Jared Moore

I’m not sure why it is, but with the Calvinist craze occurring within Evangelicalism, one would think that churches would be changing; however, this is largely not the case.  Most of the Calvinists I run into that are senior pastors, associate pastors, children’s pastors, or seminary students look nothing like consistent Calvinists.  Instead, they hold dearly to the “doctrines of grace” while using methods that cannot be built on these doctrines.  They 1) manipulate their hearers by pulling at heart strings in their sermons, 2) craft their worship services in order to induce emotion, 3) use pragmatic homiletics to appease the sensibilities of their audiences, 4) do not lead their churches in the eventual implementation of biblical discipline, 5) are not concerned with regenerate church membership, and 6) are as pragmatic in their methods as any other Arminian.  I just don’t understand how knowing that God is sovereign in salvation does not lead to methods that communicate this truth.  If God is sovereign in salvation, then manipulation, crafted worship services, seeker-sensitive homiletics, undisciplined love, unregenerate church membership, and pragmatic methods do not lead sinners to salvation.  They instead do the opposite; they lead them away from God and to the mirror.

So, why is that Calvinist dressed up like an Arminian?  It is either because 1) he really is an Arminian; 2) he is a growing Calvinist that has not thought through the implications of the doctrines of grace; or 3) he thinks that the doctrines of grace somehow have nothing to do with the “neutral” methods used to unpack them.  To the first man I simply say, “Quit lying!”  To the second, “All of us have been where you are; and I imagine that I am still there in a sense.  Continue thinking through the implications of these doctrines; and be willing to lovingly, long-sufferingly teach others the implications of correct doctrine.”  And, to the third, “Wake up!  Neutral method is a myth.  Either your methods reveal the glory of God or hide it.  You are doing one or the other.  If pragmatism governs your methods instead of the Scriptures, then you are probably revealing God’s glory through your preaching while hiding it through your methods.”

If all Arminians and Calvinists are consistent in their doctrines, then their two worship services and entire philosophies of ministry should be starkly different.  This however is not the current case within Evangelicalism.  We are mainly Arminian in our worship and ministry philosophies.

Incoming search terms for the article:

• is andy stanley a calvinist
• andy stanley calvinism
• andy stanley arminian
• Andy stanley Calvinist
• andy stanley on calvinism
• andy stanley reformed theology
• andy stanley predestination
• is andy stanley calvinist
• mac brunson calvinism
• andy stanley is arminian