James K. A. Smith writes a letter to a “young Calvinist” named Jess and touches upon a real issue:

“Thatโ€™s a common enough temptation, Jess. I understand it. Iโ€™ve been there. But step back and think about what youโ€™re saying: itโ€™s as if youโ€™re saying youโ€™re โ€œtoo Reformedโ€ for any church! How un-Reformed is that?! It seems to me that the Reformed tradition makes us all the more aware of our own personal faults and shortcomings โ€“ the myriad ways we fall short of Godโ€™s holiness โ€“ as well as our utter dependence on the unmerited grace of God. How odd would it be to conclude, then, in the name of being โ€œReformed,โ€ that no church is โ€œgood enoughโ€ for us? In the name of Calvinism, you end up spurning the gritty particularity of what John Calvin cared about the most: the church โ€“ and not the church as some abstract, ethereal, pure ideal, but the church in Geneva, the congregations he knew and loved.” –ย Letters to a Young Calvinist: An Invitation to the Reformed Tradition

Ha ha! Yeah, if you are so Calvinistic that you have become too Reformed for every church that exists, you need to… *drum roll*… slap yourself.

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