Always Ready

In recent days, there has been a resurgence of reformed theology; especially among younger generations who are turned off by the error of the emerging church and the excesses of the mega churches. This has puzzled some and excited others. In an attempt to answer why this is occuring, Nathan Pitchford of the Reformation Theology blog wrote a short piece entitled, “Why Reformed?“, describing what he believes are the major factors contributing to this resurgence.

I found this article insightful, particularly his first reason. Nathan hits it on the head when he describes the dissatisfaction that drives many young people re-discovering the truths of the Reformation. In this brief paragraph, he describes almost exactly what I experienced as a young teen. What he says, mind you, does not necessarily apply only to megachurches or emerging churches, but rather many churches that place an unhealthy emphasis on decisional theology. Read on:

The milieu in which we grew up was characterized on the one hand by a high-stress, high-guilt, man-powered striving after sanctification, evangelism, etc., that left a great deal of burned-out and disillusioned Christians all around us. On the other hand, the services and worship were often characterized by a frivolity and superficiality that left us unsatisfied and longing for more substance. The combination was virtually unsustainable for the long term. We were constantly striving to obey a long list of rules and standards, by our own efforts, feeling the crushing weight of guilt for our many failures, for all the unevangelized people around us whom we passed on the streets without sharing the gospel, and whose blood was therefore on our hands, and so on. And then, on Sunday, to be recharged and equipped for another week of will-motivated strivings, we sang a handful of trite and trivial choruses. It just didn’t cut it. When Reformed doctrine came into the picture, it was the most liberating and captivating thing that could be imagined. All of a sudden, my salvation, sanctification, acceptance with God, and so on, wasn’t dependent on me. God was responsible for my salvation, from beginning to end. I didn’t produce faith from my own dead and hardened nature in the first place, even that was a gift of God; and what God had begun, God would finish. And then, in proportion as my view of myself diminished, my view of my Savior increased, to such an extent that gazing on his manifold perfections truly was an unending source of delight and nourishment for the Christian race. My rest became my strength, my despair in myself became my confidence in Another, my confidence apart from my works became the motivation by which my works abounded as a labor of love and not a torture of guilt.

That is virtually identical to the scenario that I experienced. As a highschooler, my family and I attended a relatively large fundamentalist church. Sunday after Sunday, I would be told to follow five steps to this, or 3 steps to that, and I was exhorted that, if I could only keep this set of rules, I would be a victorious Christian. Needless to say, I was frustrated week after week, just as Nathan described. I soon began to despair of every being a “good” Christian.

In addition to this, there was a lack of reverence and seriousness that was disconcerting to me as a young Christian. Before the services began each week, there was a roar of socializing that had, all too often, nothing to do with spiritual things. As soon as the pastor dismissed the service, this din would break forth again, melting any sense of conviction or gravity that may have been produced by the actual worship service.

While it may be surprising to some, it was this kind of service that led to my eventual backsliding and rebellion. It was weak and formulaic preaching, irreverance, and overall shallowness that led to my disillusionment and my weariness in striving to conquer my sin. God had been reduced to a glass of water when he was really a deep and unfathomable ocean of truth. Eventually, I told myself, “if this is all there is to Christianity, I want no part of it.”

Fortunately, what I had experienced was not all that there was to Christianity. After moving to South Carolina, I found myself, in the Providence of God, in the church of Dr. Alan Cairns. Here, I heard from the pulpit truth that was thrilling, humbling, and convicting all at once. It was the whole counsel of God, which I had never heard from a pulpit before. Here I was introduced to the doctrines of grace and God’s sovereignty. I was presented with Christ the king, as well as Christ the friend of sinners– Christ in all his fullness. I was shown the richness and depth of God’s word, and it gave me a new desire to study it for myself. I did not have to be chided into doing so; it was a natural reaction. I did not care one wit what the doctrinal label was of the truth that I heard. I was set free and I had a new desire for God.

I say all this to say that I am glad that I am not alone in my journey, though I often felt I was. If you are experiencing the same discouragements and disillusionments, I will simply say that Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden is light. Don’t despair, he conquered your sin on the cross. If you are a believer, you are righteous in the sight of God. Now live like it.