God-centered resources from the ministry of John Piper

As we've begun talking about John Calvin more over the last months, we've gotten several responses from folks who are concerned that we're focusing on a man at the expense of focusing on God. We appreciate this sentiment and want to be careful to not let that be the case.

Yes, we're focusing on Calvin a lot this year in commemoration of his 500th birthday, but it's not for the sake of Calvin. Being a Christian doesn't mean ignoring everything but God; it means celebrating God and each of his good gifts—whether it's a meal, a family, or a 500-year-old reformer.

If we tried to listen to God or admire God at the expense of listening to or admiring what he's given us, then we would miss out on much of what God has for us. We should be deeply thankful for what God has given us, and that means we're going to think about these gifts and talk about them.

And as we think and talk—as we appreciate God's gifts to us—our gaze goes through them up to him, the giver.

In his intro to T. H. L. Parker's biography of Calvin, John Piper explains how we honor God through appreciating Calvin in particular:

I am eager for people to know Calvin...because he took the Bible so seriously, and because what he saw on every page was the majesty of God and the glory of Christ. Calvin continues to inspire me because of his relentless focus on the greatness of God....

In the end, Calvin’s manifold ways of inspiring us have the effect they do century after century because he saw the gospel so clearly and made Christ so central....

If Jesus Christ, in all his majesty and excellence, is kept in clear view, the church will be kept from many errors. Therefore, Calvin continues to inspire and serve the church five hundred years after his birth....

With this in mind, we hope that it will be clear that when we honor Calvin, we do it for Christ.

So—for Christ!—in celebration of Calvin's birthday today, we're offering Portrait of Calvin for only $2. Let Parker's biography remind you how Calvin is still serving God today. As John Piper writes at the end of his introduction:

I pray that for all his imperfections Calvin will continue to have these inspiring effects: the disciplined submission to Scripture, the exaltation of the majesty of God, the unwavering commitment to expositional preaching, the full-orbed proclamation of the gospel, and the steadfast focus on the excellence of Christ.