At breakfast in the cafeteria at Wheaton College on that Tuesday morning, someone I knew—I don’t even remember who—mentioned something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. In my mind I envisioned a tiny Cessna accidentally clipping the building. Didn’t think much of it. If this had happened in later years my phone would have been buzzing with texts and tweets telling me of the event’s magnitude. But this was 2001.

By lunch, I had seen it all on TV. Horrors my 18-year-old college freshman suburban self had no prior paradigm for. Planes full of people crashing into buildings full of people, collapsing them onto even more people. People on fire jumping to their deaths from heights unimaginable. The Pentagon attacked. Another plane down in Pennsylvania. Reports of a fire on the National Mall. Rumors that the Sears Tower was also targeted. In that moment, the worst was possible, even expected. What other disaster movie fictions would become reality before the day was done?

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A little over two years ago, my wife and I sat across from my son, Josiah.  “I’ve decided to pray for you as someone who isn’t a follower of Jesus,” I explained. “After several years, we just don’t see any fruit.”

I was, of course, referring to the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) that the Bible indicates we’ll see in our lives when His Spirit is truly indwelling and transforming us. His Spirit recognizes His Spirit in others. In spite of Josiah having made a profession of faith several years earlier (and believe me, it wasn’t because he wasn’t tested on making that life-altering decision - I resisted and was careful during the entire process), years later we just didn’t see a life that was being transformed.

“Are you relieved or do you want to challenge that?” I asked.

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Irresistible grace.

Calvinism:

In Calvinism, this doctrine means that if God is chasing you, you are powerless to resist Him. (A blunted definition, I know).

Again, in the effort to emphasize the Sovereignty of God, a question arises:  If the grace of God is extended to someone, does that person have the capacity to resist it? If the person does, doesn’t that somehow diminish the Sovereignty of God?

This is about as useful as the old question of: “If God is all-powerful, can He make a rock He can’t lift?”

In other words, it’s of no use at all! “Is God powerful enough that if He extends His grace to certain men they are unable to resist it?” Of course He is.

Let's begin our look at the Calvinism vs. Armenian debate (through the lens of pragmatism and mission) with a link and a few things of note.

The link is the interview of Rick Warren by John Piper: click here.I do NOT start here as an example of Calvinism v. Armenianism. Please DO NOT misconstrue this context. I'm not starting here to state Piper is Calvinist and Warren is Armenian. That's simply not true. Both are Calvinist to differing degrees. I merely want to point out the following:

1. Rick Warren views his ministry and his church plant through the lens of mission. He saw (and sees) himself as a missionary first. This is critical. It is also why I admire Rick and his ministry. Whatever else you think of the methodology, the bottom line is that both Rick Warren individually and Saddleback as a church has an actual heart for lost people. They put their feet where their faith is. Rick is a pragmatist because of that. The question isn't "what is supposed to work", but "what is actually working"? The root cause of good mission stems because a follower doesn't just want to talk missionally, but wants to actually follow Jesus into the unknown. Jesus stepped into a timeframe when there was a lot of theological talk and tomes written on the Old Testament. What made Jesus radical was that He actually reached people.

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First, a welcome to all of those now tuning into my blog via “Conversant Life”.  You are now a part of a regular community of change agents who are living all over the world. 

My readers and I share a strong connection: we are passionate about navigating this life intentionally, passionately, and with kingdom-focus. Here’s what you need to know:

1.  We believe that God wants to use us to change the world.

2.  That’s not an esoteric statement, but one with profound implications: we start with where God has placed us and begin to echo His kingdom proclamation (found in Mark 1 at the beginning of His ministry).

3.  The baseline is leaving everything to follow Jesus. That’s what distinguishes the fishermen from the rich young ruler; the follower from the pretender; the well-intentioned from the intentional.

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Time recently did an article on big ideas that are changing the world right now and ranked "New Calvinism" as the third biggest.  Though the article itself was a bit snide, I wasn't so concerned with it as with Mark Driscoll's response.

"What?!", you say.  Those who know me at all will probably be shocked at this.  I have a lot of respect for Driscoll, have read his books, and have been listening to his sermons weekly for about two years.  I appreciate all that he has done for the Gospel in one of the most secular cities in America, not to mention how he has served the international Church by speaking around the world and offering his sermons, ebooks, and teaching materials for free.  He has inspired a lot of young men (myself included) to, as he might say, man-up and be a Christian man.  I'm genuinely thankful for the man and his ministry.

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To the surprise of many, Time magazine recently listed “The New Calvinism” as the third most important idea changing the world “right now.” What?? 500 years after the birth of John Calvin, is his theological namesake really enjoying resurgence in 2009?

I guess I’m not totally surprised. I’ve noticed the trend myself. I read Collin Hansen’s Young, Restless, Reformed last year. I’ve been to Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I’ve witnessed many young Christian friends getting totally passionate about the Reformation and everything it represents.

But why is it happening now? What is it about Calvinism that is suddenly more appealing than it was just a decade ago? Here are a few of my initial thoughts—as someone who increasingly identifies with Reformed ideas (though not 100%):

Calvinism is about certainty. In an era in which certainty is hard to come by and ambiguity is frequently championed, more and more young people are longing for something that is rock-solid certain. In Calvinism, there is no second-guessing about whether I’ve done enough or prayed the sinners prayer earnestly enough to be saved, because it has nothing to do with my own powers.

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Click here for an article about Mark Driscoll in the New York Times Magazine ("Who Would Jesus Smack Down?", Jan. 6, 2009), written by an acquaintence of mine of whom I have a high professional opinion.

In my limited experience with Mark Driscoll, I find him a paradox, indeed. I am both impressed and frightened by him (though mostly impressed), and I think Molly Worthen did a good job of presenting facts, while not seeming to slant the piece in favor or against him.

As it happens, Driscoll doesn't need journalists to pit people against him; his own mouth does a good job of making him objectionable. In fact, it is apparent that one of his goals in his speaking is to offend and shock people (which is often precisely why he is effective). While I respect him and have recommended his book (Vintage Jesus) and teachings to several people, I have no doubt that he is thrives on making people wince, sometimes effectively, sometimes, it seems, to get his kicks. (To see what I mean, check out the panel discussion at last year's Desiring God National Conference and Driscolls' talk at that conference. I was there, and compared to some of his other talks, this one is pretty tame!)

The article paints Driscoll as a hypermasculine, hard-nosed leader who cuts loose anyone who stands in his way, which is all substantiated by his own quotes. It also highlights the rise of New Calvinism among Christians in America, and  comes down hard on the Joel Osteen camp (which I, for one, appreciate - I think the bad theology Joel Osteen and others like him preach is one of the most damnable issues in the church today).

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