Editor

The Bible We Believe

March 1, 2003 by Editor

Read 2 Timothy 3:16

By Bryan Chapell. On the evening of the first Rodney King verdict in South Central LA, a group of young men knocked another to the ground and began brutally beating him. Into the angry mob waded an elderly minister named Bennie Newton. Risking his own life, he repeatedly stepped in the way of the blows, taking some of the punches and kicks on his own back and legs. “You must not do this,” he said. “This man has done nothing wrong. You must stop this.” And eventually the mob did stop. They turned away in disgust from the old man, who had faced them with nothing more than a Bible in his hands. His weapon was the Word. He literally entrusted his life to the Bible, as we have for eternities. Why? Why would anyone who wrestles not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities, face the forces of evil with mere paper and print in hand? I pray it is what we believe about this book.

I. We believe the Bible is inspired.

See the first words of II Tim 3:16. The language of the KJV is explained for us in the NIV: all Scripture is God-breathed. That translation is a direct rendering of a Greek word that combines the terms for “God” and “breath”. The idea is even as you speak your breath comes out of your mouth, so the Scriptures are what God has breathed out, what he speaks — these are his Words.All that is Scripture is God-breathed, God’s very word to us. This is not merely an academic fact. It is the precious truth that everyday and during the greatest trials of my life, in his Word God speaks to me.

We are so misled in thinking that life would be easier if God would perform a miracle and speak in the lightening or write his will in the clouds. We forget the greater miracle that he has put his Word in our laps, and it does not fade with the thunder or get blown away by the wind. Every day he makes his Word known to us. He is as present and real as his Word. Here God speaks. You can face anything with his voice in your ear, as his breath flows upon your heart with his Word.Even that voice will bring you little courage or comfort, however, if you cannot trust it. We must add another dimension to our understanding of Scripture for it to be what God intends it to be in our lives. To the conviction that the Bible is inspired, we must add …

II. We believe the Bible is inerrant.

The word inerrant means the Scriptures are without error. This is a direct consequence of the fact that the Bible is God’s Word. Since it is of him, it should reflect his character. This is precisely the point of Ps. 19. Listen to how God’s Word is described there:

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”

“The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”

The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.”

“They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.”

“By them is your servant warned;” (Ps. 19:7-11)

If you only to consider the adjectives, what does the Word of God sound like? It sounds like God. He is perfect, trustworthy, wise, right, pure … thus it makes sense that what he says, what he breathes, would be the same. His Word is perfect, trustworthy, wise, right, pure, enduring and sure.

Release from the Slavery of Subjectivism

If “the rule of God’s Word” sounds constraining, recognize the necessary slavery of any other approach. If the Bible is not entirely true, the only authority we have is our own opinion of what is true. Rather than having a higher guidance, all that I would have without an inerrant Scripture is my own judgment. I am forced to go through life with wisdom no greater than my own. My life becomes enslaved to my own opinions (or worse, the opinions of others.) Human judgment determines what is right and wrong, proper or imprudent. Without an entirely true Scripture, we become slaves to the radical subjectivism of our age, where people will only do what is right in their own eyes.

Though usually described in academic terms, inerrancy is fundamentally a conviction that combats a suffocating aloneness, of being shut up with one’s own judgments and opinions as one’s only guiding companion in life. If God does not speak consistently in his Word, when I cry out in the darkness for aid all I hear is my own voice echoing back.

When we say that the Bible is without error, we must quickly add that our interpretations are not without error. Even Paul will remind Timothy that he must study to be a godly workman who is “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (II Tim. 2:15). There can be wrong divisions, but this does not deny the inerrancy of Scripture, it simply calls us to be skilled interpreters. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. Along with the easily reached truths are those that make us stretch so that the majesty of our God is as clear as His present voice.

Liar, Lunatic or Lord

Yet, extolling the wonders of Scriptures inspiration and perfection is not enough to give us confidence in its use. When you have broken appliance, a perfect wrench from Sears with Craftsman quality and a guarantee of perpetual service is a wonderful thing, unless what you need is a screwdriver. Inspiration and inerrancy are wonderful things unless they do not supply all we need to deal with the spiritual brokenness of our lives. We need full toolboxes, and for that reason the Bible assures us that Scripture is not only inspired and inerrant…

III. We believe the Bible is complete and sufficient.

1. Its completeness is marked by its finished-ness in terms of its sufficiency andultimacy.

The first feature of the Bible’s completeness is its sufficiency. Paul says that the Scripture that is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” equips the man of God for every good work. The man of God (the one that is equipping others) is himself equipped for every good work. The ripple effect is that the Scriptures provide what is needed for all believers’ spiritual development. There are not pages missing that we need. Colloquially, we would say that in the Bible, “you have got what you need.” Peter says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his won glory and goodness” (II Pet. 1:3). Everything we need for life (what we are to face) and godliness (what we are to be) God has provided by using the Word he has given to equip us sufficiently for every good work.

The sufficiency of Scripture is one reason that we do not feel abandoned by God if we are not connected by some sort of spiritual hotline where God is daily saying, “Heaven calling, George. This is what I want you to do.” New revelations become unnecessary when we already have a Word that is sufficient.

In 2 Tim. 3:16,17, the words “thoroughly equipped” are really the combination of the adjective and verb form of the same root word. We would actually translate this as, “All Scripture is inspired … in order that the man of God may be equipped, equipped for every good work.” That repetition, as awkward as it sounds, is actually crucial for it intensifies the equipping concept. Through the Scriptures we are really equipped, or as the NIV says it, “thoroughly equipped.” Thoroughly equipped for what? For everything. Now if the Bible tells you the Scriptures thoroughly equip you for everything, what is the implication of your looking for something else? It implies you question more than its completeness and sufficiency, but also its authority.

There are many references in Scripture reminding us that we are not to add to or subtract from its content, (Deut. 4:2, 12:32; Prov. 30:6; Rev. 22:18-19) and others warning that we are not to receive any other Gospel, whether it be endorsed by men or by angels (Gal. 1:8). We understand why the Church insists on the ultimate and final authority of Scripture. The Bible is complete because of its claim to sufficiency and its necessary ultimacy. Such understanding directs us from seeking new revelations, new authorities, trusting in personal experience, or other scriptures.

2. The Bible’s completeness is not only marked by these signs of its finished-ness,but by what it is finishing.

There is one other dimension to the completeness of the Bible. We are pointed also to the source of our completion. For if the Bible is given to equip, complete or make us perfect (cf. KJV, “to make the man of God perfect”), our need for completion by a source outside ourselves shows that we are incomplete in ourselves. Our need of Scripture’s sufficiency necessarily indicates our insufficiency. Scripture’s supply of what we need to fulfill God’s purposes in our lives is testimony of its redemptive character.

Says Jesus, “The Scriptures testify of me” (John 5:39). These words caution us against using the Bible merely as a compendium of rules or boxes to check off on the assumption that if we check off enough that we are OK with God. In his Word God is providing himself. Says Peter, “You have been born again … by the living and enduring Word of God” (I Pet. 1:23.) John adds, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…. In him was life and the life was the light of men” (John 1:1f). The apostles’ conflation of the ministry of the Savior, the Word of God, with the inscripturated Word of God is intentional. The Word of God is the very heart of God on display and presently working.

Think of what the combination of these beliefs about Scripture mean that God is providing us. In his Word he provides us his voice, for the Word is God-breathed. In his Word gives us his hand to lead us inerrantly down the path of his own will and purpose. And in his word he shows us his heart, for here he provides for our insufficiency with his own sufficiency. Grace echoes in every line, because God displays himself in every Word. That is why our own hearts yearn for the Word at a soul level. The world (and some believers) will long for an experience of God in personal sensation or exceptional events. We who understand the nature of the Word recognize that God regularly gathers our souls next to his heart through his Word.

You know the Word of the Psalmist, “As the deer pants for water so, my soul thirsts for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God (Psalm 42:1,2).” We may forget how the Psalmist says that thirst is satisfied: “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times …. I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands.” (Psalm 119:20 & 131)

In his word we find the fountain of God’s truth and care, his own refreshing presence and grace. I have never heard this stated more starkly than when hearing the testimony of a friend who in his adult years came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. He was an ordained minister in a church that considered the Bible a work of men that should be critically dissected for its occasional truths amidst its primitive religious expressions.

By mistake, my friend got hooked into a tour of Israel that had him and his girlfriend traveling with a bunch of evangelical ministers and their wives. One day the tour took them to the Garden Tomb, one of the places in Israel reputed to be where Jesus was buried and rose from the dead. The ministers decided to celebrate communion there. Since my friend had stayed in the background for most of the tour, the others decided now was the time for him to do his share of ministering. He was asked to give the elements. He did so. As this unbelieving minister distributed the elements and the Words of Christ’s saving work in the shadow of this tomb, he was struck not only with the hypocrisy of what he was doing, but with the reality of what Christ had done.

When the service was over, the other ministers continued touring the site. My friend did not. He went back to the tour bus, and waited with an anxiety he can hardly express even now for the others’ return. He says, “For the first time in my life I was thirsty for Scripture, and I felt I would die if we did not get back to the hotel as quickly as possible so that I could read my Bible.” There are streams of living water in the Word that satisfy the thirsty heart with God. Here may you know them. Studying the Word of God as it is in truth the ministry of Christ Jesus to your own soul.

Are You Open to Open Theism?

January 1, 2003 by Editor

By Marvin Padgett. This article addresses an issue that will hopefully sound familiar to the readers of Equip for Ministry. Equip has presented other articles and book reviews on the topic of “open theism.” There is definitely confusion caused by this issue, which though it has old roots, has surfaced in new ways. I was originally asked to speak last summer on this topic at a weekend L’Abri conference in Rochester, MN. The article refers to a teaching about God that strikes at the heart of who God is and what He does or does not do. It is a teaching that causes much confusion in many of our “evangelical” churches in America. While the average church member may not be familiar with the technical designation of open theism, they have no doubt been exposed to its teaching.

The Openness of God, written by Clark Pinnock, et al, is one of the clearest presentations of open theism. Pinnock and others have caused significant controversy and brought attention to the doctrine of God and the accompanying doctrine of providence. (See the book review section, particularly When Worlds Collide.) Christians need to be careful to understand these writings and the errors involved.

Pinnock asserts that much (if not all) of the future is open, i.e., it is not set, definite, or pre-determined. It is open because the future is not objectively determined. The future, according to the open theists, is shaped greatly by the as yet unmade choices of free moral agents- human beings created in the image of God.

These writers are concerned with the meaning of “choice.” Do human beings make real choices unfettered by God or man; or are those choices predetermined by the ancient decrees of God? This idea, often called “libertarian freedom,” is the bedrock issue at stake here. It appears to drive all the other issues. How can human beings be held accountable for their choices if another being, in this case, God, predetermines all those choices? It follows, then, that if the future is real and human beings make unfettered, real choices, as free moral agents, the future has not yet been determined. So, while this gets much press, it is all tied back to the issue of libertarian freedom.

Open theism also appears to be driven by an attempt to get at the age-old nemesis of theology, the problem of evil. Both John Sanders and Greg Boyd, advocates of open theism, bring this up early in their basic works, The God Who Risks and The God of the Possible. John Sanders tragically lost a brother, which seems to have contributed to his thinking. Greg Boyd tells the tragic story of betrayal and divorce in the life of a young woman he calls Suzanne. Obviously, our circumstance colors our thinking far more than we realize.

The real lightning rod issue is divine foreknowledge. This gets all of the press, heat, anger, and disputation. To paraphrase Senator Howard Baker in the Watergate Hearings of the 1970s, how much does God know and when does He learn it? Open theists assert that while God is omniscient(all-knowing), His knowledge is necessarily limited by the degree or extent of knowledge that is intrinsically “knowable”-hence the title of Greg Boyd’s book, The God of the Possible. God does have exhaustive knowledge of the past, the present and the future, but only to the extent that knowledge of the future is obtainable. Whether God cannot know the future or whether He has chosen to limit himself is an “open question.” Some of these ideas come from the normal limitations seen upon other attributes of God. To be omnipotent does not mean that God can do absolutely everything. God cannot make a round square, etc.

Open theism is sometimes referred to as presentism, relational theism, the risk model, and the fellowship model. You may either hear those terms or come across them in your reading on the subject. Presentism emphasizes God’s exhaustive knowledge of the present. Relational and fellowship models emphasize His desire to have genuine, give-and-take relations with human beings. The latter goals are raised to a high level in open theism.

This give-and-take issue is quite important. Open theists share this concern with another group called “process theists.” While they have some things in common, the differences between them are real. Both camps emphasize the vital importance of real give-and-take relations between God and humanity. Process theologians generally see God only working in and through the workings of the universe. For them, God exercises no coercive control over the universe, but works through it exclusively by means of persuasion. Open theists, on the other hand, assert belief that God created the heavens and the earth and will, in some way, shape outcomes, especially the eschaton or the end of times, though its day and hour remain indefinite, even to God. Process theists believe, by and large, that open theists are really like the “classical theists.” An open theist thinks that God can, and does, enter decisively into the affairs of the world. Both camps, process and open, reject almost all forms of classical theology or theism. But what is classical theology, you may ask?

Classical theism is rooted, according to the open theists, both in the Greeks and the church of the Middle Ages. They stressed several things about God: God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), immutable (unchanging), omnipresent (all present) and God is simple (unity). These may be taken as the primary theistic set, or the primary theistic attributes of God according to classical theism.

Open theists routinely charge their more traditional opponents with being classical theists, in the sense of the above. In this classical system God knows all, controls all, can neither feel no emotions, nor suffer. He has no parts, and He is one essence. Actually, we learn that this description better fits the god of Islam and of philosophical theology but it does not accurately represent the God of the Bible.

There are many passages in the Bible where God holds human beings accountable for their actions. Open theists ask, “If we are responsible, how can God have determined the future?” How can God even know the future, because if God knows the future, the future must be the way God knows it to be, hence man is not responsible. But, even open theists claim that God holds no false beliefs about the future. What they dispute is whether the future is “knowable,” not that God holds false beliefs.

How is it, then, that God can retain the immense power that open theists admit that he holds? How is it that while God does not know the future, He does have exhaustive knowledge of all the possibilities? While you and I can only make good guesses about multiple outcomes, like a good baseball manager does in preparing his team for the possible eventualities for a single pitch, God, like a super-competent universe manager is always ready with the right play, no matter what happens. To illustrate something of the open theists position, God is a bit like Andy Taylor on the television series The Andy Griffith Show. We are a bit like Barney, his sidekick, always messing things up. God, like Andy, is always lurking around with superior plans, ready to take care of us. He, no more than Andy, controls what is about to happen but is always waiting in the wings or behind the scenes to come the rescue and fix things when Barney acts. It always ends in the right way because Andy sees that it does. So it is with God, according to the open theists.

To further build their case, open theists readily and quickly point to many passages in Scripture where God is grieved, regrets, and “repents” over his people’s actions when things do not seem to go God’s way. Actually, there appears to be confusion caused by some Bible translations which use the term “repent” in the place of “relent,” which some believe is a more accurate translation and interpretation. As a result people are confused over those different Hebrew words. The underlying Hebrew word for repent, according to some outstanding scholars, is never used of God. Human beings are said to repent, but never God.

For example:1 Samuel 15:35

“And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.”

There are other passages where God appears to regret what has come to pass, and where He seems to express surprise as the Jeremiah passage brings forth.

It is extremely difficult to recognize the God of the Bible in any of these models mentioned, open, classical or process. The God we find in the Bible is at once more interesting and mysterious than the open theists appear are willing to admit. Michael Horton, a Reformed Theologian and professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, California, said recently in the Journal of Evangelical Theological Society: “Among the ironic similarities between the methodological approach of open theism and hyper-Calvinists is the fact that both are apparently impatient with the face of mystery.”

Basically, the open theists attempt to present us with a God that we can understand. Oh yes, He’s bigger and far more intelligent, but at heart He is sort of like us, therefore, we can understand him. The reason Calvinists hold to what we would call a “baby talk” view of revelation is because they see revelation as dealing with a being that is beyond us. Though He is a personal God, He is also sovereign and mysterious. While we, being made in God’s image, are personal, He is an infinite person who deals in realms in which we can only grope. We are not infinite; hence we have only limited understanding of Him and His ways.

Is God in total control over His creation? Can He know the future? Does He have a pre-determined plan of all things that come to pass or is He as the open theists suggests, waiting to see what happens and then come to the rescue. The Bible gives a clear response. For example: Isaiah 40-48 asserts that the reason Israel may safely believe in God is because He not only knows the future exhaustively, but controls the future exhaustively. (Also see Ephesians. 1:11 and Proverbs 16: 23.)

Isaiah 41:21-24

“Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. ²²Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. ²³Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified. ²⁴Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you.”

Jesus taught his disciples that the heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask (Matt. 6:8.) If that is true then there seems to be a contradiction between what Jesus says about God and what the open theists teach. According to Jesus, God does both know and control the future. He is not taken by surprise when something happens because Jesus is not referring to a limited uncertain knowledge but a knowing of all things completely and exhaustively, past, present, and future.

None of the above touches on another part of God’s knowledge that is a wonderful thing for Christians, that God even knows whose names are written in the book of life from the before the foundation of the world. Our God is a great and wonderful God. There is nothing outside His control. Although we do not understand or need to understand all there is to know about God, we must not add to nor subtract from what God tells us about himself in the Bible.Our Westminster Confession of Faith summarizes what the Bible teaches on this subject like this:

“God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet, so as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. Although God knows whatsoever may or may not come to pass upon all supposed conditions, yet hath he not decreed any thing because he foresaw it as future, or as that which would come to pass upon such condition,” WCF 3:1,2.

A Better Way to Handle Abuse

September 1, 2002 by Editor

By Ken Sande. Sexual abuse in the church does not have to end in broken lives, agonizing lawsuits, and divided congregations. When people follow God’s instructions, these terrible incidents can result in healing, justice, and healthier churches.When victims of abuse first come forward, I have found that most of them are seeking four reasonable responses. First, they are looking for understanding, compassion, and emotional support. Second, they want the church to admit that the abuse occurred and to acknowledge that it was wrong. Third, they want people to take steps to protect others from similar harm. And fourth, they expect compensation for the expense of needed counseling.

As national headlines reveal, many churches have unwisely ignored these legitimate needs. Instead they have blindly followed their lawyers’ and insurance adjusters’ textbook strategy to avoid legal liability. They try to cover up the offense and deny responsibility. All too often they distance themselves from the victims and their families, leaving them feeling betrayed and abandoned.

Many frustrated victims eventually run into a lawyer who tells them they could win a million-dollar damages award. Soon everyone is locked in an adversarial process that reopens wounds and generates even more pain and anger. Whatever the verdict, both sides lose, since money alone can never heal the wounds of abuse.There is a better way.
God has designed a powerful peacemaking strategy for dealing with offenses between people, including sexual abuse. When churches follow it, the cycle of abuse is broken and restoration can begin.

COMPASSION

If there is one place that victims of abuse should find understanding, compassion, and support, it is the church, which God commands to respond to suffering with tenderness and selfless love. “Be kind and compassionate to one another.” “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” “Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others” (Ephesians 4:31; Philippians 2:3-4). Instead of pulling away from victims, churches should draw closer to them, listening to their stories, mourning with and praying for them, and bearing their burdens. Responding with love and compassion is one of the best ways to show that the church abhors abuse and is committed to serving the victim.

CONFESSION

Attorneys instinctively instruct their clients to “make no admissions.” Hundreds of churches have followed this shortsighted counsel in recent years, prolonging the agony of abuse victims, infuriating juries, and triggering multimillion-dollar punitive damages awards. In contrast, everyone benefits when people trust God’s promise, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy (Proverbs 28:13). A church should acknowledge its contribution to an abusive situation and encourage the abuser to confess his sin, take responsibility for his actions, and seek needed counseling. These steps can prevent a court battle and speed healing for victim and offender alike. (Since an impulsive admission could allow an insurer to cancel coverage, church leaders should consult with their insurer, lawyer, and a Christian conciliator to plan their words carefully.)

COMPENSATION FOR COUNSELING

The Bible places a strong emphasis on requiring a wrongdoer to repair any damage he has caused to another person. “Pay the injured man for the loss of his time and see that he is completely healed” (Exodus 21:19). Therefore, churches should be earnest to do whatever they can to bring wholeness to victims of abuse. As soon as abuse is revealed, the church should immediately come to the aid of the victim and his family, holding forth the redeeming power of the Gospel and offering to provide or cover the cost of needed counseling.

CHANGE

When abuse takes place, statements of regret are not enough. Genuine repentance is demonstrated by making changes to protect others from similar harm. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” “Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Luke 3:8; Psalm 82:4). This requires removing the abuser from his position and implementing screening and supervision procedures to prevent other abusive people from being in counseling or child-care positions. Such actions not only protect others from harm but also relieve abuse victims, who are deeply concerned that others not be treated as they were.

CONCILIATION

It may be difficult for a church to implement these steps if a victim’s family is already threatening legal action or an insurer refuses to support personal contacts. These situations can still be resolved without a legal battle, however, by submitting the matter to biblical mediation or arbitration. “If you have disputes, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church” (1 Corinthians 6:4). Christian conciliation by outside neutrals can provide a constructive forum to deal with both the spiritual and legal issues related to abuse. This legally enforceable process provides appropriate confidentiality and promotes confession and restitution, which help to bring about justice and reconciliation.

These five steps are not theoretical. I have seen many churches follow this process, usually with great success. In one case, a pastor discovered that a man had abused several children in the church, including the pastor’s daughter. In spite of his own personal anguish, the pastor prayed to respond to the situation in a way that would reflect the love of Jesus. After consulting with a Christian conciliator and the church’s insurer, the pastor and his elders ministered to everyone who had been hurt by this dreadful sin.They persuaded the abuser to confess his sin to the families of the children and to turn himself in to the police. He willingly accepted his prison sentence, and was even grateful that his destructive behavior had finally been stopped.

The leaders spent many hours with the families themselves, grieving and praying with them, and making sure they received needed support and counseling. In addition, the leaders improved their screening and supervision policies to guard against similar incidents in the future.They also reached out to the abuser’s wife and children, who were so ashamed that they planned to leave the church. But the leaders understood what being a shepherd is all about. They ministered to this broken family, reassured them of God’s love, and kept them in the fold.

Instead of being dragged through an excruciating lawsuit, the victims and their families, the abuser and his family, and the entire congregation experienced the redeeming power of God. This remarkable process culminated months later during a Christmas Eve service. As the church prepared to sing “Silent Night,” two young girls came forward to light the candles. One of them had been abused. The other was the daughter of the abuser. As they finished their task and smiled at each other, the congregation saw tangible evidence of God’s love and grace.Abuse in the church does not have to end with catastrophe. When a church follows its Lord, even this great tragedy can result in healing and restoration.

Piggybacking

July 1, 2002 by Editor

By Susan Spradlin. Good behavior of the children in the classroom makes such a difference. Would you believe me if I told you that someone else has already laid most of the groundwork for the management of your classroom and the discipline of your children in your Sunday school class? This same someone has already trained your children in classroom management procedures! Who is this person? The schoolteacher.You can “piggyback” by letting her training benefit your ministry. Piggyback by taking the child’s familiarity of the school classroom into the Sunday school to provide a more effective learning environment.

Where do you start?

Talk with the Christian Education person who oversees your Sunday school and let him or her know what you’d like to do and why. Understand that, probably, the schoolteacher will not be a member of your church and will have a relationship with God different from yours, but still functions as the primary educator of the child. You will be looking to integrate some of his methods with your own Christian worldview in the Sunday school classroom.

Your next step is to spend time in prayer.

Finding out who the students’ teachers are and making your initial contact will be next on your list. Invite a parent to introduce you to the teacher. The parent might explain that she thinks it would be beneficial for her child’s Sunday school teacher to know about the classroom-learning environment. After all, that’s where most of the learning is taking place. The parent could even accompany you to the classroom. Don’t forget other people who might know the child’s teacher such as other schoolteachers who go to your church.Remember, that you and the teacher have a lot in common-the most important thing being that you both love and care about the student you are teaching!

Make an appointment to visit the classroom. Let the teacher know who you are, share your common interest in the child, and explain that you are interested in finding out classroom management and procedure techniques, and exploring what could be duplicated in your Sunday school class

Helpful Tips:

Teachers are legally bound by right to privacy laws regarding the students so be careful to not infringe upon these laws in your questions or discussions. If your visit with the teacher takes place without the child’s parent present, let the teacher know up front that it is not your intention to discuss any student’s behavior or academic standing.

Teachers experience massive time constraints and demands. Let the teacher know that this won’t be a long, drawn-out visit

The Shepherding Ministry of Elders

July 1, 2002 by Editor

By Donald J. MacNair. For the church to be healthy, it needs healthy leadership. In my experience, leadership is one of only a few keys to being a church that God blesses. But what counts as “good leadership”? Is there a kind of leading that conforms to the Bible’s vision of a healthy church (as over against a kind of leading that does not)?

Emphatically, yes: there is a kind of leading that both conforms to Scripture and increases church health. The Bible gives two complementary directives that together imply a rather definite leadership structure. The first of these two biblical directives is that the church is a group of believers, each of whom should be exercising his or her gifts for the spiritual good of the group. [Paul] exhorts the Roman congregation: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…” God wants us to treat other members’ gifts with integrity.

Many leaders don’t treat members’ gifts with integrity. In many churches with “strong leadership,” the church’s elders are perceived as a board of directors, as leaders who tell the people what to do. Such an attitude indicates to me that this church has failed to implement the Bible’s commitment to the integrity of members’ gifts.

Often a church exhibits a double imbalance. On the one hand, it views its elders as a board of directors, telling everybody what to do. On the other hand, incongruously, it believes that the congregation has a right to vote on everything-something near and dear to the hearts of Americans!

The Bible’s other directive is this: regard a church’s leaders as accountable to God for its members. “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.” (Heb. 13:17). The elders oversee the church’s life and ministry in order to give an account to God of the people He has entrusted to their care. Does that mean that the elders are supposed to tell everybody else what to do and how to do it? I believe that Scripture in no way supports that interpretation.

But how can church leaders exercise accountability and at the same time treat members’ gifts with integrity? [They must] realize the difference between accountability and responsibility. To be responsible for something means that it is included in your job description. To be accountable means that God looks to you to see to it that it gets done, whether by you or by someone else. To state it positively, the elders must find a way to delegate to ordinary members the responsibility for key decisions in the life and ministry of the church, while at the same time maintaining accountability for the affairs of the church.

If the congregation perceives the elders as dictators, it will perceive itself as those who are dictated to. If it perceives the leadership as nonexistent, it will perceive itself as on its own, probably bereft of focus and unity. If it perceives the elders as shepherds along the lines of the biblical model, members will see themselves as sheep (in the best sense!): cared for, nurtured, following not by coercion but free to serve creatively in an orderly context. As elders strive to develop a shepherding relationship with members, that church’s infrastructure develops into one that both allows divine directives (use of members’ gifts, elders’ orderly accounting) to be implemented, and allows God to work through it.

Whatever else an elder says or does, whatever jobs he carries out, whatever words he utters, programs he administers, visits he pays, or decisions he makes, the orientation of his life and the heart of his ministry before God consist in shepherding the people whom God has entrusted to his care. I became convinced that when sacrificial love and care motivate elders to enable the saints to grow in Christ, not only do those elders become in fuller measure the leaders God meant them to be, but also the congregation grows and serves in the way God meant them to. Caring, loving, equipping-these three words express the essence of Christ’s lesson about shepherding. A good shepherd is one whose care for the sheep drives him to equip them for doing what sheep do best, even at the cost of his own life.

In the church, members should follow the lead of elders, not because the elders tell them what to do, but because the elders have cared for them. What the members should feel is not compulsion, but care. As they experience the depth of his commitment to them, they know him and trust him completely.

It is important to see that all these wonderful benefits do not do for the sheep what the sheep are meant to do for themselves. Rather, they furnish an optimal environment in which the sheep can grow and flourish. Shepherds provide the safe environment. Secure sheep are sheep that produce wool, lambs, and meat. In other words, elders nurture church life, but cannot produce it. Their goal is the spiritual growth and ministry of their members, and this they can encourage and enhance, but cannot program.

Building this mind-set requires the same activities as maintaining it. This means that all elders, at every stage of shepherd maturity, must be doing the same things. Simply stated they are:

Mediate, individually and as a session, on this model of Christ’s.

Pray, individually and as a session, for the Holy Spirit to actualize the shepherd model in all aspects of your life and ministry.

Develop a strategy to hold one another accountable to think and minister like shepherds.

Devise and implement plans that actualize this kind of mind-set and ministry. For example, devote regular meetings to these activities.

Devise a way to assess your efforts. Your session must devise a practical way to listen regularly to the sheep for their testimony as to your shepherding them.

I have made my case that the shepherd model shapes the elder’s ministry from the roots of his being to the things he says and does, and that the session should fashion an optimal environment for the congregation’s spiritual growth and ministry.

I utilize the acrostic G-O-E-S to help elders identify and group their responsibilities as guardian, overseer, example, and shepherd. Guarding the sheep. Positively, the elders ensure that members are growing in Christ. Negatively, the elders discourage members from pursuing sinful practices. This coincides with church discipline.

Being an elder consists almost by definition of overseeing. Some elders confuse power with authority. Being determined not to exercise “raw power,” they avoid authoritative leadership, or at least fail to lead with any confidence. Others, determined to account properly to God for their charges, muscle them into obedience. The confusion between authority and power parallels the failure to distinguish between accountability and responsibility, which we discussed above.

Possibly the most effective ministry an elder can give to his church is his own [example of] Christlikeness. Plus, a Christlike elder is one who shepherds according to Christ’s model.Shepherding also refers to the concrete activity of looking after individual church members, monitoring their spiritual progress, and encouraging them on a person-to-person basis to grow in love and obedience to Christ.Perhaps you feel overwhelmed by the task, especially by the prospect of shaping your whole life to fit the shepherd model, on top of everything else you have to do! Of course, by now we can see that the shepherd’s heart in principle is not an add-on, but rather the fountainhead.

In this fallen world, not every man who now serves as an elder meets these qualifications (I Timothy 3:2-7; Titus 1:5-9). Over the years, I have seen biblically qualified elders, I have seen men in office who fail to meet these qualifications, and recognize this fact, I have seen men in office who fail to recognize their lack of qualification, and I have seen men in office who don’t qualify, who don’t recognize it, who don’t know what it means, and who don’t care!It is also important to develop procedures to insure that those who are chosen to be elders do meet the biblical qualifications. I recommend the following plan to this end, which I have practiced in my own pastoral ministries and which I recommend as a consultant:

Have members nominate men to be elders.

For a period of several months, train these candidates, give them field experience, and pray together as a church for God’s leading in the upcoming election.

Conclude the training period with a gracious but careful evaluation by the session (which is the complete group of elders currently installed to serve) of each candidate’s qualifications and maturity. Offer for the congregation’s approval only those candidates whom the session evaluates positively.

The congregation, with no power to make additional nominations, elects elders from among these trained and qualified candidates.

This system effectively provides leadership that conforms to God’s own qualifications.

I have no chapter on the pastor and more than one on elders! Paul exhorts Timothy: “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (I Timothy 5:17). His words indicate that God intends there to be a plurality of elders, those officially entrusted with the spiritual oversight of the church, among whom are numbered elders whose work is preaching and teaching.

Thus on the one hand, we need to avoid the error of conceiving of elders as insignificant; on the other hand, we need to avoid the error of conceiving of the pastor as distinct from, and superior to, the elders. But everything I say about elders in these chapters applies without distinction to the pastor, who is an elder among elders. The pastor does not minister alone: he shepherds as part of a team, and he shepherds among a Spirit-gifted flock.

Questions for Discussion:

Gauge your own church’s shepherding outlook:

Do members perceive that they are being shepherded?

Do elders believe that they are shepherding?

What evidence can you supply to support your assessments in question 1?

What factors currently prevent your church from developing a richer shepherding ministry?

What steps can you take to follow God’s call to shepherding ministry?

Praying the Psalms

May 1, 2002 by Editor

“Whoever prays the Psalms earnestly and regularly will soon stop those other light and personal little devotional prayers and say: Ah, there is not the juice, the strength, the passion, the fire which I find in the Psalms.” Martin Luther[i]

By Archie Parrish. God blessed my wife and me with three children. From the moment of their births we talked to them. Daily we did everything we could to get them to repeat what we said. At first only Jean and I could understand the sounds they made. Day after day, we continued talking to them, and after a while they began echoing our words back to us. Single words grew into short sentences. Because we continued to talk to our children they learned to talk to us.

In a similar fashion God teaches His children the language of prayer. The Holy Spirit prays for us and helps us learn to pray. The Holy Spirit inspired the whole Bible; and He uses all Scripture to help us pray. But He especially uses the book of Psalms. As we pray the Psalms, the Holy Spirit helps us commune with the Father, conform to the Son, and combat the devil.

Only men and women set free from sin through faith in Christ can successfully fight spiritual warfare. As sons and daughters in a conscious vital relationship with our Father and with His family in a local church, we can properly serve as soldiers in Christ’s army and gain victory in battles with the world, the flesh, and the devil. Leaders in spiritual warfare need not be brilliant; they cannot be self-confident. They are to be humble servants, who are courageous because they are confident in the Lord. They lead by example and are people of prayer who multiply after their kind. Soldiers in spiritual warfare are humble followers of Jesus who maintain their morale by a steady diet of psalms and basic Christian truth, especially Scripture. They boldly engage the enemy. Spiritual warriors know their enemies and believe God is sufficient to defeat them. Spiritual warriors believe kingdom-focused prayer is their super-weapon.

The Calvinist reformers were led by a militant aristocracy and financed by wealthy bourgeoisie. They put up long and frequently successful battles. Yet the leadership and finance could not have won the day had the individual Calvinists not possessed, to quote Cromwell, “a conscience of what they were doing.” In many cases, they won their battles or retrieved those they had lost, not through generalship nor through greater economic power, but because of superior morale. In building up and maintaining this morale, the battle hymns of the Psalter played a conspicuous part.[ii]

The psalms owed their importance in this connection primarily to Calvin himself. Usually when thinking of all his influence on the resistance movements, we tend to stress his teachings, his organization, and his personality. Yet at the grass-roots level these perhaps did not have all of the impact which we usually attribute to them. The thing that really “grabbed” the common man, the ordinary Calvinistic soldier, was something much more mundane: his catechetical training[iii] and the congregational singing of the psalms.

David said, “I give myself to prayer” (Psalm 109:4). Literally the original Hebrew reads, “I prayer”, i.e. “I am prayer.” The Holy Spirit desires to help us become prayer. Here is how He is helping me. I begin every day with the book of Psalms. I divided the book into thirty almost equal portions and I spend about thirty minutes prayerfully reading aloud one portion. I use the English Standard Version because it is an accurate translation and it is easy to read.

This daily discipline has been so rewarding that I am now trying to learn all 150 Psalms by heart. It was not unusual for devout Jews in the time of Jesus and His Apostles to know by heart the “whole of David,” i.e., the entire book of Psalms. It is probable that our Lord Jesus had all the Psalms memorized. They certainly were the very fabric of His life. In His most painful moments, as He faced death on the cross, He instinctively cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46). These are David’s words recorded in Psalm 22:1.

Jesus’ last words from the cross were, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). As soon as their children began to talk, devout Jewish mothers taught them to pray, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:5). Each night before going to sleep the children prayed these words. To this childhood prayer, Jesus adds the personal address, “Father.” Concerning His atoning work on the cross, Jesus declared, “It is finished” (John 19:30), then He prayed to the Father as a little child turning in for the night.

Paul urged earlyChristiansto “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). Praying the Psalms built the early Christians into an army of kingdom intercessors. New Testament writers quote more verses from the Psalms than any other Old Testament book.[iv] Praying the Psalter shaped the life of early Christianity into a militant kingdom focus.

Martin Luther relied on the Psalms to become a man of prayer. Said Luther:”When I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little Psalter, hurry to my room, or, if it be the day and hour for it, to the church where a congregation is assembled and, as time permits, I say quietly to myself and word-for-word the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and, if I have time, some words of Christ or of Paul, or some psalms, just as a child might do.”[v]

The Secret that unlocks the Psalter is the fact that it is the prayer book of Jesus, the Messiah and Mediator. He is the Head; the Church is His Body. And Head and Body are one; so the Body should join in the prayers of the Head. With this perspective we can pray all the Psalms, even when the writer protests his innocence or invokes God’s judgment, or goes through infinite depths of suffering. Jesus Christ Himself is praying here and in the whole Psalter.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer observes:”This insight the New Testament and the Church have always recognized and declared. The Man Jesus Christ, to whom no affliction, no ill, no suffering is alien and who yet was the wholly innocent and righteous one, is praying in the Psalter through the mouth of His Church. The Psalter is the prayer book of Jesus Christ in the truest sense of the word. The Psalter is the vicarious prayer of Christ for His Church. This prayer belongs not to the individual member, but to the whole Body of Christ. In the Psalter we learn to pray on the basis of Christ’s prayer.”[vi]Ask the Father to show you the praying Christ in the Psalms and teach you how to use the Psalms in your prayer life.

A Significant Question

One question that often is asked concerning praying the Psalms is: How can I pray a Psalm when it does not express exactly what I feel in my heart at the moment? Anyone who is truly honest will admit the need to pray against our own heart in order to pray rightly. After all is said and done, it is not what we want to pray that is important, but that for which God wants us to pray. Jeremiah warns, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) If we only follow our hearts, we would probably only pray for “our daily bread,” God wants us to pray that His will be done, not our will. As you pray the Psalms, begin by praying, “Father, enable me to pray not from the poverty of my heart, but from the richness of Your word.”

Making the Psalms yours

Let me close this plea to pray the Psalms by sharing with you a few practical suggestions. Below is a thirty-day schedule for praying through the Psalms. Each section requires about fifteen minutes, depending on how much meditation I do.

Before reading pray: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law…. Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law and observe it with my whole heart” (Psalm 119:18, 34). “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23, 24).

While reading turn the words of the Psalms into prayer.

Read aloud, in a normal voice if possible but at least in a whisper. (This helps concentration and avoids distraction.)

Read on your knees, when possible.

Read daily-I usually do this when the Lord awakens me early in the morning.

Read frequently during the day–Carry the Psalter with you and refer to the day’s portion frequently.

Let us join Luther in the following prayer:”Our dear Lord, who has given to us and taught us to pray the Psalter and the Lord’s Prayer, grant us also the spirit of prayer and grace so that we pray with enthusiasm and earnest faith, properly and without ceasing, for we need to do this; he has asked us for it and therefore wants to have it from us. To him be praise, honor, and thanksgiving. Amen.”[vii]

[i] Foreword to the Neuburg edition of the Psalms, 1545.

[ii] W. Stanford Reid, The Battle Hymns of the Lord-Calvinist Psalmody of the Sixteenth Century, p. 36.

[iii] The use of question and answer instruction used in Catechisms was part of the Passover celebration. See Exodus 12:25-27: “When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.'”

[iv] Nestl