These beliefs didn’t go down easy with Robin. He described Calvinism as rough sledding at first. God’s sovereignty was a fearsome concept. But these fears evaporated as he saw the scriptural basis through positive presentations.
“Guys who taught it to me—Mahaney, Harris, Piper—said it humbly and so passionately,” Robin explained. “They loved what they were talking about.”
I asked Robin how Calvinism meshes with the Adventist church he attends. “It doesn’t,” Robin answered. He spent his first semester of college studying theology at Southern Adventist University in Tennessee. His increasing unwillingness to go along with unique points of Adventist theology led to conflict with faculty. He returned home to Orlando rather than cementing an unwanted reputation as the only non-Adventist theology major.
But if he’s not Adventist, why does Robin still attend an Adventist church? Because that’s where he can make a difference and maybe even teach others with his Calvinist theology. Besides, since Adventists meet on Saturdays, he can spend his Sunday mornings in Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, where R. C. Sproul preaches. He first heard about the famed Calvinist teacher when he read Sproul’s classic The Holiness of God. He was thrilled to learn that Sproul, a Presbyterian, preaches in the Orlando area. Robin considers Sproul to be the best Bible teacher in town. “But I skip the first thirty minutes,” Robin clarified. He arrives just in time to miss the traditional music but still catch the sermon. That’s no surprise. Sproul doesn’t exactly share a taste for the modern praise music that unites the college students at Passion.
“We wait all year to worship like this,” Robin said of Passion.
If Calvinism finds renewed interest among the young, you cannot understand that resurgence without understanding Passion. Not that Passion proclaims Calvinism by name. Piper doesn’t know what Passion founder Louie Giglio believes about Reformed theology. But he does know that Giglio adores the glory of God and desires to spread God’s renown around the world. And Giglio doesn’t protest what Piper teaches the students. That’s good enough for Piper.
“I’m sixty. What am I doing at Passion?” Piper asked when we met at his home. Unlike Giglio, an athletic man who wears tight-fitting, hip T-shirts, nothing in Piper’s appearance or dress would indicate popularity among youth. Though obviously fit and healthy, Piper does not cut a strong physical presence. Unlike his dynamic, intense preaching style, he spoke to me in a friendly, calm manner. But do not mistake friendly with jovial. Talking for about two hours over dinner, he spoke with quiet seriousness. He looks like a college professor with tousled thin hair and glasses. Actually, he did teach at Bethel College (now university) in Minnesota until 1980 when he moved to Bethlehem Baptist Church.