Author, Simon.
Published, March 26, 2009.

1 Corinthans 1:10-17 reads:

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

I have been rather bothered by some recent trends in the Evangelical church. More precisely, the prevalence of high profile debates causing people to ‘take sides’, as it were. Or even, in the absence of debate, people siding with certain Christian leaders. Some pertinent cases would be John Piper vs. N. T. Wright, on Wright’s work on justification, and the ‘New Perspective’. Driscoll vs. McLaren/Bell/Pagitt. The age-old Calvin-Aminius, which has resulted in Calvinists vs. Arminianists. I advocate debate, and I think there are many, many things worth arguing about, but the concerns I hold regard not so much the debates themselves, as the way in which Christians respond.

John Piper has a following. Anyone who ‘follows’ him almost immediately disregards Wright, and will probably slag him off. Mark Driscoll has a following, and those who ‘follow’ him will likely take most of the things he says, and they will think them too. I know from experience how easy it is to simply agree with these men in particular. It just so happens that these men do generate a large amount of fervour around what they say. Let me be clear here; these men glorify Christ in what they say and do. I am not criticising them. I am criticising those Christians who have obviously not taken 1 Corinthians 1 very seriously.

There are people who would essentially say that they ‘follow Mark Driscoll’. Others would certainly say that they follow John Piper, or Brian Housten, or Joel Osteen etc, etc… This isn’t something new, as you have already read. One of the great splits in the theology of the Evangelical Church is basically a case of following one man or the other; John Calvin or Jacob Arminius. Interestingly, Jacob Arminius said that, aside from the Bible itself, the other texts he would most recommend his students read were John Calvin’s works. Mark Driscoll himself says that Calvinists and Arminians should talk together with open bibles and a smile on their faces.

I will repeat; some things are worth fighting for, and arguing over. (Other things are not.) The fact remains that Piper, Driscoll, Calvin, Arminius, Wright, etc… all follow, or followed Jesus, and all believed that it was his death and resurrection which has saved them from separation from God. They believe the same Gospel. We should do the same, and instead of following them, we should remember that we follow Christ. Follow Christ, “lest the cross be emptied of its power.”