Reformed Theology, Singular Purpose, Simple Brotherhood: the three pillars of the CRMA

As the work that Brad, Christian and I have put into the CRMA continues to grow and unfold, I find certain questions continue to be consistently asked about our purpose and plan. To answer these questions, I always refer curious ears to the motto of the CRMA, “Reformed Theology, Singular Purpose, Simple Brotherhood.” These are the three core tenants of the CRMA. These three statements encapsulate both the purpose and the plan of the CRMA. With this in mind, I realize that for all our future brothers gathering from all corners of the earth, I cannot expect you to fully understand what we mean by these three statements unless I explain them here for all to read. For this reason, it is my pleasure to expound upon our motto, shedding light on the intended future of our association.

Reformed Theology

When addressing the first point, I realize there may be confusion amongst some about the nature of this statement. We three founders are aware of the fact that there are many groups which call themselves “Reformed.” Reformed Baptist, Reformed Presbyterian, Reformed Methodist, Dutch Reformed. Many people call themselves “Reformed,” but what do we mean when we say “Reformed?” While myself, Brad and Christian are all Reformed Baptist in our theology, this is not what we mean by our staunch insistence upon “Reformed Theology.” Our intentions for the CRMA are too great to limit our brotherhood to only those who hail from the same Baptist background, or who hold the same views on baptism as ourselves. We foresee a far greater brotherhood, founded upon the spirit of the Reformation I expounded in my first article.

This spirit is the source of “Reformed Theology,” because it is the spirit of reformation. Reformation is the key to understanding our purpose as brothers in Christ. Throughout history, the Church always wanders away from the pure, inerrant truth of Scripture. The Church must constantly stir herself up by way of reminding herself of that upon which she is founded. This is not the traditions of men, whether they be Augustine, Aquinas, Athanasius or Calvin. These men do not determine orthodoxy. Their contribution to our faith is merely the articulation of those truths which come from one source and one alone. This fount upon which all theology must flow is and always will be the Word of God. This is the heart of “Reformed Theology.”

To reform is to take that which has grown deformed by time and corruption and return it back to its original form. It is an act which requires the cutting off of that which has latched itself onto the pure Word of God, diluting Scripture by way of addition. Such harmful addition requires reform, but this must not be confused with fundamentalism. We are not implying that our response should be to shun all outside sources, only reading or studying the Bible. The purpose of having brothers and sisters in Christ is so that we might sharpen and instruct one another as to what is good and true. This not only pertains to our brothers and sisters in this present generation, but throughout all time. This great host of witnesses testify, not to the authority of tradition, but to the authority of Scripture. Their alignment with the canon of Scripture confirms and/or denies their words and their testimony, so that what we find throughout history is an unbroken chain of reformation.

Every great theologian was sparked to greater heights by the corruption around them. This corruption would lead them to call out falsehood, restating the truths of Scripture for a new and hungry generation. Our goal as the CRMA is to provide a platform for our generation to receive the same reform as in ages past. We are in desperate need of young, passionate men to reclaim their churches, campuses and denominations, reforming them in light of God’s Word. This is what we mean when we say that we are established upon “Reformed Theology.” We intend to point ourselves and others back to the Word of God, regardless of what modern preconceptions must be cut off in the process. As we reform ourselves, we seek to be conformed into the image of Christ, that we might reflect His glory in our minds as well as our hearts. To this end, we insist upon “Reformed Theology” as a founding principle of the CRMA.

Singular Purpose

Having expounded as briefly as possible on our intentions and desires regarding “Reformed Theology,” I can now move on to what we mean by “Singular Purpose.” Our position regarding reformed theology directly informs our purpose as an association. I have had several people ask me what exactly we hope to accomplish with the CRMA. Admittedly, we are not like most organized Christian groups. Our ambitions are not primarily evangelistic, which can rub people the wrong way. We do not intend to send people as the CRMA on mission trips or to perform acts of charity in our local communities. This is not because we are not interested in doing these things, but we do not intend to organize and oversee such things as the CRMA. We firmly believe that God has commanded the Church as the Body of Christ on earth to go and make disciples of all nations. For this reason, the Church must be the one to oversee and organize evangelistic outreach and mission trips. Likewise, God does not command associations to care for widows and orphans, but the Church. The Church, wherever she graces the earth, is to reach out the arms of compassion to the needy.

For these reasons, the CRMA will not officially oversee or organize such things. Having said this, we wish to encourage the Church by stating that we pray regularly for the Word of God to reach all peoples, and we encourage our members to be actively involved in the work their church is doing both directly in their community and abroad throughout the world! As we encourage them, we affirm our submission to the Church as the one, true Body of Christ, who alone will be presented before Christ as His unblemished Bride.

At this point, I’ve only told you what the purpose of the CRMA isn’t. That still leaves the question of what the purpose of the CRMA is. The purpose of the CRMA is to unite men of faith in our common pursuit of total reformation. Why do I use the term total reformation? The reason why I speak in terms of total reformation is because we don’t simply see reformation as taking place in the mind. As we grow in spiritual maturity, growing more biblical in our theology, our entire being will be reformed as I wrote earlier. This includes the heart, mind and soul! We as the CRMA want to see total reformation of men as they grow in their faith. We do not want money, and have determined to never raise funds or receive donations. This is because we wish to avoid the pitfalls of other Christian associations/organizations. Whether they be Christian bookstores, media outlets or entire conventions, the requirement to keep money coming in or to make a profit is unavoidable. This necessity pushes said organizations to prioritize profit over purity. This forces even the most earnest of people to take dilute their theological stances to appease the masses.

This always has the inverse effect, isolating the spiritually mature/discerning believers in favor of those who have no respect for God’s Word. The CRMA has the opposite desire, since we are willing to isolate the masses in favor of those few who truly hunger for the deeper truth of God’s Word. This is because we sincerely believe that God rewards those who, despite hearing the appealing call of the masses, choose to serve the faithful few. To this end, that we may serve God’s elect by way of stirring them up and encouraging them in their faith, the CRMA has chosen never to involve itself with money. This is a point which we took very seriously upon our initial inception, and we will not change on this issue. We hope that this will encourage members, knowing that our goal is not to raise money, but to raise the standards of fellowship amongst Reformed brethren across the globe!

Simple Brotherhood

This leads me to my final exposition. Our view on “Singular Purpose” flows from our stance on “Reformed Theology,” and our singular purpose informs our stance on “Simple Brotherhood.” As the name implies, this is the simplest part of our motto. Our stance on “Simple Brotherhood” refers both to the nature of our members as well as the nature of our fellowship. We as the CRMA wish to see a simple fellowship for men of reformed faith. As it pertains to the nature of our members, I do not intend this as in insult. I do not mean that our members or dumb or unsophisticated. My intention is to challenge a sentiment that pervades every church in one way or another. This sentiment believes that deep theological pursuit and spiritual growth is only reserved for a select few. For the rest, little at all is expected of them, as churches fear placing high expectations on their congregants.

Such sentiments creep their way into associations like ours, choosing to cater largely to pastors and seminary students instead of regular church goers. The idea that regular men who attend church and work regular jobs could care about theology, especially deep theology, is often viewed as an absurd pipe-dream. Many people fail to realize just how hungry regular, everyday Christians are for solid, orthodox theology. Men, especially young men, are hungrier now than ever! With the world continuing to grow more and more out of touch with reality, young men like myself hunger for truth. In Christ, we find truth so real that He’s actually a person with flesh and bone. Such truth transcends academia, solidifying itself as a part of every aspect of life. Realizing this, we wish to attract simple men, men of all backgrounds and professions, who hunger and thirst for deeper faith!

To complement our desire for simple brotherhood, we wish to create a simple fellowship. This flows out of our singular purpose. We do not intend to become a monopoly of reformed ambitions. We understand that there are many different avenues which a reformed association could take. Whether these be campus ministry or church planting, the CRMA chooses to leave these in the rightful hands of local churches. As we attract simple brothers, we want to provide simple fellowship. Articles, podcasts, and retreats form the basis of our ambitions.

(Other than that, there remains only one ambition which I have not discussed in this article. This is because It is one which requires an article all its own, and falls into a separate category from the three main pillars of the CRMA.)

A Brief Conclusion

As I draw my second article to a close, I’d like to thank you the reader! I know this article is a more technical read than my first one, but I wanted to answer every common question I’ve received about the CRMA. I want to thank you all for your interest in what we’re doing. I hope you found this article answered some of the questions you may have about what the CRMA is all about. I pray that God uses what we are doing to bring reformation and revival in churches across America and the world. I hope you will be encouraged in the knowledge that we care about your spiritual growth, and look forward to watching God grow this association as we submit ourselves to Him completely. May God receive all glory, honor and praise forever!