There is quite a bit of celebration among us Calvinists about our
particular beliefs about God’s sovereignty and our salvation. Well . . .
maybe not at first. Most go through a pretty intense time of confusion
and even despair as attempts are made to integrate so many non-intuitive
doctrines that give us far more than a knee-jerk reaction. But as the
unnatural becomes natural, the rejected becomes accepted, and the
confusion becomes “selah,” a new attitude sets in. Normally, this
attitude provides an ugly facelift that is about as unnatural to
Christianity as what might have come before. An arrogance sets in and
grabs a warm seat in the (mostly empty) bleachers of Calvinistic
celebration. No longer is Calvinism this ugly aspect of Christianity
that might have been the Achilles Heel of your faith, now it is central
to everything you are. A celebration of Calvinism finds its place in
your daily spiritual conversations. Some find themselves talking more
about Calvinism than anything else. The spiritual stance of others soon
becomes judged by one’s acceptance or rejection of the blessed five
points. Why? Because what was anathema has now become central.
“Calvinism is the Gospel” you will hear people say with great
pride. As hard as it is for me to resist, I won’t be given anyone any
high fives when this epiphany is called out.
Yes, I hear it all the time. In fact, I think I have said it a few
times in the past. It just sounded profound to my newly formed reformed
ears. But not only do I think this is an unfortunate saying, not only do
I think it is off-putting and unnecessarily decisive, in the context it
is usually said, it is truly wrong. Calvinism is not the
Gospel. Don’t get me wrong. I did not say that I believe the particular
doctrines of Reformed theology that Calvinism adheres to is unimportant.
Nor did I say that I don’t care whether people accept it. I simply do
not believe that a belief in the five points of Calvinism is either
necessary to becoming a Christian or becoming a good Christian.
To say that Calvinism is the Gospel
implicitly indicts all those who do not accept this theology (which
would include most Christians who have ever lived) as not accepting the true Gospel. Sure, they may accept their own sinful condition, cry out to
God through Jesus Christ for mercy, but until they become a Calvinist,
they have not fully embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I have heard this kind of rhetoric
from more than just Calvinists (although it might not be stated the
exact same way). It is a way of demeaning others while making ourselves
feel like we are among the elect few who “get it.” It makes us think we
have some type of special anointing by God to be just a little closer to
his side.
If you think about it, you could say
“_____ is the Gospel” concerning just about anything. I have heard
people say, “The Rapture is the Gospel.” Others might say “The Church is
the Gospel.” Still others, “Six day creation is the Gospel.” You can
just fill in the blank with your particular specially held belief. In
all cases (while this might not be explicitly stated or thought), what
the person means is that those who do not accept this doctrine have yet
to really accept the Gospel.
Of course, in the broader (and highly
qualified) sense, we might be technically correct. After all, I think
everything we believe about God and every doctrine written or alluded to
in Scripture is a part of the good news of God (the Gospel).
It is good news that God created women in Genesis. It is good news that
God will never flood the earth again. It is good news that God never
changes. It is good news that God is eternal. It is good news that God
gave so many prophecies. It is good news that angels were created (and
they serve us). It is good news that the church exists. It is good news
that Jesus is coming again. And it is good news that inspired David to
write so many of the Psalms. All of these are part of the fuller Gospel, but the are not of first importance.
Of first importance is that though we
are sinners, God has sent his Son who died for our sins and rose again.
The central good news is that we (though undeserving), through Jesus
Christ, get God forevermore. When we speak of the Gospel, this comes
before all else. So many of these other doctrines that are less clear,
while they can be very important to us, should not be spoken of as the
Gospel. This includes Calvinism.
It is important for us who are
passionate about non-cardinal issues to remain passionate about these.
But we need to keep things in perspective and learn to distinguish
between those things that are essential and those things that are not
essential. We do ourselves nor the Gospel any favors by zeroing in on
subsets of our faith and exchanging high-fives with others who wear the
same exact shades of color as we do. It is a big race we are in and
fellowship should be fostered with everyone in this race, even when we
may strongly disagree with things like Calvinism.
