Contending for Our All | John Piper

John Piper. Contending for Our All: Defending Truth and Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen, and J. Gresham Machen. Crossway, 2006. 192 pp.

There is a great lesson here for teachers and preachers: to hold young minds there should be both intellectual credibility and joyful, passionate zeal for Christ.

Paul made much of the truth of his message and the need to get it exactly right, even if the messenger was not exactly right. For example, in Philippians he was tolerant of those who with bad motives preached in order to make his imprisonment worse – because they were saying the objective truth about Christ.

In Galatians, however, he was not tolerant but pronounced a curse on his opponents – because they were getting the message objectively wrong. They were telling Gentiles that works of the flesh would complete God’s justifying action in their lives that had begun by faith and the Spirit.

There is in all of us the desire to be liked by others. If it is strong enough we may go to unwise lengths to avoid criticism. We may even think that we can be kind enough to everyone to avoid criticism. This will not work, especially if we have a public role.

You cannot be kind enough and merciful enough that no one will criticize you. For example, whatever one may think of the spirituality and theology of Mother Teresa (1910-1997), it takes one’s breath away to hear feminist Germain Greer criticize her by saying she is a “religious imperialist.”

The heart-wrenching truth of our day, and every day, is that Christians no only disagree with the world about the fundamental meaning of life, but also with each other about serious matters. Therefore, we rejoice that it is God himself who will fulfill his plan for the church: “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” (Isaiah 46:10). We take heart that, in spite of all our blinds spots and bungling disobedience, God will triumph on earth: “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations (Psalm 22:27-28).

Yet one of the groanings of this fallen age is controversy with brothers and sisters in Christ. We resonate with the apostle Paul – our joy would be full if we could all be of one mind, “having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” But for all his love of harmony, it is remarkable how many of Paul’s letters were written to correct fellow Christians.

The assumption of the entire New Testament is that we should strive for peace and unity in the body of Christ. But just as clear is that we are to pursue peace by striving to come to agreement in the truth. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable.” It is first pure. Peace is not a first thing. It is a derivative. It comes from hearty agreement in truth. Paul tells us to set our minds on what is true, and honorable, and just; then the God of peace will be with us.

We grow up into one body “joined and held together” as we “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Paradoxically, the weaponry with which we wage war for the “gospel of peace” begins with the belt of truth and ends with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

The reason for this is that truth frees us from the control of Satan, the great deceiver and destroyer of unity: “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Paul knows that letting minor strands go on unraveling can eventually rend the whole garment.

This is one of the main reasons we have Scriptures: they are “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”

Excerpted from Contending for Our All by John Piper, copyright © 2006, pages 124, 137, 147, 166. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois 60187. Download for personal use only.

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