Two Ticks, No Dog

Dear Thunder Puppies,

You all have heard of the cage stage. This is what happens when someone first discovers the joys of the Reformed faith. and makes a horrible nuisance of themselves. They say I should never have had a cage stage. That stage, after all, is only for the Gentiles of the Reformed world. I can make no such claim, for I have R.C. Sproul for my father. My zeal for the Reformed faith, however, takes a back seat to no one. That, precisely, is the very problem with the cage stage, that we confuse a laudable zeal for the Reformed faith with a license to chew other people's slippers, and to leave malodorous gifts in other people's living rooms.

But any puppy knows that the real joy is when you get to run with the big dogs. And now, thanks to the decentralization that is central to the internet age, you all can have your own dog-run. Now anyone with a url can start hurling epithets at the speed of light. And so in chat-rooms, bulletin boards and forums there you lounge like a pack of hound dogs either chewing up, or slobbering over the Wright stuff.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am neither suggesting that there is nothing to talk about in the current ruckus, nor am I arguing that the only way to have the conversation is through dusty papers that few people would ever read. Instead, as with those in the cage stage, I want to encourage you to a sense of proportion. However important these debates might be, they ought not overshadow our God-given commitments. We still have families to raise. Sonic of us have sermons to prepare. Not near enough of us, (and please, bite your tongue before you start screaming that I've embraced a social gospel) have orphans and widows to visit. We still have duties to perform. And the devil delights when you, even if it turns out you are on the right side, invest your time sniping at some other puppy that dissed your dog in this debate. And he is even more excited when your sniping takes the form of dissing his dog. I know there's not mountains of stuff on predestination, imputation, the covenant of works, and perseverance of the saints there, but have you ever read the book of Corinthians?

Seeing yourself as the great defender of the faith once delivered, or as a new Luther that will shepherd us into a covenantal promised land is simple enough. It's pride. That's why the devil delights. He is far more interested in us losing our peace than he is in getting us either to recover the objectivity of the covenant, or to successfully object to the objectivity of the covenant. Let Lis please be at least this covenantal, that we would be Presbyterians about this stuff, that we would handle these things decently and in order. If you cannot trust the courts to handle this, then the "individualist" dog tag some are trying to wrap around your neck fits, then you really are Baptists unawares. If, on the other hand, you want to lift your leg on those fathers and brothers who aren't as ready as you are to adopt a new, more covenantal paradigm, then you too are a practical Baptist. You say you love mother kirk. It's her fathers you cannot stand.

Brothers, though my patience has been tried, I don't want to become just another breed of the same dog. I won't quiet the clamor any by screaming at everyone to be quiet. 1 know that. So let me instead try this garden hose. Why don't we just be quiet together, and let the masters settle this dispute'? Every dog on the block has at least sonic master to answer to. Not a one of them, on either side, is beyond the reach of a competent church court. If you are called to testify, then by all means conic and do so. But if not, don't let us get caught under the feet of those who have real work to do.

Please also remember this. Barking incessantly doesn't establish you as a big dog. It establishes you as a puppy. When someone can, in the midst of this mess, bark out that I am Nestorian because the eastern orthodox are liturgical, and 1 am liturgical, and that eastern orthodox are Nestorian then q.e.d. someone's ignorance is showing. When that same puppy is informed of his error, and he responds by apologizing to the orthodox and not me, for calling them Nestorian, then we have the runt of the litter pretending to be the leader of the pack.

In short, let us show sonic maturity. Let us also show f'orth that peace which passes understanding. Let us have enough peace in our hearts that we do not feel the need to repay evil with evil. That is, if we understand that our reputation with God is secure, and if we are redeemed, then it is secure now and forevermore, then we won't care when someone calls us an enlightenment geek, or if someone suggests that we are halfway down the Roman road.

This is precisely how peace breaks out. Suddenly, one side just stops shooting back. And if you would stop your barking, you might find that the other puppies might follow suit. Wouldn't we better spend our time praying that God would be glorified in this, that just once in church history we might handle a dispute in a way that honors Him'! Instead you are like the scrawny kid safely in the second row of the circle of other wanna-be's shouting "Fight! Fight!" in the school hallway. Wouldn't you rather be known as the peacemakers'? For they shall be called not the sons of dog, but the sons of God.

When you feel that itch coming on you, when you hear some fool dog miles away barking just to hear himself, don't join in. Remember that the capacity to leave your mark on the world wide web merely means you have the potential of getting stuck. Remember also that you will one day grow up. So try to act like it.

In the King's Service,

R.C. Sproul Jr.