The short catch up for those who don’t know what this post is about is as follows. After Easter, my pastor and some others on staff used some terminology to reference those in our church who made a public profession to turn their life over to Christ that made some strong opinions turn and take notice. Instead of instantly finding joy in the hope of a number of converts, they questioned the sincerity of each person’s commitment to follow our Lord and Savior, opined our church’s “arrogance” to “count” them as “saved,” and affirmed the need to wait a few years to see if the commitments actually stick. As you can imagine, some people in my church got defensive and an online argument ensued. I put my two cents in on two comments and later found out I was declared “the only Oak Leafer…who was consistently able to maintain a Christian tone and biblical conversation. ” So, my tenacious nature led me to feel like I needed to respond to them in some way.

I’ve been thinking about what I want to say to these guys and have been preparing an intelligent response to some of their points I disagree with theologically, but have decided to not say much at all. I started my 1500 character reply to the last post I made on their site and never submitted it. I have a document on my computer right now with 65 scriptural references (I stopped searching after a while) I believe support the doctrine I hold dear to my heart. I’ve gone back and looked over notes from previous discussions I’ve had on similar topics and realized how much time I was spending building up a defense to a fellow believer instead of one for a soul that does not yet believe. So I put it all away and just went back to reading my Bible for the love of the Word.

What is the point? None of them are going to change their mind and I’m not going to change mine. Why? Every time I return to scripture to make sure what I have studied over and over again is what the Bible is teaching, I come out on the same side. I can only imagine they do the same. Is the Bible teaching two different theology’s? No, man just has different opinions. I’ve read all the verse they’ve quoted and many others and their great debating discipline and good points still do not completely line up with what I personally find the Scriptures to be teaching. Does that make me right and them wrong? No, but it is hard for me to agree with someone when I’m reading the same Bible and yet coming to a different conclusion. This whole scenario does, however, support my theory that all good theological arguments always end up being about Calvinism vs Armenianism (to use those terms rather stereotypically).

Furthermore, I have not been called by God to sway to opinions of fellow believers who are much more intelligent than me and have much more time on their hands to spend hours every day reading up on those who believe differently than they do and then create time delayed conversations through comments on blogs that end up going no where. If I ever met one of the people who follow the site or Jim B. and Chad V. themselves, I would be more than happy to have a conversation. I guess I just not educated or disciplined enough to handle multiple points, questions, angles, and reasoning from a large group of people who obviously would not agree with me. Too much scrolling up and down and trying to remember who I responded to and what was last thing said and finding quotes and so on and so on. I’ve spent many hours in atheist chat rooms and other such sites driven by comments and even similar style discussion boards in seminary. In my humble opinion, it is just not an very enjoyable form of intellectual conversation.

All that to say, I do not disagree with most their arguments. Many of the replies and comments are welled supported by Scripture and have a lot of validity. In fact, I strongly agree that theology has taken a back seat in modern churches to style and comfort. That is why I vigorously fight for the education and independent spiritual development of believers. However, I find the umbrella by which much of their platform falls under is based a skewed perspective that does not fit the overarching character of God and purpose of his creation that is clearly outlined from Genesis to Revelation (I’m sure I’ll get plenty of comments about that one). Back to the other hand, many good points were made and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to reprieve myself from my duties and spend as much time as needed to answer the few comments that give me concern. Nevertheless, I must pull back the reins and keep myself on track to the responsibilities God has laid before me in this stage of my journey. I am sure some day soon I will have a chance to review the arguments made and answer with careful wisdom and dsicernment. Or I can just be a little patient as I am sure they will all surface again. They always do.