Michael Jr. – Knowing Your Why?
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Author: dave
Heroes and Villains: Is hip-hop a cancer or a cure? | Lecrae | TEDxNashville
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What Sin Requires
SinĀ entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.
Death is the end of sin (Rom. 6:23; James 1:15). Sin has entangled into humanity to such an extent that death is required to rip it out. Sin is a part of humanity’s DNA. You cannot be human and not not sin. In other words, if you are human (and if you are reading this, I assume you are human!), you sin because you are a sinner. You cannot never sin. This is why we must all die; because we are sinners by nature, by our corrupted humanity, by our DNA.
The great Puritan thinker, John Owen, says it this way:
“The body is not only doomed to death by reason of original sin, as death entered upon all on that account; but the body must be brought to death, that sin may be rooted out of it. Sin has taken such a close, inseparable habitation in the body, that nothing but the death of the body can make a separation. The body must be dead because of sin. … Here lies the great mystery of the grave under the covenant of grace, and by virtue of the death of Christ. … A secret virtue shall issue out from the death of Christ unto the body of a believer laid in the grave, that shall eternally purify it, at its resurrection, from every thing of sin.
Be not afraid to enter into darkness: as there is no sting in death, so there is no darkness in the grave. It is but lying so long in the hands of the great Refiner [Jesus}, who will purge, purify, and restore you. Therefore, lie down in the dust in peace.ā
And this is why Jesus came, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, fulfilled the whole law God required of humanity, paid the penalty of sin by dying on the cross, was raised from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, and is seated now representing us in Heaven with glorified body.
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Abortion – What’s At Stake?
No one has a right to life if others deem them inferior and unwanted. No one is viewed as made in the image of God.
Rosaria Butterfirld writes, “And then, one day during worship, we sang Psalm 102 and it hit me between the eyes. Here was the line of my undoing: āAnd peoples yet uncreated shall praise and magnify the LORDā (Ps. 102:18). I got it: abortion is not a right or an entitlement. Abortion steals praise from God by denying image-bearers the opportunity to live through and for him. Abortion despises and attacks and destroys the image of God.”
What is at stake is the systemic eradication of the being and nature of the unborn child.Ā The Being and Nature of the Unborn Child: A Response to Planned Parenthood and the Atrocity of Corpse-Selling by Thomas F. Torrance.
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unChristian Christianity
Christianity has been lied about by Christians to the unChristian world. Christians have let the unChristian world believe being a Christian means you are merely moral — not repentant sinners in need of continual grace only found in Jesus. Stop doing cultural sinful practices and replace them with something culturally right, and voila! You’re a Christian. Throw in a few Bible verses and “thank you, Jesus!”Ā and you’ve passed the litmus test.
Be Republican, and you’re in the club.
The moral majority was all the rage in the 80’s. Christianity was a cultural phenomenon, the in vogue culture club that all the cool kids were a part.
In the 21st Century, however, Christianity has lost its savor, itsĀ being Christian of its -anity.
Christianity has diminished in America because the unChristian world sees no cultural benefits to outweigh the cross it would have to bear by taking on the label.
Christianity that merely promotes (or more to the point, adds to believing in Jesus) certain hair styles, clothing, food, drinks, music and sub-cultural trends (or lack thereof) to be a ChristianĀ still sends people to hell in a hand basket.
And the unChristian world is telling Christians, “the Emperor has no clothes.”
This sort of Christianity has left those seeking water still thirsty (Jeremiah 2:13). As a result, the unChristian worldĀ no longer presupposes religious belief and finds traditionalism to be repressive. Why should people believe in a God and “do right things” when they can do right things of their own making?
The world does not need a to-do list. Nor does the world need a do-not-do list. The world needs Christ.Ā True Christians, not culturally savvy people who use the word Christian as a rung on a ladder of making our best life now.Ā Notice Paul says “do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” to those who impose a to-do list onto believing in Jesus. That, too, is fleshly (Galatians 5:13ff; Luke 15:11ff).
It is only when the chaff and dross of cultural Christianity gets burned up by persecution and tribulation that True Christians will shine brighter in the midst of a dark, unChristian world.
Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. If it were, His servants would fight to prevent His arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now HisĀ kingdom is from another place (John 18:36) where righteousness dwells and its fruit is displayed (Galatians 516ff).
The unChristian world needs true Christians who love God and love others as themselves (Mark 12:30-31), who walk in the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16ff), who go the extra mile (Matthew 5:38-42), and speak the Truth in love (Ephesians 4:15); Not the Cultural Christianity of a country club.
Cultural Christians will never stay Christian when the times get desolateĀ and persecution becomes reality. The unChristian world does not need Cultural Christians.
The unChristian world needs Christian Christians — Christians who claim Christ.
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Union with Christ
“In all that, Christ was on the one hand so one with God that what he did, God did, for he was none other than God himself acting thus in our humanity. And therefore there is no other god for us than this God, and no other action of God toward us than this action in which he stood in our place and acted on our behalf. On the other hand, he was so one with us that when he died we died, for he did not die for himself but for us, and he did not die alone, but we died in him as those whom he had bound to himself inseparably by his incarnation. Therefore when he rose again, we rose in him and with him, and when he presented himself before the face of the Father, he presented us also before God, so that we are already accepted of God in him once and for all.”
(Atonement: The Person and Work of Christ, ed. Robert T. Walker)
The structure of the local church leadership must be a biblical structure. What do I mean by biblical? Essentially, church leadership is patterned after the examples and explanations within Scripture. The closer the structure of biblical patterns the more biblical the implementation. In other words, when the structure of church leadership looks like the pattern set forth in Scripture, then the structure of church leadership is biblical.
So what pattern of biblical church leadership do we see?
Elders
1) Plurality of Elders (aka. Pastors, Overseers, Presbyters, Elders – these titles are interchangeable)
Note, for example, Titus 1:5 (“appoint elders”), followed by v. 7 (“for a bishop must be blameless”). The very fact that the sentence in v. 7 begins with a “for” shows a connection: bishops are elders. Otherwise, why would Paul mention the qualifications of a group that were not whom Titus should appoint? In Acts 20:7 Paul calls the “elders of the church” of Ephesus together for a final meeting. Then, in v. 28 he addresses them as “overseers” (or bishops). Thus, any passage that deals with bishop is equally applicable to elders.
2) The leadership of the church from the earliest period always had elders, even if it did not have deacons. Young churches only had elders; more mature churches had both elders and deacons.
But the consistent Biblical pattern in the New Testament was for a plurality of elders. Note the following passages where either elder or bishop is used:
Acts 11:30–elders at the church of Antioch
Acts 14:23–Paul and Barnabas appoint “elders in every church”
Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4–elders at the church in Jerusalem
Acts 20:17, 28–elders/bishops at the church of Ephesus
Acts 21:18–elders at the church in Jerusalem
Phil 1:1–the church at Philippi has bishops and deacons
1 Tim 5:17–elders at the church of Ephesus
Titus 1:5–Titus is to appoint elders in every town
Jas 5:14–“the elders of the church”
1 Pet 5:1-2–“the elders among you”
And if there is any question as to what the role of these elders are, consider the book of Hebrews:
Heb 13:7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.
Heb 13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
Elders are a team of men who are set apart by God to shepherd the church, the Bible refers to these men as bishops or overseers or elders (terms used interchangeably). They have biblical qualifications as outlined in 1Tim3v1-7 and Titus 1v6-9. Functionally, I like to break down what they do by the 4 Dās:
Doctrine āĀ Elders govern, teach & guard the doctrine that the church holds to.
Direction āĀ Elders seek to shepherd the church in the direction that God is leading them.
Discipline āĀ Elders seek to ādiscipline in loveā wayward church members to win them back to repentance and restoration.
Display āĀ Elders seek to display a Christ-like character worthy to be copied.
A biblical church must have a biblical pattern of leadership- multiplicity of Elders. This also means, when a church plant is established, there must be a plurality of Elders/Pastors (meaning at least two). We can infer that a team of Elders are establishing the church plant- not a single Pastor. We can further infer a Lead Pastor with Support/Assistant Pastors. The point is there must be a plurality of Elders.
What are the qualifications of the Elders?
1 Timothy 3:2-7
1) Blameless – A general requirement followed by specific areas in which the Overseer must be blameless. To be blameless is to be irreproachable. No one should be able to lay a charge against an Elder and make it stick.
John Calvin explains an Elder “must not be marked by any infamy that would lessen his authority. There will be no one found among men that is free from every vice; but it is one thing to be blemished with ordinary vices, which do not hurt the reputation, because they are found in men of the highest excellence, and another thing to have a disgraceful name, or to be stained with any baseness. In order, therefore, that a bishop may not be without authority, he enjoins that there shall be made a selection of one who has a good and honorable reputation, and not chargeable with any remarkable vice. Besides, he does not merely lay down a rule for Timothy what sort of person he must select, but likewise reminds every one of those who aspire to that rank, to institute a careful examination of himself and of his life.”
2) The Husband of One Wife – Better understood as a “one woman man” It is not a requirement for Elders to be married but men who are married to be married to one wife. This is an express prohibition of polygamy for an Overseer/Elder.
I believe Paul has Genesis 2-3 in mind. The language establishes the issue of “one woman man”. Paul confirms the Old Testament teaching that God’s command from the time of creation is a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh. The Elder must be blameless with respect to the law of God concerning marriage.
3) Vigilant – Sober, not drunk, clearheaded, self-controlled, frugal, prudent, reasonable.
An Elder must be on guard and alert, just as a shepherd must always be watching for wolves and anything else that might endanger the flock. An Elder who is not vigilant in his private and public life will not be watchful over and care for the people of God.
4) Prudent – Thoughtful and self-controlled. The greek word refers to wisdom, good sense, a sound mind, and good jugdement.
5) Respectable
6) Hospitable – The meaning of the word means “One who loves to be a host” – whether for friends or strangers. It’s all inclusive. He loves to be a host regardless of who he is hosting.
7) Skillful in Teaching
8) Not given to much wine
9) Not a violent man – Does not strike, wound or cause harm due to a blow.
10) Not fond of shameful gain – Shameful gain is anything that a man gets by dishonest means, or which itself is shameful or wicked.
11) Gentle
12) Not Quarrelsome – Not given to quarrels, disputes, or strife, uncontentious, not a brawler.
13) Not loving money
14) Ruling his own house well
15) Not newly converted
16) A good testimony to those outside (the church)
Deacons
What are the qualifications for Deacons?
1) Reverent – The qualifications for Deacons follow on the heals of the qualifications for Elders. Grammatically verses 8-9 of 1 Timothy 3 depend upon verse 2. “Reverent” is the first of five qualifications in the first sentence, which covers 8 & 9.
2) Not double-tongued – Also known as talking out of both sides of your mouth. He must not say one thing but mean something else. He must not say one thing to one person and the opposite to another person.
3) Not given to much wine – Paul uses the same word here as he wrote to Timothy saying, “to devote oneself to reading, exhortation, and teaching in 1 Timothy 4:13. Deacons are not to devote themselves to wine as they would to the important things mentioned previously.
4) Not fond of shameful gain
5) Holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience – Deacons like Elders must be instructed in right doctrine, should know the Scriptures well, live according to them, and be able to use them kindly in all situations that occur in daily life.
6) First be tested – Both Deacons and Elders must be tested prior to taking office in the church. This testing can take many forms but it must not be done in haste. The office of Deacon must NOT be looked upon as the bottom of the church leadership ladder, as it were. A Deacon is NOT a “Junior Elder”. It is not wise to put a man in the office of Deacon to “try him out” and see if he does well. And if he does well, let him continue in that office or move on to Elder.
7) Blameless – Different word than verse 2, but meaning is identical.
Differences between Elder and Deacon
In essence, the qualifications for both Elder and Deacons are virtually the same- even described with different words, but the meaning is the same. The significant difference is Elder is skilled at teaching. The deacon is the servant of the Elders and by extension the servant of the congregation at large. The deacons are given charge for specific duties to spread the burdens of the Elders and make the burdens light.
Acts 6 provides us with good detail as to the nature of the office of Deacon.
“It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.ā
Deacons are appointed to serve. They are to lead by serving. They are the ones which exude servant leadership most. To put it in common language, they are the table waiters of the church. This is not derogatory or demeaning. This is glorious and wonderful- to exude Christ-likeness in serving others.
Who should be a Deacon? Look for those who are faithfully serving others above and beyond the rest. The test prior to taking the office of Deacon? Are they serving?
An important note to make here. The “Deacon Board” is not a competing board of power versus the “Elder/Pastor Board” – It is the Elders who oversee the Deacons- giving them direction. The Deacons then make their decisions based within and upon the direction the Elders have given them.
This brings us to my question of “Trustees” – Trustees, as related to legal issues, should be the Elders, not the Deacons. Why?
Elders rule over the congregation in general and Deacons more specifically. The Deacons do not have ruling power, other than to serve and appoint others to help serve in the “table waiter” functions of the church- today we would classify this as grounds, building, fellowships, meals, finances, etc… But at the same time there are Elders over these areas to give direction for the overall implementation of the tasks.
This means Elders must be Trustees. Because those outside the church (i.e. government with legal requirements) see the Trustees as the leaders of the church. The Elders are those who are the leaders and rulers of the church and must be recognized as such outside the church.
In typical form, there is the pastor, the deacons, and the trustees. The trustees really should be called “deacons” and the deacons “elders” in such a model and trained to be so accordingly. If a deacon functions as an Elder/Pastor, then they should be called as such.
To reiterate the bottom line, when government interacts with the “Trustees,” they should be interacting with the Elders since the Elders are truly the leaders and rulers of the church.
I have not addressed every issue nor every word or verse regarding the roles of Elders and Deacons. That is beyond the scope of this note. You may find “holes” in this note, but it may be my intention not to address that point at this time. I have written this quickly and wanted to present the case for the conclusion that I see naturally flowing from Scripture.
With that in mind, comments welcome!
Further thoughts – responses to people’s questions.
from what I see in Scripture, the Elders are the leadership and the Deacons are, as you say, leaders of teams/committees. I would not classify them as a “board” since there is nothing for them to discuss. In Acts 6 we see that the Deacons were appointed to specific tasks- at that time it was to help provide food and possibly other things to the widows.
I would see this in practical application today in the following ways:
An Elder would be Overseer of various ministries of the church- grounds and technology for instance. I see the Elders appointing Deacons to a specific task- a Deacon of Grounds, a Deacon of Technology..
The congregation would then affirm who the Elders have appointed.
I see the Elders appointing people and the congregation affirming the appointments (this is also key). The Deacons would then set up teams to fulfill the duties (with approval of the Elders).
An aside, if the congregation can not trust the appointment (or anything) the Elders have made, then maybe the congregation should replace those Elders with Elders they trust. Hence, the appointment / affirmation helps keep the Elders accountable (hence Steve Camp’s article on keeping Pastor’s accountable is key).
Further, I see Deacons as “team leaders” who specialize in their particular area. You want a Deacon who knows technology to be the Deacon of technology. You want someone who knows something about grounds keeping to be the Deacon of Grounds. And so on….
The Elders, then can Oversee things give direction to the Deacons. The Deacons do not need to meet as a board b/c their duties do not intersect for the most part-
Maybe they can meet to discuss how they implement their duties- but that would be once a year at most? That’s up to the Elders on how they want to implement that.
The point is to free up as much time for the Elders to devote to prayer, teaching and the Word. This does not mean they have no more administrative duties. They must administrate, but the actual carrying out of the duties are done by the Deacons. Further the Elders would listen to the Deacons and what they suggest as the means to carry out duties (budget, tools, etc..) but the Elders would appoint budgets and significant expenditures with congregational approval and give direction to the Deacons.
The Presbyterian form of gov’t is a good guide, really- even for non-Presbyterian churches. A church (with the structure I’ve outlined) plants a church with a Lead Pastor (Evangelist) and the other Elders of the Parent churchĀ help fulfill the plurality of Elders for the church plant.
I would further say, once the church plant becomes its own identity (officially becomes a church), that church should have a plurality of Elders inherently.
My resolutions for theĀ 2015?
Resolved:
- To have the truth of God like steel poured in my backbone, and the grace of God to bend over backwards for others.
- To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with my God. ~Micah 6:8
- To rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ~Romans 12:15
- To be very careful to fear, love and serve the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my might and walk in all his ways, to Know that the Lord my God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. ~Deuteronomy 6:5, 7:9, 10:12; Joshua 23:11
- To remind myself thatĀ I am clothed with the Righteousness not my own; My sin, guilt, and stain are upon Another; I am forgiven; I can come humbly yet boldly to the Throne of Grace for Jesus, the Righteous One and Sin Bearer pleads my case to the Father Who claims me as His own, “Dave is MINE, no one can pluck him out of MY hand”.
- To make war. ~Romans 1:16-17,Ā 8:13; Colossians 3:5-10
- To look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. ~2 Peter 3:13
Defenses of Christmas aren’t much better than the attacks. Remember: cynics get intelligence, believers are good hearted, dimwits. Defending anything based on religion, such as Christmas, must rely on feeling and not intellect, says our culture. Christmas is good, because it is about family, as if family is an unmixed blessing for most people. Christmas is good, because it is about “belief,” especially in the spirit of Santa. Since Santa does not exist, and recent holiday movies demand we believe in him, this seems like a call to madness. Christmas is also supposed to be about the “child within,” but in a culture in dire need of grownups this seems dangerous as well. Jesus once said to be like a little child regard to humility, but irrational Christmas marketers aren’t saying that. Christmas seems to involve believing in the unbelievable in order to regress to childishness.
Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, the incarnation of God and Man. If true, it is [a pivotal] moment of history. If false, it is useless. Best reason and best experience argue that it is true. My heart bears witness to His gentle Voice. My mind demands that I accept the truth of history. This moment when Heaven and Earth were brought together is the answer to the pain of our existence and that is the very problem with both cynicism about Christmas and most defenses of the holiday.
The cynics see a world of pain and embrace it. Chaos is basic to their vision of the world, but their very rationality denies this view. The defenders act as if platitudes can solve problems. Warm hearts are not enough against cold reality.
Christmas is for a world of pain. Christmas is good news, because it shows God comes down to Earth and saves us. Such news makes merry, but remains realistic. It is for sin, but about redemption. It denies nothing about human hurts, but does not rest content in them.
~John Mark Reynolds
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Let’s Talk Bluntly About Race
This is convicting and encouraging and exhorting and more. It is a must-listen by Matt Chandler about Racial Reconciliation.
And Darrin Patrick brings together a diverse group of people to discuss racial issues:How should we respond to Ferguson?
A Decision in Ferguson: How Should Evangelicals Respond? by Ed Stetzer
“I think it is of utmost importance that all Christians, but specifically white evangelicals, talk a little less and listen a little more.”
We need to put our guard down, open up, and lean into this discussion so that we may learn, change, and most importantly display the light of the Gospel to the watching world.
Update 11/26/2014
Good thoughts from Thabiti Anyabwile – “Justiceāthat perfect justice ushered in by the Perfect Judge and Lordāwill be final. When He comes it will be good news for those who love His appearing, and it will be eternally devastating news for those who love unrighteousness. His justice will not be blind; it will be perfectly informed, comprehending all the facts and all the intents of the heart. His blazing righteousness will be the undoing of everything corrupt and in His kingdom there will be no evil. I wait with panting for that Day. Until then, I labor with the faith and resolve that comes from knowing such a Day is coming and weāre called to live in light of it.”
“both sides are living under their own separate stories but the way forward requires us to live into the same story.”
http://gracemosaic.org/2014/11/ferguson-a-way-forward
Thoughts on Ferguson by Voddie Baucham – “In the end, the best lesson my children can learn from Ferguson is not that they need to be on the lookout for white cops. It is far more important that I use this teachable moment to remind them that āGod is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reapā (Gal. 6:7). Moments before his death, Michael Brown had violently robbed a man in a store. A man doing the best he could to make a living. Minutes later, Brown reaped what he sowed, and was gunned down in the street. That is the sad truth.
My sons have far more to fear from making bad choices than they have to fear from the police. The overwhelming majority of police officers are decent people just trying to make a living. They are much more likely to help you than to harm you. A life of thuggery, however, is NEVER your friend. In the end, it will cost you . . . sometimes, it costs you everything.”
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/thoughts-on-ferguson
Update 12/1/2014
A response to Voddie Baucham by Alan Noble.
But let’s remember: As Christians in this life, we walk in two worlds. Sometimes justice isn’t obvious. Justice is not always swift but it is sure. Jesus, the Son of David will administer justice and equity to all his people. The Lord sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness. O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever.