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Then Barnhouse placed his hand on Martin's shoulder and added: "Never forget this. Better to pass up an occasional grackle in theology and leave him with the Lord than to shoot a bluebird and have to answer for it at the Judgment Seat of Christ."

Not long ago, I came across a comment by G. K. Chesterton—another sharp-witted defender of the faith who was concerned that we sometimes shoot from the hip in identifying enemies of the faith. "Idolatry is committed," Chesterton warned, "not merely by setting up false gods, but also by setting up false devils." A nice way of putting it, I thought to myself. But not as memorable as Walter Martin's story of bluebirds and grackles.

Richard J. Mouw is president of Fuller Seminary and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport: Making Connections in Today's World (Zondervan).

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Richard Mouw is also a columnist for Beliefnet.

Mouw also wrote on "disconnected selfhood" in an intriguing article titled "Babel Undone" for the May 1998 issue of the magazine First Things.

Earlier Christianity Today articles by Richard Mouw include:

This World Is Not My Home | What some mainline Protestants are rediscovering about living as exiles in a foreign culture. (April 24, 2000)

Mormon Makeover | An effective evangelical witness hinges on understanding the new face of Latter-day Saints. (Mar. 9, 2000)

Just Saying 'No' Is Not Enough | A Christianity Today forum on homosexuality and public policy. (Oct. 4, 1999)

Abraham Kuyper: A Man for This Season | The surprisingly relevant advice of a Dutch statesman for engaging postmodern culture. (Oct. 5, 1998)

Science with Baloney Detectors | How to discern the truth when popular advocates of competing perspectives on science indulge in a little showmanship (Dec. 8, 1997)

To the Jew First | Witnessing to the Jews is nonnegotiable (Aug. 11, 1997)

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November 2006, Vol. 50, No. 11