What Does it Mean to Be “Reformed?”
Being “confessionally Reformed” means that you affirm that the system of doctrine codified in the Westminster Standards and/or Three Forms of Unity are sufficient (not exhaustive) for faith and life.
That means that the “Reformed view” of any topic is limited in scope to the confessional standards or any immediate and necessary deductions from those standards. Just because a pastor, theologian, or other Reformed Christian espouses a certain view does not necessarily make that the “Reformed view.” Confessionalism is inherently limited in scope and ecumenical in intention. It is meant to uphold the essentials that the broad Reformed tradition agrees upon and affirm Christian liberty where the confessional standards remain silent.
As an example, the confessional standards do not speak explicitly about issues of racism, Christian engagement in the civil sphere, and systemic sin and evil. In other words, there is no chapter of any of our confessional statements that are dedicated to any of those topics. Because of this, it is well within the bounds of Christian liberty for a Reformed Christian to “lean into” these spheres of theology with their Reformed foundations. It is well within the requirements of Christian charity to not be suspicious of any brother or sister in Christ who participates in such an endeavor.
Likewise, because our Reformed standards have not explicitly spoken about the issues listed above, it is imperative and necessary that we rightly appropriate other expressions of theology and disciplines that have already made attempts at understanding these issues with the natural and special revelation tools that God has provided. Appropriation means separating truths from errors and implementing the truths within your own system of theology. This may require us to engage with things outside of our Reformed familiarities, such as liberation theology, Black church social justice activism, and critical race theory.
Unfortunately, many self-identifying Reformed Christians have been using the “Reformed” identifier as a weapon of power. Statements such as “That’s not the Reformed view” and “You’re not really Reformed” are thrown around to silence perfectly acceptable views of which the Reformed confessions are silent on. Christian figures who appropriate other theologies and disciplines outside of the usual Reformed wheelhouse are unfairly labelled “liberal,” “leftist,” “social justice warrior,” “cultural marxist,” and “socialists,” even though they are doing the difficult work of theological appropriation. The views of heroes of Reformed theology are confused as being synonymous with Reformed theology as a whole. These same heroes are not treated with the same standard that “suspicious” Reformed Christians are treated with — slaveholding, segregationist, sexist, injustice protecting “heroes” of Reformed theology are read with utmost charity and unwavering dedication and respect.
I propose a return back to a robust confessional Reformed Christianity. No more bullying about who is within the bounds of “Reformed” based off of extra-confessional matters. No more silencing of differing and acceptable positions on topics that the confessional statements are silent on. Instead, I propose a posture of charity and love toward brothers and sisters within the wonderful breadth and diversity of Reformed confessionalism.
