“I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:2-4)While I love the God-centered truths taught by reformed theology, I do agree with some of the criticisms of the infighting and inward focus found in reformed circles. From young “thunder puppies” to the stodgy theologically correct old-timers, the pride that some notable bad examples exhibit gives Calvinism a bad name in certain places, including the reformed world itself.
We have learned over time—and through our own obnoxious episodes of theological correctness—that love truly does cover a multitude of sins and a multitude of differences. It takes wisdom to know when to fight and when to zip the lip. None of us ever gets it perfectly right, but we must pray for that wisdom and not give up trying to get it right. By that, I don’t mean prove we are right over differences of opinion, I mean show we are humble servants by being willing to give up our rights at the right time.
One thing that we have re-learned over the last couple of years is a desire to share our faith with others. An enthusiasm for evangelism has been rekindled in our hearts, and a passion for building God’s kingdom has been renewed. Something that is sadly uncommon in reformed churches is giving “personal testimonies,” telling the stories of how God has brought believers to faith in Him. Perhaps it’s a reaction to easy believism which preaches that if you just pray a prayer asking Jesus into your heart, you will have salvation and your fire insurance policy is guaranteed. Some who are raised in Christian homes do not have a certain time they can look to as a dramatic conversion experience, and the reformed church rightly teaches that God can confer His gift of salvation even on a child in the womb, though faith must be manifested through word and action in the true believer’s life. But many, many people do have experiences and memories to share either of the way they were led to faith in Christ, or concerning special direction from God in their Christian walk. Such stories are a joy and encouragement to others, to remind them of the importance of their first love for God, and without that encouragement, our faith can become stagnant.
A wonderful pastor whom our family knew only briefly before his death (his dear wife and daughter were very kind to us over the years), wrote a tremendous essay concerning the pitfalls of Calvinism where evangelism is concerned. Pastor Duckett’s “faithful wounds” give helpful advice to those who would emphasize the right things for the wrong reasons, focusing too much on the defense and not enough on the offense. When we find the riches of reformed theology and begin to grow in that knowledge, too often this is the result:
As we advance in our ranks, we take side-glances to see if we are in step with those around us, if our swords are properly aligned, if there is a correct and proper interval between ranks, and if we are marching together, comÂpletely in step. Our objective narrows from a world-and-life application of the Christian faith, from extending God’s Kingdom, and from an evangelistic emphasis that identified our early experience, to an immediate, but narrow, objective of pleasing peers and being doctrinally pure, or doctrinally clever. We want to be assured that we can stand inspection within our group and almost stand inspection by other Christians on the outside of our group.
By caring too much about impressing our team, we become functional humanists, concerned more about pleasing man (or certain men) than pleasing God. In the process, we often become so insular that we become functionally inept at building God’s kingdom, and we despise the local church by looking for the perfect church, which is a figment of our prideful imaginations. You must read Pastor Duckett’s simple strategy for growing the local church, taking offensive action, not being offensive people. As I like to remind women (particularly young women who wonder what they ought to be doing with their lives), look around you. Why is it considered so much more important to find a “ministry” in another place, when there is a ministry right in front of you, beginning in your home, but also in your neighborhood and in your community? Do you know your neighbors, the people at the places you shop? Why don’t you start there? That’s truly being faithful in the small things, which brings great blessing from God.
We just had a nice visit with our friends, Randy and Lisa W. and their children. There is a 25 acre parcel of land across from their home which is being developed. Our friends’ family has been a light to the construction workers on that project. They keep a cooler in the front yard filled with cold drinks for the men who are working in the summer heat, and they have all had many conversations with those men, building friendships and taking opportunities to tell them about God. A young girl died one night in an accident at the construction site, something which really shook up the workers there. Our friends took the opportunity to talk with them about eternal things and give them comfort. On the 4th of July, Randy and Lisa were home all day, and because of their contract the men had to come to work across the street that day. Our friends had a barbeque for them and showed them sweet hospitality. What a tremendous witness they have been with an opportunity in their own neighborhood. Such opportunities are all around if we look for them.
Tomorrow I will write out the story of how I came to faith in Christ. I would love to hear some of your stories, too, or about opportunities God has given you to share your faith with others. I will give some more links, too, to encouraging things regarding remembering your first love. Will you tell me your story? I love stories!
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