Legalism

No ISM's death brings me more joy than this one: Legalism.

Anyone who knows me knows I am not a rigid person. I'm very laid-back and carefree to a fault. Legalism is very strict and troubled. One of the best qualities of the younger generation is its grace. I think we have more grace than the previous generation. We let things go. We forgive. We aren't upset by different opinions. I am excited to see how ministry changes as legalism dies. What new things will we accomplish? What new struggles will we have?

In my experience, most of the annoying times in ministry are the result of legalists demanding the un-necessary. They slow down momentum. They stifle the Spirit. Their preferences aren't the problem, it's the fact that they demand them. I wish I could say 'rest in peace' but legalists know no peace. They are always at war.

Racism

I have not met very many young racists. Racism is being defeated. A couple generations ago, many people hated those with a different skin color. The last generation didn't adhere the ugliest form of racism. The majority still categorized people by skin color, but only a minority guaged value by it. My generation doesn't even tend to make a distinction based on skin color. This is good news.

There are still racist people, but racism is becoming less and less of a problem in North America. I'm sure it's still more of a problem in certain areas, but with each passing year more racists will pass away. Racism is dying with them.

Calvinism

The 2nd giant ISM that has seen its glory days is Calvinism. For better or for worse, the protestant marriage with Calvinism is over. It's getting harder and harder to find someone who actually thinks of God like John Calvin did. And even those preachers and theologians who maintain their faith in the tulip, their followers are practical arminians (Drury pointed that out HERE).

I remember when I was at Bethany, I was kind of ashamed that none of my favorite Bible teachers were Arminian. All the people in ministry that I looked up to were calvinists. But that's simply not the case anymore. I now know many fine biblical thinkers who think calvinism is kinda crazy. Calvinism has been replaced by a 'moderate calvinism' that is practically identical with classical arminianism.

Dispensationalism

Over the next few days I want to declare the demise of 4 powerful ISMs. The first 'ism' that isn't going hold its sway over the population is dispensationalism. Born in the early 1800's, dispensationalism is the eschatological view made popular by John Nelson Darby, the Scofield Reference Bible, Hal Lindsay, and the Left Behind Series. But my prediction is that it will soon lose its grip on evangelicalism.

Ironically, the death of dispensationalism may be caused by its leading advocates. They have made it so popular that thinkers have started thinking again about eschatology. I predict you'll see more and more leading evangelicals jump off the bandwagon. RC Sproul already did. Then Hank Hanegraaff followed his lead. In fact, this past Tuesday & Wednesday, Hank had Steve Gregg on the Bible Answer Man program to discuss Gregg's book Revelation: 4 Views and dispensationalism was dealt a significant slap heard by millions of listeners.

RIP Dispensationalism (1820-20??)

New Stuff

They don't build things to last anymore. In my observation the newer something is the more likely it is to malfunction. Cars. Laptops. Microwaves. Dryers. TV's. Christmas lights. Lamps. Remotes. These are all fairly new things around me that haven't worked properly in the past month.

The pessimistic part of me wonders if manufacturers make things crappy on purpose just to maintain a buyers market. Or maybe they made some behind the scenes deals with repair men. Who knows?