Reflections on The Young, Restless, and Reformed by Mike Horton

Mike Horton reflects on The Young, Restless, and Reformed in a recent post at The White Horse Inn blog.  He asks some great questions and there is much to consider in terms of how movements are shaped and endure over time, what it mean to be "Reformed", and the scope and boundaries of "unity".  Here is one quote I found interesting:

So I’ve wondered about a new term that we can use for the “young, restless, and Reformed” movement: “Evangelical Calvinism.”  Why not?  It’s the sort of term that can encompass J. I. Packer, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John MacArthur, John Piper, and R. C. Sproul.  Reformed Christians should swell with excitement when brothers and sisters embrace the doctrines of grace and “evangelical Calvinism” distinguishes us from evangelical Arminianism.

I’m suggesting this not just out of a concern to protect the distinctives that I believe are essential to Reformed Christianity, but also out of a concern for the ongoing vitality of the movement toward the doctrines of grace.  Right now, it seems to me, this movement is being threatened by the movement mentality that characterizes evangelicalism more broadly.  The very lack of a doctrine of the church lies at the heart of this.  There are “evangelical Calvinists” from other traditions who realize this.  For example, my friend Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church has a strong Baptist ecclesiology.  In comparison with mainstream evangelicalism, it isn’t “weak” in the least, although it’s also not Reformed.  He hasn’t settled for a movement-oriented evangelical ecclesiology, but bases his ministry in the local church.  In other words, for him, the hallway isn’t a substitute for the Baptist room.

I love Dr. Horton and have benefited greatly from his ministry but I would submit that this term would not be helpful simply because the word "Calvinism" carries why too much baggage.  I would be willing to bet big money that if you asked the average church goer what Calvinism was all about they would respond with either "no idea" or would rattle of a list of caricatures or misconceptions (no evangelism, God is the author of sin, prayer doesn't matter, etc) based on second hand information that was never checked against Scripture.  In our context here in Albuquerque, Calvinism is oftentimes equated with a four letter word.  At our church, we aim to not even use the word if we can manage it, but when it comes time to teach Ephesians 1 you can be certain that we'll not dance around the issue but teach what is actually there without having to use the word "Calvinism". 

I'm not sure what a better term would be and am not totally convinced that a term needs to be formulated at all but certainly Dr. Horton raises some issues that we should be reflecting upon as we move forward.