Why do we remember one thing and forget another? It seems so random; I sometimes wonder how we remember anything at all. I know I have forgotten too many important things and I remember too much minutia; stuff no one else cares about.

One of the things I remember from Elementary school was my teacher talking about craftsmen in Colonial America. She told us that if we had lived in the eighteenth century, at the age of twelve or thirteen, we would be apprenticed out to a craftsman who would teach us a trade. Part of learning the trade was learning how to make the tools of the trade. An apprentice carpenter would need to make his own hammer, chisel, saw, awl, etc. My teacher told us that the apprentice would carefully craft these tools and use them for the rest of his life. I remember asking, “Doesn’t the apprentice need the tools in order to make the tools?” It took a moment for my teacher to figure out what I was asking. Then she told us that the apprentice would use his Master’s tools to craft his own tools.

In our contemporary churches we are surrounded by tools of worship. We have Christian musicians, writers, artists, philosophers, theologians, clergy, counselors, and teachers. We are surrounded by songs, words, prayers, thoughts, ideas, and actions. In an instant we can pick up these tools and begin crafting our own unique worship. We are all apprentice worshipers; we can learn from one another and from the master worshipers who have gone before us.

Going back to my Elementary school teacher; I did not find her answer satisfying. It was not satisfying because I knew that someone had to have crafted the first tool and I wanted to know how they did it. How did the first carpenter make his first hammer? His first saw? His first chisel? There had to be a first tool upon which all the other tools are made and which, to some extent, are a reflection of that first tool.

As worshipers what is our worship based upon? What was the first act of worship? What was the first tool? Worship goes back long before you and me. It goes back before the Incarnation of Jesus, It goes back before David, Moses, Abraham, and even Adam. Our worship is based upon God’s creative act followed by the words: “It is good.” In worship we come as apprentices and use our master’s tools to join him in his creative activity; we become co-creators with God and our focus is on creating something that is good.

Worship is using the unique tools given to each of us, to follow God’s example, and create our own masterpiece.

Recently I have been very disappointed with the teachings of John Piper. Given, I am not Reformed and so we would naturally be at odds, but it seems to me that Piper has taken to creating unnecessary walls within Christianity. A few months ago it was over the issue of Baptism. Piper, Grudem, Dever and some other got into a discussion of who is allowed to partake in communion and how this relates to church membership. Overall the conversation was fairly civil, but I fail to see the need to create these divisions with the goal of protecting the sanctity of God(as if God could not protect his own sanctity).

Last Tuesday at the Resurgent 2008 conference. John Piper gave this lecture, which in my opinion marks his first open frontal assault on Arminianism. Piper advocates the removal of any teacher or preacher who disagrees with his understanding the gospel.

I believe that I will never fully understand the Truth that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that it is my responsibility to have faith in Christ, to strive to move closer to the example of Christ, and to follow the leadings of the Holy Spirit. Those are the three things about which I truly care. I do not care if my theology matches the theology of the people with whom I worship or do ministry. In fact, I believe a diversity of theology is beneficial to the kingdom of God as long as it is centered around and grounded in the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My impression of John Piper is that he believes he knows the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that all other people must come to his understanding or they are not true disciples of Christ. I would argue that there are plenty of true disciples of Jesus Christ who are not disciples of John Piper.