Firmly ensconced in my new location today, I began to set up my cubby-hole office with my assistant, greet long-lost soldiers, suffer through an array of newcomer briefs, and spend some quality time with several chaplains and assistants.
My chaplain assistant and I spent an hour or two talking with the command chaplain and his assistant, as well as another chaplain who is visiting from another post. All of them are from Alabama. In fact, I am always impressed by the number of Alabameranians (!) in the military and am almost always favorably impressed by them. They tend to carry themselves with an extra measure of dignity, with wisdom and a not-too-serious outlook on life that is a good counter to us Sonic the Hedgehog folks from DC.
My command chaplain is part of the Church of Christ, but he very consciously labels himself part of the Calvinist wing that draws strongly from the Presbyterians and the Reformed Baptist London Confession of Faith. He is very humble and is eager to make me useful for Christ's sake. The visiting chaplain is Southern Baptist, and also very intentionally identifies himself as a Calvinist.
Both are eager to avoid the typical Calvinist-Arminian debates, which often become petty. I agree. Instead of using Ephesians 1 or Romans 9 to beat someone over the head about God's sovereignty, why not share with them the good news that God loved His people from the beginning of time, though they followed the prince of the power of the air apart from His grace?
God's sovereign election and predestination of some sinners to eternal life may be bad news for the Arminian viewpoint, but it is good news for the Arminian. It is beautiful! Even reprobation--God's predestined passing over and condemning of some sinners--demonstrates the severity of His justice upon sin, to the glory of His name (Rom. 9). The ultimate question is not "Why did God choose some and not others?" but "Why did God choose anyone of us, me included, when we chose to rebel against Him, reject His Word, resist His Spirit, and crucify His Son?" (Acts 7)
We all deserve the eternal death penalty. The fact that God sent His Son to bare that penalty in my place and acquit me by His righteousness means that I have been given a new life--something entirely unearned and a Spirit-given opportunity to live as if I should have been dead.
