The Gospel Coalition

Today’s post is contributed by Brent Osterberg, who blogs at From Pew to Practice.

I am a Protestant and I assume that most of the readers of this blog would say the same.  The word “protest” is the first part of our religious designation, and the truth is that many of us have whole-heartedly embraced our namesake… but, at times, perhaps we have turned that embrace into an all-out submission hold.

A quote I heard recently from Paul David Tripp led me to evaluate our sometimes wolverine-like tenacity in protesting.  He said, “You know why you like to protest? Because whenever you protest, you’re saying you’re not the problem!” (How People Change DVD Seminar Introduction).  Before we explore this quote further, let me first say that, as Christians, I strongly believe we must draw hard theological lines and name names as Paul did in the face of false teaching and apostasy (1 Timothy 1:19-20; 6:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; 4:10).  However, protesting is not all we do, and it’s certainly not the main thing.

The objects of our protesting, as Christians, most often fall into one of two categories:

1. doctrine we believe to fall short of the scriptural standard or
2. behavior that we deem immoral.

Some of us will run to our Facebook and Twitter accounts to rip on the deviation of the week, while others will spout off disapproval to our closest friends over a latte.  It’s not that this is wrong in and of itself.  In fact, protesting is a necessary part of the Christian life. But as Tripp suggests, it can be a smokescreen we use to keep us from seeing the sin that is setting up camp in our hearts.

Jeremiah was right when he said that our hearts are hard to understand (17:9), but one thing we know about them is that they are crafty.  Our hearts know that it’s difficult for us and others to argue the holiness of a strong stand on Christian truth when we protest.  So, if we’re not walking in the light, a strong defense of our favorite doctrines can give cover to our idols so they can freely go to work on our affections and wills.  What a clever ploy our hearts (and Satan) have constructed: keep us arming ourselves at every whiff of Arminian doctrine or old-earth creationism so that there is little time and attention left to examine our motives and desires.

When I was in seminary, research papers were plentiful. For lack of wanting what was best for me, I would almost always wait until the last minute to write them.  During the times when I knew I should be working on a paper, all of the sudden I remembered that the floor needed to be mopped or that I needed to call my Grandma who I hadn’t spoken to in months. So I’d get busy doing those things when I should have been chipping away on an explanation for why women are saved through childbearing (1 Timothy 2:15).

I fear that we have the same approach when it comes to doing the gritty work of finding our idols and replacing them with Christ.  We grasp for any other good thing to keep us from what requires our immediate attention… in this case, something crucial to spiritual growth.  Protesting is often one of these other good things, but with potentially more danger due to the commitment, passion, and even heroism that is perceived by fellow Christians when it is practiced.

I realize that in writing this post I am, in fact, protesting our tendency to protest, which is why I also need to be wary – even as I write this sentence.  That’s actually why I’m writing this… because we all need to be cautious of such tendencies.  It doesn’t mean the answer to the problem is refusing to protest or call ourselves Protestant.  Rather, the knowledge that protesting can be used as a smokescreen should cause us to evaluate our hearts to see if there are any idols at work there. If there are, let’s protest our idols, and then submit afresh to Christ, the only One with a rightful place on the throne of our lives.

Brent Osterberg is the associate pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX where he has served since 2004.  He is a graduate of Sam Houston State University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  He and His wife, Keri, have two sons and a baby daughter who is due in August. He blogs at From Pew to Practice.