One of the most unusual items in my office is an inexpensive frame of a printout of a Web page that doesn’t exist anymore. I framed it because I was sure that there would come a time that the website didn’t exist, and I wanted proof. I could tell someone about it, but nobody would believe me. I’m not sure I believe it myself.
Here it is:
The page features quotes about a common, if somewhat controversial, Christian doctrine. What interests me about it is the names to whom the quotes are attributed. They are:
- John Stott, an Anglican cleric who was considered one of the leaders of the worldwide evangelical movement.
- Ursinus, a 16th century German theologian.
- George Whitefield, an 18th-century minister who was the catalyst for the Great Awakening. He founded the University of Pennsylvania.
- John Calvin, the French theologian and pastor who only had an entire system of doctrinal thought named after him.
- Jonathan Edwards, a well-known 18th century revivalist preacher.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the 20th century German theologian who was martyred at the hands of the Nazis in 1945.
- Me.
Yeah, I don’t know how that happened either.
I found the page when I Googled myself, which is a useful way to find newspaper stories that you might be mentioned in because you are your organization’s spokesman. That’s a role I’ve filled throughout my career, including at the ministry I work for now. It’s an excerpt from when I first attempted blogging more than a decade ago:
“It seems to me that many Christians are scared that God is like a big, celestial Donald Trump, who will someday arbitrarily call us into his office, ask us to admire his absurd hairdo, flick his wrist at us and say, “You’re fired.” In the back of our minds, we wonder what we’ll do with ourselves if He doesn’t let us be a Christian anymore. But the God described in the Bible isn’t like that. Christians have trusted in a God who is sovereign, and who has promised us eternal security. That means that once we accept His offer of salvation, it’s ours. It can’t be taken away. And that’s good news, because lots of us do things every day that should get us fired from Christianity.”
Timely with the Donald Trump reference, right? Pure coincidence. Please don’t stop reading – this is a politics-free blog. And I’m not enough of a theologian to base a blog on that subject, either. I was teaching through Romans and made what I thought was an interesting connection between the subject matter and a radio interview I had heard.
What obviously happened is that the creator of the website was looking for interesting quotes about the doctrine of eternal security, found my blog post and like what he or she saw enough to include the quote on the page.
I understand what happened, I’ve done it before, but…seriously? Me, with all those actual theological figures. I don’t get it. I’m the answer to the question, “Which of these names does not belong with the others?”
Except that someone I’ve never met found something that I wrote almost 12 years ago, and it spoke to him in the same way that a famous theologian’s insight on an important doctrine did. It wasn’t my intent. I didn’t write the post with the intent of influencing others, but an example about a universal truth tied to a flamboyant reality TV star influenced at least one other person.
I’ve been in enough environments to realize that most of us, at least some of the time, feel like we don’t really fit in. And that’s what can make sharing our faith so scary. It’s hard to establish common ground when we feel like the proverbial square peg in an environment of round holes. I’m naturally introverted, which means striking up a conversation with a stranger, especially over eternal things, is way out of my comfort zone. But when I overcome my natural inclination to keep to myself, it’s amazing how quickly I can find something in common with just about anyone.
You fit in more than you realize – even when you feel like you absolutely, positively, don’t belong. That’s enough of a reason to be intentional about establishing relationships with others, especially those who, like you, need more of the love of God in their lives.
The Sycamore Project 