A Heritage of Faith

This week, Pastor Karl's sermon was on 2 Timothy 1:3-5:

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. (ESV)

(For those who read that and realize it sounds different from what Pastor Karl himself read, remember that he uses the HCSB and I use the ESV. Both are great in my opinion.)

After this, he went on an exposition of how Timothy's mother and grandmother taught him and built a foundation, then how Paul built on that foundation and helped to bring us Timothy, pastor of the Ephesian church. I'm not going to go on an explanation or criticism of the sermon; frankly, I think it was great and perfectly clear by itself as usual. Rather, I just wanted to post my own thoughts about how some of those things have applied in my own life.

One thing Pastor Karl talked about was how parents build a foundation for a child's life, then it is often built upon by others later on. I've seen that in my own life; although I strongly disagree with several of the theological distinctions my parents have, and still do, adhere to (Pentecostalism, for those who are curious), they still built a foundation in my life. I was raised in Christianity, in the church. Most of my friends from the old days attended the same churches I did as a kid, so I was generally surrounded by a church culture. I wasn't sheltered, but I knew a lot of Christian families who I learned from in those days.

In addition, I was homeschooled because my parents we're simply fed up with the public school system. My parents chose to give my sister and I an education from a Christian worldview, which I think was the right and Biblical decision (see Deut. 6:4-9). In my teenage years when I joined various groups outside of the church, and when I got a job, and when I went off to college, when I found myself surrounded by people my age who held to very different views than I did, that foundation held.

But that foundation is not all that I have had in my life. Later on, my family and I simply could not find a church to call home. When I started dating Sarrah, I decided to check out her church, and found it to be great. Over time, however, I realized this church held to very different views than the churches I had attended in the past with my parents: this church was Calvinist, which was a byword to other Christians I knew. I remember in school reading about Calvin and not liking him much, which wasn't my Mom's fault; it was what the school program we had chosen wrote about him. It was because I didn't agree with some things I remember learned that he taught (like dancing was a sin). I probably read good things about him too, but I didn't retain them if I did.

While attending this church, I found myself surrounded by people who were doing this thing I couldn't remember seeing before: talking theology. Looking back, I realize I was around this for most of my life, but at the time it was a novel thing to me. I realized there were a lot of things that people disagreed over, like Calvinism and Arminianism, baptism, etc.

I also remember having a conversation with my brother-in-law, who told me he was a neo-Calvinist (which I still don't quite understand the meaning of). This was odd to me because I thought that Calvinism was some weird, horrible, fringe, un-Christian thing, but I certainly didn't think that of him.

Sarrah and I got engaged around this time, which would entail having children someday, which would entail raising them in the Christian faith.

All of this led me to the conclusion that I really needed to get myself straight. I realized I had possibly misunderstood a lot of things about Christianity and I needed to learn what was right. I needed to actually start reading that book I had never been good about reading - the Bible - and figure out what the heck it actually taught. In addition, I deliberately exposed myself to the teaching of the other side - the Calvinists - so I could understand what it was they actually taught and find out if there was anything to it. It was when I heard John Piper reference Acts 13:48 that I became convinced there was:

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

After I heard this, I grabbed my Bible to see if this verse actually existed. As it turned out, it did. I felt an interesting serenity at this; there was the answer. It was so clear, so simple. Later on as I read the Bible I became more convinced, and to this day I have found no reason to reject it.

My parents built the foundation of Christianity in general, and then the particulars were built upon by others later, all of which led to the theological titan you see before you (please read the dripping sarcasm in that last part).

So what about my own kids? I'm gonna be a dad soon, so this sermon had other impacts on me as well. I particularly liked the term "heritage of faith" that Pastor Karl used in his sermon. I want to establish a Reformed heritage of faith in my family. As far back as I know, that hasn't existed in my family before now. I'm pretty sure any heritage of faith at all started with my grandparents, who are also Pentecostal, which is about as far from Reformed as you can get while still being Protestant. But I've been so convicted that Reformed theology is nothing other than Biblical Christianity that I want my kids to be raised in it and to learn it from the get-go. I want to instill them the love of reading the Bible regularly that I didn't have as a kid (which was due to my own laziness) so that they know these things to be true. I want them to read deeply and with understanding, and not only read but pray, and pray genuinely, realizing that there is a God who wants to save them, to justify them, to sanctify them for his work. I need to get to praying for all of that.