Have you heard about New Calvinism? Pastor Mark Driscoll seemingly has been chosen as the leader of this movement.
I am not a follower of Mark Driscoll although I have read some of his work and listened to some of his preaching. In my limited interaction with him, I have found myself agreeing about 90% of the time.
The people that I have spoken with that take issue with Driscoll immediately talk about how Calvinism teaches predestination. Predestination is the belief that before you are born, God maps out your entire life and no matter what you do, you are living the life that God has mapped out for you (I understand this is a crude explanation, but entire thesis’s have been written on predestination & I don’t have the time or space for that here). Driscoll bashers scream that predestination takes away God’s given free will from all of us. Romans 8:28-30 & Ephesians 1:5 & Ephesians 1:11 seem to make it pretty hard to argue against predestination, however, Matthew 16:24 & Mark 8:24 & Luke 9:23 sure seem to give people a choice (i.e. free will).
Here is my take on predestination: Explain to me the Holy Trinity. Explain to me how God can be one, but in three persons? My mind cannot comprehend that. You might try to explain to me that the Holy Trinity is like your mind, your body and your soul, but that doesn’t make much sense to me when I apply that formula to God. God is one God existing in three person, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. Alone they are all God and together they are all God. From an empirical scientific standpoint, from a human analytical standpoint this cannot be… but… I know The Holy Trinity to be true… I believe The Holy Trinity to be true… WHY? because I have faith. So this is my take on predestination and free will. I can’t explain it, I can’t wrap my mind around it, but I do believe that free will and predestination both exist. How can they both exist? I don’t know, but I have faith in God and I trust Him and love Him way more than to get hung up on this one point.
Mark Driscoll is a lightning rod. People, especially Christian people, do not like people that stir things up. Mark Driscoll is teaching thousands and tens of thousands of people about Jesus Christ. People are coming into a life giving relationships with Jesus Christ because of Driscoll’s ministry. Who is more upset about that God or Satan?
In next week’s Time Magazine they are publishing an article titled, “10 Ideas Changing The World Now.” Number 3 is “The New Calvinism.“
The last paragraph that Time magazine writes about New Calvinism is this:
Calvin’s 500th birthday will be this July. It will be interesting to see whether Calvin’s latest legacy will be classic Protestant backbiting or whether, during these hard times, more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country’s infancy.
It is my prayer that if New Calvinism continues to gain traction, that the church will not enter into, as Time Magazine puts it, Protestant backbiting. I believe Jesus spoke about how a house divided cannot stand (Matt. 12:25, Mark 3:25 & Luke 11:17)
Dear Lord,
I pray that everyone will seek a life giving, life saving relationship with You. I pray Lord that we will fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Lord let us not get caught up on issues and arguments that divide your Kingdom, but Lord give us the strength, the courage, the wisdom, the leadership, the passion and the desire to help all of your children choose to live their lives for You. In Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!
This is the way i view it; Taking Romans 9:10-13 into consideration:
10And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
11though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad— in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls
12she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
13As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
They were told before hand, before Jacob and Esau were even born that the older would serve the younger. Isaac had 2 choices to make:
1. Either obey God in Blessing Jacob out of his own will, fulfilling God’s Purpose, or;
2. Not Bless Jacob and God’s Purpose will still be fulfilled
Even though Isaac did not follow God’s will, God’s Purpose was still fulfilled in the end, one way or the other even though we make our choices.
I guess our free will is a reality but places within the limit of God’s Purpose in our lives. Difficult subject to explain and understand, i dont even think i fully understand it.