Monday, June 28, 2010

Calvinism That Tickles The Ears

...For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Okay, disclaimer up front. This post is not about whether Calvinism is true or not. I'll just assume for the sake of argument and all Calvinists out there that it is. Now, what if the above passage of Scripture could apply to the system known as Calvinism?

Notice something about the passage. It never says that the desires they satisfy are false desires. It never says that the myths they turn aside to are false beliefs. The myths could be false ideas about truth. The desires they have may just be the act of hearing the truth. Part of the truth.

What if the above passage were fleshed out like this: "We're getting tired of hearing about things like resurrection to newness of life, visiting the orphan and widow in their distress, etc. Instead, we want to hear all about the five points, every week, in church, in bible study, in our chatting on the church steps. Our sermon recordings, our books, our YouTube videos will be from all the best Calvinist pastors and speakers out there. Nothing else will matter except the best of the best. That's what will ensure our salvation."

I know from personal experience how easy it is to rely upon feeling good about what we hear, and how easy it is to rely upon our desires to have certain things preached to us. May we listen to all of the important things and not just the choice pieces (read: our choice pieces), over and over.

2 comments:

  1. Calvinism isn't the only totem pole carved out of the Cross.....

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  2. Jim, I like both your point and your analogy!

    ReplyDelete