Fighting off contempt for the weaker brother.

[Sonoftheday]

Contempt for the weaker brother is something I think every calvinist has had to deal with many times throughout thier lives. It is a sin I seem to catch myself in constantly. Focusing on Christ, and his work on the cross is the one cure that works everytime. My question for others is not so much how to fight off contempt, a focus on the doctrines of grace works well for that, but how to test yourself to know if your being sinful or properly discerning.

There is a place for discernment, and understanding that a brother is weaker. We should teach the truth of RPW, Calvinism, and other theological doctrines that are so lacking in the evangelical church today, but we should not hold contempt for them or view them as lesser christians.

How do you know when you are being contemptuous??

 

[Pergamum]

ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL CALVINISTS:

Hey do YOU all know that YOU ARE NOT, in fact, the weaker brother.


Let us ask prayer that others would tolerate us well and not hold us in contempt.

 

[Pergamum]

Probably the Biblical injunction to consider other brothers above ourselves applies.

 

[DMcFadden]

Insofar as we probably all think that denominations can often be stereotyped (or at least spoken of generally) as more liturgical, more expressive/emotional, more revivalist, more formal, etc., Calvinists I have known (over more than three decades of vocational ministry) have tended to suffer the occupational hazard of the sin of intellectual hubris.

Reformed-trained pastors are typically a lot better prepared intellectually for the task of ministry than almost anyone else in the Protestant family. Cf. how many of you/your pastors had to show competency in Greek and Hebrew prior to ordination vs. Joel Osteen with his grand total of ONE semester of ORU education or Bill Hybels with only his undergraduate Christian liberal arts degree education (or even Rick Warren with his disdain for commentaries and theology books -- "you already know more about the Bible than any of your congregation. Why waste your time with technical books learning more?"). Last evening as my wife and I were taking our 3 1/2 mile walk, I characterized the Reformed folk on PB as the Protestant answer to the Jesuits (not that there is anything wrong with that; we meant it in a good way!!!).

If the average name-it-and-claim-it pastor tends to be characterized as theologically imprecise, flaky, and driven by emotion, the typical Reformed pastor is so much better prepared academically that it is VERY difficult NOT to feel condescending towards colleagues in other denominations.

My guess is that the growing edge of spiritual challenge for many of our PB buds is to avoid the almost irresistible temptation of knowledge "puffing up." But, hey, what is so new about that? Our Pentecostal brothers struggle with the elite feeling that they have a closer connection to the Holy Spirit. Our Southern Baptist friends are convinced they have perfected the "system" of evangelism. Our "seeker sensitive" buds think they have cornered the market on "relevance" and communication for a post-modern audience. As long as we are in these bodies of flesh, we will find sanctification to be a struggle.

 

[3John2]

Good point Dennis. I came out of a Word of Faith/Charismatic church that preached the "Pro$perity Go$pel". It was a big (by our standard in my area) church of 800. My pastor was well respected & supposedly well read/learned. When I left & started to seek a Reformed church & found mine I was utterly shocked at the knowledge of my pastor & the elders at my church. The average elder knew more than my ex pastor. It wasn't funny. It was also VERY humbling. A very humbling experience indeed. I was a youth minister back then & it got me to thinking "WHAT was I teaching the kids?!". I felt I was deceiving them & definately not leading them to the truth of God's Word. I was very convicted. I meekly sat in church & soaked everything. I also keep my mouth SHUT!! I realized I was not "mature" in the Word but rather was a babe in the Lord. I also started meeting with my pastor weekly & started to read Piper, Sproul, The Westminster Shorter Catechism & Grudem. Needless to say I've come a long way.
But yes it is hard to when I think of these people that are puffed up with pride & THINK they are mature & well versed & as one minister said have a "theology that is a mile wide & an inch deep". It's very hard to try to make a point with them because most won't even honestly search the scriptures for the truth as I did. It was devastating to my ego to realize my theology was off. But I was very grateful to realize that & had by the grace of God the wisdom to realign my theology with HIs Word.
We all need to pray for patience in dealing with the weaker brother's but yes it is extremely frustrating.