean that it is a distraction. Rather, it can be.

Reformed theology is a distraction when people spend so much time talking about things like election, monergism, predestination, supralapsarianism, etc., that they forget to feed the hungry and share the gospel. This does happen with some people. I have seen folks who are so concerned with having every detail of their doctrine correct that they ignore living out their faith. When this is the case, they actually don't have their doctrine correct because living out our faith for the good of others is correct doctrine.

This is a danger on seminary campuses, but it can infect churches as well. When head knowledge doesn't lead to action, there is a significant problem.

Reformed theology ought to have a positive impact on the way we live in the world. It should be that we are so stunned by the manifold grace of God that we want to share Him with everyone we know. We should be so overwhelmed by our completely undeserved predestination that we joyfully live out the commands of Christ to love the lost by caring for their needs and teaching them about Jesus. Let us take our thrill over God's changing our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh and use that to inspire us to holy living.

In the end, Reformed theology, like many others things, can have a positive or a negative impact on our lives as individuals and as the church as a whole. The impact should be extremely positive. Let's act so it will be.

Wisdom from Spurgeon

"There are two great truths which from this platform I have proclaimed for many years. The first is that salvation is free to every man who will have it; the second is that God gives salvation to a people whom He has chosen; and these truths are not in conflict with each other in the least degree."

We Should All Believe in Predestination

Acts 4:27-28, "For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place."

Romans 8:29-30, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

Ephesians 1:4-5, "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will..."

Ephesians 1:11, "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will."

I frequently hear Christians say that they do not believe in predestination. I also regularly read Christians write against predestination. Some Christians seem to have a visceral dislike for the word itself.

I don't understand why Christians feel this way. The reality is that we should all believe in predestination. The reason for this is that the word itself is in the bible. The above verses show the five places where this word occurs. They all come from the Greek verb "prooridzo."

The argument among Christians should not be whether or not predestination is true. It is true because it is in the bible.

If there is a disagreement, it ought to be over what predestination actually means.

In the above passage from Acts, the word "predestined" is used to refer to God the Father's bringing about and controlling the death of Christ. Almost all Christians agree on this meaning.

The real argument is over what is described in the remainder of the above verses: predestination as it relates to the salvation of sinners. Some Christians believe that God predestined who would be saved and who would not based upon His own sovereign will. Others believe that God predestined who would be saved based upon His foreknowledge of who would make a free choice for Him (there are also other nuanced definitions of what predestined means, but I have desire to go in that direction right now).

My purpose here is not to argue for either of the above positions. My point, rather, is to say that predestination is true and is fact (I'm being purposefully redundant). The reason it is true and factual is that it is in the bible.

Since the bible has no errors, the existence of predestination is something we should all be able to agree upon.

It is the definition of what predestination actually is that we should be talking about, but may not agree upon.

If we are to be as biblical as we can be, we must believe all the words of scripture to be true.