THINGS THAT BOTHER ME: I’M REFORMED BUT… PT. II

Here is a small sample of some Reformed But… claims.

• I’m Reformed but I don’t have to mention it every time I preach or teach.

Real meaning: this is a private matter and I don’t have to publicly announce my views or prove them to anyone. After all, the Lord knows my heart and that’s what really matters.

Here, as in the following examples, is the mistaken notion that our theology-- I’m using this word in the subjective sense of what we believe about God, man, sin, life, death, and so on-- does not and should impact all our thoughts and actions. In this scheme, my theology is a highly privatized matter, somewhat like my politics and my banking account. It is tightly compartmentalized and this protective insulation forbids it to interact with, influence or impact my other perspectives and analyses of life. It helps me to have a better grasp of religious matters which I apply to my own walk with God but it is not necessary to make it a foundational or foremost aspect of my ministry.

Clearly this position at least misunderstands the nature and purpose of all theology. It enjoys a comfortable and carnal disjuncture between private views and our corporate duty to preach the whole counsel of God. It also smacks of indolence in the patient, loving instruction of the flock of Christ with the totality of the divine revelation which has its center in Him.

• I’m Reformed but I don’t have to be offensive about it.

Real meaning: I’d rather be considered affable and “nice” rather than hurt or offend one of my Arminian or even Pelagian acquaintances. Love and peace are the effective instruments that will draw them. Bees are easier caught in honey than in vinegar. You can’t catch fish with a baseball bat!!

While it is true that some Calvinists have justly earned the monikers of “frozen chosen” or “sanctimonious sour-pusses,” all Christians are commanded “to truth in love,” a necessary condition for individual and corporate growth “.. into him who is the head, into Christ, ..” Eph 4:15. Truth and love are God’s inseparable tandem for promoting the health of His church, the body of Christ. Rejecting this essential balance is fraught with problems: an overdose of truth alone leads to rampant legalism and Pharisaism and a one-sided deluge of love results in a sloppy, maudlin sentimentality capable of erupting into wicked licentiousness.

It is a transparent attempt to use the excesses of some as a covering fig-leaf of our unwillingness to communicate this most excellent teaching to others. By driving a wedge between truth and love, it commits the fallacy of the false dilemma . In the end, it is a de facto rejection of both truth and love as well as a belittling of the divinely appointed means of growing the church.

• I’m Reformed but I don’t “wear my theology on my sleeves.”

This is an actual quote by a self-professing Reformed pastor of one of Atlanta’s highly visible mega-churches.

Real meaning: similar to those above-- it also countenances and advocates the closet Calvinist mentality.

The major problem here is simply that we are ashamed, afraid or diffident to proclaim faithfully and compassionately the whole theology of the Bible. Instead, we sheepishly hide behind the Reformed slogan(s) and sloppily clothe ourselves with the unfit garments of clandestine Calvinism. Reformed Theology is good for me. I enjoy reading the works of Edwards, Piper, Sproul and Ferguson. I experience deep spiritual upliftment when I read the Westminster Confession Of Faith. Calvin is intellectually challenging and Luther, profoundly pastoral. I enjoy wrestling with Van Til. I even (privately) encourage some of my members and friends to attend Ligonier Ministry’s annual March conference in Orlando because it would be of tremendous benefit for them. But I really don’t see the need to make a big deal about it.

• I’m Reformed but Iwould rather not preach or teach it because it would do more harm than good now in the life of my church. After several years of intense challenges, our congregation seems to be doing fairly well now and to change things at this time would return us to those unpleasant days of commotion and conflict. Besides, Black people are turned off by much talk about doctrine; they have an aversion to –isms which, in many cases, only serve to produce schisms in the church.

This is a conflation of actual quotes by a couple of popular mega-church pastors who are graduates of the most prominent Reformed seminary in this country.

Real meaning: I admit that the Reformed doctrine is thoroughly biblical and I concede its theological stoutness but I have my career to consider. To effect any change at this time would be disastrous and I’d rather be a healer than a divider of people. In the meantime, I still read Berkhof (’s Systematic Theology) every now and then; I fellowship with my Presbyterian brothers when I have time. As a matter of fact, I consult my seminary notes from time to time to help me in my sermon preparation. At this time, however, it would neither be attractive nor advantageous for me to introduce it into my ministry.

In all of the above examples, there is an obvious dichotomy between a personal acknowledgement of the Reformed Faith and the neglect of its corporate preaching and teaching. By the latter I refer not to sporadic presentations or to intermittent investigations of some aspect(s) of Reformed distinctives but to the actual incorporation of the whole body of Reformed doctrine as the systematic teaching of the church. Tragically, this troubling conjunction (BUT) seems to be playing a greater role in some of our professing churches.

Next Issue: The Reformed But… Pentecostal view.