A friend posted on his blog this letter from John Newton to a pastor involved in controversy with another pastor.  The wisdom of John Newton is so warmly Biblical that I wanted to post the letter for the edification of us all.  Newton wrote:

Dear Sir,

As you are likely to be engaged in controversy, and your love of truth is joined with a natural warmth of temper, my friendship makes me solicitous on your behalf…  I would have you more than a conqueror, and to triumph, not only over your adversary, but over yourself. If you cannot be vanquished, you may be wounded. To preserve you from such wounds as might give you cause of weeping over your conquests, I would present you with some considerations, which, if duly attended to, will do you the service of a great coat of mail…

As to your opponent, I wish that before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him by earnest prayer to the Lord’s teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him; and such a disposition will have a good influence upon every page you write.

If you account him a believer, though greatly mistaken in the subject of debate between you, the words of David to Joab concerning Absalom, are very applicable: “Deal gently with him for my sake.” The Lord loves him and bears with him; therefore you must not despise him, or treat him harshly. The Lord bears with you likewise, and expects that you should show tenderness to others, from a sense of the much forgiveness you need yourself. In a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts; and though you may find it necessary to oppose his errors, view him personally as a kindred soul, with whom you are to be happy in Christ forever.

Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation.

And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility, that they are willing in words to debase the creature and to give all the glory of salvation to the Lord, yet know not what manner of spirit they are of. Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit.

Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines as well as upon works; and a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace. Yea, I would add, the best of men are not wholly free from this leaven; and therefore are too apt to be pleased with such representations as hold up our adversaries to ridicule, and by consequence flatter our own superior judgments. Controversies, for the most part, are so managed as to indulge rather than to repress his wrong disposition; and therefore, generally speaking, they are productive of little good. They provoke those whom they should convince, and puff up those whom they should edify. I hope your performance will savor of a spirit of true humility, and be a means of promoting it in others.

This leads me, in the last place, to consider your own concern in your present undertaking. It seems a laudable service to defend the faith once delivered to the saints…

And yet we find but very few writers of controversy who have not been manifestly hurt by it. Either they grow in a sense of their own importance, or imbibe an angry, contentious spirit, or they insensibly withdraw their attention from those things which are the food and immediate support of the life of faith, and spend their time and strength upon matters which are at most but of a secondary value. This shows, that if the service is honorable, it is dangerous. What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, and to which the promise of his presence is made?

Your aim, I doubt not, is good; but you have need to watch and pray for you will find Satan at your right hand to resist you; he will try to debase your views; and though you set out in defense of the cause of God, if you are not continually looking to the Lord to keep you, it may become your own cause, and awaken in you those tempers which are inconsistent with true peace of mind, and will surely obstruct communion with God.

If we act in a wrong spirit, we shall bring little glory to God, do little good to our fellow creatures, and procure neither honor nor comfort to ourselves… Go forth, therefore, in the name and strength of the Lord of hosts, speaking the truth in love; and may he give you a witness in many hearts that you are taught of God, and favored with the unction of his Holy Spirit.

A friend sent me this entry from the blog "The Blazing Center."  Because it is about the desert experience, I'm taking the liberty to post it here.  Thanks, Mark.

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,“I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown” (JE 2.1-2).

When my wife Kristi was a young bride she followed me into the wilderness because she loved me.  In our first year of marriage I quit my secure teaching job and came on staff as a pastor-in-training in a small, fledgling church where neither the pastor nor myself really had any idea of what we were doing.  At least I didn’t.  Even scarier, within 2 years I became the Sr. Pastor.  In those early years our church navigated some dry times when it looked like the church wouldn’t make it.  Times when more people were bailing than joining.  Times when it seemed like nothing was happening, mostly when I preached.  Yet Kristi still followed me.

That’s what it’s like to run after Christ.  He gives us such a love for him, we follow him in the wilderness, where we aren’t sure where our provision will come from.  Sometimes it’s a wilderness of suffering, or a desert of having no idea what in the world to do with our kids.  It may be the solitary wasteland of loneliness or the badlands of being sinned against.

That’s what it is to love Jesus.  To follow him in the wilderness and trust him, no matter what the outcome.  To keep following him when we’re dry and thirsty, tired and weary.  Where it’s bleak and boring.  What devotion he implants in our hearts, to go, not knowing where, to walk with him in arid places because he alone can satisfy our thirsty souls.

Are you in the wilderness today?  Is it because you followed Jesus?  Know this, the Lord Jesus takes great delight in your desert devotion.

God has used three recent providences to spur further thinking about the gospel. A young friend in the Dominican Republic and I have been exchanging our stories of how God has been teaching us the gospel.  My husband preached on Sunday from Romans 6:17-18.  And I've been following Tullian Tchividjian's blog, "On Earth as It Is in Heaven." 

My friend has had a gospel awakening.  She is seeing that all of life is related to our being renewed by the gospel.  In a message from her several truths surfaced.  One was God's using "a severe mercy" to humble her.  Another was exposure to Christians from different backgrounds to teach and encourage her.  Yet another was identification of the Holy Spirit's moving in the world at large...in other words, big picture thinking. 

In the verses of Romans 6:17-18, Randy pointed out that there are three passive voice verbs.  The first context is "that form of doctrine to which you were delivered."  When we come to Christ by obeying the gospel, we are handed over to that same gospel to be shaped into Christ's likeness.  The second context is "having been set free."  When we obey the gospel, we are set free from the realm of sin.  Hallelujah, indeed!  And the third context is "you were enslaved to righteousness."  A kind enslavement in the realm of grace! 

In Tullian's blog he has been writing about the gospel community he envisions.  He writes, "Gospel intoxicated people understand that, since Christ laid his life down for us, we must lay our lives down for others;  people who love sacrifice over safety--serving others rather than being served.  A Gospel saturated church is a church filled with people who give everything they have because they understand that in Christ they already have everything they need.  It's a church filled with people who, like Jesus, love giving up their place for others, not guarding in their place from others.  If we do not recognize our need for the Gospel, we will never tune into the Gospel.  This is why the cross of Christ must be central to our understanding of the Gospel."  He calls for a demonstration community:  "to laugh with one another, cry with one another, love one another, serve one another, exhort one another, and forbear with one another...pray together, read the Bible together, and serve together...share in one another's pleasures and pains..."stir up one another to love and good works" (Hebrews 10:24.)"  He continued, "...Our church will model what human life and community can look like when fueled by the gospel.  That's the way God does things--he critiques by creating.  He shows us what's wrong by giving us a model of what's right.  Think about the incarnation of Jesus:  God the Son becoming man, taking on human flesh, and showing us perfect humanity.  God "critiqued" what was wrong with sinful humanity by showing us, in Christ, what humanity was originally intended to be and what redeemed humanity will one day be again.  The church joins with Christ in showing the world what's wrong with it.  Christ, the Head of the church, did it by demonstrating what humanity is intended to be;  the church, as Christ's body, does it by demonstrating what human community is intended to be...We work at becoming together what God wants the rest of the world to become.  The purpose of God's people is to show a watching world what will one day fill the whole earth.  If Christians care to make a difference in this world, it has less to do with gaining political power or electing the right officials and far more to do with actually living out our new life together in this new community--the church--before the watching world.  Our best approach for reaching people in today's world is living with the people we're trying to reach and showing them what human life and community look like when the gospel is believed and embraced.  God's great evangelistic tool is the church--this new, counter-cultural community in which the fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit comes to expression in the unity, community, and joy of God's people.  As we live together in a way that's consistent with who we've been remade to be, we become a blessing to the world by showing them how sweet life can be in a community of individuals who love one another, care for one another, defer to one another, are patient with one another, and serve one another.  The world will take notice of a community of men and women who refreshingly and joyfully bear one another's burdens and who actively look to lay down their lives for others in need because Jesus laid down his life for them.  When the world sees that Christians want to help people because God has helped them, they'll begin to ask what makes us so different.  A faithful presentation of the gospel to our world, in other words, requires Christian community on full display."

I want it all.  I want a continual gospel awakening.  I want a gospel-shaped life that is the fruit of being handed over to the gospel, delivered from the realm of sin unto enslavement to righteousness.  And I want to be part of a gospel-shaped community that is a clear witness to a watching world.  It's the total package, and I know that only the Holy Spirit can effect this in my life and my church.  So I'm believing in God's word, in the Spirit's power, and in the life of Jesus, in the grace he continually pours out, in the community of saints who are believing with me, not only here but throughout the world.