Polemacy-A Birthplace of Dissention

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy….” Matt 5:7


I realize I made up a new word in my title but I like words that get you places quickly (I started with the word; Polemic). Let me start off by asserting my position. Systems are great. We need systems. Systems are used to put structure to form (I don’t know if that makes sense, I just thought of it). I use systems all day long in every facet of my life. From how I wake up to how I brush my teeth. I hit snooze no more than 3 times and no less than once, depending on how the roads are, do I need gas or is my lunch made. I brush my teach in a slightly angled, back and for manner, not circular, because I saw a picture of someone who had to have all of their teeth removed due to gingivitis and I do not want that.

I even use systems for biblical interpretation. I use hermanuetics to arrange scripture in a logical fashion so that I can understand my creator. I do this so that I can articulate, in a logical way, the perfect finished work of my Lord Jesus Christ. People call me a Calvinist. I don’t mind, they need to slot me so that they can have a perspective on how to relate to me. I personally don’t think I am a full fledged Calvinist only because I haven’t read any of His work except the first 2 articles of the ‘Institutes’. I have His commentaries at home (that’s only because I got them for free) and have only referenced them a couple of times.

Really, I think I would have been kicked out of Geneva and maybe burned at the stake because I believe that Drums and Guitars are Ok to use in Church. I also don’t agree with Him on the whole son’s of God thing in Job 1&2 and Genesis 5. So call me a Calvinist for my Soteriology, that’s cool, I can handle it. That’s a system that I guess I employ to some degree.
2 points about this though, Systems without form are ineffective. You won’t see many of these lately because of the decline in new housing starts, but it’s kinda like a house with the foundation poured, the framing up, the trusses are on but there is no sheathing, windows or doors to actually make this house effective.

My second, and most relevant, point for me about this is; Systems are not more important than individuals. Imagine this; you make a comment in Bible Study, and the minute Bible Study is over, the guy in the corner comes over to disagree with what you said. Just then the awesome 83 year old lady that’s just begun coming to Bible study walks by and you really want to say hello and tell her how she brightens the place up. Whoa, this is tough! Do I;
A; step away from this discussion to shake her hand
B; Clarify my point made earlier using example and context
C; drop kick the disagreeing dude and give him a ‘nuggie’
Call me a Mennonite but I opted for A.

This experience, among others, are leading me to embark on a transition in my life. I want my systems to take a backseat to individuals. I know that there are times where this isn’t going to be possible because I know that there are going to be times where I need release a flurry of punches to the solar-plex of a wolf, say for instance when someone comes to Church and yells at the top of his lungs that if you don’t use a King James Bible your going to hell (even though I kinda agree, maybe another post). Maybe I’ll need to shoot the wolf when he says ‘Jesus didn’t actually come back to the disciples in human form, He came as spirit’. It’s in those times that I’ll put system before form, but only then. I won’t get my nightee in a knot if someone says ‘Jesus is gonna come back then leave and then judge’. I won’t loose any sleep if someone says ‘Man has free will’. Yes, there are going to be times where someone backs this porcupine in a corner, that’s when the quills will fly, but that’s the exception and not the rule.

What this means for me is a couple of things. It means that I’ll need to be merciful and give individuals the benefit of the doubt. If they say such and such, I might need to wait some time and see if what they said is actually what I thought they said. It also means I’ll need to cover more topics in my thinking. If you know me, you’ll know that I am the product of the video game age and you know my ADD, you’ll know that this will be difficult to do so please pray for me!
You may read this and think to yourself, ‘How does Dave contend for the Faith once delivered for the Saints’. For me contending for the faith is defined as this; “passionately preaching the cross of Christ and living that conviction”. Contending for the faith does not mean that we should be polemic. There is a big difference there. I’ve learned that the by-product of a polemic is more polemics. As Driscoll says, "We're all fundementalists, just on different topics", it won’t take a lot of time until fundamentalists show what they are fundamentalist about. I mean, if I’m going to be a polemic about something, they will too. It’s only a matter of time before we’re on different sides talking about the same issue. It’s not a bad thing to do this, but if one of us leaves limping and crying over an issue where we could have easily left running and laughing, there is something wrong.

I’m wanna start being more merciful to others, so that others are merciful to me.

Amen