Quick: without giving the title of this post too much thought, how would you answer the question? What’s the first thought that comes to your head? The first impression that rises unbidden to the surface of your soul?
There are a number of legitimate dangers that need to be heeded when it comes to the New Calvinism. This could be, for some people, just another fad, just another chasing after the It Thang. The movement could crumble under the weight of self-importance. There is the danger of idolizing our heroes and envying our colleagues. There is the danger of minimizing important doctrines in an effort to promote gospel-centered unity. There is the danger of not being careful enough with our associations–and the opposite danger of taking glee in deciding who is in and who is out.
We have all the problems that any movement has. For starters, no one knows who “we” is. There is no established confession that binds us together, no official spokesperson, no adjudicating assembly. At many times, we still have to figure out how to disagree profitably among ourselves. Some of us need to grow up to be better churchmen and invest in formal denominations and institutions, not just informal networks. We need to be wary of pride. We need to be careful not to be too derivative in our thinking. We need to be anchored not in the passing fancy that is our social media world, but in the old Calvinism of the Reformation, and, more importantly, in the oldest “Calvinism” found in the Bible. We need to be sure our deepest and most sustained energies are poured into that one institution Christ promised to build and against which he promised the gates of hell could not stand.
In other words, almost every critique has some merit; almost every warning should be considered. Keep reading
Also see
R. C. Sproul: Escaping the “Cage Stage”
Tony Carter: Keeping Black Christians at Arm’s Length
No comments:
Post a Comment