Raised attending conservative churches of Christ, I have heard many preachers tackle the questions of Calvinism, outlining TULIP, and explaining why God is not sovereign in the way Calvinists believe. Over the years, I have listened closely to several well-studied men who believe and teach from a Calvinistic perspective—men like John MacArthur, John Piper, Voddie Baucham, James White, R. C. Spraul, and many others. All these men have their own studied understandings of Scripture, and they do not fully agree on everything—but they all accept one another as brothers in Christ, and their lives have produced much good fruit. Several have already gone on to meet the Lord.
As I have studied what these men had to say, I realized much of what I thought I knew about Calvinism was wrong—many straw men had been built up and torn down in the sermons I had heard.
Misrepresented and Caricatured
Don’t you hate it when someone tells you what you believe and then tells you why you are wrong? And you say, “But that’s not what I believe. You are not stating my position properly.” And they return, “Ah, but your position logically leads to this, so this really is what you believe.”
Don’t we hate being caricatured by others? “The Republican Party wants a dictator for life in the White House. They want to take away all our health care. They want to take away all our rights.” And many Republicans shake their heads, “Not even close to what we believe.” But then the Republicans say, “Democrats want to kill all the babies. They want transgender kids to have their private parts cut off. They want the government to run and control every aspect of our lives.” And many Democrats shake their heads, “That is not accurate.”
We do this in religion, too, and we must be careful to avoid it. It’s sloppy, lazy, and downright disingenuous. Do the hard work. Study to show yourself approved before God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. We do not want to lie about anyone. The Jewish counsel sent Jesus to be killed based on false accusations.
The Monolithic “They”
And we need to avoid using the monolithic “they” and “them,” right? We lump everyone under one banner because it’s easy to dismiss an entire group, and usually we pick the most outlandish to represent the group. Folks are easily dismissing Christian Nationalism because of a few radicals under the banner, but many who accept the Christian Nationalist title have truly conservative, Biblical, and thought-provoking ideas. Non-Christians like to dismiss all Christianity based on a few evil acts they can find that “Christians” committed through the years. Not fair. Don’t lump everyone under one monolithic philosophy or theology. Certainly, we can attack a philosophy or a worldview or a theology on its merits, but just because we understand, for instance, that Islamic jihad is a poison to the world does not mean every Muslim agrees with it. Meet a man where he is, love him for who he is, and treat him with respect.
A Debate in Alabama
There’s a debate this week in Athens, AL, at the meeting house of the Pepper Road church of Christ. They are live-streaming the debate each night, and I have watched the first two installments from Monday and Tuesday evenings in which Bruce Reeves (from the Highway 65 church of Christ in Conway, AR) took the positive position on “The Scriptures teach that those who obey the gospel of their own freewill, and only those, become the elect of God” while Joel Ellis (from Reformation Presbyterian Church in Apache Junction, AZ) took the negative.
Two more debate nights are coming on Thursday and Friday, in which Joel Ellis will present the positive, “The Scriptures teach that God chose, from the foundation of the world, a definite number of people to be saved, not on the basis of anything foreseen in them, but solely on the basis of his own purpose and grace” while Bruce Reeves takes the negative. I encourage you to explore those presentations, if you can make some time.
At its core, the debate is about what God has revealed about Himself in Scripture—that’s the bottom line, and God expects us to seek Him and get to know Him as He has revealed Himself.
Seekers of Truth
Let’s be seekers, and let’s work hard not to caricature opposing viewpoints, build straw men which are easy to knock over and burn, or dismiss something before we understand it. If you take the time to study these debates, I encourage you to listen carefully to both sides and see what the Scriptures say.
Don’t listen to debates just to find out who will win, but listen to gain understanding on the issues. For debates on biblical topics, you should always be thinking, “Does this match with what the Bible says? Is that what the Bible means?” When each speaker is making his case, think about his position as if it were true and evaluate it. If it is true, what would that mean for me right now? What would it change for me? What does it say about God? What does it say about the state of man? Ask those questions and don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know right now—but then work and study to find out! Keep asking good questions. That is how we grow.
And let me know what you think. I’m genuinely interested.