Commanded Christianity
As I was driving last week, I sort of scanned through the radio to listen to what was out there in terms of Christian stations. The first one I listened to (for a total of about two hours) was FULL of politicized messages robed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And while I’m sure they air some good stuff, the prime-time programming I heard was NOT the Christianity I know and love. I had to continue my search.
The second channel was old school. It played old school hymns—which I adore to tell you the truth, especially in comparison to the modern, whiney, “I’m dating Jesus” music of today, but in between the music they broadcast some powerful preachers of the word. Outside of listening to Chuck Smith teach through the Bible (twice) while in Calvary Chapel school of Ministry, I will every now and again tap into Vernon McGee, Barnhouse, RC Sproul, and Adrian Rogers, but in all total I have not listened to more than probably 20 full hours of preachers or teachers through any medium over the course of my entire life.
Don’t get me wrong—I like them. I am inspired by their messages and by their gift at preaching the Word, but, as the group, Naked Eyes said in their popular remake, “There is always something there to remind me” that I don’t like—something in their approach to the faith that always colors their overall message for me and I have sensed it for as far back as I can remember. This is especially the case when the preacher is of the Reformed (or a Calvinist) persuasion. Again, I typically love their preaching and for the most part am truly inspired by the Words they have to share, but I have never been able to figure out what bothers me about all of them—which is why, I guess, that I don’t listen to them very often.
God's Sovereignty and Preachers' Roles
So after the radio experiences last week, I got to thinking about what it is that bothers me, and has bothered me, so much that underlies the overall great messages of these gifted preachers. I am going to hit the heavy bag tonight as a means to get to the Heart of the Matter on this stuff and I hope it will somehow serve you because explaining it adequately might be a bit murky. I am going to go to the white board to sort of illustrate what I hear and sense in these guys universally and then explain myself thereafter.
What I hear ungirding every preacher no matter the denom but especially from the Reformed, is something that sounds like this looks: GOD (on board) is depicted as Sovereign. GOD (has his way (the way) and that way) that comes from Him to us creations. Because God is the creator of all things, all things should, must, and will conform to His way. And because He seeks conformity to his way in all things, preachers, teachers and pastors have the obligation to tell its every audience how to conform themselves in EVERY area of life.
God's Views on Every Aspect of Life
This results in these preachers taking the liberty to describe what is right and wrong with every subject under the Sun because . . .that is what they say God has views on—everything under the sun. So, I will call this COMMANDED CHRISTIANITY.
To the radio preacher, the world MUST come to see and comply with these views as they share them—views on sex, marriage, family, business, civilization, government, politics, sportsmanship, education, art, science, entertainment, dress, everything to them has a “GOD’s way,” right? And these preachers, because they believe this, truly, from their hearts, think it is their job to tell people what God’s ways are! God certainly has ways—but can man tell us what they are specifically? Does the Bible actually supply the modern audience with these instructions? I don’t think so. It’s really important to understand.
The Influence of Theology on Earthly Citizenship
The onus or genesis of this view that preachers have began with Christians taking the Nation of Israel in the Old Testament and bearing forward the ways and means God operated with them. This approach was then somewhat ratified by Augustine, codified by Calvin, and has been passed around like Covid-19, fomenting in various outbreaks and movements, ever since. What I am saying is John Calvin would never distinguish between being a citizen of this earth and being a Christian. To him, if someone was a Christian, then that would define everything related to them as a citizen on earth. Therefore, EVERYTHING a CHRISTIAN believes, says and does must be reflected in their earthly citizenship.
This is essential Jean Calvin which has been regurgitated out in the writings of notable Reformed thinkers like Abraham Kai-per, Cornelius and Henry Van Til and Francis Shaffer, who even penned a book called, “How Should We Then Live.” Abraham Kai-per summarized his understanding of the reign of Christ when he wrote the following: There is not one inch of creation of which Christ doesn’t say, “Mine,” which may be true, but this does not suggest that he also says, “and not yours,” which is the message that ultimately comes down the pike from these folks. This is part of their schtick – its LAW, coming down from Jesus who says, MINE, and from this top down view is forced upon all listeners – in God’s name.
The Role of God's Ordinances
Kuyper (KAI-PER) also wrote: “in spite of all worldly opposition, God’s holy ordinances shall be established again in the home, in the school and in the State for the good of the people; to carve as it were into the conscience of the nation the ordinances of the Lord, to which the Bible and Creation bear witness, until the nation pays homage again to God.” Again, the thinking of these folks is that because everything that was created was furnished by God along with unchangeable laws tied to its very existence. And because God has fully ordained such laws and ordinances for all created things, all life, they say, must be consecrated to His service in strict obedience. I have no problem with the sold out Christian life where they choose to place all things in the hands and control of the our Maker. What bugs me about this approach is that these men seem to think they know what this looks like in every person's life AND the means by which God implements and introduces this life to his children.
To them, it's by Top Down Laws of Force. To me it's through a mutual exchange between God and those who are his by the Spirit. Unfortunately for the Top down group and their theory, this is almost zero New Testament support for such zeal – which is why we find little appeal to the Bible in Kaiper’s lectures. And why there is so much appeal to the LAW of GOD. So what they preachers and thinkers set forth are broad principles that they create but the reality is there is very little direct biblical support for their demands to apply these principles to every aspect of cultural.
Sphere Sovereignty
Kaiper, along with a guy named Herman Dooyeweerd, are best known for a concept called, “sphere sovereignty” which is today known as “principled pluralism,” which “recognizes the pluralism of contemporary society but contends that “biblical norms” (that’s scary) need to be recognized and applied (that’s even more frightening) in order for government and society to function according to God’s will.” Speaking of the position, one pluralist author, Gary Scott Smith writes: “This position rests upon several major tenets. God built basic structures or institutions into the world, each having separate authority and responsibilities. He established state, school, society, workplace, church, marriage, and family to carry out various roles in the world, and He commands human beings to serve as officeholders in these various spheres of life.”
Henry Van Til in his book, The Calvinistic Concept of Culture, said, discussing Augustine: “Augustine believed that peace with God precedes peace in the home, in society, and in the state. The earthly state too must be converted, transformed into a Christian state by the permeation of the kingdom of God within her, since true righteousness can only be under the rule of Christ.” While I agree in principle with the fact that peace with God precedes peace in the home and in society and in the state, I refuse to believe that this peace will ever abide on this earth – especially by mandate!
The Role of Christianity in Culture and Governance
“Not only in the realm of ethics and politics must conversion take place . . . [but also] for knowledge and science. Apart from Christ, man’s wisdom is but folly, because it begins with faith in itself and proclaims man’s autonomy. The redeemed man, on the other hand, begins with faith and reason in subjection to the laws placed in this universe by God: he learns to think God’s thoughts after him. All of science, fine art and technology, conventions of dress and rank, coinage, measures and the like, all of these are at the service of the redeemed man to transform them for the service of his God.”
In other words, Henry Van Til believed, along with Augustine, John Calvin, and Kaiper, “that the building of a Christian culture in the world is a Christian imperative.” Christian thinker Karl Barth was in strong opposition to this approach, causing Van Til to ridicule Barth’s open Christian expressionism in this world by saying: “For them, (Barthians) there is no single form of social, political, economic order that is more in the spirit of the Gospel than another.” On this Barth and I agree.
Calvinist Views on Governance
Top down Calvinist’s insists that the principles of God’s Word are valid not only for themselves (or believers) but all citizens. Their thinking is that since God is Sovereign to everyone, whether they believe in Him or not, the Bible is the determining rule for all. Can you hear the smackings of despotic theocracy in this stuff, folks? The mindset continues and says that since God is the Sovereign of all of His creatures, He must then be recognized as the lawmaker for all mankind! Would it be nice if this was the case? Sure. But does God himself demand it to be so? Not in the least.
And so the question becomes, How does human-kind determine what rules God would have in place over every aspect of earthly culture? The Calvinists believe this question is easily answered – by the Word of God, say they! And here we are back to Sola Scriptura! And we know what that amounts to, don’t we? Ten thousand different interpretations of ten thousand ways men say GOD wants things done! When the Holy Spirit working on every individual clearly says that love is the answer. His love. Agape love. Not Law. Love. But not with these guys. They want Top down authority with men imposing what they say God demands. It amounts to nothing less than Christian Totalitarianism – which is one of the most frightening conditions I could imagine this world adopting.
The Calvinist Perspective on State and Religion
But it is the view supported by Calvinist thinker Henry Meeter who wrote: “Whenever a State is permeated with a Christian spirit and applies Christian principles in the administration of civil affairs, it is called ‘Christian.’ If that be what is meant by a Christian state, then all States should be Christian, according to the conscience of the Calvinist, even though many states are not Christian. If God is the one great Sovereign of the universe, it is a self-evident fact that His Word should be law to the ends of the earth.” Meeter adds: “If God is Ruler, no man may ever insist that religion be a merely private matter and be divorced from any sphere of society, political or otherwise. God must rule everywhere! The State must bow to His ordinances just as well as the Church or any private individual. The Calvinist, whose fundamental principle maintains that God shall be Sovereign in all domains of life, is very insistent on having God recognized in the political realm also.”
It’s really important to know that, according to Gary DeMar, a modern Calvinist that “Calvinism was set off from Christianity in general precisely because of its avocation of a comprehensive biblical worldview.” DeMar cites Francis R. Beattie, who describes Calvinism as “the richest systematic expression of revealed truth yet made, . . . the richest product of Protestantism.” In his book, “The Relevance of Calvinism for Today,” Clarence Bouma writes: “In Reformed church worship the law is an integral part of the sacred program. Many Fundamentalist fellow-Christians seem to know the law in only one relation, viz., that of sin and redemption. . . . The Heidelberg Catechism recognizes the significance of the law both as a teacher of sin and as a norm for the Christian’s life of gratitude, and it gives an exposition of that law precisely in the latter context.”
The Essence of True Christianity
Life. A witness in the home, in the church, in the school, in the state, and in every other social sphere. Calvinists have always been deeply aware of an ethical task. To them gospel preaching and social reform are not mutually exclusive, whatever fundamentalists on the one hand and Modernists on the other, may have made of them. To live for the glory of God in every relationship of life, to be a soldier for the King, to battle for the Lord, to crown Christ King in every legitimate realm of human endeavor —this belongs to the very essence of being a true, full-orbed Christian, and it is the Calvinist—the true Calvinist, not his caricature—who stands committed to this task.
When listening to these gifted preachers on the radio, all I just cited to you comes through loud and clear. And it simultaneously sickens me and frightens me like you cannot believe. Reformed theology, Calvinism, is one of the fastest growing cancers in the faith today. And its adherents are often bereft of the fruit of the Spirit while proudly baring religious armaments to kill and maim anyone who challenges their views, which they say are, God’s Views, and he Commands them. I would more take an active faithful temple going Latter-day Saint as a brother who errs on the side of love than ten thousand Reformed believers who demand such Totalitarianism. It is this very spirit I sense in the words of adept radio preachers and is so off-putting I can rarely listen to more than a few minutes of them preaching otherwise great messages.
Created Christianity
I want to illustrate another way that I see supported in the Word. I’ll call it CREATED CHRISTIANITY, and it looks like this: GOD is LOVE. God is also Just and sent his Son to die for this world. And now God freely pours his Spirit down upon all people, calling them to hear, to receive and believe and to let Jesus into their respective lives. In return those who choose to receive him reciprocate in and him moving in their free will, and accommodate God and his ways and invitations into his or her respective life. In this relationship, on this two-way street where God works with individuals, a subjective world between God and the individual is created. It is governed and led in that relationship by the SPIRIT of God and freely lived and expressed by the person involved.
In this way God has a gentle peaceful presence in everything the individual does and says but not by religious mandate. From love, spirit, truth, gentleness. This gets rid of the Law and the superimposed interpretations of such Law by Man upon the world. It gets rid of all impositions and has God operating with individuals for their betterment which lends to the betterment of the world at large. Not some untenable, unmanageable man-made collective. In and through this means human beings, led by God himself, create and express their faith and love through articulated means that have little to do with religious commands but everything to do with the Love, and Goodness of God and Christ.
Examples of Creative Christianity
Have you ever heard of a man named Olivier Messiaen? He was a French Composer of immeasurable skill, talent, and insight. And he was fascinated with birdsong – incorporating these innumerable scores in nature into his orchestrations. What drove him? His love of God and Christ, His awe of them. And he allowed them to move him in his life and work. My dear friend Richard Dutcher is another example of a God-loving man who has allowed Yeshua to pour through him and create rather than succumb to Commanded faith. Van Gogh? Lover of God and Christ. Tolstoy? Lover of God and Christ – detester of Commanded Christianity. Dostoyevsky? Lover of Yeshua. Kierkegaard? Lover of Yeshua – despiser of Commanded Faith. Danish Director Carl Theodure Dryer who created Ordet, one of the most beautiful movies ever made? Lover of Yeshua. Chris Cornell – lover of God and Christ – the fact that he killed himself is irrelevant so don’t be dumb. Terrence Malik – full-on believer and one of the most beautiful filmmakers around. All of these people Creative Christians who have stepped in some way or another from the Commanded faith and have bravely allowed God to rule and reign over them in their work.
Let’s take the faith back by gently refusing to play along with any of this ugly sway of the Commanders, and to choose love for all, all the time, always irrespective of denominations, beliefs, political views, lifestyles or sinful natures. Jesus is not a
Jesus as Life, Love, and Light
Jesus is life. And He didn’t love, He is LOVE. And He didn’t just shine light, he and His kingdom are LIGHT. The three L’s – LIFE through Him. LOVE through Him. LIGHT through Him in each person who claims his name.
Exploring the Three L's
And with that we will go to your online comments from the last weeks views of the shows.
