Thursday, April 22, 2010

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. 

4 comments:

Joe Selness said...

I agree that "Calvinism" has baggage, as does "Evangelical." How about "Reformissional?"

Jeff Lash said...

I think the search for the right label becomes an endless task when it comes to movements and groups. Movements and groups are defined by what they believe and/or do regardless of the label. You can change the name but if it looks, smells, and acts like a Calvinist then it probably is a Calvinist/YRR/whatever.

Being a member of a Southern Baptist church carries plenty of baggage to my friends and family members up north. By conviction, I believe in credobaptism while appreciating much of the reformational teaching. What does that make me? Reformed Baptist? Calvinistic Baptist? Evangelical Calvinistic Baptist? I don't know...but I'll let others worry about the labels.

Jerry said...

As a Calvinistic Southern Baptist I don't use the description "Reformed" for many of the reasons that Dr. Horton lists. I don't shy away from "Calvinist, but in a Baptist context the term "Grace church" or "Grace man" works quite well. Additionally, if a Southern Baptist is described as "Founders Friendly" this also works.
I was in Florida a couple of weeks ago, and a quick trip to founders.org allowed us to find a good church in the area. We were blessed as we worshipped with like minded brothers and sisters.

Jeff Lash said...

I saw the memo that was floating around trying to smoke out Calvinist pastors within the SBC. It's one thing to disagree with Calvinism, even sharply. It's another thing to start a secret campaign to black list Calvinist pastors.