Sovereign

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

It was August of 2003. I decided I needed to talk to Sammy about theology. What did he think about the sovereignty of God and predestination? We met at Trudy’s, where my grandfather and I had met many times. In many ways, my theology had already been shaped at that restaurant over the years. When I arrived that morning, Sammy was seated at a table, sipping coffee. He greeted me with a smile and a handshake.

“How’s the family, Jared?”

“Oh, they’re fine. The girls are growing like weeds, and little Timmy’s really keeping us on our toes.”

“How old is he now?”

“He’ll be two in September.”

“My, my.”

“I know, we can hardly believe it.”

Just then, the waitress came by.

“You want coffee, Sweetie?” she said to me.

“Yes, please.”

“Y’all know whatcha want or ya need a minute?”

Sammy looked at me over his reading glasses, and said, “I’m ready, how about you, Jared?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll have two eggs, over medium, wheat toast and potatoes.”

“Got it,” she said as she turned to Sammy. “And you, Sir?”

“I don’t give my order to anyone unless I know her name.”

He said it with kind of a weird little smile.

I was immediately uncomfortable.

“It’s Julie,” she said very matter-of-factly with a courteous smile.

I couldn’t tell if she was bothered or not. I would’ve been.

“You’re new here, aren’t you, Julie?” asked Sammy as he removed his glasses. “I haven’t seen you here before.”

“Yes, Sir, just started last week.”

She was being polite but not very chatty. I couldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to linger.

“That’s great. Well, Julie, I’ll have the Fat Boy Special, with grits.”

“Sounds good,” Julie said as she wrote it down quickly.

Sammy added, “Thank you, my dear,” before she walked away.

Wait a minute.

Was my pastor actually flirting with a waitress young enough to be his daughter? Why would he do that right in front of me?

We had to move on.

“Pastor, I need your help. I … I’m not sure where to begin, but I’ve got some questions about some things."

“Sure, go right ahead,” he said as he dove into his Fat Boy Special.

He swallowed. “That’s a tough one. Why do you want to know about that?”

“Well, it’s just hard to believe that my choice to believe in Christ was already pre-determined.”

He shook his head. “That’s not what predestination means, Jared.”

“What does it mean, then?”

“Predestination means that God predestined the fact that there would be people in heaven one day. It doesn’t mean He chose every single individual. He just predetermined that He was going to save every one who believes.”

“So He didn’t choose individual people for salvation?”

“No.” He slowly shook his head back and forth. “That wouldn’t be fair. If God chose some, that means the ones He didn’t choose would never have a chance. Let me tell you something, Jared. The reason God predestined us is because He knows everyone who is ever going to believe in Him. And because He knows that, those are the people He chose to be adopted into His family.” That’s exactly what Steve said the Bible doesn’t say.

I decided to play along.

“All right. That makes sense. But what about God’s sovereignty? Does that have anything to do with predestination?”

“Oh, yes, absolutely. It’s because God is sovereign that He knows who He’ll choose for His own—those who will one day trust in Jesus. But you have to remember something—His sovereignty will never violate the free will of man.”

If that’s true … then who’s really sovereign? God or man?

Sammy continued, “He leaves the choice to us. Ever heard of Herschel Hobbs?”

“No.”

He paused as he finished another bite. Theology was not going to keep the man from his breakfast.

“Great Southern Baptist statesman, wrote the 1963 ‘Baptist Faith and Message,’ our doctrinal statement. He was a great theologian. He said it like this: ‘God chose for you, the devil chose against you, and now you cast the deciding vote.’ You see that?”

“Yes, I see what he means.” I’d heard enough. “Well, this has been very helpful. Thank you.”

“Any time, Jared. Anything for one of my best deacons,” he said with a wink.

We shared some more small talk until our food was gone. Finally, I said, “Well, I need to be getting on to work.”

“You go on, Jared. I’ve got this today.”

“Oh … you sure? Let me at least give you a few dollars for the tip.”

“Nope,” Sammy insisted. “I’ve got that, too. It’ll be my pleasure, trust me.”

“Well, I really appreciate it, Sir.”

“No problem,” he said as I stood and we shook hands. “Have a great day, Jared.”

I stopped for a mint and toothpick at the front counter. As I went out the front door, I turned to see Sammy talking closely with our waitress as she brought the check. A little creepy, that whole thing.

But I was probably making something out of nothing.

If nothing else came from that breakfast meeting, at least I knew where Sammy stood on election. He definitely saw things differently than my small group guys, and Josh, the pastor at Spencer Community Church. It was all very interesting to me—two Southern Baptist pastors, both loved the Lord, and each with opposing views on a biblical doctrine. The first time we really started discussing predestination, I remember Steve saying that it was perfectly okay for Christians to disagree on things like this. Still, to me the big question was, “How do I understand this doctrine so that it gives the most prominence to the sovereignty of God?” That just seemed like the right place to go.

I wanted to let God be God.