Published by “He knew exactly who would and wouldn’t be saved, but he created them anyways.”
I was sitting in church today in my usual area; five rows from the front and on the aisle. The pastor today was the one who usually spoke, and although he was not speaking on his general convictions, listening to his teaching made me recall his overall theology of salvation. This pastor in particular believes that God is 100% responsible for our salvation: that includes the choices we make which lead to our acceptance of Christ. He believes that absolutely nothing we do brings us closer to God. It is because of God’s sovereign hand that we are drawn to him. The dominant conviction among this theology is that God elected the chosen before time even began. The question I pose is this: If God chose those who would be with him at the end of time (I won’t get started on why God created time), then why did he even create those which he knew would be condemned to hell for eternity. Is that not in and of itself a creation of suffering?
I have been slowly reading the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell for several weeks now. Outliers is the story of successful people and the contexts which enabled them to rise to their current success. One of Gladwell’s first examples is the birth dates of Canadian hockey players. Once a boy is old enough to hold a hockey stick, he joins a little league team. Now, the cutoff birth date for the age-based teams is January 1st. Here’s the catch: those that are born in January and February are, naturally, older and larger than the boys born later in the year. Since they are bigger, they are chosen for the select teams. The select teams play more, practice more, have more opportunities for skilled teaching, and so on. Those born in the later months, unless they are inherently large, will generally be cast off into a lower rung of the hockey ladder which will snowball into their inevitable falling out. What does Gladwell call this effectual, snowballing, and frankly lucky phenomenon? The Matthew Effect.
Matthew 25: 29 says “For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” Gladwell extends this effect into many different secular areas which, it is plain to see, are evidence of the Matthew Effect. He may not say so in his book, but what he is basically writing about is luck. Pure chance and luck. Those who were lucky enough to be born in January have a MUCH better chance at becoming a pro Canadian hockey player. Those who were lucky enough to be born in a specific country whose unique cultural values teach them something are much more likely to excel in a certain area of expertise, such as Asians and mathematics (I don’t want to ruin the book for you).
My connection is this: if election before time is true (and I’m not saying it isn’t, I’m simply challenging its nature), then salvation is based on luck. If you aren’t following me yet I’ll spell it out in clearer terms. Those that believe election of the chosen took place before time (predestination = Calvinists) also believe that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation or even change our standing with God whatsoever. That means it’s God responsibility, not ours. So that means before time began, God spelled out who would be saved and who wouldn’t. He knew exactly who would and wouldn’t be saved, but he created them anyways. This brings up the inundation of evil into the world, but I’m not concerned with that theological question at this moment. Calvinists believe that it is God who makes us want to be saved, influencing our thoughts and feelings. So to recap: nothing we can do will save us. So, if you are one of the unfortunate ones to not be saved, you are basically screwed. This would illustrate that salvation is based on luck, or, the Matthew Effect.
It is this effect that defines the term “Outlier”: a lucky person. That’s all it is, plain and simple. They were lucky they were born in a certain social class, during a certain time, in a certain country, or that God chose them to be saved. The opposite view of salvation is that of Shimon Peres, a former Israeli Prime Minister. According to Peres, “God is in charge of the beginning and the end, and we are in charge of the middle.” The clock maker or the puppeteer, you choose. Why not a clock-making puppeteer? *shrug*
