Riverwood Presbyterian Church

group speak

by Peggy Drinkard

I recently attended a fairly large gathering of predominately Armenian-oriented evangelical Christians. Musing as I mingled, I tried to come up with one word that would describe the group “personality” as I perceived it. Of course, the first word to pop to mind was “nice.” That one’s obvious. In the south we have that one down to a tee…especially Christian nice. But there was something beyond that that I had a hard time putting my finger on. Eventually I found the word “smug” to be the closest descriptive of what I sensed. Smug. Not blatant pride, (that wouldn’t be nice!), not exactly arrogance…just a quiet sense of self-certainty and self-satisfaction, both as individuals and as a group. Part of me, the really insecure part, envies that, I confess. But as I reflected yesterday on Tim’s powerful and honest sermon about man’s total depravity, and God’s totally sovereign election of men unto salvation, I realized that if I thought I had one iota of input into my salvation…that I, out of all the millions and milllions of people who lived and died and went to hell…that I, among all my fellow humans who “had a choice,” was among the comparatively small minority (of which even Adam and Eve were not a part), that had the wisdom and insight, or tenderheartedness, or whatever you might attribute it to, to make the right choice, the choice for God….I would probably be more than smug, and justly so. I REALLY would have something to boast about. Why, if that were the case, I would be god-like.

I do not wish to slam the people I observed. I know many of them, and they really are, well…very, very nice and sincere Christian people. And I know that if I went up to any one of them and asked if they thought it was due to their own superior wisdom that they chose God as opposed to all the lost people in the world, or if they thought God would commend them for their brilliance in making the right choice, every single one of them would most certainly say no. They would speak of grace. I think it was Dr. Packer who said, “When we are on our knees, every Christian is a Calvinist.”