The ‘Restless Reformed’
You just gotta love ‘em: the “New Calvinists” they’re called, which means they embrace Reformed theology, commonly known as Calvinism.
A young generation of Christian leaders like Mark Driscoll are capturing headlines even in the NeoZine! They are dubbed “the young and restless Reformed” because they are innovative church-planters, but they still maintain a strict diet of old-fashioned Reformed theology.
Driscoll is speaking in July at the Xenos Summer Institute, so it’s worthwhile to study Reformed theology and its history in order to appreciate Driscoll. Especially at Xenos, people are largely unfamiliar with the old, tired dog of Reformed Christianity called Covenant Theology.
Reformed churches were once-monolithic Protestant denominations, such as the Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians, but since the ’60s they are growing increasingly irrelevant, with few exceptions. Research now shows about 7% of the population is “evangelical”, and the hardest-hit are these Reformed denominations.1
But changes are underway, and some Protestant churches are trying to stop the bleeding.
A Gen-X Revolution?
Generation-X made a big splash in the pool of American church life with “Emergents” (Emergent Church) and young, Restless Reformed. The Emergents and Restless Reformed are driving new directions, but with very different theologies.
Emergents are represented by the Emergent Village, and is renown for blending Postmodernism with the Bible,2 but the Restless Reformed maintain a classical epistemology (view of truth).
Driscoll characterizes Gen-X as largely ineffective, silly Christianity:
This generation can be a whiny bunch of idealists getting together in small groups to complain about mega-churches and the religious right rather than doing something. – quoted in Relevant Magazine
He then describes his Restless Reformed theopraxy3 as a backlash against the “whiny” Emergent church:
In Revelation, Jesus is a prize fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up. I fear some are becoming more cultural than Christian, and without a big Jesus who has authority and hates sin as revealed in the Bible, we will have less and less Christians, and more and more confused, spiritually self-righteous blogger critics of Christianity.
The Thrill is Gone
Still, these very different Gen-X movements bear the same prominent Gen-X trademark: a penchant for the banal. (What does “Generation-X” stand for, anyway? Nobody knows, and nobody cares.) They know how take the zing out of the Bible.
Certainly the Emergents kill a good thing by drowning it with Postmodern Political-Correctness. PC already dominates the lawsuit-conscious workplace, but does anyone relish another walloping dose at church? Yes, the Gen-X crowd wants it, so PC thrives with the Emergent church:
There is a strong drift toward the hard theological left. Some emergent types [want] to recast Jesus as a limp-wrist hippie in a dress with a lot of product in His hair, who drank decaf and made pithy Zen statements about life while shopping for the perfect pair of shoes. Driscoll, Wikipedia
Maybe it’s unfair to call the Restless Reformed “banal”, because they deserve accolades for their courageous efforts dragging their old, tired Reformed brethren out of the Middle Ages. Among the most stodgy of American evangelicals are traditional Reformed churches: the keepers of hand-hewn pews, stained glass, ornate altars and priestly robes. It is all wonderful craftsmanship, but musty (and creepy).
Driscoll thus chides his Reformed brethren (and others):
“So if you’re sitting in pews, you’re right at the cutting edge of the 13th century! Congratulations!” – Why Multi-Site?
He’s called “Mark the Cussing Pastor” for irreverent language like “get laid” (see his Banned Church Planting Video), and “The Chickified Church” dominated by “evangellyfish”:
The major blind spot of mega-churches is that they tend to be very effeminate with aesthetics, music, and preaching perfectly tailored for moms. Manly men are repelled by this, and many of the men who find it appealing are the types to sing prom songs to Jesus and learn about their feelings while sitting in a seafoam green chair drinking herbal tea—the spiritual equivalent of Richard Simmons – Interview, Christianity Today
The dress-down attire of Driscoll and his Gen-X peers is a radical departure from the “business casual” favored by older Reformed leaders like Hybels. Watch Matt Chandler, also a Gen-X dude, who swigs water and saunters on the stage in a most un-Reformed style.
They are young, they are innovative, but still the Restless Reformed can dampen the joy of the Gospel with all the musty mystique of a Benedictine chant. To dive into Reformed theology is not a refreshing plunge into a pool of God’s love, but rather a dull thud from hitting hardened Reformed dogma — set in stone by old John Calvin in the late 1500s.
What makes Reformed theology so spiritually depressing? Quite simply, its affinity with dogma from the Middle Ages.
It is no surprise that the earliest Protestant Reformers did not understand all the extra-biblical beliefs picked up during a thousand years of Dark Ages.4 It is surprising, however, that Reformed churches still today refuse to think much beyond 1536 and John Calvin’s Institutio Christiane Religionis (“Institutes of the Christian Religion”).
There are three major areas of extra-biblical dogma shared by Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Reformed theology. Although beliefs are quite firmly embraced, they are not advertised much today, for obvious reasons:
- Five-point Calvinism, which says God predetermines all human choice, but God also holds individual humans 100% responsible for His predetermined choices.5 It is what Calvin himself called “the dictim horribulum” (the “horrible decree”) which truly degrades the good character of God.
- Covenant theology, which decrees that human-engineered institutions bearing the name “church” must conquer and subdue the earth in the name of Jesus Christ (and the name of the human institution). This dogma has obviously degraded the Gospel of Christ more than any other in history by replacing God’s love with human swords.
- The Law as a Means of Growth, which smothers the joy of the “New and Living Way” taught by Jesus Christ. This dogma advocates returning to an Old Testament approach to God.
Next: a condensed history of Reformed Theology and its genesis.
Additional Information
Footnotes:
- See Dennis McCallum’s review of “Fall of the Evangelical Nation“. [↩]
- See Wikipedia – Emerging Church: Postmodern World View and the language of deconstruction. [↩]
- Theopraxy is the practice of theology, or what some call “the practice of God.” [↩]
- The term “Dark Ages” refers to the cultural and literary darkness that descended over Europe after Rome fell, throwing Europe into chaos. [↩]
- Catholic and Eastern Orthodox dogma refer to this as “Augustinianism” rather than “Calvinism”, for obvious reasons. [↩]
So, what of the five articles of Remonstrance? Would that be considered a more enlightened theology? After all they, the Remonstrants, did not actually call themselves Arminianists. If I recall correctly, they needed further consideration as to whether the doctrine of the preseverence of the saints was taught in the scriptures.
Also, I have been reading and listening to some of Driscoll’s teachings and I believe that I am picking up on some “lordship theology” under tones. Would this be an accurate observation or am I reading into what he is preaching?
Thanks for the write up on this. I never considered the implications of the dark ages on modern theological views. Are there any good books on this subject?
Does Driscoll explicitly teach or concur with the doctrine of unconditional election, the church’s call to conquer the earth, and the law as a means of growth? I know he “talks to” the emergents, the Reformed, and the megachurch leaders, but could you point out where he identifies himself with Covenental theology or teaches these doctrines? Maybe this is coming up in a subsequent article. I’m just curious…
Well Lisa, aren’t you the enlightened one? You must ask yourself this question: what is the name of my blog? That would surely give you the answer to your questions.
“Lordship theology” might or might not be associated with Covenant Theology. Bruxy Cavey taught it at XSI, and they’re Armenian. But also MacCarther, who is Covenant Theology, teaches it. I haven’t run across this with Driscoll, offhand. Normally Reformed theology is highly grace-oriented.
Re: Kalie’s probing questions, Driscoll calls himself a “4 1/2 Point Calvinist” – by which he means he retains a degree of flexibility when dealing with the non-Reformed…he’s not mean about it, but he stays within the Reformed camp.
You can see some of his Covenant theology here:
http://www.marshillchurch.org/sermonseries/doctrine/week_06.aspx
Now, to be precise, I’m not saying Driscoll wants the church to conquer the earth. I am saying, however, this is foundational in Reformed and Augustinian theology. It’s called Amillenialism. I am publishing more about this, yes. But you, for one, should know about this already from LTC1, right?
Also, FYI, F. Schaeffer was Amillenial and Covenantal.
So, then what is your stance on the preseverence of the saints?
Do you stand with those Remonstrants of old? Or do you take the Calvinist bent – which I know is the Xenos belief.
I just looked up article 5, which concludes:
I must confess that although I believe that scripture teaches that the truly saved will persevere to ultimate glorification – there are times I truly wonder if those who once professed faith in there youth or young adult years and then GO atheist – where they ever saved? Or do they fall from grace so to speak. At times I have thought as the Remonstants. I’ve know a few who have gone away from faith to promote false doctrines and advocate that there is not a God – let alone salvation through JC.
Frankly, I wish the Calvinists had this flexibility in their thinking on some of their dogma: “that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scriptures before we ourselves can teach it with the full persuasion of our minds.”
I think you’ll find this is the classic Xenos teaching on the “P” of TULIP, although I myself feel I can teach the “P” it “with the full persuasion”
You said it well – that is why I know I must stay in my Word and engage ideas and other beliefs – by doing so I see where I may be lacking the ability to teach the BIG P with FULL PERSUASION. This is not just a one time undertaking – at least for me – it needs to be continuous.
Is Driscoll actually Amillenial?
OMG! Is the Pope Catholic?
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