In what now seems a life time ago (1971), I had a Christian leader spend the weekend with me at the first church I was privileged to lead - in southern Vermont. Those were the days I associated with men belonging to what was then known as the Independent Fundamental Churches of America , now simply the IFCA International (what we humorously called the I Fight Christians Anywhere group of pastors and churches). My guest was a leader in this fellowship of fundamentalist pastors and churches.
As a young, wet-behind-the-ears pastor, I relished the hours I would have with this leader I respected. Throughout the weekend, he briefed me on various men in ministry - some of whom I knew personally. Frankly, in just about every case, my guest had mostly negative comments about other pastors and leaders. At some point, after a particularly scathing review of the failures of several Christian leaders with whom this gentleman no longer associated himself, he said:
“Frankly, I don’t care to hang around weaker Christians.”
I have never forgotten that statement. Thankfully, in God’s providence, I have been able to move on from that rigid fundamentalist mindset that seemingly cannot meet one single new person or circumstance without applying the measuring stick of purity - doctrinal and ecclesiastical.
The recent buzz around John Piper’s invitation to Rick Warren got me thinking about that time so many years ago. As news of the Warren’s coming appearance at the 2010 Think: The Life of the Mind & the Love of God conference broke, the blogosphere burned - especially among reformed writers - with criticism of Piper’s invitation. But after hearing Piper’s own reasons for inviting Warren to his conference later this year, I’m finding it difficult to offer much criticism.
How grateful I am for the warm invitation I received from David Bugden, a british reformed Baptist pastor, to attend the Westminster Fellowship chaired by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Westminster Chapel, London) during my time in England in the mid-70’s. I was just coming to grips with the doctrines of God’s sovereign grace, and it would have been easy for Brother Bugden to simply ignore this young, brash fundamentalist dispensationalist. And yet, he extended a warm hand of fellowship to me - an act that I believe God used to draw me fully into the fold of reformed Baptist soteriology and ecclesiology.
For my part, I’ve lived and served long enough to know that one can extend a hand of Christian fellowship to brothers in Christ, even brothers who differ in more than a few ways, without jettisoning passionately held theological convictions. I commend Piper for his courage in extending this invitation to Rick Warren. I’ve listened to John Piper, and I’ve read enough of his writing to know where he stands. And I believe he has done the body of Christ a service by providing opportunity for America’s (indeed, the world’s) best-known evangelical pastor to articulate his views at the 2010 Think conference.
Thank God that John Piper is not of that group that holds itself aloof from all those perceived to be “weaker.”