Category: Ministry

Categories
Gospel Ministry Spiritual Growth Theology

One Foot Into the Other Error

Tim Keller on Legalism and Antinomianism

In his foreword to Sinclair Ferguson’s book, The Whole Christ, Tim Keller writes:

I learned …that to think the main problem out there is one particular error is to virtually put one foot into the other error.

The Whole Christ, Foreword, 14

Keller’s lesson learned from Ferguson is useful on many fronts. We can often think that there is only one error when there might be more than one. An example of this is how the desire to avoid one trinitarian error can easily lead a person to fall into a different error. It is not a matter of falling into a ditch on one side or another, the whole doctrine of the trinity is surrounded by a moat. We must pay attention or else we’ll slip and fall in.

The specific issues that Sinclair Ferguson’s book are dealing with are the topics of legalism and antinomianism. Keller goes on to expand on what he learned from Ferguson’s book:

If you fail to see what Sinclair is saying—that both legalism and antinomianism stem from a failure to grasp the goodness and graciousness of God’s character— it will lead you to think that what each mind-set really needs for a remedy is a little dose of the other. In this view, it would mean that the remedy for legalism is just less emphasis on the law and obedience, and the the remedy for antinomianism is more.

Ibid, 14

How often in ministry have we seen or practiced this idea of giving “a little dose of the other”. Discipleship is relaxed. Consciences can be bound tighter. Sin is winked at. Or leadership can tightly control behaviour. In the end, we should be able to see the tendencies and temptations toward applying “a little dose of the other” in our lives and ministry.

Keller warns about this strategy of “a little dose of the other” when he writes:

This is dangerous. If you tell those tending toward legalism that they shouldn’t talk so much about obedience and the law, you are pushing them toward the antinomian spirit that annot see the law as a wonderful gift of God. If you tell those tending toward antinomianism that they should point people more to divine threats and talk more about the dangers of disobedience, you are pushing them toward the legal spirit that sees the law as a covenant of works rather than as a way to honor and give pleasure to the one who saved them by grace.

Ibid, 14.

So there is a great danger in putting your foot into the other error, simply by thinking that there is only one. This is the confusing thing for new Christians, and it can be very limiting to the growth of those who have been believers for many years. It is how a person can start to lose their first love (Rev 2:4).

Keller points to the solution or remedy which Sinclair Ferguson offers in this excellent book. Ferguson says clearly:

The gospel is designed to deliver us from this lie [of the Serpent], for it reveals that behind and manifested in the coming of Christ and his death for us is the love of a Father who gives us everything he has: first his Son to die for us, and then his Spirit to live within us… There is only one genuine cure for legalism. It is the same medicine the gospel prescribes for antinomianism: understanding and tasting union with Jesus Christ himself. This leads to a new love for and obedience to the law of God.

Ibid, 15.

This is such good news! The gospel is what we all need, and it is the remedy to our propensities, trajectories, personalities, and most of all, to our sin. We can sin in legalistic ways and antinomian ways, but the gospel cures all.

And if you are worried that “gospel-centered everything” is an error in itself, simply read Ferguson’s book, The Whole Christ. You’ll regain clarity about the gospel and how it remedies legalism and antinomianism, which places the gospel at the center of everything, not in a superficial way, but a God-glorifying way.

Categories
Ministry Spiritual Growth Suffering & Trials

Coming Alongside One Another—Encouraging the Fainthearted


These are notes from a recent talk given at Calvary Grace Church’s Women’s Brunch.

1 Thess 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

It can be hard to know exactly how to help a sister who is struggling. It’s easy to say (or do) the wrong thing. Or simply say and do nothing because you don’t know what to say. 

Hurting people will tell you that a lot of well-intentioned people have said hurtful or insensitive things to them.

Ed Welch has an article on CCEF called “The Steady Stream of Foolish Words Said to Hurting People”. In it he lists 4 things we should not say when someone is suffering.

  • don’t give advice,
  • don’t try to solve the problem,
  • don’t say you are available any time but don’t offer concrete ways to help,
  • don’t try to show your empathy by talking about a similar situation in your own life, and so on. 

You may be wondering what it left to say then? This is the question that we will discuss today. 

Read 1 Thess. 5:12-14. Notice these things:

  • Final instructions to the church
  • They are instructed in vv 12-13 to respect the elders and esteem them highly because of their work
  • They are then commanded to come alongside one another and minister to each other in v 14
  • Three kinds of struggling Christians in v 14 that need our care: 
    • idle (unruly, undisciplined, not lining up with what God has for them
    • Fainthearted (discouraged, timid, anxious–perhaps in personality or because trials have been hard on them. 
    • Weak (likely moral and spiritual weakness, ie struggling with temptation, perhaps rattled by ongoing persecution–whatever the case, they are not mature in their faith) 

There are 3 different ways to help these 3 types of struggling Christians

  • Admonish the Idle 
  • Encourage the fainthearted
  • Help the weak “The verb for help (antechomai) presents a graphic picture of the support which the weak needed. It is as if Paul wrote to the stronger Christians: ‘Hold on to them’, ‘cling to them’, even ‘put your arm round’ them.”

Today we will focus on encouraging the fainthearted. This word “translates a compound of oligos (few, or little) and psuchē (life, or soul). It occurs only here in the New Testament….It may indicate a person who is “timid” as a personality trait or one who is “discouraged” at a particular turn of events.” 

This is a person who doesn’t feel courageous and full of faith. They may be going through an intense season of suffering and loss that has worn them down and caused them to become discouraged. They may be grieving. They may feel bruised or like their faith is barely there. Whatever the reason for their struggle, Paul says that these fainthearted Christians need our encouragement.

How do we encourage our fainthearted sisters? 

3 truths that our fainthearted sisters need to be reminded of.

1. Fainthearted Christians need to know God is with them. 

We can embody this truth by being physically there for our suffering friends, loving them well and listening compassionately as they tell us their struggles. Suffering people need to know that God is with them, not just in theory, but his presence is literally with them in each moment that they are suffering.  

The Psalmist says, (139)

“Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.”

This is important for the sufferer to know. There is no trial too deep or place too dark that God’s presence can’t penetrate. He is fully there with them in every moment, in every place.

It doesn’t matter if we feel like God is far away or if we feel like our faith is weak. God is “actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:27)

When people are suffering, God can feel very far from them. Our thoughts can become confused. Is God punishing me? Is He angry at me? Am I angry at him? Why doesn’t he help me? Doesn’t he care?

Our instinct is to turn away and hide our face from God until we get our emotions figured out, but suffering Christians need to know that they can go immediately to God for help and they will find it. God wants us to come to him–even with our angry, bitter and confused thoughts. 

He’s under no illusions about the degree of our sinfulness. He pursued us when we were his enemies. He knows the depths of your sinfulness better than you do, so you might as well talk to him about it. 

God will not turn his back on you when you are swamped by sinful emotions. Because Christ died for those sins. 

Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” so that we would never have to. Christ bore God’s wrath for our sins on the cross so that our sin wouldn’t separate us from God.

Romans 8 tells us that we are spiritually joined to Christ so that there is literally nothing that can separate us from God’s love. 

Fainthearted Christians need to know that God is near to them in their suffering and even as they wrestle with their doubts. Because of Christ’s mediating work, they can (and should) bring those doubts and fears to God. Here, they will “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16). 

You don’t need a bold faith to approach God’s throne, you just need a genuine faith. You are not saved by the quality of your faith, but by the object–Clint. 

 “A weak hand can receive an expensive jewel” –Sibbes. We all have the same precious jewel of salvation. And that jewel is not diminished by the weakness of the hand that holds it.

So fainthearted Christians can freely go to God with their fears and doubts. Because of Christ, they have the same standing before God as the boldest Christian in the room.

When we are fainthearted, we may imagine there is distance between us and God. But there is none. He is right there with us in our worst trials and deepest fears.

2. Fainthearted Christians Need to Know that Christ Sympathizes with their weakness and will deal tenderly with them. 

Richard Sibbs talks about Christ’s ministry to suffering Christians in his book called The Bruised Reed. Based on Isaiah 42, he divides those who are suffering into two categories: bruised reeds and faintly burning wicks. 

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,    

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him;

    he will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

    or make it heard in the street;

3 

a bruised reed he will not break,

    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

    he will faithfully bring forth justice.

This servant —who we know is the Christ—comes to bring forth justice to the nations. And in the midst of his mission, the text says he deals tenderly with bruised reeds and faintly burning wicks.

Who are these wicks and reeds?

Bruised Reeds are being disciplined through trials. They are feeling bruised,  beaten down and weary. Faintly burning wicks are doubting Christians, perhaps struggling with assurance or anxiety. They feel timid in their faith. Their faith is there, it is not extinguished, but it’s small.  

When we are in a season of suffering, it’s easy to imagine that Christ grows tired of hearing our woes. I think we base this assumption largely on our own experience with struggling people. We might feel impatient with our children or someone in the church whose faith is barely there. We may feel exasperated. Why are they still struggling with this? Why haven’t they moved past it? We may be harsh and judgemental toward people who are in a season of bruising and faintheartedness. But Christ isn’t.

a bruised reed he will not break,

    and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

We know that faintheartedness is not an end in itself. It is not something that a Christian should be content to stay in. God has something better for us. Faintheartedness is a symptom of the flesh at work. It is opposed to the Spirit, not something to glory in (Rom 6–What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?). We know that we are not meant to be faint-hearted Christians. However, there are seasons of life where weakness is a reality. So it’s important that we talk about it.

When Is. 42 talks about the “smoking flax” and “bruised reed”, these are descriptions of believers. When 1 Thess. 5:14 talks about the “fainthearted” in the church who need encouragement, we know that there are those among us who identify with this description. It’s important that we don’t shame fainthearted Christians into silence. 

If you are a “faintly-burning wick” here this morning, you need to know that there is hope for you, that Christ ministers to you tenderly to you and the church is here to support you.

It’s frustrating to be plagued by doubts and fears. It’s unpleasant and discouraging. But if this you, remember, that Christ will not grow impatient with you. He will not quench your faith altogether. And he will not break you if you are feeling brittle and bruised. 

Christianity is like no other religion in that you don’t have to earn God’s favour. This Suffering Servant died for our sins and rose again. He is completely unique in that he is able to sympathize with our weakness because he took on flesh. (Heb. 4:14-16) He felt every temptation we do, although he was without sin. 

He is God’s Son, 

he is the sacrifice for our sin and he is our high priest who makes intercession for us and sympathizes with us in our weakness. No other god is like him. 

If you are fainthearted here this morning, think of the advocate you have in Jesus Christ! 

Remember, “A weak hand can receive an expensive jewel”. If you have Christ, you have everything. You have access to God’s presence and every spiritual resource in Jesus Christ. Your compassionate high priest is praying for you even now.

3. Fainthearted Christians need to be reminded of God’s promises.

When I was first diagnosed with lupus, I remember feeling scared and grieving the loss of what I considered to be a normal life. And my grandmother encouraged me with God’s promise in Isaiah 41:10. She said it was a lifeline for her when she was going through her cancer treatment.

fear not, for I am with you;

    be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

    I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Notice how God motivates fearful believers to move forward in faith.. He doesn’t say “enough already, get your act together!”. He gives 5 compelling reasons based on His provision for us. 

  • I am with you
  • I am your God
  • I will strengthen you
  • I will help you
  • I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

This is such good news for fainthearted Christians. And it gives us a clue as to how we should encourage our fainthearted sisters. They need to know that—even though they may feel like a faintly-burning-wick, they can move forward in faith because God will provide what they need.

Sometimes we feel like God’s expectations for us are larger than our actual capabilities. But God always gives us the grace to do what He requires of us. When we are fainthearted it’s easy to feel defeated by all the ways that we fail rather than feeling hopeful that God will provide what he requires of us today.  We need a shift in perspective so that we can stop fixating on our own inability to cope and instead, rest in God’s future grace toward us.

Sibbes says, “He requires no more than he gives, but gives what he requires, and accepts what he gives”.  

In other words, God doesn’t require more from you than he enables you to do. 

And what’s more…whatever you do in reliance on him, he accepts. And He is pleased with it.

Doesn’t that take the pressure off? If you are a fainthearted Christian here this morning, remember you can keep moving forward in faith—not because you are strong—but because God is strong. And he is with you and fights for you. 

Some other promises to consider:

Is. 43:1 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

Josh 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

1 Peter 5:6-7  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Ex. 14 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

These promises are all based on God’s ability and His care for us. Fainthearted Christians have very little life in them. They don’t have the gumption, the strength or the resources within themselves to get their life together. 

What they do have is a strong, compassionate God. And our faintheartedness is almost a blessing in disguise because it teaches us to rely on His strength, not our own. 

When someone is in a state of anxiety, depression or faintheartedness, they will struggle to act because their feelings are so unruly. They can do all of the things: get a good night’s sleep, pray, read their bible…and still these dysfunctional emotions may barely diminish. It’s freeing for a fainthearted person to know that they don’t have to feel in control before they step forward in faith. Rather they step forward in faith because God will provide everything they need that day AND he will accept what he provides. 

4. Faint-hearted Christians need the example of other Christians who continue to press on toward the goal. 

  • Heb. 12 talks about the painful necessity of discipline in a Christian’s life. The author encourages the Hebrews to not become weary when God disciplines them. He reminds them that God disciplines his children because he loves them and it “yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
  • Then he says, “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.”( Heb 12:12)  
  • The whole church is like a body. 
  • Think of a woman’s experience giving birth: big head, displaced tailbone, can’t stand straight, one thing out of line throws off the rest of the body. Having neck pain may be because your hip is out of line. Everything is connected in the human body.
  • Notice the whole church is to “lift drooping hands” and “strengthen your weak knees” and “make straight paths for their feet” Why? So that what is lame (read: despondent) will not be put out of joint, but be healed. 
  • “The reference to drooping hands and weak knees is familiar imagery in Jewish literature, often used to describe attitudes of discouragement and despair. Here the writer…urges these believers to press on to the goal so that those members of the church who have become despondent (lame) will notice their good example, receive fresh courage and begin to march again rather than fall even further behind. …But if healing is to come, it is not simply the responsibility of the leaders, tireless pastors though they are (13:17), but of every single member.

When the whole church presses on in faith, the lame part of the body begins to heal.  

  • When a fainthearted Christian comes to church on Sunday and is surrounded by people singing praises to God, that encourages her faith and helps her to heal.
  • When a fainthearted Christian sees you trusting Christ through your trials and hardships, that encourages her faith and helps her to heal.
  • When a fainthearted Christian knows you are praying for her and trusting that God will fight for her, that encourages her faith and helps her to heal.
  • When you keep speaking truth to her with patience and gentleness, that helps her to heal.

Sometimes we think, “I’m just one person, what can I do?”. But it’s the cumulative effect. When each member is striving to be faithful, the lame members are enveloped in testimonies of God’s faithfulness. They are surrounded by love, encouragement and good godly counsel. 

Fainthearted Christians will naturally want to avoid fellowship because it sort of exposes how much they are floundering. There is an unflattering contrast between the expansive faith of others and their own faintly burning wick.  

If you are fainthearted today, it is really encouraging that you are here. It takes a lot to get yourself to church and meet with other Christians. But the church is God’s gift to you, to help you heal. It protects you from going out of joint and helps you to line up again with what is healthy and good for you. 

You can help your fainthearted friends by making it as easy as possible for them to get to church and other community gatherings. Pick them up, find babysitting for their kids, etc..

Applications:

Nancie Guthrie (What Grieving People Wish You Knew About What Really Helps and What Really Hurts).–put a survey up on her website that asked grieving people wish others understood about grief. Here’s what they said:

4 things grieving people wish you knew

Here are Guthrie’s four things:

  1. How much it means for you to just show up and say something. Grief is lonely. There probably isn’t a perfect thing to say. You can’t fix the situation. Just being there (and maybe helping out a bit) helps.
  1. They don’t want to hear stories about someone else’s loss. Or your own loss. It diminishes their experience. IT takes the focus off of the grieving person and puts it on someone else. We’re trying to relate to them, but it can come across as “Your loss shouldn’t hurt so much because a lot of people have had that experience.”
  1. They want to talk about the person who they lost. Bring up the person. Use their name. You won’t make them cry, you may allow them to release some tears. They are always thinking about it in the background. 
  1. They need time and space to simply be sad. Don’t try to rush them or fix it.When you talk with people about heaven, don’t expect that it makes everything okay

If you have someone in your life who is fainthearted. Remember it’s not your job to fix them. You just need to be there for them. If they are grieving, grieve with them. Help them in practical ways. If they are anxious about the future, encourage them with God’s promises, his nearness to them and Christ’s compassionate intercession for them. 

As Paul says in 1 Thess. 5 “Be Patient with them all”. Fainthearted-ness is not a quick-fix scenario. It requires time and patience on our part. They need help and support over the long haul.

Make it as easy as possible for them to come to church and meet with God’s people so that they are surrounded by love, encouragement and good godly counsel. If that’s not possible, maybe offer to communicate with the church on their behalf so that they can be as integrated into body-life as possible. 

One of the best things we can do for our fainthearted friends is to pray for them and believe that God is able to restore to them the joy of their salvation. (Ps. 51).

Resources Consulted:

  • Commentaries:
    • John Stott
    • Raymond Brown
    • D. Michael Martin
  • Websites
    • Ed Welch
    • Nancy Guthrie
  • Books
    • Richard Sibbes
Categories
Church Clint Gospel Ministry

“Walking in the Fear of the Lord…It Multiplied”

2019 in Review at Calvary Grace Church

It is hard to believe the amount of change that has occurred in the life of Calvary Grace Church since last December. 

Yet through all of the changes, there has been an underlying principle. That principle was described by the apostle Luke in his history of the early church when he recorded:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. (Ac 9:31)

“Walking in the fear of the Lord”

Calvary Grace has had a season of ‘walking in the fear of the Lord’ in 2019. Many of us have had to count the cost of following Jesus in the midst of a culture that has grown rapidly hostile to our Lord’s truth. In living according to the truth and confessing the truth, we’ve had to have some difficult conversations with friends and fellow church members, in order to hold fast to the truth. We have been tested in 2019 with whether we would walk in the fear of the Lord or the fear of man. Happily, Calvary Grace has continued to walk in the fear of God, even when times have been hard. 

“The comfort of the Holy Spirit”

But we’ve also been walking in ‘the comfort of the Holy Spirit’ too. Palm Sunday of 2019 saw us bid a tearful goodbye to members joining together to plant Grace Cochrane Church. As we sent them off, we trusted that the Holy Spirit would be their comfort in their new work, as we seek his comfort in ours. 

Nobody could ignore the way that God galvanized the congregation of CGC in God-fearing prayer as we interceded for a church member during her hospitalization. Seeing God’s hand of mercy moving dramatically was a profound answer to our prayers. Such comfort from the Holy Spirit reminded us of the supernatural power of God to change things in our created world in ways that defy explanation. 

“It Multiplied”

After the planting of Grace Cochrane Church at Easter, Calvary Grace felt reduced, although we all were surprised that we didn’t feel empty.  The number of people who have come to Calvary Grace has begun to fill the sanctuary once again. 

What is even more encouraging than increased attendance, are the ways in which newer members have become integrated into the life of the church. Among these newer members has been a notable spirit of gratitude to God for Calvary Grace, and a thankfulness toward the members who had a hand along the way in helping CGC get established. 

Looking Ahead to 2020

We praise God for the generosity of church members to partner together in the ministry through the giving of their time, talents and treasure. As we look ahead to 2020, we prayerfully anticipate the path before us, as God wills. 

Stewardship

  • To continue to improve our financial position and pay down our mortgage. This will open up many more opportunities for local and global impact. 
  • To continue to ‘fix’ the remaining building needs now that the roof projects have been completed successfully (!).
  • To continue the retooling of our ministry structure, giving more delegation to deacons and ministry leads, and improving the processes that assist people to become healthy gospel partners, not merely attenders. 
  • To continue to support the Grace Cochrane Church, but also anticipating our next steps as Grace Cochrane becomes gradually self-sustaining. 

Spirituality

  • To get grounded in the gospel and the heart of the gospel, namely union with Christ. This is the theme of our January 24-25 conference featuring Stephen Yuille, Gavin Peacock and Clint Humfrey. 
  • To be equipped to live as exiles in our own land, yet with a heavenly destiny. 
    1. Pastor Josh  will begin January with a short series in 2 Peter
    2. Pastor Clint will resume his Daniel series on the prophetic visions. 
  • We will seek to grow in our Sunday School electives in the new year, with applied teaching, thoughtful questions and a culture of godly learning. 
  • We will aim to support the teachers who are working with our children in Sunday School, and offering to volunteer as needed.
  • We will keep praying together monthly, and having that prayer time as a high priority for our schedules, to seek the Lord– together.
  • To attend and support men’s and women’s bible studies, youth ministry, Oasis/Seniors outreach, mercy ministries, and much, much more.  

Remember that as the early church walked in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. 

We continue to look with expectancy for God to bring revival to Calgary. As we look to God for a special and intense work, we also trust him that he is working in ordinary and regular ways in our midst. All his ways are good and wise!

As 2019 enters its last days, we will celebrate the incarnation of the Son of God together. Let us remember how great a salvation we enjoy. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good works as we enter 2020. (Heb 10:24).

Categories
Church Clint Gospel Ministry Theology

What Does Pragmatism Look Like in Ministry?

Churches will be tempted to give in to a survival instinct and do whatever it takes to increase attendance. They’ll work hard to “just get ‘em in the door’. The result is many different methods of attracting religious ‘consumers’ that might seem contradictory to the message being broadcast. The contradiction is justified because of the possibility of souls being saved. 

Understood in this way, the end— the greatest end– justifies the means to that end. And that is what is called pragmatism in the church.

Pragmatism since the 1900’s

The two largest and most influential of the pragmatic approaches to ministry are these: 

  1. “Decisionistic Regeneration”, i.e. creating psychological distress or emotional euphoria in order to cause someone to make an instantaneous decision in favour of Christ. 
  2. “Seeker-Sensitive” Ministry, i.e. orienting a church’s ministry toward a demographic subset of the community and addressing all of that group’s ‘felt needs’ or preferences as religious consumers. 

Now in both instances of pragmatic ministry, there is a desire to see sinners come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, there is a failure to understand what saving faith really is, as well as a naivete about the danger that giving false assurance to the person who is only temporarily interested in religious things. 

Of course, ministry among real human beings will require wisdom about adiaphora, the things indifferent. This comes into play as we see changes across cultures and centuries. However, we can’t let the wisdom of contextualization give way to pragmatism which pursues results at the expense of fundamental misunderstandings about truth.

What is Faith?

In the examples of decisionistic regeneration and seeker-sensitive ministry, both types of pragmatism had thin understandings of saving faith. They thought that saving faith was merely a mental assent to certain facts about Jesus Christ. Even if repentance was mentioned (which it rarely was), it had more of the character of a momentary emotional regret, than a settled turning away from an old life, to new life in Christ. 

The seeker-sensitive model of ministry misunderstood faith as well. They thought that through the benefits of proximity to Christians, the appeal of Christian community would provide sufficient enough grounds for a person to give assent to the facts about Christ and identify as a Christian. In terms of the classic threefold understanding of saving faith, they would only be asking for knowledge and assent, without trust (notitia, assensus, without fiducia).

Nominalism

What is interesting to observe is that even leaders in the seeker sensitive movement have acknowledged that there should have been more emphasis on discipleship. The result of this neglect was that some of the largest churches in the world were filled with people who had only marginal understandings of the gospel. It became an embarrassment to the Evangelical movement that some of its largest churches were producing ‘nominal’ Christians, the very charge which Evangelicals had put to liberal mainline Protestants. 

As the 21st century enters its second decade, Christians will have to retrieve the lessons of the past, even the recent past of the last century. Pragmatism threatened to ruin the renewal movement of gospel-centred Evangelicals. 

Let us be watchful and careful that we don’t let pragmatism ruin the renewal today. 

Photo Credit: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. George Bellows, Billy Sunday. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-8e43-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99


Categories
Church Clint Ministry Pastors Theology

6 Things to Ask An Elder Candidate

When a candidate for the office of elder is being examined, it’s necessary for the examiner (likely the senior pastor, or another designated pastor) to have a series of talking points and questions to ask.

Normally an elder candidate will have to do some type of theological project, most likely an exegetical or theological essay which shows his ability to discern biblical truths and articulate them clearly. He would also have to be able to defend his conclusion against other positions and especially false doctrine.

Assuming that the potential candidate has been in a discipling process, having been tested in different ways, these talking points could be used to apply to a potential candidate. They are given as suggestions for a way to further discover the qualifications outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and all the rest of the biblical characteristics for elders.

Below are six areas to consider in examining the potential candidate.

1. Personal

  • Share Testimony
    • Used Alcohol or Illegal Drugs; Any anti-depressants? 
    • Viewed Pornography [_____]
    • Marriage: 
      • Honest, objective pastoral assessment of your marriage. 
      • What is your wife’s view of your calling to ministry?
      • How does your wife’s ministry in the church potentially relate to being married to a pastor (Eg. is she active in women’s ministry; or faithful church member; etc).
      • What is the spiritual maturity of your wife compared to yourself?
    • What is your temperament? 
    • What are the scenarios when you are most easily tempted to be angry?
    • What are the scenarios when you are most easily tempted to be depressed?
    • Briefly describe your personal prayer life.
    • Briefly describe your practice of family worship, couple’s devotion or other spiritual leadership in your home. 
    • Is there anything you haven’t told us that could be revealed about you that would be scandalous or potentially disqualifying? 

2. Doctrinal

  • Statement of Faith
    • Compatibility. 
      • What are the points of the Statement of Faith which you are 
        • More newly convinced of, 
        • Have had a lesser amount of reflection upon?
      • How different is this church in doctrine, compared with a previous church, and the most influential church your wife has come from? 
    • Influences
      • Identify the major influences on your theological development (both positively and negatively).
      • What are the areas of theological study you have given a lot of attention to, and less attention to?
    • Possible Doctrinal Questions (These can be expanded depending on the candidate, the length of the examination, and the prerequisites completed):
      • How many wills does the Incarnate Son of God have?
      • How many wills does God have? 
      • What does divine simplicity mean? 
      • State briefly your view of the sign gifts.
      • What is your view on divorce and remarriage?
      • Explain the difference between the Reformed view of sanctification and the Keswick view.
      • [____________]

3. Ecclesiastical

  • Compatibility
    • What are the areas of practice in this church (philosophy of ministry, worship/liturgy, cultural context, etc) which differ compared with a previous church, and the most influential church your wife has come from? 
  • Elder Role
    • What is your understanding of the application of the elder’s role:
      • Ideally according to Scripture
      • In practical application at your local church.
  • Is your potential role as an elder interchangeable with the role of the current pastor? Explain. 

4. Practical

  • What would the scenario of  “serving this church” look like? What would the scenario of “using or exploiting this church” look like?
  • What are the areas of ministry in which you are likely to be tempted? 
  • When your youth is ‘disregarded’, what is a) your fleshly style of response, b) your Spirit-filled response? 
  • When you have received feedback about the manner of your liturgical leadership or preaching, how have you felt when you received that feedback, and what have you done in response?
  • How willing are you to adapt your personal preferences in order to promote the mission of the church and the unity of the church? Give examples.  
  • Who have you personally discipled or mentored? 
  • Who has discipled or mentored you?
  • Explain the ways you are doing the work of an evangelist.

5. Logistical

  • Capacity
    • Do you have the realistic physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual capacity for you to undertake the work of a presbyter/bishop/pastor, recognizing your other roles/priorities:
      • As a husband
      • As a father
      • As an employee
      • Within your church context

6. Prayerful

  • Describe the life and ministry that you are asking God to cultivate in you.

unsplash-logoNik MacMillan

Categories
Church Clint Gospel Ministry Pastors Spiritual Growth Theology

Are You Making Progress?

“Do you feel like you’re spinning your wheels?” That’s the question I asked my elders last night. I was asking to see if they felt stuck, and not making progress in their ministry, marriages, families, and vocations.

As devotional meditation at the beginning of our elders’ meeting (we always start with prayer and the Word of God), I looked at the issue of “making progress” in Paul’s letters.

For Your Progress and Joy

My first question was to get at what was our reason for being in ministry at all. I asked the men, “Why do we remain and continue in this ministry?” That question is prompted by Philippians 1:25. Paul gave the answer in that verse when he said: 

“for your progress and joy in the faith” 

Phil 1:25

The Greek word for progress is prokopen (προκοπὴν). The idea likely had an early sense of cutting or slashing forward, but the word gained wide usage to mean simply ‘advance’ or ‘progress’.

So like Paul, the pastors can consider that their purpose for being in ministry at this time is for the progress and joy in the faith of others. 

Progress in Sanctification

Another way of putting it is to think that pastors serve the church to promote their progressive sanctification. As pastors shepherd people, they will make progress:

  • from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor 3:18). 
  • from immaturity to presenting “everyone mature in Christ” (Col 1:28)

So the pastors’ ministry is to serve in this Pauline way for people’s personal, joyous, progressive sanctification in the Christian faith.

The Progress of the Gospel

The personal progress which pastors promote for individual Christians doesn’t remain alone. That individual progress is part of the wider progress of the gospel. Paul outlined in the first chapter of Philippians, that various circumstances in his life were actually designed for the gospel’s progress. The ESV translates this same Greek word (prokope/ προκοπὴν) not with ‘progress’ but ‘advance’ in Philippians 1:12.

As much as we may care for the sanctification of the individual Christian, we can never lose sight of the fact that God is advancing the gospel, and pastors must shepherd people to carry that gospel forward. So as we “equip the saints” (Eph 4:12), we will see the gospel progressively advanced in the ever expanse reaches which Jesus commanded (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8).

Pastors Must Make Progress

In order to serve the progress of others, we need to make progress. Paul exhorted Timothy to undertake a plan of personal development in gospel-born teaching and living. He commanded Timothy saying:

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. (προκοπὴν)

1 Tim 4:15

As pastors, we aren’t aiming to display our learning, or show off our preaching, or parade our piety. Nevertheless, people should be able to see our progress.  They should see that we are changing and growing. They should see that as our lives change, the church changes, and the entire ministry landscape changes, we are making progress.

Some of the areas we should make progress in are:

  • persevering through trials old and new. 
  • theological knowledge leading to worship, or courage, or humility
  • skill in handling ministry, preaching, relationships, the brevity of time

Progress in Life and Teaching

There are many areas that Paul outlines in his pastoral epistles, which pastors ought to make progress in by God’s grace. A great summary of them all is stated by Paul in the following verse when he concludes:

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

1Ti 4:16 

These are wide categories. When Paul warns to keep watch on “yourself” it is all of life, inside and out. When he focusses on “the teaching” he intends both the expansive content of the faith as well as the growing ability to communicate it better. 

As we ended this meditation on pastors making progress, for the progressive sanctification of Christians and the progress of the gospel, I asked two application questions. Consider them in your own life:

  1. In what area would you like to make some progress this coming year?
  2. In what area do you feel you’ve made progress in this last year.

unsplash-logoEmma Francis


Categories
Church Clint Ministry Pastors Reformers Theology

5 Assessments of Pastors According to Calvin’s Geneva

In the Draft Order of Visitation of the Country Churches January 11, 1546 [1], there are some points made about what to watch for in assessing the ministries of pastors.

1. Doctrinal unity.

The first order of business was to make sure that the pastor maintained, “proper uniformity of doctrine in the whole body of the Church of Geneva.” This was done by having two Genevan pastors visit the country churches in order to, “enquire whether the Ministry of the place have accepted any doctrine in any sense new and repugnant to the purity of the gospel.” So the churches weren’t little labs where pastors could exercise their speculative experiments. They were expected to be fairly conservative, that is, unchanging in their doctrine.

2. Wise Application

Not only was the doctrine to be in line with the other Genevan churches, but there was also an expectation that the minister would preach with wise applications. He wasn’t to preach, “anything at all scandalous, or unfitting to the instruction of the people because it is obscure, or treats of superfluous questions, or exercises too great rigour.” In applying his expositions, the pastor wasn’t grinding axes or riding hobby-horses. How many ‘Calvinist’ pastors today are guilty of ‘exercising too much rigour’.

3. Congregational Support

The pastor wasn’t the only one who was held accountable. The congregation was urged to be diligent not only in attending church services, but “to have a liking for it, and to find profit in it for Christian living.”  Many congregations need to be reminded of their responsibility to support the pastor’s ministry and to like it.

4. Pastoral Care

Pastors were supposed to be engaged in ministry outside of the pulpit, through visitation of the sick and counselling. Specifically, pastors were to confront those who needed it, as well as applying counsel to prevent patterns of sin.

5. Pastoral Integrity

The last element that was examined was whether the pastor had a testimony marked by integrity.  Basically, did the pastor live as an example to others, leading “an honest life”? Also, the pastor’s reputation was checked to see if people viewed areas of his life as lacking self-control (“dissoluteness”) or being flaky (“frivolity”). Finally, the pastor needed to have a harmonious relationship with the congregation. And above all of these, he needed to have his family life in order.

These priorities are quite basic. But how often do pastors fail to maintain these basic emphases? May God grant us mercy to fulfill our duties.

[1] JKS Reid, Calvin: Theological Treatises, (SCM Press, 1954), 74

unsplash-logoSamuel Zeller

photo credit

Categories
Agrarian Pastor Church Clint Ministry Pastors

4 Ways to Identify Potential Elders

Many churches lack qualified elders. It’s not that they don’t have elderly men. They don’t have elders; that is presbyters (Ac 20:17,1Ti 5:17Ti 1:5, Ja 5:14,1Pet 5:1). These elders (who are also overseers (Acts 20:28; 1 Tim 3:1,2; Ti 1:7), must meet the qualifications laid out in the pastoral epistles. The challenge is how to identify those potential office-bearers. Here are four ways to spot these men in your church.

He’s a Good Church Member

There is no sense looking at a man as a potential elder if he is not a good church member first. What I’m talking about is more than simply someone who has passed through a membership process. A good church member is someone who is faithful in attendance (Heb 10:25), faithful in the “one anothers” (a phrase used 100 times in the NT), and faithful in appropriate exercise of responsibility (eg. Heb 12:12-17), submission to authority (Heb 13:17), and promotion of the gospel (Matt 28:18-20).

Since the qualifications for an elder in Paul’s first letter to Timothy map out an exemplary Christian, then the potential elder ought to be a good churchman by design.

For example, if he doesn’t bother to attend the prayer meeting, he is likely not an elder candidate. That is not to say that a man on shift work or with a lot of evening work can’t be an elder. But there should be a clear indication that the local church is a high priority for him.

He Can Teach (with an audience of one)

There are men who are growing in the Lord, but they have a hard time expressing themselves in orderly ways. That of course, is what teaching involves: assisting someone to move from confusion to ordered understanding of the subject. Men who can teach have the ability to come alongside someone else and move them from point A to point B in theological understanding.

Being able to teach (1 Tim 3:2) does not necessarily require a man to be an orator or pulpiteer. There are many men who have less skill in public speaking. At the same time, a man who has a deep understanding of the bible, ought to be able to speak in an orderly way to someone else. One-to-one discipleship is a form of this kind of teaching. If a man can teach another man in a discipling context, then they are in the habit of ‘teaching’.

This one-to-one kind of teaching is important to recognize. Often men will like to lead bible studies or teach a class, but they have little interest in the patience and obscurity that goes along with one-to-one discipling. I have found that the men who don’t disciple, yet want to have public teaching roles will tend to view the bible and theology as a hobby. They will be energized by the study in the way that a fan is energized talking about their favourite team. Added to this can be the slight ego trip of being a centre of attention and being “made much of” by other people. By contrast, the man who is content to meet together with another guy in obscurity, yet help that man grow in biblical understanding— that man is teaching as a way of life. Maybe if that man is given an opportunity, he will teach publicly in the same effective, humble manner.

Confessionally Compatible

Since elders are office bearers in a local church, they have to confess the doctrinal parameters of that church. Much of this will be discovered by seeing if the man is a good church member. But more than this, a potential elder will have to be evaluated regarding his relative understanding of the doctrinal positions of the church. It is one thing for a member to submit to a doctrinal position that they haven’t studied too much, but it is another thing for an elder to have to teach it.

Added to this is a recognition of the doctrinal triage that exists in:

  • the statement of faith
  • the church’s constitution
  • and the existing ministries and policies.

By triage, I mean the ordering of priorities in terms of clearer or less clear and important or less important. If a potential elder elevates an obscure teaching to a high degree of importance or acts callously toward the way that his local church faithfully applies Scripture in practical matters, then he will likely create disunity among the elders and in the church. Everyone doesn’t have to think exactly the same, but there should be unity about what matters and what doesn’t.

Sometimes this means that the potential elder you develop will not serve in your church but someone else’s. If you have a generous spirit, you can recognize that on lesser matters in the triage, it is okay to differ. But that may mean that a potential elder will have to go to a different church that fits his understanding of things.

Capacity for the Work

There are many godly men who are faithful as church members and who can teach, yet they are not capable of doing pastoral work. They simply don’t have the time, energy or capacity.

It is not out of laziness or stubbornness. But some men recognize that their callings as husbands and fathers require them to work in such a way that there isn’t a lot of capacity left over for being an elder.

Since managing one’s own household well is a key qualification for an elder, the lack of capacity that a man has can be a signal that he is not called to the work. It is better to have the man continue as a faithful church member, than to have him over-extended into pastoral care and wreck his marriage and ministry.

Considering these elements can go a long way toward identifying potential elders. In the end, the wisdom of pastors and parishioners will culminate in wise assessments that can be recognized by everyone.

Categories
Canada Church Clint Ministry Pastors Theology

Bleeding Consumers Dry

Not as many people are talking about consumer-driven churches these days. Maybe it’s because there has been a switch in some of the mega-churches from lighter content, to teaching that positions itself in a conservative stream like the big-gospel movement.

Still, I think that the consumer-driven approach is quite common. Maybe it is so common that churches have simply given up resistance to the sales-customer model of church life.

Lost Vitality

David Wells was one of the key voices addressing this problem in the late 20th century. Through his books he documented how a renewal movement like neo-evangelicalism could flourish after WWII, only to be overtaken and hollowed out by the lure of cultural power and a marketing impulse.

This switch occurred in the 1970’s according to Wells, and the result was to bleed evangelicalism of its doctrinal and spiritual vitality. It had worldly success, but the renewal movement was losing its soul.

Jesus’ Warning

Of course, there is always the temptation for movements inside the church to turn parasitical upon it. Jesus warned of this when he said pointedly:

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Luke 20:46-47

This challenge has existed throughout the history of the church. It is part of the reason for Martin Luther’s protest at the Reformation. In the current climate of #MeToo and #ChurchToo, there is a need to ask serious questions about ministries, churches and what they exist to do.

Why Does the Church Exist?

As in the case of the scribes, the consumer-driven movement subtly shifted the questions of why the church existed. In such a case the church is no longer the gathering of sinners in a compelling community with supernatural, rather than natural bonds. Instead, the church is a vehicle for:

  • cultural power, (social gospel/social justice; “Court Evangelicals” a term coined by historian John Fea; liberal Protestantism)
  • personal platform (prosperity gospel preachers, other celebrity speakers)
  • building a brand (some church planting cultures, some denominations)

There are other variations of these, and some which could include all three (such as the church of Rome). If we can get back to clear thinking about what the church is, and what it’s for, we will resist false analogies that will lead us away from the church’s mission.

A False Analogy

Wells made the observation that when the church views people as consumers, then they have adopted a false analogy from the world of capitalism. In the article, The Bleeding of the Evangelical Church, Wells wrote:

Consumers in the market place are never asked to commit themselves to the product they are purchasing as a sinner is to the Christ in whom belief is being invited. Furthermore, consumers in the marketplace are free to define their needs however they want to and then to hitch up a product to satisfy those needs, but in the Church the consumer, the sinner, is not free to define his or her needs exactly as they wish. It is God who defines our needs and the reason for that is that left to ourselves we would not understand our needs aright because we are rebels against God. We are hostile both to God and to His law and cannot be subject to either, Paul tells us. Now, no person going into the marketplace, going to buy a coffee-pot or going to buy a garden hose, engages with their innermost being in the way that we are inviting sinners to do in the Church. The analogy is simply fallacious.

The Bleeding of the Evangelical Church, David Wells

Unfortunately, Wells’ analysis is being mostly forgotten by those over 40, and those under 40 have not learned the cautionary tale of what happened to a bright and hopeful movement called Neo-evangelicalism. But maybe there are some gains we can make, starting with some small purges.

Purging Parasites

How can we purge the unseen parasites in our practices? Here are three suggestions:

  1. Stop asking people to ‘serve’ before they are saved. In too many church plants, as well as larger churches, the temptation is to get people ‘involved’ but asking them to plug holes in the ministry machine before they are saved or effectively discipled.
  2. Accept the cost of being less responsive to non-biblical preferences. People are used to thinking of themselves as consumers. Churches should resist feeding that mentality, but sticking to biblical essentials, and habitually being less responsive to non-biblical preferences. Each church will have preferences based on geography, culture, demographics, etc. But to keep the focus on biblical essentials will lessen the elastic responsiveness which some churches have toward changing fads among the people.
  3. Audit your ministry for any areas you think are indispensable, and adjust your reliance them. Consider if you had a worship band that was just average. Or your children’s program was reduced. Or your meeting space was changed to a different facility. How indispensable have things become which are unrelated to the indispensable gospel of Jesus Christ? This includes the possible indispensability of the pastor’s personal ministry. As Charles De Gaulle said, ‘The graveyards are full of indispensable men’. Maybe it’s time to cultivate elders and pastors in the church who can preach in the event that God takes a pastor home?

Making these kinds of adjustments will be painful, but they will develop greater church health over the long term.

A Different Formula

Churches may use tools that are part of the modern marketing world just to get their message to people (Facebook, MailChimp, etc). But they must also ask themselves if the unwitting pursuit of cultural power, platforms, or brand expansion are subtly eroding the supernatural community which Jesus promised.

We ought to remember, that Jesus said regarding the true church, that even “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mat 16:18). That is a formula for success which no marketer can ever accomplish.

unsplash-logoЕгор Камелев

Categories
Church Ministry Personal Growth Spiritual Growth

Friends are Precious

Of all the things Paul could have said to Timothy in his last days, in this last letter, he says, “Do your best to come to me soon” (2 Tim 4:9). Paul wanted Timothy close. This is what friends do. Friends impose on each other when they are needy, because they value each other so highly. 

A Precious Friend

Timothy was precious to Paul. Paul called him his ‘son’. Paul had given a pattern of life to Timothy. And of all of the teammates which Paul had, Timothy was different. Paul could describe Timothy to the Philippian church saying, “I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare” (Phil 2:20). So it’s Timothy that he asks for. 

Persevering Friendship

Do you have those kinds of deep friendships? Few of us do. It’s hard to develop a friendship that perseveres through difficulties and distances. Paul and Timothy had that. 

Paul wasn’t entirely alone. Luke was with him. In some ways, Luke was a friend to Paul like Lord Beaverbrook was a friend to Winston Churchill. Churchill said of Beaverbrook— “He’s a foul-weather friend” (That’s the paraphrase).

Luke was not a fair-weather friend who flies off when things aren’t sunny. He was a foul-weather friend. He’d stick with you through storms. Luke was that kind of friend to Paul. The result is that we have the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles as the fruit of Luke’s ministry, and Paul’s influential friendship.

Strained Friendship

And the other person to note is Mark. Paul says, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim 4:11).

You will recall that Mark was one of the early companions on Paul’s mission team. He went with Paul when they set out from their base in Antioch and went to Cyprus (Acts 13). But when they went to the coast of Turkey, Mark quit (13:13). He quit the mission and quit Paul. And he returned to Jerusalem. 

How to view Mark became a major disagreement between Paul and another friend Barnabas (Acts 15:39). Barnabas wanted to bring Mark on a new mission trip and Paul didn’t. So there was a break in the friendship between Paul and Barnabas over Mark. And another friend, Luke recorded it in Acts 15. 

Repaired Friendship

The point to see here is that friendships can be strained, but they can also be repaired. Mark had been a flashpoint for all kinds of relational stress— not just with Paul but with others. 

Yet unlike the wisdom of today, Paul wasn’t proclaiming Mark to be ‘a toxic friendship’ that he forever needed out of his life. 

Instead, he made his choice about Mark, but he could still have hope in God that Mark could grow and change and ultimately become, as Paul said, “useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim 4:11). 

Friendships are precious and we must have hope that in the long term, even when they are strained, friendships are worth working for, or as Tim Lane called them, “ a mess worth making”.

This article is taken from my sermon, The Legacy of Friends, Enemies and Frenemies here.

photo credit

unsplash-logoPriscilla Du Preez