There are two ironclad rules of Gen XYZ Americans: (1) They like to be trendy, (2) but only until everyone knows what they’re into is trendy. We want to be like everyone else but, at the same time, different. So we gravitate to whatever people are into as long as it doesn’t feel like everyone else is into it.
This leads me to a few thoughts on the young, restless, reformed movement. I believe God is at work in the under-40 generation, doing something doctrinally, ecclesiologically, and doxologically healthy among many youngish Christians. Further, I believe this work of God is being mediated through a remarkable network of like-minded pastors, preachers, and scholars. I don’t know when there have been so many folks, often friends, saying and writing more or less the same things about the gospel, the atonement, the Scriptures, the glory of God, the doctrines of grace, the centrality of the church, the importance of preaching, the roles of men and women, and on and on it goes. We are blessed with an inordinate and growing number of good teachers, good books, good blogs, and good conferences.
But our desire for biblical truth, as understood (for the most part correctly, I believe) by Calvin, Edwards, Piper, Carson, etc. must be a passion for God, not a passion for trendy.
We must embrace historic protestant orthodoxy in general and, for many of us, particular Reformed expressions of it, not because it makes us feel superior to them (whoever them is), but because it is the best way to know Him. The goal is not to be a T4G-TGC-CHBC-ACE-PCA-SGM-DGM groupie. The goal is to know God, love God, and serve God–all of which can be helped, and is being helped, by the love for gospel truth in these groups (and many others).
But allegiance to our favorite conference or preferred tribe must always always be a means to further our allegiance to Christ. He must never be a means for recruiting more people to our tradition. The spotlight is always on the glory of God in the face of Christ.
So let’s be Christ-seekers, not trend-chasers.
But on the flip side–and now I’m speaking to those who rolled their eyes at the acronyms above–don’t close your heart to the truth coming from the leading lights of the Reformed resurgence just because you are afraid of being a groupie. Being wary of trendiness is a good, healthy fear, so long as it’s a fear and not a fortress. So what if all your friends in Campus Crusade are nuts about Wayne Grudem? Don’t believe his systematic theology just because of that. But don’t reject it for that reason either.
Spotting the Dangers
All of this leads me to reflect on a few dangers in our circles.
1. Indwelling sin. That’s always a killer. We must put to death all forms of pride, selfish ambition, rivalry, impatience, haughtiness, fear of man and love of the praise of man.
2. Thinking too much about how we are doing and what is going on (like I’m doing now!). Navel gazing is not helpful (unless you are the Coastguard, and I think that’s a little different).
3. An ignorance of God’s work in the whole world. We are a small slice of the Christian pie in North America, a smaller slice in the English speaking world, and a smaller sliver still in the global church. All roads do not lead to Louisville. Praise God for healthy, Christ-centered, gospel-believing, Bible-teaching, disciple-making movements wherever they exist.
I give this little list to get to dangers 4 and 5, which circle back to the bigger theme of this post.
4. A bandwagon mentality where people jump on board because it seems like the new thing to do. These are the people who pretend to like Lost just because their friends are always talking about it.
5. An anti-bandwagon mentality where people jump off because they don’t want to be like everyone else. These are the people who hate Lost just because their annoying friends rave about it all the time.
Heeding Some Advice
My advice, as it relates to the last two dangers, is simple: forget about bandwagons. Not one of the leaders I know is interested in hitching the work of God to a bandwagon. They want to proclaim the gospel, build up the local church, guard the good deposit, and work for the good of saints, sinners, and sufferers. This is the stuff to be into. And if other Christians can help you get into this stuff, listen to them.
In other words, learn from good teachers, but don’t idolize them. Read your favorite authors, but read lots of other authors too. Download the gifted preachers, but honor your pastor first. Go to the great conferences, but realize that the mission of God and the promises of God are with your local church. Be thankful for strong preaching, good theology, warm hearts, and visionary leaders. But, most of all, be thankful for sovereign work of the Spirit, the redemptive work of the Son, and the unchanging, everlasting love of the Father. Let’s keep our noses in the text and our eyes on Christ and let the bandwagon go where it will.
