I pick up the old blog pen to talk about something that goes through my head from time to time.  No, the title doesn't refer to Catholics and Protestants, but rather to the two sides of a central question which are referred to as Calvinism and (more awkwardly) Arminianism.

All of Christianity believes together that we are broken and in need of repair.  The central question, however, that divides many churches is exactly how this gets done and who is responsible.

Although the name is less familiar, most of the churches in the United States subscribe to Arminianism.  Although there is more to the classical idea, for the sake of this argument, it can be boiled down to this: Free will is limited by God's sovereignty, but God sovereignly allows all men the choice to accept the Gospel of Jesus through faith, simultaneously allowing all men to resist.  This is commonly known in Christian circles as the Doctrine of  Free Will.  We choose whether or not we want to be a Christian.

Calvinism, on the other hand, believes that the saving grace of God is not resistible. Those who obtain salvation do so because of the relentlessness of God's mercy. Individuals yield to grace, not finally because God found their consciences more tender or their faith more tenacious than other people. Rather, willingness, and any ability to do God's will, are evidence of God's faithfulness to save people from the power and the penalty of sin.   This is commonly known as the Doctrine of Predestination.  God chooses who becomes a Christian. The belief is less popular in the United States.

Both ideas have their strengths and weaknesses and on the surface seem to be mutually exclusive.  I grew up in a church that believed in Free Will, but spent four years in a Calvinist church in Virginia.  While thinking about the two ideas, I realized it may just be the perspective you take akin to looking at two sides of the same coin.  Ask yourself these questions:

What do I bring to the table of salvation?  The answer is myself.  It does seem intuitive that this is true.  I make the choice to accept salvation.

However…compared to God, how much do I bring to the table?  The answer is nothing.  God, in his power, supplies so much more to the equation that my portion is essentially zero.

Voila, the two doctrines reconciled.  We should learn to understand the power of each doctrine while knowing what the pitfalls are.  Arminianism gives us a sense of responsibility and spurs us to action, as poor as our actions may be.  However, the greatest sin we all suffer is Pride and Arminianism is a devious tool Pride can use.  I think the Church in our country suffers from this blight to nearly a terminal degree.  Calvinism on the other hand, frees us of this vice.  We cannot be prideful, because we understand we had nothing to do with our salvation.  The risk of Calvinism is complacency.  If we feel God is responsible for everything, our laziness tells us we need not try.  I don’t think this is nearly as lethal as Pride, but it still is quite serious.

I leave you with a few of the words to a song called  “Thankful” by Cademon’s Call.  Normally I find most modern Christian music inane.  The worship songs we sing in church these days appear to either assume we aren’t smart enough to understand multisyllabic words or were written on the back of a napkin in 15 minutes at a Starbucks.  Today I decided the proper moniker for such songs is “Dr. Seuss Worship”.  Unfortunately my church has a bad case of this.

Anyway, I digress, the words:

'Cause we're all stillborn and dead in our transgressions
We're shackled up to the sin we hold so dear
So what part can I play in the work of redemption
I can't refuse, I cannot add a thing

'Cause I am just like Lazarus and I can hear your voice
I stand and rub my eyes and walk to You
Because I have no choice

Perhaps you can catch a glimpse of the freedom and joy such belief leads to.  I’ll leave the reader to ponder.