Pastoral Ministry Practice #1

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In John 17:4 Jesus refers to the work He has already accomplished.

I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

Suffering a sacrificial death and rising in power were not the only assignments given to Jesus.   In John 17:6-13 He lists out the work He accomplished before going to the cross.   These verses serve as an outline of the pastoral ministry of Jesus Christ.  These verses set before us the four essential practices of pastoral ministry.  What Jesus exampled in His ministry and reviews in prayer here before His Father are the essence of being a shepherd to the flock of God.  The first essential work of pastoral ministry is given in 17:6 –

I manifested Your name to the men You gave Me out of the world.

God’s name is not what He is called, but who He is.  His name is what characterizes Him – it is His nature, His heart.  God is holy.  God hates sin like you hate sickness – you hate what it does to you.  God hates what sin does to people.  When Jesus said that He manifested the Name of His Father to those given Him, He meant that He had brought it into light, caused it to shine, and to illuminate others.  He was saying,

Father, I showed them what You are like!

Jesus showed us the holiness and the love of God.  This is the high calling of ministry.  Your pastoral ministry is far more than explaining the Bible to people.  Your ministry is not only declaring the written Word of God, it is demonstrating the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ.  The latter is the far more demanding work.  Your week by week declaration of the written Word of God apart from an ongoing demonstration of the Living Word of God is a charade that others won’t put up with for very long.  Nothing hardens the heart of men toward God and the church than declaration divorced from demonstration.

Moses had a revelation of God’s name, whereas Jesus is the revelation, the manifestation of God’s name.  Moses spoke a word; Jesus is the Word.  When Jesus manifested the name of the Father He didn’t take the disciples aside and whisper in their ear a new name for God.  The manifestation Jesus speaks of isn’t information, but incarnation; it’s not what He said to them – it’s what He showed them.  Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father.  His heart’s desire was to see God.  Jesus told Philip that if he had seen Him, then he had seen the Father!  In the person of Jesus, the nature and character of God – His name – could be seen. This has huge implications for what it means to be in ministry.  Jesus said,

As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.

You have been sent to continue the pastoral mission and the ministry practices of Jesus.  How He related to people sets the pattern for how you are to relate to people.  Manifesting the name of God is the first thing mentioned by Jesus.  And if you don’t manifest the name of God, if you don’t incarnate the character of the Lord, your life and  ministry won’t pack much of a punch.  Ministry is life touching life.  But it is not ministry that bears life – it is life that bears life.  And a life bereft of the name of God is not life-giving.  Manifesting the name of the Father is strategic to any ministry seeking to make Christ known.  This is true ministry.  Your effectiveness and influence is made or broken here.

Jesus gave us a full revelation of God – not a theological explanation, but a living demonstration.  This is the need of people in every generation.  Thank God for theologians who can help us navigate through the rapids of theological explanation –  who can help us to clearly understand the omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience of God and what they mean for today.  And thank God for pastors and men and women of God in whom there is a depth of character – the name of God – being lived out day by day.

Can people see what God is like by being with you?  Do you manifest the holiness of God and the love of God?  Holiness is a separation from the pollution of the world and a separation to God – the opposite of which is carelessness.  Love is pursuit of the hurting people of the world – the opposite of which is callousness.  If you are careless of the call to purity and are callous toward the needs of people, you are falling short of how Jesus conducted Himself in the ministry given to Him.  Many who will not darken the doors of our churches today trace their offense to the carelessness and the callousness of the ministry.

It was said of Napoleon that his personal presence on the battlefield gave the tactical advantage of an additional 10,000 men.  His influence was so great, the confidence of his men was so swelled, that a victory seemed assured.  The influence of a pastor who lives out the name of God is of incalculable value that will only be determined by eternity.

Unspiritual Christianity

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Today is one of those articles that I am going to try and say something that I don’t really know how to say. I really have struggled over the years to articulate this reality and find myself struggling today again to find the words to express something of value.

My pondering began with a simple question, “How is it possible for Christianity to be perceived as unspiritual?” The gospel is simply the Lordship of Jesus. When a person believes in Jesus, they are indwelt by the Spirit of God, the third person of the Blessed Trinity.There is no Christianity without the Spirit. Yet, as I look around the body of Christ, there seems to be way more examples of unspiritual Christianity then there are spiritual ones. Now when I speak about the need for Christianity to be spiritual, I mean “of the Spirit” in the simplest of terms. Not even necessarily the expression of spiritual giftings. I am talking about the basics of love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, goodness and self control (Galatians 5:23). I am talking about lives that are lived out in the simplest aspects of agape love and service. I am talking about the ‘shalom’ of God being at work and being outworked through the body of Christ. Concepts such as agape, simplicity, service, unity and peace-making are in my mind.

As I survey much of the Christianity around today, I don’t see much of this. So I started to wonder why. Why is so much of Christianity look so little like the life of Jesus? I see much personal politics, attack-dog disagreements, sin cloaked in religion, bickering, jockeying for position, niches and cliches. It is so common for people to rise up in churches if they are charismatic or sychopantic rather than having a Jesus-formed character.

So I am going to list a few reasons why this may be the case. Instead of commenting on each of them, I will simply list them and let you all have fun with them.

1) When information is king
2) When theology is not translated to the street level
3) Classic Self-salvation plans
4) Cultural Idolatry
5) A lack of any focus on spiritual formation (true biblical discipleship)
6) A western individualistic focus rather than community formation
7) Prayerlessness
8) The Curse of Affluence
9) The Influence of Business Practices upon Church Leadership
10) Tax-exempt status
11) Church as entertainment

Comfortable Christianity?

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If there’s one thing my own heart has convinced me of, and my interactions with other Christian’s has taught me time and time again, it is that many Christians in the west expect God to provide us with a comfortable Christianity.  We gauge whether or not God is calling us to serve Him by cost, comforts, and conveniences we may have to sacrifice. If we feel called to something that will cost more money than we’d like to spend, think we have, or can provide, we conclude the feeling must not be from God. If we sense the nudge of the Holy Spirit toward a project or person that would cause us discomfort (physically or emotionally), we back out. If serving some way is just inconvenient, either at church or elsewhere, many Christians conclude God must not be leading, or things would just go smoothly.

Comfortable Christianity Slogans

Here are some of my favorite statements I hear, and some I’ve said, which demonstrate our expectation of a comfortable Christianity:

 “If I’m stressed out, it means I’ve taken too much on and need to let something go.” (Comfort)

 “We want to come to church, but we live fifteen minutes across town.” (Convenience)

 “We want to tithe, but money’s a little tight right now.” (Cost)

 “We’d love to go to a small group, but I have to rush home, eat quickly, and get the family packed up in a hurry, and by that time we’re just stressed.  Going to Bible study as a family shouldn’t be stressful.” (Convenience/Comfort)

 “I meant to come to the once per quarter discipleship event at church, but Saturdays are when I sleep in.” (Convenience)

 “I know those people need help, but my kids can’t miss their nap.” (Convenience/Cost/Comfort)

 “We haven’t been at church in three months because it’s SUMMER!” (Convenience/Comfort)

God’s Not a Kill-joy

Now, to be clear, I’m not saying all of the above statements are sinful every time they’re made.  For instance, sometimes a kid just needs a nap. But too often, these kinds of things become excuses for not wanting to suffer in any way, to be part of the body of Christ, or serve people. The truth is, biblical Christianity includes the call to joyfully suffer. If our Christianity is the Christianity of the Christ, it will mean great cost at times, to us and our families. It will mean inconvenience, and it will mean discomfort. It will include things like only camping two weeks in the summer with your family instead of ten, specifically so you can serve your church and community on the other weekends. It may include kids going without naps, stressful drives to the prayer meeting, spending money you don’t have because God promised to provide, and sacrificing days off on the couch, for days off in the trench serving God.

Jesus and the Apostles

Consider a few verses, and ask yourself if they represent legitimate potential experiences in your life, based on how you live out your version of the Christian life:

Matthew 8:19-20: “Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.’” That’s right. Jesus was telling this dude that he may have to sleep on the street to follow Jesus faithfully. What if following Jesus meant that for you? Would you write off His call to sacrifice as the voice of the Devil? Some would conclude that  Satan was the one speaking if they were merely being asked to give up a spare room to a guest, let alone their entire house.

Matthew 16:24-25: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’” That’s a tough cost to ponder. As John Piper reminded a group of students in regard to this passage, “The cross isn’t some annoying person sitting next to you in history class. The cross is the place where you die with nails driven through your hands and feet, while the crows eat your eyes out.” Jesus’ point is that truly following Him will feel like that spiritually at times for us all. And for some, they will literally be called to die for the faith, as He did.

Acts 5:41- “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” This was the response of the apostles when they were persecuted for their faithfulness to Jesus and His gospel. Most of us would think God was punishing us if He allowed us to suffer for Christ.

1 John 3:16- “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” This one is brutally plain, but true, and needs no elaboration.

What about You?

So, does your version of Christianity demand comfort, or is it real and biblical Christianity? Christians worship the crucified Christ, a suffering Savior. If you follow Him, you should expect to meet His experiences. And yet, the mystery of Christ is that He can grant a greater joy in giving, and suffering, than we experience when we avoid such things at all costs. The paradoxical thing is that when we avoid cost, inconvenience, and discomfort, we actually avoid joy, blessing, spiritual maturation, usefulness, and sanctification, which, at some levels, the Holy Spirit only uses the tool of suffering to provide.

I leave you with two quotes to pray over today:

“We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed– always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”[1] –The Apostle Paul

 “We can only achieve perfect liberty and enjoy fellowship with Jesus when His command, His call to absolute discipleship, is appreciated in its entirety. Only the man who follows the command of Jesus single-mindedly, and unresistingly lets His yoke rest upon him, finds His burden easy, and under its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right way. The command of Jesus is hard, unutterably hard, for those who try to resist it. But for those who willingly submit, the yoke is easy, and the burden is light. ‘His commandments are not grievous’ (1 John 5:3). His commandments are not some sort of spiritual shock treatment. Jesus asks nothing of us without giving us the strength to perform it. His commandment never seeks to destroy life, but to foster it, strengthen and heal it.”[2] –Dietrich Bonhoeffer

[1] 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 NKJV

[2] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. Page 38.

The Four Essential Practices of Pastoral Ministry

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Without controversy, the greatest work accomplished by Jesus Christ was His death and resurrection.  Yet these two events don’t exhaust the full scope of the assignment given to Him by His Father.  They are the pinnacle of His life, but there’s a lot of mountain underneath.  Though the essence of His mission was redemptive, we can see in the practice of His ministry His shepherd’s heart, His pastoral concern for the people He came to save.  He is not only the Redeemer of His people, He is our Shepherd, too.  His death was redemptive and His life was pastoral.

Though the focus of the gospels is clearly on the last week of Jesus’ life – His death and resurrection – there is much material devoted to His pastoral ministry among the people.  The death and resurrection of Jesus are the main themes of the gospels, but not the only themes.  Without His pastoral ministry among the people, the hostility of the Jewish leadership would be without context.  The gentleness of Jesus and His care as He moved among the people were in stark contrast to the indifference of the career minded, ego-driven religious leaders.  His pastoral ministry emphasized the twin virtues of servanthood and humility, virtues sorely lacking among the clergy of His day.

In John 17:4 Jesus refers to the work He has already accomplished.

I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work  which You have given Me to do.

Some might argue that Jesus is using the proleptic here, that He is referring to a future event as already accomplished – that He is summing up the whole of His life in one grand statement – that He is referring to His death and resurrection as past events, though future.  If suffering a sacrificial death and experiencing a resurrection in power were the only assignments given to Jesus, that might be an attractive interpretation.   But the work God had given Him to do, though culminating in the cross and empty tomb, were not exhausted by them.  In referring to the accomplished work in John 17:4, Jesus is looking back on the work He completed as a Shepherd among the people.

We are not left in the dark about the work that Jesus accomplished.  In John 17:6-13, Jesus reviews the work He completed whereby He glorified God.  They outline the pastoral ministry of Jesus Christ.  These verses set before us the four essential practices of ministry.  What Jesus exampled in His ministry and reviews in prayer here before His Father are the essence of being a shepherd to the flock of God.  Whatever our ministry training and ongoing theological education is, let’s master these four essential practices of pastoral ministry first.  The mature pastor and effective spiritual leader will be one who follows the pastoral example of Jesus and mimics the rhythm and patterns of His life.

Many who are reading this will, no doubt, find that they are already practicing the four essentials.  These practices of pastoral ministry do not exhaust the full scope of pastoral care, but, eliminate any one of them, and you will cripple the shepherd and impoverish the sheep.  OK – what are the four essential practices of pastoral ministry?

#1                 Manifesting the name of God –

I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world.   John 17:6

#2                 Giving the Word –

I gave them Your word…   John 17:8

#3                 Praying for the people –

I ask on their behalf…   John 17:9     

#4                 Guarding the flock –

I was keeping them in Your name…I guarded them…  John 17:12

#1 has to do with the messenger whereas #2 has to do with the message.  If the messenger is rejected, the message will probably be rejected, too.  If we don’t manifest the character of God we become ineffective in speaking the word of God.  There is more to preaching than insight and delivery.  #3 is largely private whereas #4 is very personal as we get one-on-one with people and rebuke and challenge and encourage and weep with them.

In my next four blog pieces I will enlarge on each essential pastoral practice.

Big Church, Small Church = Same Church

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As many of you know, I am a blogging veteran. It dawned on me recently that I have been blogging for over 10 years at this point. But is also interesting is that I find myself interacting on them less and less (although ironically, this article is on a blog). Why? Well because I have little bandwidth these days for incessant arguments. When I think about some of the most common arguments about church on blogs (whether ministry-minded blogs like CrossConnection or other Christian blogs), it is the church size preference argument. Most of the arguing, as I have thought about it, is actually from people who prefer smaller churches and then vilify larger churches. Although I don’t know of any larger church pastor starting a blog argument over church size, it is far to common to hear a mega church pastor speak down about a smaller church. I once stood in horror as a large church pastor asked a faithful brother of a smaller church, “How is your little work going?”. The work of God in salvation and in His people is never little. It is always huge.

But, for me, I feel that I have a unique vantage point on this because of how the Lord has led me. I have been involved pastorally in 4 churches (3 as the church-planter and senior pastor). The three churches I planted were turned over to other pastors with less than 100 people. Now I pastor a very large church. Here’s what I have learned. Simply stated, the church is the church. Whether large or small, the church is the people of God together in community. Every church is flawed in some way, yet being grown up into her head, Jesus. All churches have budget problems, building (or lack thereof) issues, committed members and folks who just come and go. On every level, the church is the church.

This was brought into stark focus for me recently as someone asked me how it was to teach at a large church. I said simply, it’s exactly the same, just more people hear the message at one time. I haven’t changed, the only difference is that now, if I look to the left or the right when I’m teaching, I’ll see myself amplified on jumbo screens (a terrifying sight). I still study the same, deliver it the same, pray that God uses it the same. After service, just like in a smaller body, some folks head for the doors and other folks want to spend time and talk. There are all the same people issues. In any church, large or small, most people have 10 truly close friends. That doesn’t change. A large church is not any less intimate than a smaller church. Why? Because intimacy is a heart issue not a size issue. Again, it’s all the same church.

So why do I write this? Well maybe it is my hope that people will be okay with simply stating their preference for church size and dynamics instead of seeking to justify the preference by vilifying the other side. I also say this because as a church planter and smaller church pastor, I also tried to vilify larger churches. It don’t think I did it maliciously. I did it naively. But my experience has taught me that the church is the church, no matter how many people are gathered together. We are all one big family in Jesus. I, for one, am grateful for that.

MOTIVATION AND MISSION

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Recently I’ve been reconvicted all over again on the issue of motive in mission.  I’m not generally one of those guys who struggles to have joy in ministry.  My problem is that I don’t always do ministry from a place of having joy in enough of the right things.  I love studying the Word, preaching the Word, training up leaders, designing discipleship processes, and so on.  My joy can terminate on those things in and of themselves.  It isn’t inherently wrong to enjoy those kinds of things.  But I need to do what I do in response to more than the joy I experience over performing those functions alone.  What is the great motive from which all my activities should flow?  How about love for God and love for people!  Take it from the Bible:

 “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This [is] the first commandment. And the second, like [it, is] this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31)

 “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have [the gift of] prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor], and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

 There it is!  Love for God and people must be the motive for everything I do.  If my motive for doing what I do isn’t love for God and people (even if my activities are amoral) they are of no credit to me in the perspective of God.  My problem is that I can enjoy building systems, preaching sermons, counseling people, and raising up leaders, while thinking and feeling next to nothing for God or people.  I simply enjoy the processes inherently.

So let’s be honest with ourselves today.  God knows the truth already, so hiding is of no value.  Why are excited to preach that message this week?  Why are you looking forward to that meeting with those leaders?  Why are you looking forward to that upcoming ministry opportunity?  Why are you buzzing with zeal on the inside over expanding the scope of your mission?  Is the foundational motive of your mission love for God and people, and the knowledge that these other things merely facilitate the expression and expansion of that love?  Or is the foundational motive of your mission and activities simply an enjoyment of the processes, roles, and opportunities themselves?

Let’s take a love test.  If the verses were expressing your motive for mission, how would Mark 12:30-31 read?  Would it be, “My motivation for the mission comes from loving the ministry my God (processes, sermon, study, counseling, opportunities, prestige) with all my heart, mind, strength, and soul.  And I don’t think much of my neighbor, but I love myself.”?  Or would it read, “My motivation for the mission comes from actually loving THE LORD MY GOD and MY NEIGHBOR as myself.”?  Think about it.  Pray about it.  Respond appropriately.

The ‘One Another’

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Nehemiah 4:19

“Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall.”

There is the very tangible reality in our daily lives that we are separated far from one another “on the wall”.

There is no doubt that the “work” we are involved in as the Body of Christ is vast and extensive from our point of view. As we look at the “walls” that lie in disrepair and comprehend that its “breaches are many” (Isaiah 22:9), we begin to understand the scope of all that has been done, and begin to understand the reach that still has to be accomplished in our own communities, to the ends of the globe.

What greater thing is there than pouring our very lives that have been redeemed from the slimy pit and have now been washed clean, purged from the stains of our guilty consciences and shot-out lives, into the great and eternal “work” that we have been called to and given gifts by His Spirit which enable us to engage ourselves in this work effectively and profitably for the renown of Jesus’ name.

There are those that each of us know and love and care for in the Body of Christ that are fighting and laboring and toiling, expending spiritual and physical blood, sweat, and tears in this “work”. They are the ones that fill the seats on Wednesdays and Sundays, falling asleep, nodding off during our sermons, not making it to the discipleship classes, the home fellowship or mid-week study all the time, “‘cuz I’m just plumb wore out”.

They are the ones who are directly involved in the “front lines” work of the ministry. They are the ones forging ahead day in and day out into the vast hordes of men and women, young and old who don’t believe. And it is at those moments that we feel so separate from one another in the work that God has set before us to do.

And here in Nehemiah 4:16 we see the position of the leaders in the “impossible” work in Jerusalem…namely repairing the breaches, rebuilding the wall. The leaders are positioned squarely behind the “frontline”. Yes, they are also directly involved in the work themselves, fighting, laboring and toiling alongside.

But they are also functioning “behind the scenes”, watching, directing, re-directing, encouraging, equipping, etc.

With this picture in mind, one thought stands out. There is the necessity that we must teach, by our lives and by our words, that in the work of the Lord and in the service of the Lord, in desiring to accomplish the task that is before us, there is a needed balance, with which we will be able to be most effective in our watching and in our working.

We, as pastors, have been separated from “waiting on tables”, so to speak, and strive to be constant in our giving of ourselves, our entire lives, to the ministry of the word and to prayer. Our desire, our goal, our calling, if you will, is to excel in being the leaders that God has gifted us to be so that you might be the best equipped, as you each are laboring and toiling on the front lines, rebuilding the walls.

It is the Body working together, every part functioning in the role and giftings that the Lord has given each of us.

Ephesians 4:11-16

We have been given the grand opportunity to glorify God in coming alongside one another in this Great and Extensive work that He has called us to, gifted us for, and given leaders in His Body as He has seen fit to equip us for the work He has prepared beforehand for us to walk in.

1 Corinthians 12:27

“Now you are the body of Christ (corporately) , and members individually.”

The Moses Model?

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I was raised in the congregational rule of the Christian Church.  I later scuttled that model for the more Scriptural model of presbyterian rule – a collegial model.  I easily dismissed the Episcopal model as being too open to abuse by aberrant personalities.  I was dismayed when Pastor Chuck Smith outlined an episcopal ecclesiology (please note the small ‘e’).  It rattled me to hear him speak of the authority of the pastor as being superior to that of the elders.

Pastor Chuck did outline a positive role that elders play and the relationship between pastor and elders – and the Christlikeness that should govern that relationship.  But when push came to shove, no one could push and shove the pastor.

As I thought through the issues related to church government and the more I gave consideration to Pastor Chuck’s understanding of how authority is to be exercised in the context of the local church, the more I found myself comfortable with and coming into alignment with a Biblical view of episcopacy as related to the exercise of authority in the local church.  This is a huge question: Who has authority and how is this authority wielded?

Authority, and the hierarchy of authority, is built into the very fabric of the cosmos, from the Godhead to human government to business to sports to marriage to the church.  Anarchy, an attempt to destroy or escape hierarchy, is a rebellion against the very structure of the universe.  Hierarchy literally means ‘the rule of priests’, but it is used pragmatically for any organization that has established authority and lines of accountability.  Headship and authority are implicit within the structure of the created order because they are implicit within the structure of the Uncreated Order.  What follows are several lines of reasoning supporting the practice of episcopacy, i.e., pastoral authority within the Calvary Chapel family of churches.

There is hierarchy in the Trinity.  There is an economy within the Trinity whereby one member of the Godhead is submitted to another member of the Godhead for the purpose of accomplishing the intentions and plans They have jointly decreed.

He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.   John 14:24 

But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  John 16:13 

We see the Son not doing anything apart from the command of the Father who sent Him.  The Holy Spirit is submitted to both the Father who sent Him and the Son whose ministry He applies to the hearts of humankind.

There is hierarchy in the home –

But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.  Eph 5:24 

There is order in the home and family.  This order is not established by the notion of equality, but through the notions of headship and submission.

There is hierarchy in the workplace.  If there is no headship in business, in government, in the home – order breaks down.  The plans and intentions of that business, government, home will never be realized apart from headship and submission implicit in hierarchy.

Many, at this point, will call attention to the fact that the terms “elder” (presbyter), “overseer” (episcopos), and ‘shepherd’ (pastor) are all used interchangeably with no hint of hierarchy within the servant leaders of the church.  See Acts 20:17 & 28; 1 Pet 5:1-2.

In these two passage we find that an elder is an overseer is a pastor.  A presbyteros is an episkopos is a poimainos.  If one is equal to another, from where do we cull the principle of hierarchy?  If, in the description of these offices there is no distinction between these offices, how does one rise above another?

Please note: along with the description of church government we also see the practice of church government in the NT Scripture.  In the application of authority to the life of the church there emerges a very real and defined hierarchy.  Consider the following situations as reported in Scripture –

  •  Paul gave decided leadership to his apostolic band – a very definite hierarchy.  The notion of a democratic approach would have struck Paul as odd.
  • In Acts 15, it was James, the brother of our Lord, who stood up after much debate and counsel among the elders and apostles and gave the definitive statement concerning the place of the law in the life of the Gentiles who had come to Christ.  The gathered leadership deferred to and agreed with him.
  •  Both Timothy/Titus exercised pastoral authority over the churches in which they were ministering.  They exampled hierarchy.

In the NT we have a picture of local churches/ministry teams where an explicit hierarchy emerges every time.  You cannot find one example in the NT of a collegial group of men where one does not emerge as the recognized leader to whom the others defer and follow.

The New Testament model of church government takes into consideration the full scope of both the descriptive passages and those detailing the practical application of these ministry offices in actual experience.

In further support of hierarchy as a pattern for church government we have the seven angels of the churches in Revelation 2-3.  The line of reasoning here is very simple.  John addresses each letter to a single individual, the angel of the church.  No doubt, this is the pastor of the church.  Without argument, the whole church is in view, yet only one individual is being addressed and singled out for the bulk of the warnings, promises, and exhortations.

Revelation 2:2-4 is a representative passage illustrating this fact:

I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;  and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

The bolded words ‘your’ and ‘you’ in the foregoing reflect 2nd person singular verbs and pronouns.  This pattern is followed in each of the letters to the seven churches.  The Lord is holding the pastor responsible for the spiritual condition of the church.  In contrast to this, please note the grammar of Revelation 2:24

But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them–I place no other burden on you.

The bolded ‘you’ in the foregoing translates the 2nd person plural pronoun.  The Lord is speaking to a single individual, the pastor, and then, when He intends to address the larger church, the grammar itself reflects this change of address.

If exegesis means anything, we have to account for the alternation of grammar in the passage under study.  The use of person in the verbs and pronouns in the seven letters to the churches in Revelation support the hierarchy of episcopacy in church government.

God holds the pastor accountable for the spiritual health and direction of the church because the pastor holds the responsibility for these things.

It is noteworthy that the early church immediately following the generation of the apostles found themselves gathering around the bishops of the church.  Hierarchy is an inescapable principle in the cosmos.  We see it in the Uncreated Order, in the created order, and in the redemptive order – in the church.  Yes, hierarchy can be abused and has been abused – but so have the congregational and presbyterial models.  The weakness isn’t with the model, but with ungodly men who will corrupt any model. Though many practice collegial and congregational forms of church polity, hierarchy as episcopacy has impressive Biblical credentials.

The practice of this episcopacy is not expressed in arbitrary, oppressive, abusive, unaccountable leadership.  New Testament episcopacy is not opposed to collegiality, mutual submission, and team wisdom – but that is matter for another article.

Pronouncing Blessing – A Lost Art?

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For about the last five years, I have ended nearly every worship gathering that I have had the pleasure of leading by doing a Benediction.

May the LORD bless you and keep you
May the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you
May the LORD lift His countenance upon you and give you peace.

And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
And the love of God
And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
Be with us all now and forevermore.

This benediction is simply the Priestly Blessing of Numbers 6:24-26 with 2 Corinthians 13:14 added to the end of it. I have always enjoyed putting these two Scriptures together as the Blessing of Numbers 6 is focused on the Yahweh, the true and living God. Those capital letters show that LORD is God’s personal name, in the Hebrew, YHWH. By adding 2 Corinthians 13:14 to it, we get the full Biblical revelation of who YHWH is: Father, Son and Spirit, the blessed and glorious triune God.

It is simply the speaking forth of two Scriptures. But for some reason there is tremendous power and comfort in hearing the God’s blessing proclaimed on and over a group of people. In many ways, this speaking of blessing is a lost art in post-liturgical Protestantism, as this practice is often not the norm. We often forget that words are creative (both in Genesis 1 and James 2). Yes, we believe in the priesthood of all believers, but there is also something powerful and special when the pastor of a congregation will stand in the midst of the assembly and pronounce God’s blessing.

It is my hope and prayer that we will all grab hold of the tremendous opportunity to pronounce blessing upon people. I pray that pastors would bless their congregations publicly and often in Jesus’ name. Would to God that husbands will share the benediction with their wives and vice versa. Would to God that parents would share it with their children. Would to God that brothers would bless their sisters and vice versa. That employers would bless their employees and the employees would return suit. That blessing would be proclaimed across party lines, denominational lines, socio-economic lines, across international boundaries and unto the ends of the earth.

BIBLICAL INSTRUCTION: Monologue or Dialogue?

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Natural Extremists

We are prone to extremes.  One issue we tend to go to one extreme or the other on in the church is that of biblical learning.  On the one hand, there are those who are committed to preaching the Bible in the form of monologue.  When they think of Christians learning the Bible, they envision a lone preacher standing before a crowd, delivering a studied and crafted sermon in the power of the Holy Spirit, spitting presuppositions and propositional truth.

On the other hand, there are those who are committed to learning the Bible through sharing and dialogue.  When they think of Christians learning the Bible they picture a group of friends sitting down together to share how the Bible impacts them personally.  They see themselves sitting with friends over lattes in a coffee shop, or over dinner in a home, informally discussing what a portion of scripture means to each person in the group.   They value the contributions and interpretations of each person who is present.

I’ve seen some people who are so committed to teaching and preaching the Bible in monologue, that they are skeptical of any kind of sharing context where multiple people contribute opinions and perspectives on the meaning or relevance of the Bible.  Still I’ve seen other people who are so committed to the truth that “God can and wants to speak through all believers” come to a place where there is no room in their thinking for monologue preaching, or designated pastors who serve as primary Bible communicators for a specific community of believers.

Both/And

My contention is that both extremes are wrong, and that this is one of many areas Christians need to have a Both/And way of thinking.  I believe the reasons the monologue crowd values their preferred method are generally biblical, and that the reasons the dialogue crowd values their preferred method are generally biblical as well.  I believe that helpful leaders will help those entrusted to them by God to see the value and place of both monologue and dialogue in growing the church in the knowledge of God through His Word.

A Small Case for Monologue

1 Corinthians 12:29- “Are all apostles?  Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?”  These are rhetorical questions in context.  The apostle Paul is arguing for the unity of the body through the diversity of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Because we all have different gifts, we all need each other.  God has designed the body to be dependent upon Him by being codependent upon what He’s doing in each other.  Not all have a Spirit-given gifting to teach God’s truth in the same way, or at the same level.

Ephesians 4:11-12: “And He gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”  Each of the gifts described here are Bible communicating gifts at their core.  Apostles preach the gospel and plant churches.  Evangelists major in preaching the gospel and equipping Christians to do effectively do the same.  Prophets have a teaching ministry that is trans-movement/denomination, and a ministry which applies biblical truth to timely issues under the spontaneous leading and enablement of the Holy Spirit.  Pastors and teachers give biblical counsel and didactic instruction of the Word to God’s people.  But four times we are told that only “some” are given by God to perform these functions in the ways these men do.  Only “some” are to build the body in these particular ways.

1 Timothy 3:2 tells us that an overseer must be “able to teach.”  This is not a requirement for deacons.  This implies a unique teaching ministry for those called to serve as the governing body of the church.  We can add to this verse 1 Timothy 5:17-18: “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.  For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘the laborer is worthy of his wages.’”  The Bible is to be our method for determining how to think about these issues.  That’s why Paul built his case from “Scripture.”  And what Scripture demands, according to Paul, is that some of the governing leadership work hard at teaching the Bible more than any other Christian or leader in the church.  Their job is so important that they are to be paid to fulfill that role as they do it well.

We could go on, but these texts amply demonstrate that God intends there to be monologue-style Bible preaching and teaching in the church.  He has not gifted all to teach the same way.  He does not gift all to deduce the meaning of Scripture the same way.  Specifically, men who are called to be the leader of the leaders in the church are Spirit-gifted to preach the Word, and be the doctrine-setting authority in the local church.

A Small Case for Dialogue

But I’m not just for monologue in the church, but for dialogue as well, and so is the Bible.

Colossians 3:16- “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”  This exhortation was given to all the members of the Colossian church.  They were all to play a part in “teaching and admonishing one another.”

Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  If there are a couple verses that support the idea of believers encouraging each other in small group community over lattes, these are them.  Considerately stirring each other up to love God and people, and serve God people as we “gather,” is the job of “us” as believers, not just “me” as a pastor.

Conclusion

Preaching the word in monologue is biblical and necessary.  If a Spirit-gifted man isn’t at the helm, preaching the Bible faithfully in collaboration with other Spirit-given leaders in the local church community, heresy abounds, and the church becomes a pool of ignorance.  Men who are specifically called to fill such a “leader of the leaders” function are not allowed to function in their gift.  Frankly, some need to repent of their radical commitment to the autonomy of the individual in the church.  Some would reduce the church to a leaderless weak state in the name of all believers being “equal” and “usable by God.”  We are all equal.  God does use us all.  But the question is how does God use us?  For some, they are called to be primary teachers and preachers in the church in ways others are not.  Let them do their job for the health of the church and the glory of God.

Additionally, God really can and does speak through every believer.  God wants to display how He has changed His kids through sharing in dialogue in small group type contexts and house churches.   The Holy Spirit wants to manifest Himself, and His edifying work, through every Christian.  This means that while pastors need to uncompromisingly engage in the monologue preaching of God’s Word with authority, they also need to help the local church develop contexts of dialogue and sharing.  We need to get over our need to control everything that is thought and said, and remember that Jesus is the real senior pastor of His people.  To be sure, you are His instrument in a unique way when it comes to teaching His truth.  But the goal of your ministry is to enable the body to do “the work of the ministry” which includes “teaching and admonishing one another” without you standing over peoples shoulder all the time.  As pastor James Macdonald said recently, “The biblical picture isn’t that the pastor ministers to the body, but that the body ministers to the body.”

So, pastors, lets preach the Word like crazy, and take no guff for doing our God-given job.  But let’s also make sure we don’t quench what the Holy Spirit wants to do by not developing and encouraging contexts of sharing, where each member of the body of Christ can have a voice and be used.  I don’t do this perfectly, but I’m working on it.  Join me.