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Uprooting Roots of Bitterness

Posted in Christian Life, Church, Gospel, Mentoring, pastoral ministry, Servant Leadership, tagged , , , , , , , on 11/28/2023| 5 Comments »

Parenting a toddler has taught us that people don’t always throw tantrums because they are essentially bad people. Yes, theologically, they are totally depraved for sure. Children included. But sometimes they are just hungry. Other times they are sleepy or maybe not getting the attention they deserve. Most times they are hurting and acting out. The crazy thing is we accept this with toddlers and teenagers but somehow ignore it with adults. But you try to argue with some people before they get their morning coffee and you’ll know they are a toddler in a suit. Or try to handle something with your spouse past 10pm and you might end the marriage altogether. All I’m saying is we are too quick to give a prognosis for what we have only superficial observed. There’s always something behind the symptoms. A root behind bitterness and a bigger issue below the surface. If we are to disciple people in a godly and more biblical way we must wear the doctor’s stethoscope and be ready to listen more keenly.  

Take the example of the brother who never sees eye to eye with you especially if you are their department leader or pastor. A quick prognosis would conclude that he doesn’t like you. He wishes he was the leader and not you. Perhaps, he thinks he can do a better job. Well, that might be the case though it’s also possible that you are insecure and assuming everyone is out to get you. What if he genuinely sees the alternative that you don’t see. And what if he doesn’t like you? Should everybody like you? But here’s something else, what if he’s hurting and asking for your attention? Just think about that. If you are a Christian leader, especially in Gospel ministry then your duty is not only to the whole group but to each person. Perhaps before we label our people as disloyal and unsubmissive we should ask why they are dissatisfied with us. Is it something we are doing wrong? Are we doing justice to the sheep the Lord entrusted to us especially the one who is “unruly” like we are often with our Saviour? And if it’s not about us then what are we ignoring about them? 

Pursue Peace and Holiness

The Hebrew author is very careful to tell his church to not let roots of bitterness grow among them, see Hebrews 12:15b. Now some of us reading this might think more politically. That is, squash them before they lead to a riot. As the 48 laws of power would say, crush your enemy totally. Others might think how sad that someone wants to ruin such a good fellowship. They may recommend we discipline and kick out such a member. But I don’t think that’s what the author has in mind. In this very communal and pivotal section of the letter, he sees this as another way the church with its leadership can pursue peace and holiness, see Hebrews 12:14. In other words, get to the bottom of this as you pursue communal holiness and peace with everyone in the fellowship. We should be very concerned when one of us is voicing objections and getting bitter with the fellowship. Not so that we might kick them out but that we might extend the love and grace of God to them, see Hebrews 12:15a. We should be very interested in the root cause not so we can shame or destroy them but that together we might pursue peace and holiness.

Turn the Trouble to Gospel Opportunity

You know what is crazy? As we seek the root behind bitterness we’ll actually do great ministry together. We might find a lot more people are hurting in this area. And by the way, it could have nothing to do with the church or the ministry and its leadership. Maybe it’s trouble at home, trouble at the workplace or one of those seasons in the Christian life when you are doubting everything. Whatever it is, we’ll be better brothers and sisters giving people, even those who oppose us, the benefit of the doubt and extending Christian love and grace. Think about the ministry we neglect when we quickly label people as the black sheep of the fellowship. Think about the Gospel testimony we can make as we pursue them. Think about the good works we can scatter on their path. Think about the message it sends to the rest of the ministry within and beyond. Sadly this is a lesson we only seem to realise later in life. Actually, even the great apostle Paul seems to have realised it later with John Mark, see 2 Timothy 4:11. Let’s stand on the shoulders of the word of God and see opportunity where others see trouble.

Look Beyond the Bitterness

But what if the person is really out to get us? What if after careful consideration what we find are deep roots of malice and evil intent? Well, to begin with, I’d say we’ll act in a more godly way after careful investigation not after a quick conclusion. Secondly, experience shows that not everything said in opposition is always untrue. When I find myself in a conflict and someone says something in anger I can easily dismiss them. But you know what? Though it’s delivered in the wrong way it doesn’t mean it’s untrue. Most often I find there was a lot of truth only I didn’t want to hear it. Speaking in anger is like speaking while drunk. People will say things they wish they hadn’t said but at least you’ll know how they see you. And even if it is malicious the Gospel tells me I’m a lot worse than I imagine and yet loved and forgiven so much than I’ll ever comprehend. In other words, if it were God speaking he would say a lot more and worse things about me which are true and yet my status before him would remain secure because of Jesus. So I shouldn’t kick out the brother who opposes me just yet because nothing he says is ultimately untrue. But finally, I should be happy to have people who keep me on my toes instead of an army of yes-men around me. So often they’ll tell me the truth no one wants to say. All I’m saying is don’t throw out the baby with the bath water yet. Take time to deal with their bitterness in a godly way and don’t be quick to uproot them.

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The Ministry of Putting Out Fires

Posted in Christian Life, Church, Culture, Ministry, pastoral ministry, tagged , , , , , , , , on 11/22/2023| 2 Comments »

Sometimes Gospel ministry feels like working at the ER (emergency room) or being a firefighter. It’s one crisis after another, one emergency after another and one fire after another. A brother’s marriage is falling apart and we rush to salvage the remains of their relationship. That sister church is on the brink of division and we quickly deploy a rescue team. A friend is facing a financial crisis and we wear our financial management caps. Every day brings with it a new crisis and even when we take a break we know it’ll be short-lived because crisis is the norm. For some people that’s what Gospel ministry is all about. Dress up ready for the next crisis. The problem with this approach to ministry is that it’s not sustainable. Actually, before we know it we’ll find ourselves falling into crisis. There’s also no telling how many others are neglected along the way as we rush to save the most vulnerable. If hospitals only had ERs soon every “small” illness would end up as an emergency. It’s the small fires neglected today that burn us down tomorrow.

This means that while we need the grace to serve in and out of season we also need the wisdom to plan before time. The thing about effective ERs and firefighting departments is they plan for fires months and years before they happen. They assume any place will catch fire even inside their own office and plan accordingly. They play out every crisis scenario and prepare for it. They train for a hundred hours for those few minutes of madness. So when it happens they are not running in a rat race trying to figure out what to do. Instead, they are applying their training with zeal to help those in need but also with a readiness to be tested. Could we try that with our ministry approach? It sounds crazy to assume the worst-case scenario in our ministry meetings. But working with sinful people in a broken world means it’s never farfetched to assume the worst will happen. It’s only a matter of time before we have to deal with the unthinkable and do so with no prior warning or preparation whatsoever.

But we trust the Lord?

Someone might ask, won’t we be digging our own holes when we expect the worst to happen? What about our superstition that says if you think about bad things they’ll happen? And what about expecting good things from the Lord and giving people the benefit of the doubt? All valid questions especially on this side of the globe. We are good Christians who trust the Lord and expect the best outcome. It’s no wonder we are among the happiest people in the world. All too good. But the same word that tells us to cling unto Jesus as our anchor in distress also reminds us that we are swimming in dangerous waters. It says here we have no home and if our Saviour faced trouble so will we. It says we have an enemy within, our own sin. Enemies around us, the indwelling sin of our fellow brothers and sisters and sin in the community we live in. In this regard, a biblical Christian is to be both peace-loving as a dove and yet as wise and ready as a serpent, Matthew 10:16. We are to have our head in every situation, 2 Tim 4:5. To be ready for bad times not burying our heads in the sand.

Expecting the Worst is Spiritual

So assuming I’ve convinced you to change approach then you might ask, how do we go about this? I thought you’d never ask. First, let’s accept that expecting the worst is no less spiritual compared to expecting the best outcome. We pray for the best but we prepare for the worst. We wait for the crown while carrying the cross. Second, let’s agree that giving people the benefit of the doubt should also be balanced with the reality that they are sinners living in a broken world. Yes, a pastor can cheat and a ministry leader can steal. And yet they can be as generous and loving as the next Romeo. Don’t be naive. Also, don’t spritualise everything. Remember a male pastor is still a man. A sister in Christ is still a daughter of Eve. Finally, and I really hope we can be convinced of this, let’s agree that planning for the worst is not an aside to our ministry but a good part of loving and serving people. What would we rather do, play it safe until the worst hits and you start running like a madman or do ministry with preparedness for whatever comes? I think the latter is actually more godly, more loving and more spiritual.

Imagine All Outcomes

I would suggest next time we meet let’s survey our pressure points and check areas of vulnerability. Play out every possible outcome and not theoretically like some random game. No, let’s brainstorm all the things that could go wrong starting from inside and going outside. Those in leadership are the ones who would cause us the greatest harm. Start with the leader and the ministry team then move to the departmental leaders and the ministry as a whole. Build accountability at every level, and for heavens’ sake stop spiritualising everything. But also think about all the things that could work out so well. One to balance the mood but also prepare for the gaps that success might create. Yes, I must say being richly blessed can also expose our vulnerabilities. It’s the good days that we enjoy as a ministry that often blind us of the crisis that looms ahead. Supermarkets and planes almost always fall apart when they are about to make it. I’m not saying be a downer or a nosy rosy. Instead, we take God’s blessings with gratitude but all while remembering we are still not at home.

Play Offence not just Defence

The problem with fighting fires is that you are always playing defence. You are responding and mostly reacting with little preparation. What if we changed the approach? Prepare for the fire long before someone lights the matchbox. Take the case of the sin that could easily break a relationship and make one endanger their own faith and ministry. Do you know what that is to you? What is your idol and what about the idols of your team? Where are they most tempted and how are you protecting yourselves. But if you are afraid to poke noses in your team and open the Pandora box, then check around. What is happening around your ministry circle? What kind of sins are leaders falling into? What temptations are besetting your target people group? Stretch further beyond your theological constituency. What’s happening there? Don’t say that would never happen to you or your team. When it comes to sin and the brokenness of this world we are more similar than we are different. We are capable of a lot more than we imagine. But above all we need to ask, how are we feeding our people? Is the meal they take regularly biblically enriching or are they actually malnourished. Are we giving them the arsenal they need for the day of calamity? Or are we just waiting until the ugly unravels before our eyes? Play offence and learn from others.

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Gospel-centred and Bible-rich

Posted in 1 & 2 Chronicles, Christian Life, Church, Gospel, tagged , on 10/31/2017| Leave a Comment »

A danger was pointed out to me recently that simply being gospel-centred is not enough – for an individual, church or ministry.

Let me try to illustrate with a few diagrams.

  1. Gospel-centred but gospel-assumed rather than gospel-explicit

Gospel assumed

With gospel-assumed there is a lot of talk about gospel but we never quite get around to defining and spelling out exactly what we mean by the gospel. So very quickly not only are we not actually preaching the gospel to others (so no-one is being converted or built up), we start to forget it ourselves.

The solution: We go back to the Bible every day to remind ourselves of the good news from all over Scripture. We need to fill in the word with Bible detail.

For example in my Bible reading this morning I saw in 1 Chronicles 11 a little vignette of the gospel – one man standing against a whole army of Philistines ‘and the LORD saved’ (v14). And I see a tiny picture of the One Man who stood instead of us and triumphed over all our enemies – Satan, death, hell. And I’m reminded that the LORD saves – the most succinct summary of the gospel – salvation belongs to the LORD. His is the victory we will praise for all eternity (Rev. 7:10). I did not save myself. I was not one of David’s mighty men, I was more like a faithless Israelite or a hostile Philistine. I didn’t do a thing to move towards God. But he saved me. The Father chose me, the Son took my place on the cross, the Spirit grabbed me and united me to Christ. Sovereign grace grabbed me.

  1. Gospel-centred but gospel-small rather than gospel-big

Gospel small

With gospel-small there may be explicit regular mention of the gospel but it is a bit formulaic and anemic. I make sure I get into every sermon ‘Jesus died on the cross for us’ but that’s about it. So before long it loses its impact on our hearers or even on our own hearts. It starts to seem like a small thing and (if we’re honest) a rather boring message. So it doesn’t change lives.

The solution: we go back again and again to the Bible – all different parts of the Bible – Psalms, prophecy, letters, stories – to see the richness and depth and vastness and complexity and multi-faceted, multi-coloured beauty of the gospel from the detail of specific Bible texts.

For example in my morning devotion in 1 Chronicles 11 I see David finally acknowledged as king by his people. I see that he is of the same bone and flesh as his people (v1), that he is the shepherd of his people (v2), that he binds himself in covenant to his people (v3). I am reminded by the mention of Uriah the Hittite (v41) that this was not the perfect King. And my eyes are drawn to the Son of God who took bone and flesh that he could be the Second Adam united to his bride and the Second David, Goliath-slaying king over his people, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11, 15) and makes incredible promises binding himself to his people (John 10:27-28; 11:25-26; 12:26; 14:3, 23; 15:7-8).

If I had longer I could try to explore the significance of the King winning Jerusalem for his people (1 Chron. 11:4-9), the pattern of taking advantage of something won for you at great cost (1 Chron. 11:15-10 cf. John 6:53), the need for a hero (1 Chron. 11:20-25. And this is all from one chapter. If we keep doing this from text after text we start to build up a rich, beautiful, big heart-capturing gospel picture.

It’s the difference between a little stick man picture and a 6” by 6” Klimt portrait.

Gospel small - pictures

  1. Gospel-centred but floating rather than rooted

Gospel floating

Gospel-floating is where we do a decent job of explaining the heart of the gospel but it is not rooted into the rest of the Bible text and systematic theology. The gospel is floating unmoored, unanchored, untethered. This is a subtle danger. We can appear to be ‘just wanting to preach the gospel’ and ‘just wanting to preach Bible’ but by failing to tie the gospel into broader biblical themes and doctrinal structures we can drift off into something less than orthodox and biblical. In times of increasing biblical illiteracy this is going to be a serious issue – we can’t take for granted the doctrine of God, doctrine of creation, doctrine of man.

Solution: We go back to the Bible and seek to do exposition which avoids both the danger of eisegesis (where we pour our systematic framework into every verse – a rather boring and dangerous form of exposition) but also the danger of preaching things from one Scripture that assume or are even deny the truths of other Scriptures. We need to go to the Scriptures with a view that it is one story with a consistent theology that we need to seek to learn as well as we’re able (though humbly accepting that no one of us will never see it perfectly).

For example, 1 Corinthians 15:1-10 – that great gospel summary – is actually leaning on a whole lot of stuff. That’s why it says ‘according to the Scriptures’ twice. The idea of ‘dying for our sins’ only makes sense if you know a) what sin is and b) how it is possible for one to die for sins. To really understand this gospel summary I’m going to need to dig into the Old Testament for a complex biblical understanding of sin, including particularly the fact that it is first and foremost against God and calls down the wrath of God. Then I’m going to need to unpack the sacrificial system and the whole idea of a substitute being burnt up in the wrath of God instead of me. And the same is true of ‘rising on the third day according to the Scriptures.’ I’m going to need to look at what resurrection really means – the end time, the judgment day, the need for this creation to be swallowed up in an imperishable holy new creation. Without a lot of biblical undergirding the language of ‘Christ died for you and rose again’ is almost completely meaningless.

Another example: When I look at 1 Chronicles 11:1 and think through the way in which Christ shared our human nature (bone and flesh) I need to connect it all the way back to Genesis 3:16 and the promise of one born of woman who would crush the serpent. I would also need to look forward to what the New Testament says about the human nature of Christ. I would want to be guided in that by the ancient creeds and historic confessions where the church has thought long and hard and come up with very carefully considered words to express the completeness of Christ’s humanity and the wonder of two natures in one person without confusion or separation. I might also want to think of Athanasius and Irenaeus and the huge importance of the incarnation, God becoming man that we might share in his divine nature. Then I might want to think about the ascension and the importance of Christ retaining his human nature there, right now calling me his brother.

One more example: When we read in the prophets of the LORD’s yearning for his beloved people, his heart being moved, his inmost parts (KJV: bowels) being disturbed (e.g. Jeremiah 31:20) then surely we are seeing the very spring of the gospel – the passionate love of God. I’m definitely going to want to preach that to myself and others. But at the same time I’m going to have to be careful I don’t deny the orthodox definition of God. I’ll want to give full force to the biblical language of affections but also keep respectfully in mind the ancient understanding that God is immutable, ‘without parts or passions’ and the biblical material that says that God is wholly other and ‘not like a man.’ Not to say that all this has to come into a pulpit. Most of it will stay in the study, but if I ignore this theology I run the risk of teaching fluff or heresy.

  1. Gospel-centred but DIY implications rather than Bible implications

DIY implications

Here we have a good, rich, well-rooted biblical understanding of the gospel, but when it comes to working out the implications of the gospel (for my own life or for church life) then I sort of ‘wing it’ – DIY – Do It Yourself. I assume a) that God is not particularly prescriptive about exactly how I should lead my life or how the church should be ordered and b) I assume that I am able work out for myself, from the internal logic of the gospel, how if should be applied in different areas of life.

For example I see that the gospel springs from the consistent other-person-centred love of God and so I think the implication of the gospel is ‘any stable, loving, other-person-centred relationship’. Or I see that the gospel is the salvation not only of our souls but also of our bodies and indeed the renewing of the whole creation and so I think an implication is that the church’s mission is, with equal emphasis, to a) care for souls and b) to care for people’s bodies, transform society and fight for the natural environment.

I was reading a good Christian book the other day by a fine author who knows and explains the gospel extremely well. Much of the book was excellent. But, as I read one chapter where he described the implications of the gospel for church life, I started to feel something was a little bit off. And then I realised that he hadn’t quoted Scripture for several pages. We were moving into deductions from deductions from deductions – DIY implications.

The solution: We go back to the Bible and find the implications of the gospel from the Bible itself. This is particularly clear in the Apostle Paul’s letters. Most of them (roughly speaking) start with a couple of chapters of gospel doctrine then move to a concluding couple of chapters spelling out the implications of the gospel in some detail.

Ephesians, for example, lays out the great gospel of sovereign grace – the Trinitarian God grabbing a people for himself – by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in the Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone (Eph. 1-3) – then Paul starts talking about the implications of that for how we live as this new community of God’s people (Eph. 4:1-5:21). Loads of detailed instructions about the role of church leaders, every member ministry, speech, sex, work, reconciliation. But even this is not specific enough. People could take ‘submit to one another’ (5:21) to mean that there is no longer such a thing as differentiation of roles or authority or respect. So then there is a section laying out how exactly different relationships should work – wives and husbands, children and parents, slaves and masters (Eph. 5:22-6:9). In each of these relationships we can see that it is the gospel which is shaping the structure and manner of that relationship (in a beautiful way) but the point here is that God doesn’t leave us to guess how the gospel shapes these relationships he tells us.

The same could be said for the ordering of the local church (1 Timothy). Not that everything is spelled out – of course not. In loads of things we are free – it doesn’t matter what colour the curtains are. And yes there will still be lots of things where we will have to make gospel-hearted decisions about what is wisest for the advance of the gospel – how long will the sermon be? But in a lot of things – in fact all the important things – we’re actually given a lot of guidance by the Holy Spirit.

Why the detail? Because I cannot be trusted to work out all the implications of the gospel for myself. I will naturally use the right doctrine in the wrong way. Like people in Paul’s day I will take the grace of God and make it a license for sin (Rom. 6:1) rather than a spring of good works (Rom. 6:2-23). I need to be taught the right out-working of the gospel and the specific good deeds I need to do. I need both the gospel at the centre of everything that teaches me to say know to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-14) and I need someone (God) to draw the lines out from that centre to show me what true godliness looks like in detail (Titus 2:2-10).

 

Maybe this is all just another way of saying, let’s be expository. Let’s be gospel-centred and Bible-rich – getting our gospel from the Bible – a beautiful, big, detailed, rooted, worked-out gospel of Christ Jesus who came into the world to save sinners of who I am the worst.

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What if the armour of God is not about the Roman soldier?

Posted in Bible interpretation, Church, Ephesians, Spiritual warfare, Uncategorized on 06/06/2017| 5 Comments »

sword1

We all love the armour of God. It’s such a great visual aid. Perfect for Sunday School sessions and all age services. Just Google a Roman soldier, find a worksheet to colour in, dress someone up. Perfect.

The armour of God is also a delight to commentators, whether scholarly or devotional. Each piece of armour invites pages of extrapolation on how the particularities of first century Roman armour help us to understand the spiritual point that Paul was driving at.

But what if the armour of God isn’t really about Roman soldiers?

  1. The armour of God is the Old Testament armour of God. As most commentators observe, the clearest allusion made by Ephesians 6 is to Isaiah 59:17 where the LORD God himself puts on his battle garments including righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation. The LORD has a sword (Isaiah 34:5-6; 66:16). Also in Isaiah the Coming Christ has faithfulness (truth) as a belt around his waist (Isaiah 11:5) and a mouth like a sharpened sword (Isaiah 49:2). Looking at the wider OT we find that the LORD is often found giving himself to his people as their shield (Gen. 15:1; 20x in the Psalms), even as their shield and sword together (Deut. 33:29).
  2. The armour of God is Christ the LORD. William Gurnall who wrote 1700 pages on the armour of God put the matter very succinctly when he commented: “By armour is meant Christ.” Paul’s whole letter to the Ephesians, as all his letters, has been dominated by Christ. Christ is the truth (John 14:6). Christ is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). Christ is our peace (Eph. 2:14). Christ is our salvation (Luke 2:30). This is in continuity with the OT where we find that the LORD is our salvation and our righteousness (Ex. 15:2; Jer. 23:6) and it is perfectly consistent with Paul’s thought that we should put on Christ and clothe ourselves in him (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27).
  3. The words for the pieces of armour in Ephesians 6 are not technical terms for pieces of Roman armour. The word ‘belt’ is not actually there in verse 14. The phrase ‘girding round your loins’ has a Hebraic flavour and suggests getting ready for action. Breastplate (v14) and Helmet (v17) use common Greek words found 10 and 9 times respectively in the LXX (the Greek OT), including where they both appear together in the key passage Isaiah 59:17. Commentators are confident that the shoe Paul has in mind in verse 15 is the caliga, the Roman soldier’s battle boot, but Paul doesn’t actually mention boots. He says simply, ‘feet shod with readiness’ – the word readiness calling to mind the ministry of John the Baptist (Isaiah 40:3-4; Luke 1:17,76; 3:4-6). The shield might make us think of the famous rectangular red scutum of the Romans, used in their famous tortoise formation, but Paul uses a common word for shield found 19 times in the LXX (e.g. the shield of King Saul – 2 Sam. 1:21). The word for sword is one of two common Greek words for sword, both of which are used extremely frequently and often interchangeably in the NT and LXX. Sometimes a distinction is made between the short stabbing battle sword (machaira) of Eph. 6:17 and the long sword of justice but it is the machaira which appears in Rom. 13:4 as the sword of justice and in Isaiah 27:1 (LXX) as the sword of the LORD himself.
  4. Paul was probably not chained to a Roman soldier in battle armour. While it might be tempting to imagine Paul dictating his letter to the Ephesians while looking at the different pieces of Roman armour, Stott comments, “…it would be unlikely that such a bodyguard would wear the full uniform of an infantryman on the battlefield.” Certainly battle boots and a huge shield would have been strange for a prison guard. If Ephesians is written from Paul’s house arrest in Rome described at the end of Acts then it seems it was not a deep dark dungeon confinement. It may be that the chains are more a way of expressing his legal status and restriction of his freedom and liberty than literal iron chains (cf. 2 Tim. 2:9). There is a danger that we read the situation of Peter in Acts 12:6 into Paul’s references to his chains.

This is not to say that it is impossible that Paul was not thinking at least partly of the Roman soldier or that his first readers might not have thought of a Roman soldier. But it is to say that the most important background to Ephesians 6:10-20 is not the first century imperial legionary or centurion but the Old Testament and also Pauline and NT thought.

So what?

  1. Scripture Alone. Scripture interprets Scripture. You don’t need to be an expert in first century Roman warfare to understand Ephesians 6. Certainly the Bible was written by humans in particular cultures at particular times but again and again we find that all the background we need to know is in the Bible itself. We know what we need to know about Ephesus from Acts 19. We know what we need to know about the armour of God from the OT. Even the flaming arrows of the Deceiver are there (Prov. 26:18-19). The approach that leans heavily on external sources and historical reconstructions a) takes us into uncertain territory (Which expert do you believe? Which rank of Roman soldier are we talking about? Did they all have plumes in their helmets? What if another historical source turns up that changes our understanding of the context?); and b) takes authority away from the text and the reader and gives a dangerous amount of power to the ‘expert’ as he tells me what I could never have known on my own. This has even more important implications in other parts of the NT where the historical reconstructions of liberal scholars tell us, “I know that it looks like the Bible is saying this but if you really know the culture and politics in first century Ephesus then you would know that it actually means the opposite of what it looks like it means.” Scripture is our guide to Scripture.
  2. Grace Alone. The Roman Soldier analogy tends slightly towards seeing the pieces of armour as passive instruments with the soldier (me) as the active fighter. In contrast, if we see the armour of God as the OT armour of God – The LORD himself, Christ the Lord – then it is closer to the mark to see us as the passive ones and God as the active one. He is giving us his armour, he is giving us himself. He is surrounding us as a wall of fire and a fortress and shield. Yes there are imperatives to ‘Put on’ and ‘Take up’ and ‘Stand’ – we need to walk in the calling we have received (Eph. 4:1) but it is first and foremost something received, gift. So let us not turn Ephesians 6 in to a series of things for us to do. That is fig leaf armour. We need the armour of God. We need to put on Christ and glory in his sovereign grace. “According to Ephesians 6 believers need to be armed with God’s own righteousness if they are to be protected against the blows and arrows of their spiritual enemies… The position of power and authority with Christ to which they have been raised is greater ‘than that possessed by their mighty supernatural enemies’. As they appropriate this salvation more fully and live in the light of their status in Christ, they have every reason to be confident of the outcome of the battle.” (Peter O’Brien)
  3. The Church of God. The Roman soldier analogy tends towards making us think of an individual centurion or an army of individuals each putting on their own armour. But the letter of Ephesians has been about the church. In Ephesians 6, as throughout the letter, the address is second person plural (it comes out better in Kiswahili than in English). It’s not addressed to the Lone Ranger solo Christian. It’s not little me being called to stand firm and put on my armour and fight. It is the whole church being called to clothe themselves in the gospel armour. The song, O Church Arise gets it just right. The one new man (Eph. 2:15) – the Church – must put the armour on. The armour of God himself. So that, as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD will surround his people, both now and for evermore (Psalm 125:2).

Much of what has been written and taught from the illustration of the Roman soldier is spiritually true and edifying. But let’s say the right things from the right texts. And let’s rejoice in what Ephesians 6 is clearly saying about the divine armour that we the church have been given and let us put on Christ.

 

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Mastered

Posted in Bible, Church, Preaching, tagged on 03/13/2017| Leave a Comment »

I was using some discipleship material recently when I came across this introduction:

“Very few Christians have a plan for mastering the Scriptures… We master all sorts of complicated skills and accomplish major personal learning and development programs when needed in our life and work but remain at elementary levels of development in the Word. In this session, we will explore the importance of every believer developing a goal of mastering the Scriptures…”

I appreciate what the author of these notes is driving at but it’s the word ‘mastering’ that I find disturbing. Is the Bible like chartered accounting – a complicated skill or a series of principles to learn and master? If the Word is a hammer and a fire, if it is the very word of God at work in us who believe, if it is living and active, then surely the cry of Martin Luther is more apt:

“The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”

Surely we need to be mastered by the Word. And specifically by the Christ of the Word. Simon Manchester, speaking somewhat critically of his own Australian conservative evangelical constituency, warned us last year:

“I wonder if you’ve noticed an unedifying tendency… to focus on the Bible at the expense of Jesus… I do urge you to beware this trend. It’s not that we want to separate the text from the author or the text from the subject but if our [preaching], sermon by sermon, is always ‘about the Bible’ we may have missed the purpose of the Bible. And… I think it is more flattering to self to ‘talk Bible’ because we present ourselves as masters of the Bible with the ignorant masses listening to us. But no preacher is ever going to get up and say they’re the master of Jesus. And not only will we teach more reverently if we handle the Bible to see Jesus, we will also, I think, have the blessing of the Holy Spirit whose desire is to see Jesus glorified and not the guru at the front who is showing himself to be so clever. (EMA 2016)

So let’s seek, in our reading and our preaching of the Word to tremble, to find Christ, to be captured and mastered by him, to proclaim him, to see him glorified.

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Single and Forgotten

Posted in Christian Life, Church, Discipleship, Marriage, pastoral ministry, Preaching, Uncategorized on 05/12/2016| 3 Comments »

 

Have you ever been in a conversation where you feel totally out of place? This happens to me quite often. I get in a matatu on a Sunday morning headed to church. It’s tuned to one of the local ‘tribal’ stations. I think it’s a gospel show going on because I can hear some ‘Amen’ and ‘God bless you’. Almost everyone in the matatu seems engrossed in the conversation going on on radio. I can hear them laugh, one or two nod their heads. But where am I? Poor me, I can’t understand a word. I have no idea what they are laughing about. Worst of it is when one talks to you commenting on the ongoing conversation on radio. I don’t know, how do you expect me to respond?

It feels so awkward! On the one hand, you want to listen in and hear, on the other hand, you don’t want to hear any of it. I am not only victim but done it too- I have been around my mzungu friends who don’t know Swahili yet that’s what I speak with my Kenyan friend- it gets worse when we switch to Sheng!

Now, come to church. We are talking to young people. The topic/series is Relationships and Marriage- trust me this is a guaranteed topic. In our thinking, this is what every young person is struggling with. We need to speak about these real issues. And so, what we do is get a married couple to tackle this. Share about dating/courtship & how to go about it. How long should it take before you get married? Get an ‘expert’ ‘marriage counsellor’ ‘relationships coach’ to handle this with the hope that the young people shall be helped. The expectation is that they will all get married and live happily ever after.

But the problem is, in this whole conversation, there’s someone who feels awkwardly totally left out- the single and not dating. We concentrate on the dating/courting/engaged and forget about the single and not dating. The question they are asking is how can I be pure and live without thinking that there’s something totally wrong with me? How can I serve my brother/sister without looking at them as my suitor? Sadly, this is never answered yet in answering, we not only help the single & not dating but also the dating, courting, engaged, married, widowed… all of them.

So, why do we leave them out? Why do we totally forget them;

  1. Glorifying Marriage, Despising Singleness

In our society, somehow people view marriage (at least in Christian circles) as the goal for every young person. Culturally, you are only regarded as a man, able to speak before men, if you are married. Some churches even go to the extent of not ordaining single people.

Marriage has been glorified and put perhaps next to salvation! That means if you are of age (whatever that means, in your twenties perhaps) and aren’t ‘seeing someone’ or not ‘being seen’ by someone then there’s a problem with you.

No wonder in our preaching series, there’s no place for talking about singleness!

  1. Failure to Point people to Christ as the Real Source of Our Joy & Satisfaction

Marriage has been seen as a ‘problem-solver’. We think the solution to masturbation is for one to get married. Are you struggling with lust & pornography? It’s high time you got married, so we say. Or perhaps the reason you are so disorganized and late to church is because you are not married- get married and things will be ok. We think this is the real source of joy and satisfaction yet that’s not true. We forget that our identity as forgiven sinners, redeemed by Christ’s blood, we who once were alienated but have now been brought near & become children of God, a people of His own possession is what matters most! The most joyful, satisfying & peaceful thing is that we belong to Christ.

We thus need to be pointing people to Christ, whether they are married or not. He’s the one who’s dealt with & deals with our biggest problem of sin and God’s punishment on us. He’s the one we need to look at & point people to, married or not. So, struggling with masturbation, lust, pornography? Look to Him, behold Him, He is the most satisfying, glorious… all that we need.

  1. The Ultimate Marriage

That marriage is only but a picture of something bigger, greater- Christ and the Church- is a mystery! How can that be the case? Well, Christ is the head of the Church, He died for her, He nourishes her & clothes her. The Church submits to Christ joyfully serving Him. This how it’s supposed to be for a husband (head) and wife.

Even more fascinating is the Church, the bride of Christ is waiting for its marriage to the groom, who is Christ. At the moment, Christ is preparing her, adorning her, for that great marriage. The bride has to be ready. It shall be the most glorious event for us- this is the ultimate. Nothing of the marriages on earth now can compare to it.

“Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage supper of the Lamb has come, & His bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure… blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” Revelation 19:7-9.

This is what all of us should be looking forward to- the ultimate marriage- whether single or married!

So, please the single men and ladies there are crying out. Who will listen to them? Why don’t we think of how we can address them in their current state and encourage them to be fruitful in the ministry and service to the LORD? What if they are being called to singleness for life? Is there a place for that in our thinking or we think there’s definitely a problem with them? My encouragement to all singles out there

“Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you from that.” 1 Corinthians 7:27-28

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Proclaim Conference 2016

Posted in Church, Preaching, tagged , , , , , on 03/31/2016| Leave a Comment »

We were very excited when Emmanuel Baptist Church ran the first Proclaim Conference in 2014. Now we’re particularly excited that the focus this year will be on Bible-driven preaching. If you can make it, get it in the diary and we’ll see you there. Here’s the invitation to pastors:

sponsor

Dear Friend/Church Leader,

Greetings from Emmanuel Baptist Church. We are writing this letter to invite you to our annual church leader’s Proclaim Conference (www.ProclaimConference.org). This year’s theme is: The Primacy of the Proclaimed Word | Handling and Hearing the Word of God and is focused on addressing the great need for biblically grounded preaching in our country.

The conference will be held Thursday 9am through Saturday 5pm, the 26th and 28th of May 2016, and the venue is Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC), King’ara Road, Lavington, Nairobi.

Our vision for the Proclaim Conferences is to equip church leadership to passionately and accurately minister the Scriptures to the churches they serve.

We are purposed to serve and strengthen the Church in Kenya by promoting robust God-­centered evangelical theology by: preaching from the Scriptures expositionally, modeling  healthy church life, providing quality biblical training resources, and by providing opportunities to develop ministry relationships and build healthy gospel-centered church networks.

For this year’s conference we will be examining the topic of expositional preaching. Dr. Mark Brock, Crossway Baptist Church, Bakersfield, California, and Pastor Ken Mbugua, Emmanuel Baptist Church, will be preaching the six general sessions. Other able and gifted men (lecturers, pastors, etc.,) will be teaching over 25 different workshops that address expositional preaching, discipleship in the church, theological training, and more.

Dr. Brock will also be conducting a separate pastor’s track on how to do expositional preaching in your church where Dr. Richard Ramesh’s book, Preaching Expositional Sermons will be given to all registered pastor’s track attendees on a first-registered, first served basis.

Please join us to learn, share, interact, and fellowship with these gifted pastors and careful theologians for three full days of workshops as they explain and explore the importance of faithfully preaching from the Scriptures.

The cost of the conference is Kshs 750/= per person if registered by 15/4/16. Otherwise, registration is 900/= per person; 1,500/= per couple for the entire conference (includes conference materials, meals during the day, etc) and can be paid at the entrance gate.

Finally, it is our desire to serve the churches of Kenya and their leaders, and we will be distributing the following resources to all registered attendees on a first-come, first-serve basis.

  1. Proclaiming a Cross Centered Gospel, various authors
  2. Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God’s Word Today, Helm
  3. ESV Global Study Bible, Crossway Publishers
  4. Prosperity: Seeking the True Gospel
  5. Foundations Discipleship Booklet II (tool for one on one discipleship)

In addition we will have a large displays of new and used theological books for purchase. We will have very good prices on these books, so don’t miss out!

We look forward to serving you at this conference. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call 0708 802 375 or email: conference@eabst.org. You can also visit our Proclaim conference website, register for the conference, and check our Facebook page for more information.

Praying with you for the Priority of the God’s Word in our lives and ministries,

Kenneth Mbugua

Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church
King’ara Rd, Lavington, Nairobi

Entrusting the Word
eabst_logo

 

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Baxter on Unity

Posted in Church, Uncategorized, tagged on 11/17/2015| 3 Comments »

Just been listening to a very challenging and thought-provoking talk by Ian Hamilton on principled pragmatism. He seeks to bring out and dust off a neglected emphasis in the Reformed tradition – a passionate concern for the unity of the visible church. A concern that looks shockingly liberal and ecumenical to most modern reformed evangelicals but is tied to a very high value placed on both the local church fellowship and on the body of Christ. It reminded me of this passage in Baxter’s classic The Reformed Pastor:

We must be very studious of union and communion among ourselves, and of the unity and peace of the churches that we oversee. We must be sensible how needful this is to the prosperity of the whole, the strengthening of our common cause, the good of the particular members of our flock, and the further enlargement of the kingdom of Christ. And, therefore, ministers must smart when the Church is wounded, and be so far from being the leaders in divisions, that they should take it as a principal part of their work to prevent and heal them. Day and night should they bend their studies to find out means to close such breaches. They must not only hearken to motions for unity, but propound them and prosecute them; not only entertain an offered peace, but even follow it when it flies from them. They must, therefore, keep dose to the ancient simplicity of the Christian faith, and the foundation and center of catholic unity. They must abhor the arrogancy of them that frame new engines to rack and tear the Church of Christ under pretense of obviating errors and maintaining the truth. The Scripture sufficiency must be maintained, and nothing beyond it imposed on others; and if papists, or others, call to us for the standard and rule of our religion, it is the Bible that we must show them, rather than any confessions of churches, or writings of men. We must learn to distinguish between certainties and uncertainties, necessaries and unnecessaries, catholic verities and private opinions; and to lay the stress of the Church’s peace upon the former, not upon the latter. We must avoid the common confusion of speaking of those who make no difference between verbal and real errors, and hate that madness formerly among theologians, who tear their brethren as heretics, before they understand them. And we must learn to see the true state of controversies, and reduce them to the very point where the difference lies, and not make them seem greater than they are. Instead of quarrelling with our brethren, we must combine against the adversaries; and all ministers must associate and hold communion, and correspondence, and constant meetings to these ends; and smaller differences of judgment are not to interrupt them. They must do as much of the work of God, in unity and concord, as they can, which is the use of synods; not to rule over one another, and make laws, but to avoid misunderstandings, and consult for mutual edification, and maintain love and communion, and go on unanimously in the work that God has already commanded us. Had the ministers of the gospel been men of peace, and of catholic, rather than factious spirits, the Church of Christ had not been in the case it now is. The nations of Lutherans and Calvinists abroad, and the differing parties here at home, would not have been plotting the subversion of one another, nor remain at that distance, and in that uncharitable bitterness, nor strengthen the common enemy, and hinder the building and prosperity of the Church as they have done.

 

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9 Marks of a Healthy Church

Posted in Church, tagged , , , on 09/09/2015| Leave a Comment »

Just noticed these in Galatians 5:

  1. Love
  2. Joy
  3. Peace
  4. Patience
  5. Kindness
  6. Goodness
  7. Faithfulness
  8. Gentleness
  9. Self-control

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Total Church [review]

Posted in Church, Evangelism, Gospel, Ministry, tagged , , , , on 03/17/2015| 2 Comments »

Total Church

Tim Chester and Steve Timis, Total Church: A radical reshaping around gospel and community, IVP: 2007.

The thesis of Total Church is summed up well in the subtitle. It’s a thesis that has grown out of a) the authors’ reading of the Scriptures, b) their reacting against forms of contemporary evangelicalism that either forget the gospel (fluffy emergent church) or forgets community (stuffy conservative church) and c) their practice of actual church planting and church living in The Crowded House in northern England.

It’s readable, fresh and punchy. As Ian Coffey says in the foreword, you may well not agree with all their arguments and conclusions but it makes you think about the things that matter most.

A number of things really struck home, helped and challenged me:

1. The emphasis on deep, genuine, love relationships within the church – interconnectedness.

The core point of the book is that the gospel creates community – Christ saves a people for himself (Ttus 2:14) not just individuals – and that this church/people/community is one marked not only by devotion to the Word but also by radical love for one another.

“this cross-love is the primary, dynamic test of whether or not we have understood the gospel word and experienced its power. Not our doctrinal orthodoxy, as important as that is. Not our ingenious strategizing, as fascinating as that is. Not our commitment to preaching, as vital as that is. Not our innovative approach to planting, as radical as that may be.” (p. 54)

The text of Total Church contains a number of boxes with testimonies and real life stories and interestingly, the first of these testimonies is from a Kenyan who spent some time in the UK. She talks about the differences between her Kenyan church background (a big church of thousands of people and multiple services) and her experience at The Crowded House in Sheffield:

“At first I’d squirm. When we were so close together my sins seemed so much more apparent to others. Back home if you fell out with someone you could always sit on the other side of the auditorium and never had to see them again.” (p. 33)

2. The question of whether our churches are segregated by class or truly reflect the gospel.

In their fourth chapter the authors highlight the priority of Jesus to reach the outcasts and ‘sinners’; the pattern that God chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). We are to invite to the banquet the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind (Luke 14:12-13).

“We are not to prioritize our rich neighbours… Indeed part of our evangelism to the rich is our evangelism to the needy. We subvert their preoccupation with power and success as they see us loving the unlovely. We expose their self-righteousness and selfishness as they see us eating with outcasts.” (p. 71)

What they’re saying here is that if we create churches that are pitched at the upper middle class, where upper middle class people feel completely at home and comfortable, where the setting and interactions and constituency mirrors perfectly their workplace or social circles, where there is never the challenge and potential awkwardness of relating to someone of different class, where there is never a need to get beyond class barriers and see ourselves and others through the eyes of Christ, as brothers and sisters because of the Cross of Christ – then we are not really doing anyone any favours because there we have attendance without community, attendance unchallenged by costly sacrifice, attendance without an assault on pride, attendance without the sort of relating to one another which demands the gospel.

3. Spirituality rooted in the Word and community.

Chapter 9 is a very provocative appeal to a context like ours where individualised ‘spiritual disciplines’ of silence and solitude and fasting are elevated and seen as the key to unlocking blessings and getting to a higher level of spiritual life. Total Church argues (I think persuasively) that true spirituality is not about listening for the still small voice in the silence but listening to God written Word and it is not fundamentally a solo pursuit but a corporate one – reading the Word together, praying together, encouraging one another daily (Heb. 3:13). Read the chapter and see what you think.

4. Apologetics flowing from a theology of the cross not a theology of glory.

Following the lead of Paul, Luther and Pascal, in chapter 11 Chester and Timmis outline an approach to apologetics which doesn’t lean on natural theology or an assumed ability of unregenerate man to reason his way to God but which instead takes seriously a) the fallenness and rebellious heart of man; b) God’s hiding of himself from the wise and revealing himself to those he chooses (an epistemology of grace); c) the genuine challenge of postmodernism in exposing the coercive power often behind truth claims; and d) the need to proclaim the True Truth, the gospel reality, truth which “is not a function of coercive power, but of sacrificial love” (p. 169).

5. Children’s and youth ministry that is Word-driven and community-integrated.

“It is easy to suppose that attractive activities are the key to successful youth work [and] that the corresponding measure of success is weekly attendance. But God does his work through the Word. The key to successful youth work is the Bible.” (p. 180)

And in relation to integration with the rest of the church family:

“Of course, it is only natural for young people to default to spending time with other young people, but the church is not a ‘natural’ agency.” (p. 182)

6. What is success?

“It is actually not that difficult to create a large congregation. Paul tells us how.”

We’re all on the edge of our seats now!

“You give people what will ‘suit their own desires’ and say ‘what their itching ears want to hear’ (2 Timothy 4:3). Entertain the congregation each Sunday with a good performance. Do not focus on the depth of their sin, nor the cost of cross-centred discipleship. Whatever you do, do not challenge the idolatrous desires of their hearts. Instead offer them sermons on how to realise those desires and find success in life.”

But Paul gives Timothy another model of success – preach the gospel Word in view of the return of Christ as judge of the living and the dead (2 Tim. 4:1-5).

“This may well make us less successful, but only if we measure success in terms of numbers. If you view success in a biblical way – as faithfulness to Christ and his word – then being gospel-centred becomes the very definition of success.” (p.189)

There are loads of other things that could be mentioned from this book – the emphasis on church-based training and raising of new leaders (which meshes very well with the iServe Africa emphasis on ministry apprenticeships), the convictions about the church and the Word being sufficient to deal with pastoral issues in contrast to the professionalization of counselling and medicalization of problems (which connects with Rosaria Butterfield’s testimony), and many more.

So basically I love Total Church. Highly recommended. I’ve just got a few minor quibbles and caveats:

  • As mentioned above, the authors are (quite self-consciously) reacting against certain tendencies in the UK evangelical scene around the turn of the millennium. E.g. “Obviously most large evangelical churches remain faithful to the gospel.” (p. 189) Perhaps that’s true in the UK but not necessarily in Kenya. This UK context means that there is perhaps slightly more emphasis on ‘community’ than on ‘gospel’ in Total Church. For our culture context of East Africa I would want to reverse that emphasis and spend a huge amount of time on getting really clear on the gospel of Christ taking the wrath of God in the place of sinners to bring them to rejoice in him and in the Father.
  • There are a couple of pages (p. 112-113) where the authors argue against a church focus on pulpit ministry and argue instead for a more varied view of Word-ministry. Much is helpful here – we do want to value and encourage one-to-one and group Bible study – but I think that can still happen with a focus on the special place of public Bible preaching. I’m not convinced by the biblical and sociological arguments the authors give against pulpit primacy. Christopher Ash has answered them well in The Priority of Preaching.
  • I love the emphasis on community in Total Church. I think that is a really important biblical emphasis and really needed in our churches. But I hesitate at the idea that the church’s community life of loving one another is “the hermeneutic of the gospel” (p. 56, quoting Leslie Newbigin). I’m increasingly unconvinced that John 13:34 and 17:21 (and 1 John 4:12) are straightforwardly evangelistic – the love and unity of the church could just as well convict the world and lead it to hate the sons of light as much as convince it and lead it to want to join them (John 3:20; 9:41; 12:37-48; 15:19-16:11 cf. Philippians 1:27-28). Historically speaking, the love of Christians in the early church for one another led to accusations of incest as much as admiration. I’m not denying that our love for one another can adorn or discredit the gospel message but my fear is that evangelism could drift into a dependence on sociological mechanisms of community inclusion (see the very scary video by Bart Campolo on the power of community building) and away from a dependence on Word and Spirit. I completely support the emphasis on the loving, inter-dependent church community but my question would be how does someone get into that? Is it a) through seeing a loving community, is it b) through the loving invitation of a loving community, is it c) though community plus gospel proclamation, or is it d) first and foremost through gospel proclamation plus the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s d) that seems most to fit the book of Acts but c) that fits the Total Church chapter on evangelism (though this seems to be in tension with what they say in the chapter on apologetics about God’s sovereignty in hiding or revealing the truth to helpless sinners and the need to preach the gospel).
  • A final concern, which is really outside of the text of the book itself, is that the very strengths of the Total Church / Crowded House movement – gospel wedded to community, small churches, authentic relationships – could become a new and subtle source of pride. The authors would hate such a response – the gospel should humble us to the dust – but the human heart is terribly good at finding new ways to look down on others and it would be very possible for someone who has experienced the warmth of a Crowded House-type church to begin to despise other churches, larger churches, more liturgical churches, more wealthy churches.

Total Church – great book. May it take us back to the Bible, back to the gospel, back to community, back to Christ and the Cross, back to the God who saved us (plural).

 

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