Finding the Reformed Favorites

If you spend any time reading blogs with a Reformed bent, you know that there are certain characterizations that can be made: we like the English Standard Version, the Puritans, John Piper, and complementarianism, among many other (sometimes stereotypical) distinctives.

Lately I’ve been realizing how funny it is that I sort of stumbled upon a lot of these likings without even realizing they were hallmarks of my theological persuasion. I guess that is probably what happened to a lot of us!

The English Standard Version. I’ve detailed my history with this version before. But in brief, I’ll just say that I learned about the ESV in high school. My uncle and aunt tried to convince my family to buy into it.

The Puritans. I knew about Jonathan Edwards because of John Piper’s emphasis on him, but I was never a big fan. In my J-term class this past January, I did a twenty-page review of Puritan literature, a subject I selected because it sounded vaguely interesting. Then I realized how very much I admired the Puritans, and since then have loved reading more about them. I’ve also discovered that a lot of other Reformed people love the Puritans!

John Piper. I think I learned about him from my dad, who liked Desiring God and Don’t Waste Your Life. He read some of Don’t Waste Your Life to us, again, when I was in high school. I love that book. From there I began accessing Desiring God’s online resources, and have been so blessed by them.

Complementarianism. My history with this is kind of complicated, actually. My extended family has a background with it that I can’t really get into. But suffice it to say that from a very young age I have believed in the complementary order – without knowing to call it that, or before I ever heard of CBMW.

It’s been fun finding an online community that shares my affinity for these particular aspects of our faith. More than that, I love challenging and being challenged in the essential elements of the faith – the gospel and the cross, Scripture, the church, etc. Good times are had by all!

Women’s Issues

I’ve been looking for a way to express how I feel about some other facets of biblical manhood and womanhood. These quotes are right up my alley. The concept of “complementarianism” has been abused in many places by those who claim to be proponents of it. And sometimes the emphasis is so much on that touchy word submission, we forget about many other aspects of the biblical pattern. So here are some selections from an article that I wholeheartedly agree with.

There is no uniform for women in Scripture, and there is a lot of room for creativity and freedom within the commands to be modest, pure, and feminine. We cannot hold others to a man-made standard of dress. If we have personal convictions about clothing, they must be grounded in God’s Word, and we must treat others with charity and grace. Not everyone has reached the same conclusions that we have, and we don’t shun women based upon outward appearances. Jesus dined with prostitutes, calling them to holiness, so we can surely reach out to our neighbors with charity, even if we disagree with their standard of dress! There’s no such thing as a “Christian Taliban” when it comes to modest dress. (If you want to study this topic from Scripture, start with the following verses: Deut. 22:5, I Tim. 2:9, I Pet. 3:3-4, Proverbs 31:21-22, Gen. 24:22, and Isaiah 61:10.) Wearing dresses and being feminine cannot cover a haughty spirit and a holier-than-thou attitude.

Being a godly wife has nothing to do with being a doormat. Anyone who believes otherwise hasn’t been reading this site or the Scriptures. The godly wife is called to be a visionary steward; a thinker; a do-er of difficult things; a lover of excellence; a light to her children; and a shoulder-to-shoulder partner with her husband, walking the same path with zest and commitment. Gifts will vary, but a husband who values his wife will always see the incredible benefit of having a comrade-in-arms as his closest companion through life. With their complementary roles, the visionary husband and wife don’t walk in opposite directions with differing agendas. They unite their hearts and minds and work toward the same goals, each in their own God-ordained sphere. This isn’t a fairy tale, pie-in-the-sky idea; it’s what has driven successful marriages, families, and cultures for centuries. Doormats need not apply. A wife’s submission has nothing to do with being inferior or unintelligent. Every person on earth has to submit to someone or some thing. Try having everyone do otherwise, and you’ll get anarchy on a massive scale. Men submit to their authorities. Women submit to theirs. What’s the big deal? If you’re opposed to submission, then try disobeying all traffic lights tomorrow and see where it gets you. Biblical submission is not about tyrannical overlords forcing their underlings to kow-tow. It is all about Christ and His Bride, and that picture is one of beauty, love, tenderness, protection, and mutual honor.

Godly husbands do not treat their wives like children, browbeat them, or abuse them in any way. We’ve heard about websites whose authors claim it is a good thing to keep women in line by treating them as lesser beings. Scripture is clear: as you do to others, you are asking it to be done to you. Real men treat women like queens and co-heirs–not as chattel or children… End of story.

(source)

I’m not looking to start a debate about this… this is very simply an explanation of what I believe, in broader terms than I’ve used before.