An Interesting Perspective on the "Slavery" Passages

I have read the "slavery" passages numerous times in the New Testament and have always wondered just what to do with them. They are Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:22-4:1, 1 Timothy 6:1-2, Titus 2:9-10, and 1 Peter 2:18-25.

I have been teaching through Titus during Wednesday evening Bible study and I came to 2:9-10 yesterday evening. After the first reading, I had initially relegated it to the "we'll give this a run-through" passage, kind of like an epistolary benediction or opening greeting. Of course, I then nearly concluded that, given that slavery is no longer a norm in American life, there is no real, ready application except in employee/employer relationships. That would be the natural place to go. However, as I really studied and prayed that God give me a fuller picture, this quote from a commentary caught my attention. And it changed my whole perspective on how to interpret these passages.

It is unfortunate that many teachers or preachers have applied Paul’s teaching on slavery in his epistles to the employer/employee relationship in modern economies. Such applications dilute the tremendous power of the Gospel as seen within the dark and unjust institution of slavery. The focus of Paul’s teaching with regard to Christian slaves must not be missed. Against the bleak hopelessness of this system of bondage, the Christian slave’s devotion to the Gospel and resulting godly attitudes and actions serve to make attractive in an unparalleled way the ultimate freedom that is only realized in Christ (Hayne, New American Commentary: 1,2 Timothy, Titus 308)

I taught Titus 2:9-10 completely different after reading and thinking through this quote and applied it to the sum total of the Christian experience; anywhere a Christian finds himself under authority. The slave-master relationship should characterize the Christian life and just as a Christian slave should yield unquestioning obedience to his master, so the Christian should yield unquestioning obedience to his Master, Jesus--and this characteristic will manifest itself in all relationships where a Christian is under authority--even to an unbeliever.

Something Gross, Something Funny, and Something Amazing

First, something gross.

Not too long ago I stepped over to the church office from home to make a few copies for homeschooling purposes. When I arrived, one of the sweet ladies who gives of her time to clean the facilities was there. I stopped in the sanctuary for a moment to speak with her and exchange pleasantries. She was hard at work polishing the backs of the pews. It did not immediately register to me what she was polishing the pews with until I walked up and greeted her. As she sprayed the polish on the pews, she was rubbing it in with a pair of men's underwear.

I have learned a lot about frugality at the church I serve, from seeing used Ziplock bags washed and propped up on a dish drainer to dry, muffins brought to a fellowship on a meat tray, to some folks who drive cars that are twenty years old or older. But I just talked with her like polishing furniture with a pair of worn out men's underwear was the most natural thing in the world to me.

OK, something funny.

I haven't posted any lousy church signs in a while because I have not seen anything relatively original in its level of lousiness, just more and more of the same. However, this one I saw on an independent, fundamental baptist church a couple of days ago.

Take Christ out of Christmas and
all you're left with is _ _ _ _ _ _ mas.

Those independent, fundamentals do tend to be fairly literal in their approach.

Now--something amazing.

Last week my good friend and fellow blogger Steve Sensenig posted on a topic that I had been mulling over for a while, particularly since I had been doing some private study on spiritual gifts for Wednesday evening services. In response to a request from another blogger, Steve posted on the topics of miracles and particularly healings, to which much of the discussion turned. (You can find the posts here, here, and here.) I won't get into the bulk of Steve's arguments because I would much rather you go there and read them for yourselves, giving him the hit counts he deserves.

I will say though that Steve's primary contention, and I believe it, was that healings are part of the Gospel message and serve a much greater purpose than just authentication. Healings are just as valid today as they were during Christ's time on earth and it is God's will that we be healed of our diseases and infirmities. Further, nowhere in Scripture is anyone ever told "no" to a healing request and Christ even healed some who didn't ask.

I haven't nearly shared the bulk of Steve's arguments but only to lead to this point. My wife has had kidney stone trouble for years. In summer 2003 she had a delicate operation where a stone was directly removed from her kidney. Since then, kidney stones have been a constant worry. Since our last baby was born, and even before the delivery, she has had a stone that has bothered her intermittently. Sometimes she has just been uncomfortable, other times she has been in severe pain.

This had been going on for over five months. Then I read Steve's posts on miracles, threw my two cents worth in the comment thread, and Steve helped me think through some things. I discovered my views on healings were not entirely biblical. I didn't tell my wife that I had been thinking and pondering and searching Gods' heart on this matter.

Late last week, I began to pray in accords with what I had learned from the Lord through Brother Steve. I claimed no promises, placed no obligation upon God, nor did I "pray in faith," as the faith healers say is necessary. I simply prayed, knowing what I now know about the character of God and His desires regarding physical healings.

My wife went to the doctor last week, had a culture done, and then this past Monday had an ultrasound. Leaving the hospital Monday she called me on the way out the door. There was no kidney stone. When we hung up, I wept and whispered a prayer of gratitude. Like I said, something amazing. I am still assimilating it all and I'm not sure how to completely respond; right now just in thanksgiving and praise.

Notes on Pastoral Authority

Having difficulty with an argumentative church member, I asked a couple of brother pastors' advice on the issue. From two different pastors, I received two different responses, polar opposites from one another. One pastor said simply tell him that you're the pastor and that's that. The second said I needed to lovingly admonish the brother and walk with him through this issue.

Pastoral authority is a difficult topic to discuss. How much authority should the pastor have, if any at all? If he does have authority then to whom does he answer? Likewise, who answers to him? How should he exercise that authority? Positions on authority are as many as there are pastors and there are several other factors that guide a pastor's understanding of his own authority.

Some pastors feel they don't need to know what is going on in the church; a hands-off approach. Some pastors micro-manage every minute detail of church life. The Scriptures give evidence of some semblance of authority when Peter urges the elders to whom he was writing. "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:2-3). It is apparent that in Peter's time there were pastors who saw their role in church life as "he who is to be obeyed." Perhaps this attitude did not play out in actual practice but quite certainly the tendency was there.

It was about fifteen minutes before I was to preach at a funeral with one of the predecessors of the church I serve. He is seventy years old. Spending twelve years at the church I now pastor, he asked, "How long have you been here now?"

"Almost six years, sir."

"Well, you've been here long enough to be called pastor now haven't you?"

This is one of the first principles of pastoral authority. Authority is earned. I believe a certain amount comes with the office, but not much. People are not by nature trusting people and when a man comes in from outside their congregation, there is a natural uphill climb to garner respect. Many pastors do not take advantage of this uphill climb to allow their muscles to be hardened by the difficult work of winning people's hearts.

A good friend of mine (and if you're reading, you know who you are) often says, "A man who leads and nobody follows is only taking a walk." Pastoral ministry is not some kind of divine follow-the-leader. It is an earned respect, an earned influence.

A second principle is just to simply love people. We emphasize the Great Commission as well we should, but often we have done it to the detriment of the Greatest Commandment. Loving people is hard and its much easier to tell people about Jesus than to love them to the point of acceptance.

Moreover, people are needy and demand care. One brother pastor jokingly said he had 85 children. Though I disagree with the spirit of that retort, there is a grain of truth in it. As children are needy so God's people are needy and need constant attention and provision.This does not mean God's people won't act unloving. The pastor then can take the lead in a delicate area of church life and show the congregation he serves how to love unloving people. Peter did say "be examples."

A third principle I guide my ministry by is trod where they have trod. Walk with the folks through their difficulties and burdens, rejoice in their rejoicings, weep when they weep. Sometimes pastoral ministry just needs to be a ministry of presence. For the pastor's watch to stop for just a few moments means the world to a lonely elderly person, a grieving widow, or a hurting divorcee.

A final principle is to always pray. I pray with the people God has given me to serve every opportunity I get. I never leave a congregant's home, bedside, or hospital room without praying. Whether the time is happy or sad, I always pray.

One final concern is when to exercise authority. The pastor only has as much authority as the congregation allows him to have. It can raise incrementally through a life of integrity, dealing well with mistakes, and living an authentic Christian life before them. A real pastor and not "super-Christian" fosters an environment of trust when times to exercise authority comes yet hypocrisy can do irreparable harm.

Pastoral authority has its limits and can be abused. The Bible does not even call for "servant-leaders," the vogue, falsely humble moniker for how pastors ought to be. Rather, Jesus just calls for servants.

You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first of all shall be slave of all. Mark 10:42-44

A Post to Consider...

...at my other blog. I posted last night on some valid questions David Gushee, ethicist at Mercer University, asks of those holding to a complementarian view of Scripture.

What is the Gospel?

Just curious to know your thoughts. The thread is open.

A Ministry of Presence

I had considered entitling a post "Please Don't Blog About This," to plea with fellow bloggers to delay offering dry, theological sentiment in the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, but I know the voice will not be heeded. Blog friend Streak has already addressed the ridiculousness of the media in covering mass tragedies and blathering on and on about, well, nothing.

But Pastor Chris, the Evangelism Coach, expressed my sentiment about this better than I could.

Questions about the sovereignty of God will come. Questions about the character of God will be asked. Question about evil and questions about human responsibility will be examined.

But now is not the time for theological discourse.

We have theolgoical answers. Scripture informs us, teaches us, and guides us. But it's not the time for logical and dry explanations.

People hurt.

It’s time for compassion and a ministry of presence.

Thanks, Chris.

Just How Biblical is the Sinner's Prayer?

This post is essentially thinking out loud about something I have been pondering for a while. I thought by posting this I could get some feedback and evaluate my thoughts. Someone may have already addressed this adequately. I hope I am not splitting hairs too finely, but here goes...

When I came to Christ as a teenager, I prayed a prayer similar to what you find in most Gospel tracts:

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am sinful and I need your forgiveness. I believe that You died to pay the penalty for my sin. I want to turn from my sin nature and follow You instead. I invite You to come into my life. In Jesus' name. Amen." Steps to Peace with God, Billy Graham

I know that countless others have prayed this prayer to initiate their life with Christ. On the surface, the prayer seems theological enough--there is acknowledgment of need, confession of sin, the substitutionary nature of Christ's death, and repentance, all biblically necessary for receiving salvation.

However, is there anywhere in the Bible that someone prays for their initial salvation? I don't think so. I do not want to say that if an apparently Scriptural practice, if it is not chapter and verse, that it is immediately unbiblical. There are a lot of modern constructs used in Christian life and practice that though they do not have a biblical precedent it does not make the usage of them sinful. Nevertheless, there is no notion of a sinner's prayer in the Scriptures.

God has outlined the plan of salvation clearly in the Scriptures. And from that plan, there is no mention of prayer being a prerequisite. The plan goes like this:

1. Hear the Gospel message (John 5:24, Acts 15:7, Romans 10:14).
2. Believe in Jesus as the resurrected Son of God (John 3:16-18, 11:25-26, Romans 10:9).
3. Repent of sin (Matthew 3:2, Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30).
4. Confess Christ before others (Mark 8:38, Romans 10:9).
5. Be baptized as an outward testimony and as an act of obedience (Matthew 3:13-15, Acts 9:18, 16:33).
6. Live faithfully and steadfast as a Christian (Matthew 10:22, Hebrews 3:6, 14).
   

Of all the conversions recorded in the New Testament, there is no witness to any kind of prayer to receive salvation. There are nine conversions in the book of Acts alone and all follow this plan.

1. 3,000 on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41)
2. Simon and the Samaritans (Acts 8:9-12)
3. The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26-39)
4. Saul/Paul (Acts 9:1-19 & Acts 22:3-16)
5. Cornelius’ Household (Acts 10:44-48)
6. Lydia (Acts 16:11-15)
7. The Philippian Jailer (Acts 16:16-34)
8. The Corinthians (Acts 18:1-8)
9. The Ephesians (Acts 19:1-7)

There are also the conversions recorded in the Gospels (for example, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, the Gadarene demoniac, Zaccheus) where similar patterns are evident, though they do not follow the pattern from the book of Acts.

What I am not trying to do is impose a rigid rule upon the salvation experience, for each person's experience coming to Christ is different. However, it seems that a pattern can be discerned from Scripture that is noticeably devoid of prayer of any kind. I do not think prayer as a matter of course cannot be part of the initial saving process. The concern raised in my mind is what the usage of the sinner's prayer has done to discipleship. Has the church overemphasized the usage of the prayer to the effect that it has the opposite effect on maturity?

The prayer seems to truncate the primary Christian discipline of discipleship as well as the most noticeable indicator of salvation; that one continues in the faith. I have served in church long enough to garner enough empirical evidence to see that those who have prayed the sinner's prayer, if it is not solidified with discipleship, the prayer then becomes an end unto itself. The sinner has then staked his eternal soul not on the merit of Christ, but a tenuous prayer.

The sinner's prayer, often used as a substitute for the dirty work of discipleship, can even be prayed again if one does not "feel" saved, purely contrary to the Scriptural teaching on salvation.

So, just how biblical is the sinner's prayer?

A Pertinent Question

Are we missing the point? Raborn out at Ray's X-Change asks and answers a tough question that I myself have been arguing for a couple of months now here on my blog. His post reads off the hip yet hits the mark dead-on. Here is a brief snippet to whet your appetite:

While much of the thrust of the contemporary church is on understanding, mentally assenting to and defending the right doctrinal positions, the thrust of Jesus' ministry (both then and now) seems to be more focused on helping and healing hurting people.

[...]

At times, we have interpreted the phrase "and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" to mean "don't cuss, don't drink, don't chew and don't run with those who do". But, could it be that not allowing ourselves to be polluted by the world rather means refusing to play the worlds game of "loving those who love you", and instead choosing to give to those who can't give back and choosing to love those who would even be considered our enemies? Have we really bought into the pollution of the world while seemingly refusing to give into it?

Parts of his post read similarly to an article I have been pondering before I bailed on it and decided to go in a different direction, plus the contested post I published a few days ago on the Christian intellectual did not really garner the feedback I had anticipated, which Raborn's post strangely answers that question; the one implicit in my post from January 2. I quote myself from that same post:

We have invested so much time in determining what the Bible says we have accomplished this to the exclusion of how to respond to what it says. There are many out there who know what the Bible says. However, evangelicals are woefully inadequate at extrapolating what God expects out of us from that same text.

Can we get beyond this detriment as the Body of Christ, cease allowing Hollywood superstars to fill the obvious void left by the church, and as Raborn says, begin being Jesus to hurting people? Or are we missing the point?

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." James 2:14-17

Where are the Christian Intellectuals?

Having been in the blogosphere for a little while now, I have come across an interesting trend. Engaging in discussion with many evangelicals is roughly akin to getting hit in the head with a brick. Sound argument, reason, and thorough discussion often are jettisoned in place of (insert sarcasm here) a favorite argument of mine, which is absolutely a conversation stopper; "The Bible says what it means and means what it says."

Don't misunderstand; I am a conservative evangelical. I believe the Bible to be inspired by God, completely sufficient, and (gasp) inerrant. Nevertheless, an unintended consequence of the battle for the Bible is a dearth of modern Christian literature. We have invested so much time in determining what the Bible says we have accomplished this to the exclusion of how to respond to what it says. There are many out there who know what the Bible says. However, evangelicals are woefully inadequate at extrapolating what God expects out of us from that same text.

Often, I hear that the Bible is simple. Is it? Conservatives often use this maxim as an intellectual scapegoat. Wed this idea to the equally disturbing notion that the "Bible is all you need" (another fretful argument) and it culminates in a shallow intellectual tradition. Why proclaim that the Bible is simple when it says of itself that it is not?

"However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 1 Corinthians 2:6-8

No matter your opinion, this faith is an incredibly complex one. Turning it into a simplistic easy reader has invited men such as Bono to step into the obvious vacuum unfulfilled by deep Christian thinkers. Blog friend Streak said this in a month-old post on the same subject:

Simple was the way to avoid tradition, training, intellectual rigor, etc. No need for "book learning" and all you needed was a lay preacher who could read the Bible. Wow, that has really served us well, hasn't it? Given us slavery, segregation, anti-feminist rants, capitalism masked as faith, and even a cottage industry eschatology that has spurred a horrible foreign policy.

Sir Isaac Newton made an important discovery in the 18th century. He noticed that a beam of white sunlight, passing through a glass prism could be split into its constituent colors--red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet. The prism did not impose those colors on the white light; it allowed them to be discerned. What had beforehand been taken to be a simple color--white--was indeed a menagerie of different colors; a complex unity.

The same is true of Christian theology; the message of the cross is a unity; but it is a complex unity. To dissolve it down to some simplistic drivel is an insult to the mighty God who gave it; a failure to pursue God with all one's mind is to be disobedient to the very Scripture some claim to be so simple.

Jesus said to him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Matthew 22:37

The church should not fear raising up intellectuals the likes of Francis Shaeffer, Dietrich Boenhoffer, Helmut Thielicke, and C. S. Lewis. Christians have become insular in their faith--so much so that we do not even read outside of our own tight circle anymore; we settle for some thin aesthetic and call it theology. We chuckle at the shallowness of the mavericks of Christian publishing; Lucado, LaHaye, and upstart Osteen. (Don't get me started on Warren.) Yet, these are what are flying off the shelves at the local Christian bookstore.

Do pastors even ask why? Has our preaching and teaching so mirrored these mavericks that we have unconsciously adopted their style because its what sells? Should we always put the cookies on the bottom shelf, so to speak? I am persuaded differently. God's people are hungry. Who will feed them? Pastor, if you are reading, do not be afraid to use big words. Teach them to the people you serve; cease teaching monosyllabic, watered-down Sunday School lessons about Noah and the ark, David and Goliath, and Joshua and that big wall.

Dan Edelen out at Cerulean Sanctum is blogging an interesting series right now which was the inspiration for this post. In Busting Myths about Christianity, Dan says this:

So whither the Christian intellectual? Do any still exist?

Say what we will about history, but it's loaded with Christians (and people who mentally assented to Christianity) who drove the arts, philosophy, literature, and science—and in large numbers.

But what happened to them all? Where did they go? Sure, you see a Plantinga here, and a…uh, hmm. I'm not coming up with any names for contemporary Christian lit authors. Artists? Nope—no one comes to mind. In fact, I suspect that most Christians, even if their lives depended on it, couldn't name one contemporary Christian intellectual or artist.

Are we so bereft today that all we can remember are those great Christian intellectual luminaries of the past? Christianity nurtured Western civilization into being, yet in the 21st century we Christians gave it all away.

[...]

That this ignores most of the rest of Scripture, and also makes a fine distorted case for tearing all the wisdom books out of the Bible, eludes far too many people. In the end, Christianity never calls anyone to turn off his mind. To insist it does only results in the kind of brain-dead emotionalism that leads to error. Hoisting godly wisdom by its own petard makes the Church look vacant in the cranium.

And unfortunately, that is how the conservative, evangelical church looks--vacant in the cranium; sinfully inadequate at addressing some of the world's most distressing needs. The Christian world needs some deep Christian thinkers to help her comprehensively address such world needs as poverty, the AIDS pandemic, the environment, and greed. Right now the Christian response is...well, is there one? So, to continue on the present course, proves Dr. Alister McGrath's words in his book about Christian myths, Intellectuals Don't Need God and Other Modern Myths, perfectly true.

Christianity is not a verbal religion; it is experiential. It centers on a transformative encounter of the believer with the risen Christ. From the standpoint of Christian theology, however, that experience comes before the words that generate, evoke, and inform it. Christianity is Christ-centered, not book centered; if it appears to be book-centered it is because it is through the words of Scripture that the believer encounters and feeds upon Jesus Christ. Scripture is a means, not an end; a channel, not what is channeled.

I would by no means consider myself an intellectual, but I am trying desperately to get a foothold in the vastness of this God. Ultimately, the solution does not rest in finding the right words for the most accurate persuasion, but just real, honest-to-goodness, believers in Jesus, convinced that God can and does work in and through them to accomplish His great purposes, and then putting that argument to work. Change will come indeed.

Twila Parris, A. W. Pink, & Ted Haggard

Present day conditions call loudly for a reprisal of the sovereignty of God. Does God rule or not? Is He as Twila Parris chimes, “in control?” Many blogs have become bogged down with the weight of prominent evangelical pastor Ted Haggard and his moral indiscretions. Unfortunately this is not uncommon. But with all the hay about personal responsibility and moral accountability, which are all important and should not at all be neglected, let us be reminded of the One that was not caught off guard by this.

“But who is regulating affairs on this earth today—God, or the devil? Attempt to take a serious and comprehensive view of the world. What a scene of confusion and chaos confronts us on every side! Sin is rampant; lawlessness abounds; evil men and sorcerers are waxing ‘worse and worse’ (2 Tim. 3:13). Today, everything appears to be out of joint. Thrones are creaking and tottering, ancient dynasties are being overturned, nations are in revolt, civilization is a demonstrated failure; half of Christendom was but recently locked together in a death grapple; and now that the titanic conflict is over, instead of the world having been made ‘safe for democracy,’ we have discovered that democracy is very unsafe for the world. Unrest, discontent, and lawlessness are rife everywhere, and none can say how soon another great war will be set in motion. Statesmen are perplexed and staggered. Men’s hearts are ‘failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth’ (Luke 21:26). Do these things look as though God had full control?”

It sounds as if A. W. Pink could have been reading our local papers, but this quote is from his book, The Sovereignty of God, pages 12-13, written in 1928. Of course the answer to Mr. Pink’s open-ended question at the conclusion of the quote is obvious.

Ms. Parris is correct in her assessment of the sovereignty of God; He is still able, He is still sufficient, He still observes, He still reigns, and He is still in control (even if the song smells a little like cheddar).

But the greater question is this; does God have full control over your life? Moral responsibility is one thing, but we must be reminded of the simple truth that God reigns over all His creation, with the exception of the heart that is not truly His.

They shall come with weeping, and with supplications I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble. Jeremiah 31:9

Sincerely,
Tony