TULIP IN THE GARDEN

THERE IS A TULIP IN THE GARDEN

     I can personally testify that as conservative reformed Christians, we love
our high theology. When my mind wanders back over the three decades I have
walked with Christ, I can remember "how precious did that Grace appear the
hour I first believed"1. The mind can then wander on to discussions with
high school friends from church with pizza in hand and Bibles open to
relevant passages over the finer points made during a Sunday school lesson
or Bible quiz meet. Can one lose one's salvation? If God is sovereign,
how?" and "Why do you want out so badly anyway?" "You don't suppose the
pastor is using the fear of hell to extort money out of Christians, do you?"
Then the ones of us who took matters more seriously moved on to Bible
college and seminary. The points became even finer. How does the aorist
tense in Greek effect the great commission in Matthew 28? How in the world
can a man as intelligent as Bultman come up with this "de mythologizing"2.
stuff and still call the Bible the Word of God? How in the world can the
speaker in chapel conclude from Scripture that every believer is required to
re locate in the course of Christian ministry? On and on the memories
march. It was as fun as it was constructive.
     But then there comes a time in the life of some conservative reformed
Christians that the particulars of the belief system we call the TULIP
becomes comfortable. Reformed theologians believe it with all their heart,
for if they did not, they would not have come to know it so well. It fits.
And it works. One's salvation is absolutely secure because it is based
solely on the benevolence of The Almighty God we have grown to love so much
and the knowledge that things are as they should be. We surrender to Him
and are grateful beyond bounds for what He has given. We know peace.
For the benefit of the reader, "TULIP" is an acronym for the five points of
Calvinism, the belief system that that succinctly states the distinctives of
reformed theology. The five points of Calvinism are; Total depravity:
People are unable to do anything morally good outside the Grace of God.,
Unconditional election: God decides who His followers are by His own
prerogatives., Limited atonement: Though the sacrifice of Christ is
sufficient to save all of mankind, it only saves those who follow Christ.,
Irresistible Grace: The call of God to those He has chosen can not be
resisted. And Perseverance of the Saints: Christians need not fear losing
their salvation, for it is based on the Grace and decision of God. People
who believe these five points with all their hearts, including myself, tend
to call themselves conservative reformed Christians. The debate over these
points has raged since the earliest days of Christendom and will probably
not end until the return of Christ Himself. Debating these points is not
the intention of this paper.
     The problem more conservative reformed Christians face is not gaining some
edge over opposing theological and philosophical viewpoints, but a failure
on their part and on the part of the church as a whole to successfully
reproduce themselves. Anybody who has walked with Christ in the United
States for a lengthy time starting in their youth can in retrospect notice
the change. Do we remember debating the finer points of theology in our
youth? The youth of today report they have never even heard of them. Did
we memorize entire passages of The Bible in our youth and the Heidelberg
Catechism? Find someone converted in the last twenty years who claims that.
What roles did Augustine, Luther and Calvin play in Church history? Find
someone who knows. What is Palagianism and why do those stuffy old
theologians speak of it as though it is an infection? And why in the world
does it matter anyway. The kids in the youth group, the young adults and
the ladies prayer circle say "I love Jesus, He loves me and that is all that
matters." Is that right? And even if they are not right in the limited
belief system they hold, why does it matter anyway? After all, attendance
is high, the new sanctuary is nearly complete and our last sermon convinced
every last one of them that it would be great if everybody could be nice for
a change.3.
     As stated in a previous paper, our current age of "easy Believism" has so
firmly taken hold in the church throughout the developed world that church
buildings are filled to the gun ports with people who have a saving knowlage
of the work of Christ at best and usually much worse. And if pastors and
other church leaders are even able to understand what this paper is talking
about, they dare not teach or preach anything beyond the milk toast they now
offer out of fear some portion of the audience might find the message
uncomfortable and compromise the financial condition of the "church". Even
worse, as the nominal "Christians" fall away, the declining numbers will
make the ministry look less effectual.
     So without even once hearing the uncomfortable truth that they are sinners
just like us,  That their sins have been cleansed by the Blood of Christ and
that to attain a relationship with God they must surrender both themselves
and their lives to the Lordship of Christ as well as believing in Jesus and
accepting the forgiveness He alone offers,  having benefited themselves
absolutely nothing,  they leave much less likely to attend again.   When
they do get bored, disgruntled and dissatisfied with the mundane or even
worse die and thereby leave, they do so having not once had the Gospel of
Christ reach their ear drums. 4.
     It would have been much better to preach the Word of God and lost the
numbers and money so craved by churches today than have failed to preach the
Gospel and have lost far more souls in the process. During the apostolic
era and even until the last century, pastors typically equipped believers to
go out and bring people to Christ, THEN introduce them to the church. But
now the only person who even vocalizes the Gospel or even has that ability
is the person behind the pulpit and God only knows why that person decides
not to. Gone are the days when the kid in the youth group introduced his
newly believing friend to the Youth Group or a absolutely radiant old lady
brought her neighbor to the pastor to ask about baptism and a Bible study
because she had just watched that friend pray the sinners prayer. No, The
churches are bigger than they ever were, and the number of believers is much
smaller because we are unable to accept the fact that "many are called, and
few chosen." 5. We have successfully moved from having hundreds of
Christians in little cramped buildings to having far fewer, weaker
Christians sitting in gigantic worldly assemblies that might as well be a
basketball game for all they achieve.
     Given the situation as it presents it's self, it is time indeed for a
change. We need to accept the fact that the "seeker sensitive" approach was
flawed from it's very inception. If "no one seeks after God.", as the
Bible teaches, then God must be removed from the Church to make it appealing
to the seeker. Has that concept ever appeared in a seminary class or board
room? Should we tone down the message to get the person in the building,
then spring the Gospel on them? Well, that line of thinking has caught the
"church", if we can call it that in quite literally one hell of a rut. The
seeker friendly "church" is now so dependant on it's numbers that it can no
longer afford to preach christ Crucified, much less disciple the clueless
masses who succor on the offered pabulum as though it were a spiritual
opiate.
     If the Church is to survive as a distinguishable movement, it must find in
it's enormous corridors a few souls familiar enough with Scripture and the
matters of the Kingdom of God and send those people out to at least offer
Christ to a lost and dying world. And if the church lacks even the ability
to accomplish even that, then those believers thusly equipped need to seize
the initiative themselves, get out of the library and start talking about
the Bible and their Savior a little more at work, the coffee shop and around
the neighborhood. And having done so, should the "church" think of them and
the excited new converts they introduce as oddballs or extremists as they
very well might 7., then perhaps the remnant Christ has preserved for
Himself is confined for the time being to the house church and Bible study
movement. But be assured that Christ will not allow the flame of His Gospel
to be quenched. We have our theology down just fine. That is just great.
Oh that others could have what we do. That is not stated sarcastically. It
is time, long time, for us to move. Our Bibles teach us that those who
follow God are few in number. That number will grow smaller yet as the end
times approach. We also know that Justification is an Act of God from His
judgment seat. But our knowlage does not authorize us to sit idly by as
those we love perish in flames. The doctrines we hold so dear should and
must motivate us to action. We also have the great commission to obey. And
we share so much in common with other branches of Christendom that what
remains of our earthly existence must be busy indeed. Please, let us
persevere to the end.

1. Amazing Grace; traditional hymn
2. Rudolph Bultman; "Jesus Christ and Mythology"
3. Douglas Adams: "The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy."
4. Dr. Albert Mohler unpublished sermon. National Reformed Conference
ca. 2006
5. St. Matthew: Matthew 22:14
6. The Apostle Paul: Romans 3:11 Se also: Psalm 14: 1-3
7. A.W. Tozier "Born After Midnight"