You're One Of Those

One day I was chatting with a friend from Church about spiritual matters when he remarked, "Oh! You're of those!" I said, "what are you talking about?" He replied, "you're one of those Calvinists." By that he meant I was not really a Christian - in the sense that I wasn't interested in seeing folks added to the church daily as happened in the book of Acts.

I had just recently stumbled onto Calvinism by reading and listening to John Piper. Oh, I had heard about T.U.L.I.P., but had never investigated fully what that was all about. My friend's remark was said in jest, but my curiosity was aroused to the point that I began seriously investigating what it is I really believe. What a tremendous journey God has me on. Little did I know that what I had heard most of my life was a shallow, mostly man-centered, gloss of what God has truly revealed of Himself in his Word.


I had never heard in depth preaching on election (Rom 9:11, Rom 11:5. Rom 11:7, Rom 11:28, 1Th 1:4, 2Pe 1:10) for instance, or depravity (1Ti 6:5 corrupt minds) apparently because these subjects are too controversial for American democratic sensibilities. Election in particular is a touchy subject, as I found out in talking with my friend, because it is just abhorent to most men that God actually creates some men for purposes other than salvation. Rom 9:13 explains: "As it is written, Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated. That is not "God wants all men to be saved" language, which is what I had heard all my life.

So, my journey began into the truth or falsity of what Calvin taught. One of the first things I learned was that the idea that Calvin was not evangelistic was a lie. He believed, as do I now, that election, and salvation are God's undisputed prerogatives, but because we do not have a clue as to whom the elect are, we are obligated to tell the good news of the Gospel to every person we can.

So, I learned from my friend that day I am indeed "one of those." Now I learn I am not alone. Apparently God is awakening, many Americans to this pillar of the faith from long ago. So much so, the Media is now aware of this fact. Time Magazine recently listed Calvinism as number 3 in a list of "10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now."

Calvinism, cousin to the Reformation's other pillar, Lutheranism, is a bit less dour than its critics claim: it offers a rock-steady deity who orchestrates absolutely everything, including illness (or home foreclosure!), by a logic we may not understand but don't have to second-guess. Our satisfaction — and our purpose — is fulfilled simply by "glorifying" him. In the 1700s, Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards invested Calvinism with a rapturous near mysticism. Yet it was soon overtaken in the U.S. by movements like Methodism that were more impressed with human will. Calvinist-descended liberal bodies like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) discovered other emphases, while Evangelicalism's loss of appetite for rigid doctrine — and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus — seemed to relegate hard-core Reformed preaching (Reformed operates as a loose synonym for Calvinist) to a few crotchety Southern churches.

What a joy it has been for me to discover the Jesus, of Calvin, Luther and the Pilgrims who fled persecution to come this land we call America. Yes this Jesus is more awe inspiring than the "fuzzy Jesus" so many now believe in, but Worshiping with awe is our purpose in life. That is why God created us.

I am grateful to God he led me to investigate the reasons for my belief in Him. I don't worship Him because I get to go to heaven - that's a side benefit - I worship Him because He made me to do just that. If that makes me a "oh your one of those," then I triumphantly proclaim to the world: "You bet I'm one of the those."

My prayer is that you will become, "one of those" as well.

[Thanks to Wittenberg Door for posting the Time Article]