Those who were followers of my blog two decades (!) ago didn’t need too much context. There was no social media then, blogs served that purpose. I shared my conversion, baptism, growth and more day by day. My son got a hamster and the readers knew about it. There were a few dark recesses that weren’t exposed on this medium, but that is even more true in your feed, whether that be one or another. Everybody chooses what to share and what to withhold.
Through my blog I came to realize that the best way I knew to learn something meaningful was to contemplate it and to present it in my own words. The comment section served as a place for me to interact with the readers, and more than one biblical doctrine was hashed out there for me. You’d be surprised at how arguments online can allow the onlooker a chance to observe each party and then reach out to one person asking for clarification. I wouldn’t be a Calvinist if this weren’t so!
Not only the acceptance of the TULIP, which still took some hard work on my part, but other aspects of Reformed theology, and at each stage of acceptance I declared myself to be a reformed Christian, only to have somebody in the comments challenge, and then reject, my claim. I thought first that an adherence to the Doctrines of Grace, which were previously foreign to me, was enough. Not so.
I asked what was next and was directed to the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation. There was no period of wrestling as there had been over the L of the TULIP. I gladly accepted the solas and continue to refer to them to this day! Surely now I was reformed? Nope.
I asked what I was lacking to inherit the title of one who was truly Reformed! The answer was not to sell all that I own, which wouldn’t have been a huge problem at that time. It was to have a confession or a similar historic statement of faith. I returned to the Five Solas, namely the first one. Sola Scriptura. The Bible alone is the infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. I didn’t need no stinking confession!
The response was that I am a Christian, but not a reformed one. I accepted that, as I had a church family in the EFCA, and even though we didn’t have a confession we had each other. I had a pastor helping me grow and I had a blog to advance my knowledge of concepts that previously were foreign to me.
I have become a grizzled veteran of Christianity by now. I did not see that coming! I have served as a church elder, been blindsided by another elder, left the church with as much dignity as possible without causing or exasperating any rift within that church, led life groups in two later churches and now am a member in a reformed church in the CRC. The Christian Reformed Church of America.
Being now a member of a reformed church, it didn’t seem right to call myself Truly Reformed unless I agreed with the founding documents, so I read them. The CRC uses the Three C which are the Heidelberg Confession, the Canons of Dordt and the Belgic Confession.
The Canons of Dordt were the easiest for me. Essentially, they are Calvinism 101. Nobody deserves Heaven. There is no one who does good. It is only by the mercy of God that anyone can be saved. The Belgic Confession had a few more questions with me. Mostly with the comments about the errors of the Anabaptists, which weren’t spelled out as specifically as I would have liked. You see, my grandfather was a Mennonite pastor and his daughter, my mother, was the primary parent to raise me due to my father’s work schedule. I was functionally an anabaptist but had no idea what that even meant. Truth be told, I’m still putting it together.
The Heidelberg Confession was more challenging to me. You see, I was able to agree to almost all of it roughly 18 years prior when I went through it on my blog. If I recall, the only objections I had then had to do with the baptism of infants. That wasn’t the biblical model and it was just wrong and my write up then said so quite plainly. Any Christian who had been baptized as an infant, and then later saw the biblical pattern, ought to be baptized as an adult if they want to be obedient to Jesus!
And there’s the key distinctive of an Anabaptist. The rejection of any other understanding regarding baptism. You don’t have to understand why someone might have a differing view. You don’t even need to understand why you have your own view! You were told this is how it is and that’s all that really matters. That was enough for me for most of my life! I believed a certain way and was fairly smug about it, but when asked to explain why I held my stance I came up empty. All I could do is repeat the same tired assumptions as confidently as possible.
Social media is a horrible place to ask questions. Whenever you inquire why someone believes what they do, their first response is usually to go into a defensive mode, and for good reason. It is common for a “just asking questions” person to be attempting to entrap that person under the guise of disarming conversation. I tend to be an honest question asker though. I truly want to understand other viewpoints! I may ask a follow up question and it may challenge their stance, but I try to be extremely respectful. But the Internet is what it is, so I digress. I found a few men at church who I convinced to allow me to inquire of them, and that has been invaluable.
I have witnessed several infant baptisms over the last couple years. And through these inquiries I have come to accept them as valid. Are they to be preferred? Well, I suppose I’ll get to that eventually. And why not now? Because I have been approached by my pastor. I am leading the life group he is a part of. I have been in several bible studies and my contributions have not gone unnoticed. I know a thing or two about a thing or two. And aside from the knowledge I have acquired, I have retained a sense of humility. Raw knowledge has a tendency to allow arrogance within a person. Humility can temper that into wisdom, which is to be desired more than jewels. My interactions with my pastor and with the elders has led them to suggest I undergo a testing to see if I should have a license to exhort.
In the CRC, one must meet this requirement in order to preach at one of the churches. It does not confer the right to serve as a pastor, but to exhort. So I wouldn’t be performing marriages, leading council meetings, serving communion, baptizing, or several other duties. But I would be able to fill in at some of the churches around us every now and then, as well as give my pastor a break once in a while. I assume this would be infrequent, as we have at least four other men in the church with this license to exhort.
And what is the process for this? My knowledge is incomplete here, but from speaking with one of the other men there is a rigorous testing to ensure you have a heart for ministry and a head for the traditions of the denominational beliefs. I am confidant in my ability to discuss a variety of theological matters, but the ones I am weak on are important. I need to be better in the Three Forms of Unity. And from what I’ve been told, the Heidelberg is the one I need to focus on.
So that will be my focus on here for a while. I learn as I write and I retain things better this way. Yes, I’m writing for me. But I’m also inviting you to follow along. Strengthen your faith! Build your understanding! Agree or disagree in the comments! I do ask that you ask questions to understand and not just to respond. That has been what I have done for two decades now and it has helped me develop from a drifting agnostic to a committed Christian seeking to bless those in the path that God has set before me.
When will the series begin? Soon. How soon? I have no idea. I’m a husband, a dad, a life group leader, a life group member (yes, two of them) and an employee of a company that expects my productivity in exchange for a paycheck. At least Football season is over.
