A dear church member reminded me of this interview with John Piper from awhile back. While it’s discussing a current issue at the time, Piper speaks to something that we need to hear again in our era of thinking that if we just hold to the right beliefs, join the right organizations, have the right opinions, then we will righteously change the world. Similarly, the opposite belief – that everyone who isn’t in our “camp” whether theologically, politically, or culturally – is not just mistaken but sinfully wrong, is just as dangerous. There is great danger in thinking that one theological “team” or another will necessarily or automatically lead to holy living:
“Sixth, there is a lesson about how the same theology (Reformed or Arminian) can coexist on paper with very different personalities and leadership styles and sins. There is no theology on paper or merely in preaching that keeps a man from sin. Peter’s withdrawal from eating with the Gentiles in Galatians 2 was sin, and it was not owing to a defective theology. Paul said very clearly in verse 14, ‘I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth’ (Galatians 2:14). And he means the very truth they believe. Human beings don’t live up to their theology. Therefore, when a person falters in their behavior, it is a mistake to jump immediately, without wider considerations, to say, ‘Oh, defective theology,’ because there are sinners (and some serious ones) in every branch of theology. Peter knew the truth, and he didn’t walk in it. And that is always a possibility with whatever truth is at stake.” (emphasis added)
