I want to talk about a problem of which I think we are all aware. It is a problem that seems to be particular (pun intended) to Calvinists.
Calvinists are academic. Stated simply, that's the problem. When I first started studying the doctrines of grace, my wife called her dad to find out if her husband were becoming a heretic. He responded that Calvinism appeals to the academia. It's logical, scholarly, smells of dusty tomes. His opinion was the more educated one was, the more appealing Calvinism was to them. I took it as a compliment. At the time, I think my wife took that more as equating it with liberalism. She's since learned otherwise.
But it is true: We are academic. We love to study. We love our creeds, confessions, and catechisms. We love our commentaries and Reformation history. We love our Biblical scholarship. And we love asking questions, such as, "What verse is that?" and "Have you read that in context?" Or simply stating, "Read it in the Greek, and try again."
Don't get me wrong. All of those are good things. You should read your Bible. You should study your Bible. You should avail yourself of all the good teaching that our Lord has so generously provided for us. But you should not stop there.
My tendency is to be overwhelmed. Have you ever been in the market for a book, not a specific book, but you just wanted something to read. (Okay, for the non-academics, you've been in the market for a good movie). And you stepped into Barnes & Noble (or Blockbuster) and you see aisles and aisles of material. The shelves are full and there are even displays in the aisles. Where do you start? How do you choose? And what if what you pick up is part of a series? You can't start with the latest, you've got to start at the beginning, right? So you just came in for one thing, and now you have to pick up have a dozen or more to get yourself up to date.
That's how I feel sometimes with theology. Where do I start? How do I get where I want to be? And I get bogged down in the academics. Now, I love every minute of it. Like an archaeologist, I'm digging through dusty tomes, unearthing nuggets, dusting them off, setting them out so that others can enjoy them. But if all I ever do is the academics, I've missed the point. And that is the problem I want to address.
As Calvinists, we know that "man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." We know that whether we eat or drink we should do all to the glory of God. We know that there should be nothing on earth that we desire more than God. We know this. But do we do this? And I don't mean to address the problem as a doing or not doing. I suppose the question that I should ask is do we feel this? Do we want this?
If you ask me, "Do you desire God?" I would say yes. If you ask me, "Do you enjoy God?" I would say yes. But ask me this morning as I walk into the office, "Hey, what could you use right now?" I would say, "A Starbucks." Ask me when my car breaks down, "What would you really like right now?" I would say, "A new car." Ask me about what really made me happy today, and I'll tell you about the great deals I got for my Blank Bible project. Is there anything inherently wrong with any of these answers? Not really. But they do reflect back on my point - when was the last time, without prompting, you said, "I really want more of God" or "I'm so overwhelmed today by God's grace" or "I'm such a worm, I'm amazed that Jesus would die for me."
We know we should glorify God, but do we really, actively seek to glorify God? We know that we should enjoy God, but are we really enjoying God?
This is the Calvinist challenge: you've got the academics, good! Now copy them from your head to your heart. Of course, as a Calvinist, you know that you can't do that yourself. So pray. Pray hard. Pray daily, moment by moment. Plead with God that He would work this grace in you that from your heart you would truly glorify God and that you would find your greatest enjoyment in Him. Pray that you would live this life, enjoying God.
Really, which should better reflect Calvinist theology: the dusty tome, aged in oak, or an exuberant John Piper extolling the infinite Joy that is God?
I believe this is the next Reformation, when Reformed churches look and feel less like academic institutions and reflect more the glory and enjoyment of God. When both hearts and minds are filled with the glory and enjoyment of God and that overflows into the mutual edification of believers, which then overflows to effect the community outside the church.
So, be a good Calvinist by glorifying God and enjoying Him today.