Back – way back – in my seminary days, I had a classmate whose name was also Bob. He was one of the most open, guileless men I have ever known. He and I were taking a theology class, and the topic was ecclesiology – that’s a five-dollar word for the doctrine of the church. Various approaches to understanding the church were presented, but no one position was singled out as the “right” view. This was a new experience for this class. After the professor had finished his presentation, he gave time for us to ask questions, and my friend Bob had one:
“Dr. Jones,2 when we studied Christology, you presented several different views and then you taught the “correct view.” The same was true for Pneumatology3 and Soteriology.4 Now, when we get to the doctrine of the church, you teach it ‘cafeteria style.’ I don’t understand.”
The professor was a kind and gracious man. He recognized that Bob’s question was sincere and not just an attempt to engage in debate. He responded by pointing out that the seminary’s large student body did not come from one denominational background, but from a diversity of the denominations and traditions. This diversity was the reason for his decision not to commit to any one particular viewpoint.
I respect that professor, but I’m not satisfied with his answer. Among all the options, is there no right way to “serve church”? Are we free to serve church “cafeteria style” – any way that promises to be successful? Are we free to come to biblical texts which define or describe the way a church functions and conclude, “That was just the way they did it then, but there are many other ways that are just as good or better”? We certainly don’t deal with salvation that way. Even doctrines which are not “fundamentals of the faith” (such as views of the ends times – eschatology) are taught with conviction, and even with dogmatism. Why this ambivalence about ecclesiology?
In the late 1960’s, Paul Anka adapted a song specifically for Frank Sinatra,5 the title of which should be familiar to most of us: “I Did It My Way.” From all appearances, it would seem that Anka believed that this song not only fit Sinatra, but also the culture of that day. In this regard, our culture has not changed. In 1974, Burger King capitalized on the “do it your way” theme by commencing an advertising campaign with the slogan, “Have it your way.”6
A number of churches also seem to have adopted this same theme, attracting folks by giving potential attendees the impression that they can “experience church their way.” That wasn’t the way the church in Jerusalem operated. Is the gathering of the church the place where unbelievers should feel comfortable and at home? It wasn’t that way in the New Testament. Immediately following the account of the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the church (and thus to the Holy Spirit), we read:
11 Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things. 12 Now many miraculous signs and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles. By common consent they were all meeting together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high honor. 14 More and more believers in the Lord were added to their number, crowds of both men and women (Acts 5:11-14).7
So the question we are seeking to answer in this message is this: “Does it matter to God how we serve church, or are we free to do church as we see fit?” Are there boundaries or limits that we dare not violate by the way we “serve church”? How serious an offense is it if we ignore or set aside the teachings of Scripture which instruct us as to how we serve church? To find the answer to these questions, we will consider texts from both the Old and the New Testaments. We will begin in the Old Testament with Israel’s errors in handling the Ark of the Covenant. Then we will turn to the New Testament, concentrating on what we learn about abuses in the church from the Book of 1 Corinthians. The point I am trying to make from both sets of texts is that God takes our worship very seriously, and when we fail to do so, we are headed for trouble.
You have probably already discerned that I believe how we serve church is important to God. This is consistent with the fact that the Scriptures speak clearly to us as to how we go about “doing church.” The purposes of this entire series may be summarized as follows:
(1) To identify the teaching of the Scriptures (primarily the New Testament) which govern how we are to “serve church.”
(2) To see how commonly accepted church practices compare with the teaching of the New Testament pertaining to the church.
(3) To explain how and why the church has departed from the teaching of the New Testament.
(4) To explain how and why we have purposed to “serve church” at Community Bible Chapel. 8
Having set forth the goal of this series as well as the purpose of this message, let us begin this lesson by considering Israel’s failures in relation to the ark of the covenant in the Old Testament.
There are numerous opportunities in the Old Testament to observe the consequences of “freestyle” (or “have it your way”) religion. We can see it in Israel’s worship of the golden calf, where many died on account of their sin (Exodus 32). Later, when Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire, they were struck dead (by fire from the Lord, Leviticus 10:1-3). When Moses struck the rock in anger, he was forbidden to enter the Promised Land because of his irreverence (Numbers 20:1-3). False prophets were to be put to death for seeking to turn the Israelites from worshipping God (Deuteronomy 13). Jeroboam faced divine judgment for establishing a counterfeit religion in Israel (1 Kings 12:25—13:10).
Having noted some instances of Israel’s “freestyle religion,” let us turn our attention to Israel and the Ark of the Covenant. You will recall that in Exodus 25, God gave Moses very detailed instructions regarding the plans for crafting the Ark of the Covenant, a magnificent chest made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. The lid was the mercy-seat, with two cherubim leaning over it facing each other. Inside the ark were placed the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written. Also contained inside were Aaron’s rod and a sample of the manna which sustained the Israelites in the wilderness. When it was being transported, the ark was covered with cloth and animal skins, so that no one could look upon it.9 It could only be transported by the priests, who carried the ark by means of two poles that were inserted through rings that were attached to it. When the ark was stationary, it was placed in the most holy place in the tabernacle, and later in the temple. Once a year, the high priest would enter the holy of holies where the ark was kept to make atonement for the sins of the people.10
The ark was carried in the wilderness after Mount Sinai and led the Israelites through the Jordan River and into the Promised Land under Joshua. I’d like to take up the story of the ark in 1 Samuel 4:
1 Samuel revealed the word of the Lord to all Israel. Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines arranged their forces to fight Israel. As the battle spread out, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men in the battle line in the field. 3 When the army came back to the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s take with us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. When it is with us, it will save us from the hand of our enemies. 4 So the army sent to Shiloh, and they took from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits between the cherubim. Now the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord arrived at the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the ground shook. 6 When the Philistines heard the sound of the shout, they said, “What is this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews?” Then they realized that the ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp. 7 The Philistines were scared because they thought that gods had come to the camp. They said, “Too bad for us! We’ve never seen anything like this! 8 Too bad for us! Who can deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues in the desert! 9 Be strong and act like men, you Philistines, or else you will wind up serving the Hebrews the way they have served you! Act like men and fight!” 10 So the Philistines fought. Israel was defeated; they all ran home. The slaughter was very great; thirty thousand foot soldiers fell in battle. 11 The ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were killed. 12 On that day a Benjaminite ran from the battle lines and came to Shiloh. His clothes were torn and dirt was on his head. 13 When he arrived in Shiloh, Eli was sitting in his chair watching by the side of the road, for he was very worried about the ark of God. As the man entered the city to give his report, the whole city cried out. 14 When Eli heard the outcry, he said, “What is this commotion?” The man quickly came and told Eli. 15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old and his eyes looked straight ahead; he was unable to see. 16 The man said to Eli, “I am the one who came from the battle lines! Just today I fled from the battle lines!” Eli asked, “How did things go, my son?” 17 The messenger replied, “Israel has fled from the Philistines! The army has suffered a great defeat! Your two sons, Hophni and Phineas, are dead! The ark of God has been captured!” 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward from his chair beside the gate. He broke his neck and died, for he was old and heavy. He had judged Israel for forty years. 19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phineas, was pregnant and close to giving birth. When she heard that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she doubled over and gave birth. But her labor pains were too much for her. 20 As she was dying, the women who were there with her said, “Don’t be afraid! You have given birth to a son!” But she did not reply or pay any attention. 21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” referring to the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, “The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been captured” (1 Samuel 4:1-22, emphasis mine).
The first sentence of chapter 4 is interesting, especially in the light of what we have just been told in chapter 3:
Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him. None of his prophecies fell to the ground unfulfilled (1 Samuel 3:19).
Samuel was “the Word of the Lord” to Israel (1 Samuel 3:19), and his word “came to all Israel” (1 Samuel 4:1). And yet, Samuel disappears in the text until chapter 7. It would seem that the Israelites got themselves into trouble by acting apart from God’s Word as revealed by Samuel, His prophet. And so we are informed that the Israelites engaged the Philistines in battle. As the fighting intensified, the Israelites suffered defeat, losing approximately 4,000 soldiers. Treating the ark like a magic artifact, the elders of Israel decided to take it into battle with them against the Philistines. As a result, an additional 30,000 Israelite soldiers died. Eli’s two sons, who accompanied the ark, died as well. When news of this disaster reached Eli, he fell backward and broke his neck, joining his sons in death. The ark was taken away as plunder by the Philistines. It was the widow of Phineas who put it well, “The glory has departed from Israel” (1 Samuel 4:21).
First Samuel 5 provides us with a humorous account of how God showed Himself greater than the Philistine gods. Ashdod was the first Philistine to gain possession of the Ark of the Covenant. It was where their god, Dagon, was kept in his “house” (temple?). They placed the ark in Dagon’s temple as a trophy from the spoils of war. What an insult this appeared to be, to Israel and to their God. But later, they find their “god” on his face before the ark. They prop Dagon up, only to find him the next day with his head and hands severed. How appropriate:
15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold,
they are man-made.
16 They have mouths,
but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
17 and ears, but cannot hear.
Indeed, they cannot breathe.
18 Those who make them will end up like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them (Psalm 135:15-18).
God is not yet finished displaying His supremacy to the Philistines. Not only was Dagon left broken before the ark, God sent a humiliating malady to the Philistines. The NET Bible speaks of this as having “sores.” Other translations call these “tumors.” Marginal notes indicate that they may have been hemorrhoids. Whatever the affliction was, the Philistines did not want it, and as a result, they did not want the ark, which they had identified as the source of their problems. The Philistine leaders met and decided to “share the wealth” with the city of Gath. When the same judgments fell on the people of Gath, the ark was sent on to Ekron, where the citizens were far from eager to receive it. The decision was reached that the ark should be returned to Israel. The only question was, “How?”
First, they determined to send some form of guilt offering:
1 When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, 2 the Philistines called the priests and the omen readers, saying, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Advise us as to how we should send it back to its place.” 3 They replied, “If you are going to send the ark of the God of Israel back, don’t send it away empty. Be sure to return it with a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and you will understand why his hand is not removed from you” (1 Samuel 6:1-3).
Second, they wanted to convince themselves that all their troubles were actually from the hand of Israel’s God, and so they devised this test:
7 So now go and make a new cart. Get two cows that have calves and that have never had a yoke placed on them. Harness the cows to the cart and take their calves from them back to their stalls. 8 Then take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a chest beside it the gold objects you are sending to him as a guilt offering. You should then send it on its way. 9 But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident.” 10 So the men did as instructed. They took two cows that had calves and harnessed them to a cart; they also removed their calves to their stalls. 11 They put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the chest, the gold mice, and the images of the sores. 12 Then the cows went directly on the road to Beth Shemesh. They went along, mooing as they went; they turned neither to the right nor to the left. The leaders of the Philistines were walking along behind them all the way to the border of Beth Shemesh (1 Samuel 6:7-12, emphasis mine).
The ark was placed on a new cart drawn by two cows that had just been separated from their calves. Contrary to their nature, the two cows immediately left their offspring and headed straight down the road for Beth Shemesh in Israel. When the ark arrived at Beth Shemesh, the Israelites who were working in the wheat fields saw it and rejoiced. They split the wood of the cart and offered up the cows as a burnt offering. So far, so good. The Levites took down the ark and the box with the guilt offering and placed them near the big stone where the ark had come to rest. The Philistines looked on from a distance as the joyful citizens of Beth Shemesh offered their sacrifice. But there was a problem:
19 But the Lord struck down some of the people of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord; he struck down 50,070 of the men. The people grieved because the Lord had struck the people with a hard blow. 20 The residents of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” 21 So they sent messengers to the residents of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down here and take it back home with you” (1 Samuel 6:19-21, emphasis mine).
Looking into the ark was a most serious offense, resulting in the death of over 50,000 of the men of Beth Shemesh. Those who survived asked the right question: “Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God?” It was a hard way to come to terms with the holiness of God, but the Israelites came to understand that one must not regard as common that which God has made holy. And so they, much like the Philistine lords had done, sent the ark on to another town.
The ark is taken to Kiriath-jearim, to the house of Abinadab, where it remains for 20 years (1 Samuel 7:2). Samuel (who reappears in chapter 7) then calls Israel to repentance at Mizpah, where they renew their covenant (1 Samuel 7:3-4). Samuel promised that God would deliver them in battle when they forsook their idols and returned to the Lord (1 Samuel 7:3-6). God then gave Israel a great victory over the Philistines at Mizpah, just as Samuel had promised (1 Samuel 7:7-11). Samuel raised an Ebenezer11 (1 Samuel 7:12), and as a result of Israelite military victories, the Philistines returned those cities they had captured from Israel (1 Samuel 7:14). The ark, however, seems to have been neglected throughout the reign of Saul:
1 David consulted with his military officers, including those who led groups of a thousand and those who led groups of a hundred. 2 David said to the whole Israelite assembly, “If you so desire and the Lord our God approves, let’s spread the word to our brothers who remain in all the regions of Israel, and to the priests and Levites in their cities, so they may join us. 3 Let’s move the ark of our God back here, for we did not seek his will throughout Saul’s reign” (1 Chronicles 13:1-3, emphasis mine).12
Later, when David sought to bring the ark to Jerusalem, trouble arose once again regarding the ark.
1 David again assembled all the best men in Israel, thirty thousand in number. 2 David and all the men who were with him traveled to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it. 3 They loaded the ark of God on a new cart and carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart. 4 They brought it with the ark of God up from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark, 5 while David and all Israel were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing and playing various stringed instruments, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals. 6 When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, he killed him on the spot for his negligence.13 He died right there beside the ark of God. 8 David was angry because the Lord attacked Uzzah; so he called that place Perez Uzzah, which remains its name to this very day. 9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How will the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” 10 So David was no longer willing to bring the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. David left it in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. The Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his family (2 Samuel 6:1-11, emphasis mine).
Although the ark was neglected during the reign of Saul, David wanted to bring it to Jerusalem. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were the ones who took charge of transporting the ark to Jerusalem. What is noteworthy is that they determined to do so by placing the ark on a new cart drawn by oxen. Even though the ark had been returned to Israel a good many years earlier by the Philistines, Uzzah and Ahio were attempting to move the ark in virtually the same manner that was devised by the Philistines (who knew nothing of God’s instructions concerning the ark). It is troubling to see them imitating the pagan Philistines, rather than following the instructions God had given through Moses. This is yet another indication of Israel’s disregard for the Law of Moses.
The outcome was tragic, for one of the oxen stumbled, and it appeared to Uzzah that the cart might overturn and the ark would be thrown out, so he instinctively reached out to steady the ark. But when Uzzah touched the ark, God struck him dead. David’s first response was anger – God had rained on his parade. But then David’s anger rightly turned to fear. He wondered how the ark could ever be brought to him in Jerusalem. And so the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom for three months.
We need to pause here to consider for a moment just who this man, “Obed-Edom,” was. Twice he is identified as “Obed-Edomthe Gittite.”
There was another battle with the Philistines in which Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear had a shaft as big as the crossbeam of a weaver’s loom (1 Chronicles 20:5, emphasis mine).
A Gittite is a person from Gath, the Philistine city that was Goliath’s home town. The Philistines lacked reverence for the God of Israel, and for His ark. Likewise, the Israelites of Beth Shemesh did not show due reverence to God, or to His ark. David and the Israelites (including Uzzah) lacked reverence as well, which cost Uzzah his life. And now it is a Philistine, Obed-Edom, who rightly reverences God, deals appropriately with the ark, and is blessed by God, along with his family. I find this most interesting.
When David heard that God had blessed the family of Obed-Edom, he was encouraged to try once again to bring the ark to Jerusalem.
12 David was told, “The Lord has blessed the family of Obed-Edom and everything he owns because of the ark of God.” So David went and joyfully brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David. 13 Those who carried the ark of the Lord took six steps and then David sacrificed an ox and a fatling calf. 14 Now David, wearing a linen ephod, was dancing with all his strength before the Lord. 15 David and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord, shouting and blowing trumpets (2 Samuel 6:12-15, emphasis mine).
This text in 2 Samuel gives us an account of this joyful procession, led by David, making their way to Jerusalem. If we do not pay attention to details, we might miss the fact that the ark was now being carried (verse 13), rather than being hauled in an ox cart. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles informs us that David had figured out why Uzzah had been struck dead.
1 David constructed buildings in the City of David; he then prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “Only the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve before him perpetually. 3 David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring the ark of the Lord up to the place he had prepared for it (1 Chronicles 15:3, emphasis mine).
During those three months following the first futile effort to transport the ark to Jerusalem, David must have done his homework. No doubt he came across these instructions in the Book of Numbers:
15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then the Kohathites will come to carry them; but they must not touch any holy thing, or they will die. These are the responsibilities of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting. 16 “The appointed responsibility of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest is for the oil for the light, and the spiced incense, and the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil; he also has the appointed responsibility over all the tabernacle with all that is in it, over the sanctuary and over all its furnishings.” 17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 18 “Do not allow the tribe of the families of the Kohathites to be cut off from among the Levites; 19 but in order that they will live and not die when they approach the most holy things, do this for them: Aaron and his sons will go in and appoint each man to his service and his responsibility. 20 But the Kohathites are not to go in to watch while the holy things are being covered, or they will die” (Numbers 4:15-20, emphasis mine).
I suspect that many of us would have been tempted to respond as David did when the Lord struck Uzzah dead for attempting to prevent damage to the ark. Didn’t God realize that David was seeking to relocate the ark so as to give it the prominence it deserved? Weren’t David’s intentions honorable? And weren’t Uzzah’s intentions honorable as well? Then why did God respond with such severity? Because God is holy, He takes men’s worship seriously. As we have already read, the ark was more than just a symbol of God’s presence:
David and all the men who were with him traveled to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts, who sits enthroned between the cherubim that are on it (2 Samuel 6:2).
The ark was God’s dwelling place. Normally, the ark would have been hidden within the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, and likewise in the temple. David and the Levites have not only handled the ark as God had directed, but more importantly they have come to reverence God, “who sits enthroned between the cherubim.”
Few would question anything that has been said regarding the practice of Israel in worshipping God in the Old Testament. But most everyone is inclined to think that when we come to the New Testament (aka the “New Covenant”), there are fewer directives, and the consequences are less severe, if they exist at all. Some may conclude that while God was “strict” in the Old Testament, He is more permissive in the New. Are the New Testament directives concerning the church (or anything else for that matter) merely suggestive? The incident with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 should serve notice that one dare not be casual about one’s conduct in the church. The New Testament does have much to teach us concerning the church, but for this lesson we will restrict ourselves to the Book of 1 Corinthians. What does 1 Corinthians have to teach us about the church, and how does this compare with what we have seen in the Old Testament concerning the ark?
We all know that the church at Corinth was hardly a model church. Paul begins by calling attention to the divisions which existed in the church, divisions which seem to be rooted in allegiance to a particular teacher or leader:
11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ”14 (1 Corinthians 1:11-12).
It seems to be the sophisticated, self-glorifying message of certain teachers and their manipulative methods which have enticed some to become followers of men, rather than disciples of Jesus. Paul’s methods and his message were too “simple” and unsophisticated for those in Corinth who thought themselves to be “wise”:
1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony of God. 2 For I decided to be concerned about nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. 4 My conversation and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).
The verses which follow in chapter 2 speak of the essential role of the Holy Spirit in making the truth of God known to men, whose natural minds cannot grasp spiritual truth. But then in chapter 3, Paul returns to the divisions that were man-centered with these amazing words:
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. 14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you15 are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are (1 Corinthians 3:10-17, emphasis mine).
What an amazing truth: the church is God’s temple, God’s dwelling place in this present age. This is a truth which is affirmed elsewhere in the New Testament:
And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16, emphasis mine).
14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:14-22, emphasis mine).
In 1 Corinthians 6:16-20, Paul appeals to the Corinthian Christians as individuals. He instructs the Corinthians that they cannot engage in sexual immorality because every Christian – individually – is a temple of the Holy Spirit. But in this exhortation in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul speaks of the church corporately as the temple of God. In chapter 3, Paul is cautioning those who build on his foundation – the foundation he (and the other apostles) laid. In 1 Corinthians, Paul seemed to give these divisive teachers the benefit of the doubt, but they are called false apostles and messengers of Satan in 2 Corinthians 11. And these men (and women?) are propagating error regarding the church, its constitution (the Word of God), and its function. He warns all who “build” to build rightly, warning that they (we) will give account. And if we do not take this strongly enough, he concludes by saying that anyone who does damage to God’s temple will be destroyed by God (1 Corinthians 3:17).
These verses in 1 Corinthians 3 are foundational and fundamental to our understanding of the church. Yes, thank God, we live under the New Covenant, rather than the Old, but this does not mean that we are free to “serve church” any way we please. Because it is so important in God’s program, we must “serve church” according to the directives God has given us, largely through Paul.
In 1 Corinthians 5, we are given a glimpse of the health of the church at Corinth, much of which is a result, I believe, of the “ministry” of these Scripture-twisting teachers. A man is living with his father’s wife, and yet he is embraced warmly by the church. While the pagan unbelieving Corinthians (noted for their immorality) are shocked by this conduct, the church is actually proud of their treatment of this immoral member. From afar, Paul personally invokes church discipline on this man and urges the Corinthian saints to follow his example by removing this man from their fellowship. Neither Paul nor the Corinthian believers have any responsibility for disciplining unbelievers – only those who profess to know Jesus as Savior, but whose lifestyle denies it. He likens the sinful member to a lump of leaven which is corrupting the church (the dough). In the days immediately following the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, the Israelites were to eat only unleavened bread. Purification by the Passover lamb required the commencement of a purification process by those who were participants in that sacrificial meal. Those who have been purified by the shed blood of Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, are required to live a life of purity.16
In 1 Corinthians 8-10, Paul deals with the issue of meats offered to idols. In chapter 8, Paul introduces us to a piece of this “new wisdom” that the false teachers had brought into the church. They reasoned that they could eat meats offered to idols (something clearly forbidden by the Jerusalem Council)17 because there is only one true God, and thus idols don’t really represent anything. Paul only momentarily leaves this faulty logic unchallenged, and instead approaches the issue from the standpoint of the church, rather than just the (self-seeking) individual. He reminds the Corinthians that not all of the Corinthian saints have this sense of freedom. The “weaker” brother, seeing his “stronger” brother eat such meats, may be encouraged to follow his example, and thus to sin. Our personal lives are not as private as we may claim, because we impact others. I cannot do anything I please, even if it were a legitimate right (which eating idol meats was not!), because I am responsible for my brother. The individualistic thinking of Paul’s day was wrong then, just as it is today.
Paul forcefully ends his argument against eating idol meat powerfully in chapter 10. He chooses to dwell on that period of time when the Israelites failed so miserably in the wilderness. The sins to which Paul refers are remarkably similar to those found in the Corinthian church: immorality, gluttony, grumbling and rebellion against God’s appointed authorities. Closely associated with these sins was the sin of idolatry:
6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written,” The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single day. 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come (1 Corinthians 10:6-11, emphasis mine).
The very same things which kept nearly all of those who left Egypt with Moses from entering the Promised Land could also be found in the church at Corinth. Paul urged the members of the Corinthian church to learn from Israel’s failures, reminding these saints that failures such as these led to divine judgment.
In 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, Paul teaches that one’s membership in the church prohibits their participation in sacrifices to pagan idols. All believers are members in Christ’s body, the church. We symbolize this when we partake of communion. We are one “loaf.” When we partake of communion, we proclaim our identification with Christ and His sacrifice. By participating in the heathen idol worship ceremonies, we proclaim our identification with demons. We cannot be participants with demons and with our Lord. Thus, eating idol meats (and, in some cases, doing so while participating in the heathen ritual) is not permissible. The guiding principle regarding true Christian liberties is not whether it is technically permissible, but whether it is beneficial (edifying), to the individual and to the church.
It is my understanding that Paul’s description of what was taking place at the weekly gathering of the saints at Corinth (chapter 11) is influenced greatly by the conduct of those who participated in the heathen sacrifices to idols.18 The divisions to which Paul has referred earlier in this epistle become evident when the church gathers. So did their self-indulgence. When the fleshly Corinthians gathered together, it was not really to celebrate and proclaim the Lord’s death; it was to gorge themselves with food and drink.
20 Now when you come together at the same place, you are not really eating the Lord’s Supper. 21 For when it is time to eat, everyone proceeds with his own supper. One is hungry and another becomes drunk. 22 Do you not have houses so that you can eat and drink? Or are you trying to show contempt for the church of God by shaming those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I will not praise you for this! (1 Corinthians 11:20-22)
The highlight of their weekly gathering was the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and yet they had profaned it to the point where it may have been observed in a manner very much like the heathen rituals they had once performed (and which some, it would seem, still attended). When I was in college, I worked for a catering company. There were times when we would cater a dinner where some of the more elite of the city would attend. I cannot tell you how disgusting it was to see normally dignified people behaving shamefully because they were drunk. That is what Paul is describing here. The most solemn and sacred moment of worship was more like a drunken brawl.
This manner of celebrating the Lord’s Supper was no less an act of irreverence than Uzzah’s irreverence in reaching out to steady the ark, or Moses’ irreverence in striking the rock, or the irreverence of Nadab and Abihu in offering strange fire. And the consequences were no less severe: some of the Corinthian saints were sick, and others had died. God takes irreverence seriously, whether it is Israel’s irreverence in Old Testament times, or irreverence in the church at Corinth (or today).
So how does this serve to set the stage for our study about the New Testament church? Let me suggest some of the lessons which I believe we are to learn from our study.
Approaching a holy God with irreverence and disregard for His Word can be hazardous to one’s health. We can see this throughout the Old Testament. God had regard for Abel, and for his sacrifice, but not for Cain (Genesis 4:1-5ff.). Even godly men like Moses and David learned the hard way that one dare not approach a holy God in a manner that violates His character and His commands. It would be all too easy to assume that God dealt severely with those who were irreverent in the Old Testament, but did not do so in the New. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, and the sickness and death of saints at Corinth (1 Corinthians 11), should be sobering warnings to us that we dare not be too casual about how we “do church.” In our next lesson, we will look at “doing church” from a much more positive perspective, but let us begin by recognizing that we dare not be irreverent in how we conduct ourselves in the church and as a church.
Ignorance is no excuse for our irreverence, or for failing to obey God’s commands related to the church. Acts of irreverence are most often deliberate acts of disobedience, but this is not always the case. I don’t see Uzzah grasping the ark as being willful disobedience, nor David’s initial neglect. But what does seem clear is that there was an ignorance of the Scriptures in regard to Israel’s worship. God did not count ignorance as an excuse for disobedience. When David considered the cause of Uzzah’s death, he found the answer in the Word. They did not transport the ark as the law instructed.
Surely this is true for saints today. The New Testament Scriptures provide us with all we need to know about ministry and worship that pleases God. In some cases, it is ignorance of the Scriptures that gets us into trouble. In other cases, it is setting these Scriptures and their instructions aside, as relevant only to that church, to that time, to that culture. Ignorance is no excuse for disobedience.
Sincerity does not justify disobedience.I have no doubt that Uzzah was sincere in his efforts to steady the ark, or that David was sincere in seeking to bring the ark to Jerusalem. But sincerity is no excuse for disobedience. Many people today are sincere in their efforts to “do church,” but sincerity alone is not enough.
Emergencies are no excuse for disobedience.
5 For the battle with Israel the Philistines had amassed 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds, and cisterns. 7 Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. 8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul. 9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. 10 Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me and that you didn’t come at the appointed time and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering.” 13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed the commandment that the Lord your God gave you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever! 14 But now your kingdom will not continue! The Lord has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him and the Lord has appointed him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you” (1 Samuel 13:5-14).
King Saul was instructed to wait for Samuel, who would offer a burnt offering before the Israelite army engaged the Philistines in war. Samuel did not arrive when Saul expected, and some of his men began to desert. Saul felt that this crisis was an emergency, and in his mind, this was justification for him to offer the sacrifice himself. Saul would lose his kingdom on account of this disobedience. Emergencies are no excuse for disobedience – even when it appeared that the ark might topple over when the oxen stumbled. And by the way, we should recall that the emergency Uzzah dealt with was caused by neglect and disobedience. Had they transported the ark as God had instructed, there would have been no crisis.
Neither enthusiasm nor excitement are a valid substitute for obedience to God’s Word.There are some who seem to measure their religious experiences by their level of excitement or enthusiasm. But David’s excitement was misguided and deceptive as he enthusiastically celebrated while the ark was being transported on that ox cart:
4 They brought it with the ark of God up from the house of Abinadab on the hill. Ahio was walking in front of the ark, 5 while David and all Israel were energetically celebrating before the Lord, singing and playing various stringed instruments, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals (2 Samuel 6:4-5, emphasis mine).
There is nothing wrong with enthusiasm in worship or in our service in church. But there are some who seem to feel that all enthusiastic, joyful activity must be of God. In 2 Samuel 6, we see enthusiastic celebration (verses 4-5) when the ark was being transported by ox cart, and then we see how quickly this enthusiasm turned to disappointment and even anger. Later in this same chapter, we see David celebrating with exuberance when the ark is being returned as God had instructed. It is possible that our enthusiasm and excitement may be misguided. Thus, excitement alone is not proof of piety, reverence, or obedience. Let us joyfully and enthusiastically worship and serve our God, but let it be in obedience to what He has commanded us.
I think we can safely conclude that God does not intend for us to “have it our way” when it comes to worshipping Him or “doing church.” We know that God gave very specific instructions in matters related to the ark, the tabernacle (and later, the temple), offering sacrifices, and observing certain holy days. I believe that we can see from 1 Corinthians that God takes our irreverence and disobedience seriously. Let it suffice for the moment to say that God has given us rather clear instruction as to how we are to “do church.” Just where God has drawn the lines is a subject for another message, but when we disregard these lines, there are serious consequences.
Foundational to all that we do as Christians (including “serving church”) is a proper view of the holiness of God, and thus having a deep sense of reverence which prompts us to know God’s Word and to obey it. I am convinced that here is where true worship must begin – with a solemn sense of the holiness of the God whom we worship, and to whom we wish to draw near.
1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the sovereign master seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphs stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and they used the remaining two to fly. 3 They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who commands armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!” 4 The sound of their voices shook the door frames, and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 I said, “Too bad for me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies.” 6 But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven” (Isaiah 6:1-7).
John, the beloved disciple, who leaned upon Jesus’ breast, and who lived in the closest of fellowship with Him during His earthly ministry (see 1 John 1:1-3), is also the one who fell at the feet of the glorified Christ as though he were a dead man (Revelation 1:17). Yes, God took on human flesh at the incarnation of Jesus, and we are encouraged to “draw near,” but let us never forget how holy He is, and let us not be casual about the way in which we go about “serving church.” It is not in counting heads or taking polls that we discern how we should “serve church,” but by taking heed to God’s Word. This is where our focus will be as we pursue this study on the New Testament church.
1 Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 1 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on January 20, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
2 A pseudonym.
3 The doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
4 The doctrine of salvation.
5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Way_(song)
6http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2005-05-23-burger-king_x.htm
7 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
8 Community Bible Chapel, located in Richardson, Texas. I have been associated with CBC for over 30 years.
9 Numbers 4:4-5, 15-20.
10 See Exodus 30:9-10; Leviticus 16:32-34; Hebrews 9:6-7.
11 A stone to commemorate God’s help in defeating the Philistines.
12 On one occasion (1 Samuel 14:16-19), it appears as though Saul calls for the ark in order to discern God’s will, and then changes his mind.
13“Negligence” (NET Bible) is not my preference among several possible translations. The KJV, NKJV, and ESV render “error.” I prefer“irreverence” (CSB, NAU; NIV: “irreverent act”). Uzzah was “negligent” in the sense that he (like everyone else) failed to transport the ark as God had instructed in the law. But it was his zeal to secure the ark that led to his death. I think that “irreverence” or “disdain” best conveys Uzzah’s failure.
14 It is important to understand that Paul is not actually identifying the individuals who are dividing the church. The trouble makers are not Paul, Apollos, or Peter, and it certainly is not the Lord Jesus. As Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4:6, he is speaking figuratively by using his name and that of Apollos. By the time we reach 2 Corinthians 11, we know for certain that these are false teachers, whom Paul calls “false apostles” and “servants of Satan.”
15 A study note in the NET Bible reads: “You are God's temple refers here to the church, since the pronoun you is plural in the Greek text. (In 6:19 the same imagery is used in a different context to refer to the individual believer.)” Thus, the church is the temple of God.
16 This argument is similar to that which is found in Romans 6:1-14. See also 1 Peter 1:13-25.
17 See Acts 15:19-29.
18 In this lesson, I’m going to pass by 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, which pertain to the role of women in the church. This is a subject in itself – one which I will address later in this series. But I am inclined to think that the misconduct of women in the church at Corinth was probably heavily influenced by the conduct of the women in their heathen celebrations.
Perhaps you’ve seen the television commercial in which a doctor instructs his patient how to perform surgery on himself – all over the phone. The “patient” asks the doctor, “Shouldn’t you be doing this?” One would expect something as serious as surgery to be performed by a surgeon – not by the patient. The same is true for the church. If the church is important, and its mission critical, then one would think that God would have significant involvement. He would not leave it for us to do ourselves, as best we can figure it out. Yet, many Christians seem to think that God has pretty much left the church on its own to figure out for itself just how it should function best.
In our first message in this series, I sought to show that God cares a great deal about how we “do church.” The lessons in that message tended to be more negative than positive. We saw how Uzzah was struck dead because of his irreverence in grasping the ark when it appeared that it might be overturned.20 In the New Testament, we noted that some of the saints in the church at Corinth were smitten with sickness or death, because of their disregard for the Lord’s body, as symbolized in the elements at their observance of the Lord’s Table.21
Let me briefly review some of the lessons I attempted to emphasize at the conclusion of the first message.
(1) How we worship (“serve church”) matters to God. He takes irreverence seriously, in the New Testament, as well as in the Old.
(2) Ignorance is not an excuse for disobedience, because it is the result of our own neglect. God’s Word was clear as to how the ark was to be transported, and by whom. David and Uzzah both should have known how to move the ark22 and should have been forewarned by the incident in Beth Shemesh, where over 50,000 Israelites died for their irreverence regarding the ark.23
(3) Emergencies are not an excuse for disobedience. For Uzzah, it seemed like an emergency when one of the oxen stumbled, but this “emergency” would never have come about if the ark had been transported according to God’s instructions. We often create our own emergencies.
(4) Excitement and enthusiasm are no substitutes for obedience. For some, excitement and enthusiasm are sufficient proof that God is with us in what we are doing. The excitement expressed while the ark was being transported in disobedience suddenly ended with the tragic death of Uzzah. Enthusiasm and excitement are good things when we are obeying God, but they are of no benefit when we are disobedient.
(4) The fear of God and a love for His Word are foundational to all worship. Irreverence is the result of a disregard for God – and for His Word.
I would like to remind the reader that when I speak about “serving church”24 or “doing church,” I am referring to all that constitutes the nature, mission, and practices of the New Testament church.
When I speak of “the church,” I realize that this term is used in a variety of ways in the New Testament. Let me briefly summarize the way “church” is used in the New Testament.
(1) The church universal – that body of all believers in Jesus (dead and alive) from Pentecost to now.
And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things (Ephesians 1:22).
(2) Believers in general – believers who are alive, and who are referred to in a somewhat generic way.
But Saul was trying to destroy the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison (Acts 8:3).
(3) Believers in a certain geographical region.
The churches in the province of Asia send greetings to you. Aquila and Prisca greet you warmly in the Lord, with the church that meets in their house (1 Corinthians 16:19, emphasis mine).
(4) Believers in a certain city.
Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch from childhood) and Saul (Acts 13:1, emphasis mine).
(5) Believers who regularly gather at a certain person’s house – a “house church.”
3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their own necks for my life. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. 5 Also greet the church in their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia (Romans 16:3-5, emphasis mine).
(6) The church gathered for weekly worship, instruction, and the observance of the Lord’s Table.
For in the first place, when you come together as a church I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it (1 Corinthians 11:18, emphasis mine).
This last category is an important one. It seems to refer to the church gathered to observe the Lord’s Supper, for teaching, and exhortation, just as we see in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14. The reason it is important is because I believe this is the primary context for Paul’s teaching regarding the role of women in the church. As I understand it, the primary (though not necessarily exclusive) focus of Paul’s teaching about the role of women in ministry is the church meeting.25
The deaths of Uzzah and the Corinthians were the result of irreverence, and they should serve as a warning to all who would go about the business of the church (“serve church”) in a casual manner that tends to disregard the Word of God as irrelevant. But these are negative lessons. Because of this, I would like to pursue a more positive emphasis in this week’s message. I will begin by showing from the New Testament just what it is that makes the church so special. Then, I will suggest some of the challenges that we (and other churches) face. Finally, I want to underscore why Community Bible Chapel (CBC) “serves church” as we have been doing it for over 30 years.26
(1) The church is special because Jesus gave it special emphasis in the Gospel of Matthew. It is generally accepted that the Gospel of Matthew has a Jewish focus. Noteworthy here is that Matthew is the only Gospel where the term “church” is found. In Matthew 16, we find Peter’s “great confession” and our Lord’s first reference to the church:
13 When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20, emphasis mine).
The coming of Israel’s Messiah was so that He could build His church. I am not saying this was His only reason for coming. What I am saying is that Matthew, a Jew writing to a Jewish audience, is saying this immediately after our Lord’s identity as Messiah is proclaimed by Peter. Note, also, that this church is so endowed with power that the gates of Hades cannot successfully resist or oppose it. The church is the means by which our Lord will overcome Satan’s domain. What Jesus achieved on the cross, He works out through His church:
14 He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:14-15, emphasis mine).
7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he captured captives; he gave gifts to men” (Ephesians 4:7-8).
It is no small wonder that later, in Ephesians 6, Paul instructs the church at Ephesus regarding the spiritual warfare in which they are to be engaged (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Now, a couple of chapters later in Matthew, we find our Lord raising the subject of church discipline:
15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others with you, so that at the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector. 18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven. 19 Again, I tell you the truth, if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:15-20, emphasis mine).
In chapter 16, Jesus revealed that as the promised Messiah, He would build His church. This would be the result of His death and resurrection, which He also reveals to His disciples, although it is not warmly received, especially by Peter.27 Now, in chapter 18, Jesus instructs His disciples regarding the process of dealing with a wayward saint – the process which we call church discipline. What is significant is that Jesus describes this as taking place in the context of the church. If private rebuke does not produce repentance and obedience to God’s Word, then the sin must be revealed to the church so that the church can enter into the discipline process. If the process fails to produce repentance, the church must withdraw fellowship from the stubborn sinner.28 My point here is that Jesus emphasized that His coming as Messiah would give birth to the church, and that the church would be God’s instrument for discipline (not to mention many other things not specifically indicated in Matthew, such as carrying out the Great Commission of chapter 28).
(2) The church is important because it is the tangible result of the reconciliation Jesus accomplished on the cross of Calvary. In the first ten verses of Ephesians 2, Paul describes how God achieved salvation for both Jews and Gentiles, through faith in the person and work of Jesus:
1 And although you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you [Gentiles] formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom all of us [Jews] also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest… 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you are saved! – 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them (Ephesians 2:1-10, emphasis mine).
Both Gentiles and Jews were lost sinners, the enemies of God and the pawns of Satan. God, by His mercy and grace, saved us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf. Having reconciled both Gentiles and Jews to Himself, He also reconciled us (Jewish and Gentile saints) to each other, bringing us together in one body, the church:
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh – who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands – 12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:11-22, emphasis mine).
(3) The church is the culmination of God’s eternal plan to display His glory to the celestial spiritual powers.
8 To me – less than the least of all the saints – this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan – a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 3:8-10).
We know that our Lord’s work at Calvary brought a great victory over Satan and his fallen foes.
“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31, emphasis mine).
8 “And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong concerning sin and righteousness and judgment – 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned” (John 16:8-11, emphasis mine).
The angelic host is witnessing God’s marvelous work in and through His church.29 The church is God’s object lesson to the heavenly beings. Therefore, it should go without saying that how the church functions is very important to God.
(4) The church is the bastion and bulwark of the truth.
14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you 15 in case I am delayed, to let you know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God, because it is the church of the living God, the support and bulwark of the truth (1 Timothy 3:14-15, emphasis mine).
The church is, as it were, the repository of God’s revealed truth. All of God’s revealed Word is for the church.30 The church is responsible to guard the purity of the truth, as well as to proclaim the truth. Thus, an elder of the church must hold to sound doctrine and be able to correct those who depart from the truth:
He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching and correct those who speak against it (Titus 1:9).31
(5) The church is God’s primary means for evangelism, discipleship, and (outward) ministry. Spiritual gifts are given to the church and empower the ministry of Christ through His church.
And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:28, emphasis mine).
It is the same with you. Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, seek to abound in order to strengthen the church (1 Corinthians 14:12, emphasis mine).
11 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God – a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. 14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. 15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love (Ephesians 4:11-16, emphasis mine).
Apostles, prophets, teachers, and all gifted people have been “placed in the church.” Spiritual gifts are given to the church, for the edification of the church. Spiritual gifts were given to the church so that God’s supernatural work could be accomplished by weak men and women.
(6) The church is God’s dwelling place in the Spirit.
16 And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 Therefore “come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the All-Powerful Lord (2 Corinthians 6:16-18, emphasis mine).
19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22, emphasis mine).
When I think of the Old Testament and Israel’s relationship to God, I think of that yellow police tape placed around a crime scene or around some kind of dangerous hazard. God was so holy that His people had to keep their distance in the Old Testament. They could not approach the holy mountain, lest they die. They could not look upon God, lest they die. The Ark of the Covenant was placed inside the holy of holies. No one could look upon it or approach it except for the high priest, who just once a year made atonement for the sins of the people. How different things became when our Lord came to this earth as “Imanuel” – God with us.32 We now experience an intimacy with God that no one dared to imagine in the Old Testament days. Christ has dwelt among men in the days of His earthly ministry, and now He dwells among His people, the church, through His Spirit.
(7) The church is the instrument for healing.
14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness (James 5:14-16).
(8) The church (in its relationship with Christ) is the model for Christian marriage.
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church – he himself being the savior of the body. 24 But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, 27 so that he may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one has ever hated his own body but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 for we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great – but I am actually speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband (Ephesians 5:22-33, emphasis mine).
If Christ’s relationship with the church is the model for Christian marriage (and it surely is), then surely the church is important to God, and surely God has spoken clearly about the church’s relationship to the Lord Jesus. To have a distorted or flawed understanding of the church would thus have serious consequences for husband-wife relationships.
(9) The church is the apple of God’s eye. I’m not quite sure how to say it any better than this. The church is very special to God. The imagery of our Lord’s relationship to the church depicts the love and intimacy between Christ and His church. He is the Shepherd; we are His flock. He is the groom; we are the bride. Christ loved the church and gave His life for it.
Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son (Acts 20:28).
Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her (Ephesians 5:25).
Christ nourishes and cherishes the church (Ephesians 5:29), and He keeps a watchful eye on the church, both in its victories and in its defeats. Read the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation, and you will see that our Lord knows exactly what is going on in each of the seven churches of Asia. He identifies their strengths and their failures. He gives a word of exhortation and a word of warning. Our Lord cares about His church, and it shows.
There are no doubt many challenges facing the church today, and I will surely not deal with all of them. But I would like to focus on some serious threats to the life and health of the church.
(1) Judaisers. It doesn’t take the reader of the New Testament long to discover that many of the Jews of that day – particularly the Jewish religious leaders – resisted and opposed Jesus and were instrumental in bringing about His crucifixion.33 But Jewish resistance didn’t end with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jews continued to oppose the preaching of the gospel in Acts.34 They stoned Stephen, and they sought to kill Paul. Even some of those who professed faith resisted the gospel by insisting that, in order to be saved, one had to be circumcised and to keep the Law of Moses.35
The decision of the Jerusalem Council did not put an end to Jewish distortions of the truth. The divisions in the church at Corinth were due in large part to divisive teachers and those who were their followers.36 But by the time we get to 2 Corinthians, Paul makes it very clear that these “false apostles” are really “messengers of Satan.”37 Even more revealing is the fact that many – if not all – of these Corinthian heretics were Jewish:
12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I (2 Corinthians 11:22, emphasis mine).
So, too, are those in Ephesus who Paul has instructed Timothy to correct.
3 As I urged you when I was leaving for Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus to instruct certain people not to spread false teachings, 4 nor to occupy themselves with myths and interminable genealogies. Such things promote useless speculations rather than God’s redemptive plan that operates by faith. 5 But the aim of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Some have strayed from these and turned away to empty discussion. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or the things they insist on so confidently (1 Timothy 1:3-7, emphasis mine).
The same was true for those Titus was to correct:
10 For there are many rebellious people, idle talkers, and deceivers, especially those with Jewish connections, 11 who must be silenced because they mislead whole families by teaching for dishonest gain what ought not to be taught. 12 A certain one of them, in fact, one of their own prophets, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 Such testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply that they may be healthy in the faith 14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths and commands of people who reject the truth (Titus 1:10-14, emphasis mine).
Paul penned the Book of Galatians to refute the teaching of the Judaisers. Paul warns about them in Philippians 3, especially verses 1-16. The Book of Hebrews was written to instruct Hebrew Christians concerning the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old and to warn them not to turn back to Judaism for salvation.
Judaisers are most often Jews who seek to claim and to cling to some kind of superiority as Jews, and they must do this by advocating the Old Covenant rather than the New, law rather than grace, Israel rather than the church. Judaisers may be Jewish, but there is also a Gentile strain of Judaiser who seeks to impose the law or rule-keeping on those who would claim to be Christians. We would perhaps just call such folks “legalists.”
The church dare not tolerate any teaching which maintains the superiority of the Old over the New, which seeks to impose Old Testament rituals and law-keeping on those who profess Christ as Savior. We must, like Paul (2 Corinthians 3 and 4; Galatians) and the author of Hebrews (if not Paul), insist that salvation is by grace through faith, apart from works. We must likewise stand firm on the fact that we are sanctified in the same way that we are saved. Salvation is not by faith, while sanctification is by works. Both salvation and sanctification are by faith.
For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him (Colossians 2:6).
(2) Denominational division. In the New Testament, we see divisions in the church, especially in the church at Corinth. But we do not see different denominations. There was one church in Corinth, one church in Philippi, one in Ephesus. Now we have literally hundreds of different kinds of churches in any large city.
How did this come about? In some cases in church history, it was necessary for folks to leave a particular church and to start another. While Martin Luther may have intended only to reform the Roman Catholic Church, this was not the outcome. The whole “Protestant” movement was the result. There have been times when a group was virtually forced to break away from an established church by doctrinal or moral deviation from the Word of God. But all too often divisions and new denominations have resulted from power struggles between those with overdeveloped egos. Sometimes divisions have come about because of petty differences and a refusal to humbly embrace “weaker” brethren.
The outcome has not been good in that unbelievers look at the evangelical “church” and see a wide range of denominations and churches, each claiming to have the right interpretation and understanding of the Bible. They can easily throw up their hands and say, “If they can’t figure it out, how can I possibly do so? The Bible must mean whatever you want it to mean.”
(3) Competition and debate. Christians sometimes seem to spend more time and energy fighting with each other (over who is right) than they do carrying out the commands of Christ, which are the mission of the church. Must we “defend the faith” from those who would pervert sound doctrine? Of course! But some of the matters over which we debate are far from being fundamentals of the faith.
Another form of competition is seeking to attract new members from existing churches – sheep stealing. When we are convinced that we are “serving church” the right way, and that others are missing the mark, we are tempted to seek to attract those who attend other churches to join ours. Too much of “church growth” seems to be growth in membership by those who formerly belonged to other churches. It is far better to grow by evangelism, which is the kind of growth we find in the Book of Acts.
While we may not have done as well in this matter as we should, we have at least made efforts to cooperate with other Bible-believing churches in our area and beyond. For several years, we have had a prayer partnership with the Church of the Open Door in Glendora, California. They share their prayer concerns with us, so that we can join with them in prayer. We do the same with our prayer requests. We have even attempted to pray at the same hour. Colin McDougall has come to our church from the Church of the Open Door, and I have spoken there. This partnership is just a beginning, but we believe that it is an effort in the right direction.
This week, leaders from several local churches will come to our building to meet for lunch and then prayer. We believe this, too, is movement in the right direction. Churches need to work together to pursue the Great Commission, rather than to compete with each other.
(4) The Parachurch Phenomenon. The parachurch movement is a rather new innovation. Ideally, this movement would see itself as coming alongside the church, assisting the church in carrying out its mission. Some might ask why the parachurch movement is needed.
In its defense, I would be inclined to say that it has arisen because of the failure of the church in fulfilling its calling. When the church becomes too absorbed in its own interests, it will often fail in the area of evangelism. Sometimes the church focuses its evangelistic efforts on too narrow a group. In such cases, parachurch organizations like Campus Crusade have been raised up, and as a result, many more have come to trust in Jesus for salvation. The church has not always been diligent at discipling new believers, and consequently organizations like the Navigators have arisen. Where Bible teaching was lacking, a group like Bible Study Fellowship has filled the need. The point I am trying to make here is that some parachurch organizations may have come into existence because we (churches) have failed to carry out our mission. It is possible that some parachurch organizations have come about for less than noble reasons.38
Having said this, parachurch organizations present the church with certain challenges. To begin with, parachurch organizations are not a church. They do not have elders, they do not (or should not) baptize, meet for worship, or observe the Lord’s Supper (Communion).39 Because of this, they may inadvertently downplay baptism, church membership, and the Lord’s Supper. Worse yet, they might even excuse themselves from the commands and obligations of the church by saying, “That doesn’t apply to us; we are not the church.” For example, a parachurch organization might hesitate to exercise (or even cooperate with) church discipline. In my opinion, a Christian counselor does not have the freedom to “help someone work their way through their divorce” (for the normal fee) if they are doing so in disobedience to the Scriptures (and perhaps even in opposition to the counsel and admonition given by their church). I do not think it is possible for those who claim to know Christ to defend themselves by denying that they are, as Christians, part of the church. Every Christian is a part of the church and should be an active participant in a local church. When discipline is required, they should support the process, if not participate in it.
Many mission agencies are parachurch organizations. If they do their task well, they may assist or facilitate churches in sending out missionaries. Sometimes these agencies are required because of the distances involved and the need for shepherding those who are sent out. Sometimes these agencies have been necessitated by the refusal or reluctance of churches to work cooperatively with other churches. In the past, I was involved in teaching in-prison seminars with Prison Fellowship. It was both amazing and delightful to participate in a ministry where evangelical Christians from a wide range of church and denominational backgrounds worked together in unity.
The challenge for churches is to “step up to the plate” and to take leadership in matters that are – first and foremost – church responsibilities. When parachurch organizations truly seek to serve and assist the churches, they are moving in the right direction.
(5) Cultural Concession, or Accommodation. I won’t say a great deal here, but I am speaking about the desire to be culturally non-offensive and thus (in the minds of some) “relevant.” This approach makes the Christian appear to be a “seeker,” not unlike the lost: “We’re all looking for the truth, and none of us has all the answers.” Isn’t this just seeking the approval of men? Does it not water down the gospel when men who profess to know Christ speak in this way? Paul had a very different approach to winning the lost:
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. 22 For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, 23 but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:20-25).
14 But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. 15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing – 16 to the latter an odor from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit, but we are speaking in Christ before God as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).
9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! 10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ! 11 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 For I did not receive it or learn it from any human source; instead I received it by a revelation of Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:9-12).
Dialogue doesn’t appear to be the apostolic method; preaching does.40
(6) Sidestepping Scripture. We function the way we do as a church because we are convinced that this is what the Scriptures teach. Recently a visitor to our church said something like this after observing our worship service: “I’ve read about this in the New Testament, but I’ve never really seen a church that does it.”41 There are many Christians who would observe the ways in which we function as a church and agree that this is what we see in the New Testament, but most of them don’t seem to feel that what we do is necessary. They think it is an option, which they may embrace or set aside (for something better).
Those who feel no obligation to follow the New Testament as their guide for church practice usually do so because (1) they don’t believe that the New Testament actually teaches a certain way of doing church; or, (2) they believe that what the New Testament teaches is not necessarily the way the church should operate today. They see New Testament teaching on the church as mere history; informative, perhaps, but not prescriptive.
(7) Scholarly Sabotage. This is something that I feel very strongly about. It is the kind of argument that comes from some academic scholars and institutions (not all, thankfully). This kind of reasoning goes something like this:
“I know that this passage of Scripture appears to teach _____________, but when you follow my reasoning (often complex and inferential, and certainly “scholarly” in its presentation), you will see that it doesn’t really mean what it clearly seems to say.”
This approach is especially effective when the teacher makes much of his academic pedigree, or when he or she appeals to the “original Greek” or Hebrew language. This signals the uninitiated that they are now in the realm of the scholars, where no mere lay person venture, and certainly not challenge.
In my lifetime, I have watched some scholars “rethink” their position on a particular passage – something not bad in and of itself – when their previous position has become culturally offensive. This has happened, for example, in the interpretation of those biblical texts which place some restrictions on the role of women in leadership and public ministry in the church.
I was reminded of this text in the Book of Galatians, which may give us insight into the reason why some are inclined to ignore or deny certain biblical teaching:
Those who want to make a good showing in external matters are trying to force you to be circumcised. They do so only to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:12).
Blessed are those who change their interpretation of Scripture because they have studied God’s Word more carefully (or have listened to another who has given additional insight); cursed are those who change God’s Word because they can’t take the heat for holding to the truth, especially fundamental truth like that pertaining to the cross of Christ.
I am committed to the conviction that the Bible has been written to common people, and that the message of the Scriptures can be discerned from the English language when studied in the context of that text and the teaching of the entire Bible. While extra-biblical (information found outside the Bible) material may be illustrative and helpful, it is not essential to biblical interpretation. Scholars who see their training, expertise, and contribution in this light can be very helpful to us in understanding the Scriptures. Thank God for such men.
(8) Applicational Avoidance or Selective Obedience. I alluded to this earlier in this message, but by the expression “applicational avoidance,” I am referring to those who grant that a certain truth is taught (or a command is issued) in Scripture, but then go on to reason that it is not applicable today. Some would say, “Yes, Paul did teach that to the Corinthians, but that was for them then, not for us now.” Others might say (in response to Paul’s teaching about the ministry of women in the church), “Paul was a bachelor, and a chauvinist. I don’t need to listen to him.” Or, “Paul was right about most things, but not about this.” For those who would restrict some of Paul’s teaching to that church, those people, and that point in time, I remind you of these texts of Scripture which plainly teach otherwise:
18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, emphasis mine).
16 I encourage you, then, be imitators of me. 17 For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4:1-17, emphasis mine).
Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches (1 Corinthians 7:17, emphasis mine).
If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:16, emphasis mine).
33 for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says. 35 If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home, because it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. 36 Did the word of God begin with you, or did it come to you alone? 37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If someone does not recognize this, he is not recognized (1 Corinthians 14:33-38, emphasis mine).
With regard to the collection for the saints, please follow the directions that I gave to the churches of Galatia (1 Corinthians 16:1, emphasis mine).
And after you have read this letter, have it read to the church of Laodicea. In turn, read the letter from Laodicea as well (Colossians 4:16).
Paul was very careful to distinguish between his personal expressions of personal conviction or advice and that which was a command of Christ, with full authority.
6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that everyone was as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that. 8 To the unmarried and widows I say that it is best for them to remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them get married. For it is better to marry than to burn with sexual desire. 10 To the married I give this command – not I, but the Lord – a wife should not divorce a husband 11 (but if she does, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband), and a husband should not divorce his wife. 12 To the rest I say – I, not the Lord – if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her (1 Corinthians 7:6-12, emphasis mine).
It was clear when Paul spoke with apostolic authority. It was likewise clear that Paul’s teaching and his practice were one and the same – he practiced what he preached. Likewise, we see that Paul’s teachings applied equally to all the churches. His teaching, his practice, and his instructions were for all the churches everywhere, not just for a particular church with particular circumstances. Thus, we dare not say, “That’s just Paul” when he speaks with apostolic authority – as he does when speaking about the church. Neither dare we say, “That’s just for this particular church, and not for churches today.” The truths, teachings, and commands of the New Testament42 are for us today.
We believe that the Scriptures are not only inspired and inerrant, but that they are authoritative – applicable to us today in such a way that we dare not set them aside. We believe that while the Scriptures do not tell us everything we might wish to know, they do tell us all we need to know related to life and godliness, and certainly about how we should function as a church:
14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these instructions to you 15 in case I am delayed, to let you know how people ought to conduct themselves in the household of God, because it is the church of the living God, the support and bulwark of the truth (1 Timothy 3:14-15, emphasis mine).
16 Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17, emphasis mine).
2 May grace and peace be lavished on you as you grow in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord! 3 I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire (2 Peter 1:2-4, emphasis mine).
16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:16-21, emphasis mine).
This is why we function as a church the way we do, the way we have done for over 30 years. We believe that the Scriptures are our only authoritative source of guidance and instruction on all spiritual matters, and particularly (in this message) regarding how we should function as a church. I realize that sincere, godly, Christians disagree over these matters. I also realize that these things are not the fundamentals of the faith – matters where being wrong would mean the difference between heaven and hell. I don’t really agonize about those who seriously and sincerely study the Scriptures regarding church truth and who come to a somewhat different conclusion. They, as I, will answer to God for our understanding and practice of His Word. But what does bother me greatly is those who simply brush the Scriptures aside without serious consideration, and instead seek to “serve church” the way the latest and most successful Christian leader does. God’s ways are not man’s ways, and this is as true for “serving church” as it is for getting to heaven. Let us commit ourselves to doing it God’s way.
And so I would challenge you to ask yourself this question about how you go about “serving church”: “Do I have the freedom to do this as I (or the experts) think best – is this an area of conviction and liberty – or do the Scriptures instruct me to do it a certain way?”
Now, a final word for those who may agree with what I have said and with the way we do church at Community Bible Chapel. Don’t feel proud or arrogant that we’ve “got it right” while others do not. It is not just a matter of having the right forms (structure), or of using the right terms; it is a matter of having the right heart. God willing, I will have more to say about this in the future.
19 Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 2 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on January 27, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
20 See the account in 2 Samuel 6.
21 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.
22 David, in particular, should have known about transporting the ark because he was required to write out the law and read it regularly. See Deuteronomy 17:18-20.
23 See 1 Samuel 6:19-21.
24 As seen in the title of this series: “Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?”
25 I understand this to be the case in 1 Timothy 2, as well as in 1 Corinthians.
26 Community Bible Chapel, located in Richardson, Texas. I have been associated with CBC for over 30 years.
27 Matthew 16:21-28.
28 See also 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Galatians 6:1-2.
29 See 1 Corinthians 11:10; 1 Peter 1:10-12.
30 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
31 See also John 16:13; 17:17, 19; 2 Corinthians 4:1-2; Galatians 2:4-5, 12-14; Ephesians 4:14-15, 25; 1 Timothy 6:3-5, 29.
32 Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14.
33 There is no question but what the Gentiles shared in the guilt for our Lord’s death, but this in no way minimizes Jewish guilt in this matter (see Acts 2:22-23).
34 It is interesting, however, to note that the Pharisees seemed to lose heart, while the Sadducees took up the cause of opposing the gospel and the church. This was at least partly due to the fact that they denied any resurrection from the dead (see Acts 23:8).
35 See Acts 15, Galatians.
36 See 1 Corinthians 1.
37 2 Corinthians 11.
38 I would remind the reader that I have already indicated that some churches have come into existence for less than noble reasons.
39 I am aware of the fact that in the past some who were part of a parachurch organization have agonized about these things. Some have even concluded that they should (as a parachurch organization) observe the Lord’s Supper.
40 I do not see Paul’s “reasoning” with the Jews in the synagogues (e.g. Acts 17:2, 17) or his preaching to the Gentiles in Athens as a contradiction to this. Acts 17:23 is hardly dialogue. A portion of a footnote in the NET Bible reads, “Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.”
41 This visitor was not at all opposed to what we do. He assumed that this was the way they “did church” in the New Testament. He had just not seen it practiced before.
42 This would be largely true of the Old Testament as well, except for those things related to the change from the Old to the New Covenant (such as we see in Mark 7:19; Acts 10-11). Many of those Old Testament commands which initially appear to be irrelevant will prove to be true in principle (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 9:8-11).
It can be very helpful to learn that a change has taken place. When our five girls were young, I used to entertain them by going through a particular intersection at just the right speed. The intersection was elevated just enough from that of the roadway so that one’s stomach would respond as if one were riding on a roller coaster. The girls always squealed as I went through that spot. We had been on vacation for several weeks, and when we returned we happened upon our favorite intersection. I went through it just as I had always done, only to learn that there had been some changes made while we were away. When we passed through that intersection, the wheels cleared the ground (or so it seemed) so that it appeared we were momentarily airborne. That was a change I would have liked to have known about ahead of time.
A friend told me that the men’s restroom in a certain school was temporarily converted to a women’s facility during certain nights because there were women students on those evenings. Unfortunately, the custodian forgot to change the signs, which caused some consternation for the man who chose to use that restroom. Suffice it to say that he had company.
This is the third lesson in our study of the New Testament church. The question before us in this lesson is this: How does the coming of the Lord Jesus and the inauguration of the New Covenant impact the way we should “serve church” today? But before we seek to answer this question, let us stop for a moment to review where we are in this series. Let me begin by summarizing the essence of the first two lessons.
Why is the church important? The church must be important to us because it is important to God. Our Lord shed His precious blood to purchase the church (Acts 20:28). The church is the instrument by which God’s purposes are accomplished and the presence of Christ is revealed on earth today. If we fail to “serve church” properly, then our disobedience will impact the work of God, things like evangelism, discipleship, missions, the work of ministry, and worship. The church is the apple of God’s eye, and He cares deeply about it. The church is God’s dwelling place on earth (Ephesians 2:22). On a more negative note, the church is important because there are serious consequences for failing to live up to the high calling of the church (see, for example, 2 Samuel 6; 1 Corinthians 11; Revelation 2 and 3).
This is where we have been in our first two lessons. Now let us look at what lies ahead. In this third lesson, we will explore the relationship between the church and Israel. To what degree does the Old Testament direct us as to how we “serve church” today? Then in the following lesson, we will look at the relationship between the contemporary church to the church described in the New Testament. How “New Testament” are we as a church today, and to what degree has the practice of the church over the past 20 centuries impacted us, for good or for evil? Following this, I want to devote a lesson to setting down guidelines for how we relate to the church of the New Testament. Based upon these guidelines, I will endeavor to identify the key elements (the universal, non-negotiables) of a New Testament church, and to suggest how these can and should be implemented in churches today, with a particular emphasis on how we “serve church” at Community Bible Chapel.44
We will begin at the beginning, at the Garden of Eden, as we read in Genesis 2 through 4. Before the fall of man in the garden, Adam and Eve appear to have enjoyed intimate fellowship with God, a fellowship that was immediately and dramatically interrupted by sin:
6 When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:6-9)46
The “wisdom” Adam and Eve gained was the knowledge that they were sinners, separated from God, and naked in His sight. Their response was to try to cover their nakedness and to hide themselves from God. It was God who sought them out and who declared judgment on all the participants (Adam, Eve, the serpent). It was also God who promised Satan’s downfall and salvation through the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). The curse (death) would be reversed and would become the cure through the death of the Savior. But fellowship with God was greatly hindered until the coming of the Christ. Adam and Eve were kept from the garden, and (it would seem) the kind of fellowship they enjoyed there.
22 And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:22-24).
How this separation between God and man could be resolved is the story line of the entire Bible, and it will only be permanently resolved at the second coming of Christ.
Not only did the fall impede man’s fellowship with God, it also impacted man’s relationship with his fellow man. And so in Genesis 4, we read of Cain’s false and unacceptable worship (he “did it his way”) and his murder of Abel. The story of Lamech, which follows in Genesis 4, only shows how quickly things went from “bad” to “worse.” And then, as the chapter concludes, we read these words (just after a reference to the birth of Seth):
And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord (Genesis 4:26, emphasis mine).
We are not told what form this “worship” took, and that is probably instructive. We do know that both Cain and Abel approached God by means of a sacrifice and that only Abel’s sacrifice was acceptable (Genesis 4:1-5). Neither are we given any great detail about the worship of men like Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. It is not until we come to the giving of the law in the Book of Exodus that we begin to see some specifics. Indeed, the Law of Moses is very specific with regard to how men may approach God in worship. In this lesson, we only have time to selectively consider a handful of portraits related to Israel’s relationship to God. We will then compare and contrast these with the church in the New Testament.
Let’s begin with Israel at Mount Sinai. What an awesome scene this must have been!
16 On the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, Moses was speaking and God was answering him with a voice. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and solemnly warn the people, lest they force their way through to the Lord to look, and many of them perish. 22 Let the priests also, who approach the Lord, sanctify themselves, lest the Lord break through against them.” 23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people are not able to come up to Mount Sinai, because you solemnly warned us, ‘Set boundaries for the mountain and set it apart.’” 24 The Lord said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Lord, lest he break through against them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them (Exodus 19:16-25).
Visible evidences of the presence of God were apparent to all the Israelites. The presence of God – at some distance, but still in view – was awesome, even frightening. God repeatedly instructed Moses to tell the people to stay back and not to put their lives at risk by drawing too near to His presence. Maintaining a proper distance between God and man was not just God’s mandate; it was also Israel’s desire:
22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. Then he inscribed the words on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 23 Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. 24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! 26 Who is there from the entire human race who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? 27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you - they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” 32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 33 Walk just as he has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land you are going to possess” (Deuteronomy 5:22-33, emphasis mine).
This is a very crucial text, so let me point out several very important observations. (1) Not only did God demand that the Israelites keep their distance, the people wanted it this way. (2) The Israelites wanted Moses to serve as their mediator, to represent them to God and to proclaim God’s Word to them. This would enable them to have a certain kind of “fellowship” with God, but from a distance. (3) God’s response to this request was favorable. He told Moses it was a good thing for them to ask. And as we follow Israel’s journeys in the wilderness, we can see why. (4) The giving of the Law was God’s provision, whereby this people could live in close (but not too close) proximity to Him. (5) Man’s root problem is a problem of the heart. The Israelites had rebellious hearts, and thus they would not (and could not) keep this covenant. The permanent solution to this problem must be a change of heart – something that only God could do, and which He would do with the coming of Christ and the inauguration of a New Covenant. We will see more on this later.
For me, one of the strangest texts in the Old Testament is found in Exodus 24. These events take place while the nation Israel was encamped at the base of Mount Sinai:
7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.” 8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself. 11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank (Exodus 24:7-11).
This is truly an amazing thing, is it not? A few chapters earlier, the Israelites were warned to keep their distance from the mountain and from God, and they heartily agreed. Now we read that Moses has ratified the covenant and he, Aaron and his two sons (the priests), and the seventy elders of Israel ascend the mountain (part way) to partake of a covenant meal in the presence of God. There is some sense in which Moses can say that they saw God and lived to tell about it.
Notice several things about this meal. (1) This meal appears to be a foretaste of heaven.47 (2) It is obviously not the norm. This is a most unusual thing, and that is the way Moses represents it. (3) The entire nation does not participate in this covenant meal, but only the elders and a few priests as representatives of the people.48 (4) Even though these representatives were allowed to participate in this meal, they were not allowed to accompany Moses to the top of the mountain, where he alone experienced intimacy with God.49
The most significant sequence of events at Mount Sinai is described in Exodus 32-34. While Moses was up on the mountain with God receiving the tablets of stone, the Israelites were down below (still, I would take it, within sight of the manifestations of God’s presence on the mountain), engaged in idol worship. They had grown impatient in Moses’ absence and had persuaded Aaron to fashion a golden calf for them. God was rightly angered by Israel’s sin and threatened to wipe out the entire nation and to start over with Moses:
9 Then the Lord said to Moses: “I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are! 10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation” (Exodus 32:9-10).
Two major issues arise in this critical moment in Israel’s history:
(1) Will the nation survive for even another day, or will God wipe the entire nation out?
And,
(2) Will God’s presence go with Israel in their journeys if He does allow them to live?
We must begin by noting that (when considered from a human point of view) it was only the intercession of Moses that spared the nation from extinction. Without Moses, the nation Israel would have no hope and no future.50 Moses began by “reminding” God that His reputation (glory) was on the line. He had covenanted to bring this motley crew of Israelites into the Promised Land. If He failed to do so – to finish what He had started – it would dishonor Him.
11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forever’” (Exodus 32:11-13).
Moses knew better than to promise that Israel would try harder. Instead, he rightly appealed to God on the basis of His character, His covenant with Abraham, and His glory.
The second issue was a bit more difficult, and it took more time to resolve (at least as Moses portrays it in this account). Would God’s presence accompany this nation as they made their way into the Promised Land? God had indicated to Moses that He would send an angel with them, but that He would not personally accompany the Israelites into the land:
1 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way” (Exodus 33:1-3, emphasis mine).
Being in the presence of God was exceedingly dangerous for a sinful people, and God knew that Israel would persist in her stubbornness and rebellion.
Hearing that God would not accompany them, the people began a period of mourning. They removed their jewelry (which they no doubt had gained from the Egyptians and which probably had idolatrous associations.)51 Moses continued to commune with God, while the people looked on:
6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments by Mount Horeb. 7 Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone seeking the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp. 8 And when Moses went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent. 9 And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent (Exodus 33:6-11, emphasis mine).
I am inclined to understand these words to mean that the people “showed reverence” more than to indicate that the people were actively engaged in worship. They certainly did not worship in the same way that Moses did. Put differently, it was Moses who enjoyed intimate communion with God, while the people were still estranged from Him as a result of their great sin.52
Verses 12-16 of chapter 33 are important to our understanding of what is taking place between Moses, the Israelites, and God:
12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, and also you have found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight. And see that this nation is your people.” 14 And the Lord said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 And Moses said to him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here. 16 For how will it be known then that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:12-16, emphasis mine)
Israel’s fate rested upon the mercy and grace of God and on Moses’ standing with God.
The mediation of Moses which we see here on behalf of the Israelites began when Moses was still on the mountain with God (Exodus 32:11-14). God tested Moses’ commitment to this nation by offering to destroy the Israelites and to start a whole new nation through his offspring (Exodus 32:10). Moses remained true to his commitment to this people, urging God to remain true to His commitment to them as well. Now, God assures Moses that He will be with him, but makes no such commitment regarding the Israelites. Moses persists in his identification with the Israelites by pleading with God to show him favor by being present with him and with the Israelites.
Here is where it gets interesting. Up through verse 17 of chapter 33, the conversation centers around the question of God’s presence with this people. In verse 17, God assures Moses that His presence will go up with the Israelites. And yet later, in verse 9 of verse 34, the same issue arises once again. This raises a problem, for me at least. Exodus 33:18—34:8 almost seems out of place. This passage is one of the greatest portions of the entire Pentateuch, but it does not seem to fit into the context. Why does Moses suddenly turn aside from the issue of God’s presence with His people and make a personal request for God to reveal His glory to him alone? Can you feel the shift in the conversation?
17 The Lord said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have requested, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 And Moses said, “Show me your glory.” 19 And the Lord said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” 20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live.” 21 The Lord said, “Here is a place by me; you will station yourself on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen” (Exodus 33:17-23).
Why does Moses suddenly appear to abandon the matter of God’s presence with His people, only to take it up again in the next chapter? And why does Moses cease petitioning God on behalf of the Israelites to petition Him for what appears to be a request for a personal favor? Here is the answer that has come to my mind. Moses understands that it is his relationship with God that is the key to his success in his role as a mediator. God cares about Moses more than any or all of these rebellious Israelites (or so it would appear). God has promised to be with Moses, and He will assure Moses that He will also be present with the Israelites because of His relationship with Moses.
Moses’ request to see the glory of God achieves at least two things. First, it highlights the fact that God’s glory is to be seen in His delight to show mercy. If God is glorified by showing mercy to the undeserving, then showing mercy to this undeserving nation will actually be in God’s best interest – it will promote His glory. Second, showing Moses His glory demonstrates to Moses how much God loves him. Based upon God’s favor to him, Moses appeals to God to accompany him and these people to Canaan. It is as though Moses had said, “God, you said that you regard me highly, and thus you have assured me of your presence. You have just demonstrated that I have found favor in your sight by granting my petition to see your glory. So, based upon my standing with you, I ask this additional favor – ‘Go with us to Canaan.’”
I believe this is what these words in verse 9 of chapter 34 are all about:
“If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance” (Exodus 34:9, emphasis mine).
It is at this point that God reaffirms His (Mosaic) covenant with the Israelites.53 If a holy God is to dwell among His people, then they must abide by His standards. They must not do those things (things that the Canaanites did) which offend Him. The Law of Moses is instituted so that God can dwell among this sinful people. Not only did it establish rules, it also established the means by which the Israelites could “call upon the name of the Lord.” It set forth the sacrificial system whereby the Israelites can worship God.
We hasten past the days of Joshua and the Judges, and even past the days of Samuel and King David, to the day when Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem.
3 When all Israel’s elders had arrived, the priests lifted the ark. 4 The priests and Levites carried the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy items in the tent. 5 Now King Solomon and all the Israelites who had assembled with him went on ahead of the ark and sacrificed more sheep and cattle than could be counted or numbered. 6 The priests brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its assigned place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, in the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubs. 7 The cherubs’ wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles. 8 The poles were so long their ends were visible from the holy place in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen from beyond that point. They have remained there to this very day. 9 There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses had placed there in Horeb. It was there that the Lord made an agreement with the Israelites after he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 10 Once the priests left the holy place, a cloud filled the Lord’s temple. 11 The priests could not carry out their duties because of the cloud; the Lord’s glory filled his temple (1 Kings 8:3-11, emphasis mine).
How glorious this day must have been. The glory of the Lord descended upon the temple and filled it. Sacrifice and celebration accompanied this joyous occasion. The temple was to be a place of prayer, and for those who were far away, a place toward which they must face when they prayed (see 1 Kings 8:46-50). The temple was also a place of great beauty, something of which the Israelites could be proud.
But the temple had its limitations. It most certainly could not contain the Creator of the universe:
“God does not really live on the earth! Look, if the sky and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this temple I have built! (1 Kings 8:27)
The temple still served to keep God’s people at a safe distance (lest they die!). There was the mediation of the priesthood. There was the inner sanctuary, the holy of holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was hidden from sight, and where the high priest entered once a year. God’s glory would eventually depart from the temple. Indeed, the people of Jerusalem would be taken into captivity in Babylon, the sacred objects hauled off as spoil, and the temple completely destroyed. At various times, the temple would be profaned.
Surely there must be something better than this, and so there would be. They were promised a better king (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Isaiah 9:7; Micah 5:2), a better shepherd (Isaiah 40:10-11; Jeremiah 23:2-4), and a better temple (Jeremiah 3:16; Haggai 2:9). As good as it was during Israel’s finest days, something vastly better was coming. And all of this was possible because of the New Covenant God would make with His people:
31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord. 33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
24 “‘I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries; then I will bring you to your land. 25 I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations (Ezekiel 36:27-27).
One cannot overestimate the significance of the coming of Christ as it relates to the church (not to mention everything else). The death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord inaugurated the New Covenant, a better covenant with a better priest:
1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. So this one too had to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain.” 6 But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one. 8 But showing its fault, God says to them, “Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 9 “It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord. 10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people. 11 “And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 “For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.” 13 When he speaks of a new covenant, he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear” (Hebrews 8:1-13, emphasis mine).54
Jesus is the “better temple”:
19 Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken (John 2:19-22, emphasis mine).
22 Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God - the All-Powerful - and the Lamb are its temple (Revelation 21:22, emphasis mine).55
And because the church is His body, we are God’s temple:
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, emphasis mine).
And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, “I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16, emphasis mine).
19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).
Jesus is the “better shepherd,” better than David, in fulfillment of the promises found in the Old Testament:
70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 He took him away from following the mother sheep,
and made him the shepherd of Jacob,
his people, and of Israel, his chosen nation.
72 David cared for them with pure motives;
he led them with skill. A psalm of Asaph (Psalm 78:70-72).
9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion! Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! Shout, don’t be afraid! Say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; his military power establishes his rule. Look, his reward is with him; his prize goes before him. 11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock; he gathers up the lambs with his arm; he carries them close to his heart; he leads the ewes along (Isaiah 40:9-11).
2 For the household gods have spoken wickedness, the soothsayers have seen a lie, and as for the dreamers, they have disclosed emptiness and give comfort in vain. Therefore the people set out like sheep and become scattered because they have no shepherd (Zechariah 10:2).
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, he runs away. 14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me - 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me - because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father” (John 10:11-18, emphasis mine).
This is only a small sampling of the ways in which our Lord fulfilled Old Testament prophecies concerning the promised Messiah. In each and every instance, our Lord is vastly superior to what Israel experienced under the Old Covenant. As the writer to the Hebrews emphasized, the New was “better” than the Old. Our concern here is to determine what impact the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, had on the church. While there are a number of New Testament texts to which we could point, we will briefly consider the implications of three passages.
4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” 7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:4-10, emphasis mine).
The first thing we should note is the similarity of Peter’s words to those God had spoken to the nation Israel. This text in Exodus 19 is one example:
3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 6 and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites” (Exodus 19:3-6, emphasis mine).
Much has rightfully been said about this great text in 1 Peter 2 and its relationship to Old Testament texts. For the moment, suffice it to say that Peter intends for us to see the relationship between God’s words for Israel in Exodus 19 and Peter’s words (God’s words also) for Gentiles in 1 Peter 2. The church has somehow inherited blessings that were first promised to the Israelites.
Now consider the message that Peter wishes his readers to grasp. First and foremost, this text is about Jesus. Jesus is the central and dominant focus of this passage. Jesus is “the precious stone,” precious in God’s sight, but rejected by many. Jesus is the dividing line between condemnation and salvation. Those who reject Jesus as the precious stone find Him to be a stumbling stone, and they fall to their own condemnation. Those who receive Him as the precious stone experience God’s blessings. They become a special people to God, much like the nation Israel was. They (we who believe in Jesus) have a special calling, just as Israel had. We are not merely to be the recipients of divine blessings; we are to be the means by which these blessings are proclaimed to others, for their blessing as well (see verse 9). This is our calling as saints, for we are built up as a temple; we become a royal priesthood, we become God’s chosen people.
Having seen how the church is like Israel, let us be careful to note the contrasts between Israel and the church. In Exodus 19, God’s promise to Israel is conditional; the Israelites will be a “kingdom of priests” and a “holy nation” if they keep the Old Covenant. But this covenant, which God declares in the next chapters of Exodus, is about to be broken in a very dramatic way in Exodus 32 (and this but the first of many times56). No wonder the Israelites never really experience these blessings. These blessings were conditional, and the Israelites were unable to meet these conditions. They were unable to keep the law. The law did not lead Israel to God’s blessings, but it was meant to lead Israel to Jesus, to the “Rock” of God’s salvation.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed - 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. 26 This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness (Romans 3:19-26).
The Old Covenant could not save, but it could surely expose our sin and our need for salvation by some other means than human works. That salvation came in the person and work of Jesus Christ. He was the sinless, perfect, God-man who came from heaven to declare to us the way of salvation. He showed us God’s righteousness in Himself and our sin. He declared that He had come to provide God’s only way of salvation. He took our sin and our punishment upon Himself when He died on the cross of Calvary. He not only died and was buried, He rose from the dead, and then ascended to the Father’s right hand. By acknowledging our sin and by trusting in Jesus death and resurrection on our behalf, we can be saved, our sins forgiven, and be assured of living for all eternity in His presence. The fellowship with God that Adam and Eve (and thus all mankind) lost because of sin can be restored through faith in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:19-25).
Nobody deals with the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old better than the writer to the Hebrews. These verses (above) in Hebrews 10 drive home the application to what this writer has been saying up to this point, namely that the New is vastly superior to (“better than”) the Old. Old Testament priests (like Aaron!) were sinners, who had to first offer a sacrifice for their own sins, and only then could they offer sacrifices for others. Jesus had no sin, and so is a vastly better high priest:
26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever (Hebrews 7:26-28).
Under the Old Covenant, sacrifices had to be made over and over, year by year, because the blood of animals is not a permanent remedy for sins. The shed blood of Jesus, who was without sin, provided a sacrifice for sin once for all:
11 But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God (Hebrews 9:11-14).
1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. 2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. 5 So when he came into the world, he said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. 6 “Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in. 7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am: I have come - it is written of me in the scroll of the book - to do your will, O God.’” 8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first to establish the second. 10 By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands day after day serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again - sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy (Hebrews 10:1-14).
Because Jesus is a better high priest, who has offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice once for all, believers need not keep their distance from our Holy God. They may, in fact, draw near boldly, and not draw back. They may approach with confidence, because God the Father is pleased with the sacrifice of the Son. We should hold fast to that which has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus on our behalf. And we should not cease to gather together so that we can not only worship, but encourage one other with regard to love and good deeds. Our zeal to do so should increase as we see the day of our Lord’s return drawing near. These are not things which could be said on the basis of the Old Covenant, but they surely can be said because of the superiority of the New.
33 Then they said to him, “John’s disciples frequently fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours continue to eat and drink.” 34 So Jesus said to them, “You cannot make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them, can you? 35 But those days are coming, and when the bridegroom is taken from them, at that time they will fast.” 36 He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old garment. If he does, he will have torn the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. 38 Instead new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 No one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is good enough’” (Luke 5:33-39).
This text in Luke is especially pertinent to the church, as compared to Israel’s relationship with God in the Old Testament. Like some folks today, the scribes and Pharisees were most inclined to say, “This is the way we’ve always done it.” Thus, they were perplexed and disturbed when Jesus did not conform to their ways, ways that they believed were entirely consistent with the Law of Moses and the Old Covenant. They wondered why Jesus’ disciples did not fast and pray as did John’s disciples57 and the Pharisees.
Why didn’t Jesus do it the old, proven way? Why did Jesus have to set aside Jewish customs and traditions and do it some new and novel way? Jesus tells them why; because He has come to inaugurate the New Covenant, not to perpetuate the Old.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place” (Matthew 5:17-18).
We need to understand what Jesus is saying here. He is not saying that we are to continue to live under the Old Covenant (the Law). What He is saying is that the Old Covenant will not be set aside until it is fulfilled. No wonder the New Testament writers so often speak of the Old Testament Scriptures being fulfilled. Having fulfilled the Law, Jesus institutes the New Covenant, and we now live under it, rather than under the Old Covenant. That is what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4.
Jesus came to fulfill the Old Covenant and to institute the New. The scribes and Pharisees were mistaken when they supposed that Jesus should support and perpetuate their traditions and practices. In Jesus’ words, “You don’t put new wine (the New Covenant, including the church) into old wineskins (the traditions and practices of the past). Thus, we should expect that the church will function differently from Judaism. This was not an easy adjustment for the Lord’s disciples or for the early church. This is why there is as much written about the church as there is. And yet, Jesus said, there would be those who insisted that the old was good enough. Well, it was not. And thus as we continue to study the doctrine and practices of the church, we must be prepared for change from what we find in the Old Testament.
Since the Garden of Eden, no one has ever had it so good. Paradise had not yet been restored (Revelation 21-22), but under the New Covenant, we have it vastly better than the Old Testament saints.58 Before the fall of man, Adam and Eve had the privilege of intimate communion with God, without sin, and without fear or hesitation. But ever since the fall, man has been separated from God. Man’s sin makes it dangerous to draw near to God. Under the Old Covenant, man could approach God, but only at a distance, only from time to time, and only in accordance with many rules and regulations.
The Israelites of Moses’ day depended upon his intercession, and he was not perfect. Even he did not enter into the Promised Land. New Testament Christians have a “better covenant,” a better mediator, a better sacrifice, a better high priest. We have the assurance that our sins have been forgiven, once for all, and that we can now draw near to God with great boldness, because of the work of Jesus Christ at Calvary.
Who could possibly be correct to think of Old Testament times as “the good old days”? Who would ever wish to go back? Who would think their worship to be superior to ours? Who would think the church to be inferior to Israel’s relationship with God? Actually, some do. They would encourage us to “do it the way the Old Testament saints did,” as though that were better, or more spiritual. Paul makes it clear that Jewish saints are free to celebrate Jewish feasts and holidays, but they are not to seek to impose this on the Gentiles. And neither are Jewish believers free to think of themselves as exempt from full participation in the church, with Gentile saints, as “one new man.”
This lesson is vitally important to our study of the church because it underscores the link between the church and the New Covenant. It makes it clear that God never intended to pour the “new wine” of the New Covenant and the church into Old Testament Jewish wineskins. We should expect the church to be as different from Israel’s relationship to God as the New Covenant is from the Old. That does not mean there are not similarities, and that all continuity is lost. But it does mean that we must look to the New Testament to learn how we are to “serve church.” And because the church is so important to God, we should expect that God will not leave us to ourselves and to our own devices, serving church “cafeteria style,” rather than according to the divine plan.
43 Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 3 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on February 3, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
44 Community Bible Chapel, located in Richardson, Texas. I have been associated with CBC for over 30 years.
45 The relationship of the church to Israel is a substantial topic, and there is a great deal of discussion and debate here. The relationship of the church to Israel has profound implications to one’s view of prophecy, but that is not our focus here. We are selectively considering Israel’s relationship with God and how it relates to the church. At this moment, I will say only this regarding the church and Israel. (1) There is a relationship between Israel and the church – there is some correspondence, some continuity. (2) There is a future for physical Israel (Romans 11). (3) There are clear distinctions between Israel and the church. The church does not completely replace Israel.
46 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
47 Compare Ezekiel 1:26, Revelation 4:3.
48 In days gone by, did not the Roman Catholic priests partake of the communion elements in the place of the worshipper?
49 Joshua accompanied Moses to the top of the mountain, but it does not appear that he enjoyed the intimacy with God that Moses did.
50 In this way, Moses is a prototype of Jesus, the ultimate Mediator, through whom helpless sinners are spared from the wrath of God and enabled to stand, guiltless, in His presence.
51 See Joshua 24:14.
52 In Exodus 34:9, Moses is still asking God to pardon the people and to go with them to the Promised Land.
53 Exodus 34:10ff.
54 See also Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:5ff.; Hebrews 9:15ff.; 12:22-24.
55 See also Matthew 12:5-6.
56 See Numbers 14:22-23.
57 As great a man as John the Baptist was, he was still considered the last vestige of the old economy, and not a part of the new economy. See Matthew 11:11.
58 This is not to say that they were not saved by faith, as believers are today, as we see in Hebrews 11 and Romans 4. But we live under the New Covenant, and they under the Old.
A couple of years ago, my wife Jeannette and I were visiting friends who live on a lovely lake in Canada. We were there in time to help them take their boat out of the water and put it into storage for the winter. One of the things I was able to do was to help scrub the bottom of the boat, which had a layer of residue attached to it. If we had been dealing with a boat in salt water, we would have been concerned with barnacles and the like, especially if it had been in the water for some time. They just seem to attach themselves over time, and they don’t contribute anything to the function of the boat. They merely slow it down and accelerate the deterioration process.
It is my belief that when we study the church today and compare it with the church of the first century, we find that it has many “barnacles” that have attached themselves – largely unnoticed – over the centuries of its history. Thanks to Ron and Kay, our church librarians, we have a good number of books on church history on our library shelves. But these books, like my courses in seminary, focus more on the history of doctrine than they do the history of the church. It is not easy to find a book that describes the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) changes to the way the church is structured, led, and carries out its mission.
One book is a rather glaring exception. It is a book co-authored by Frank Viola and George Barna entitled, Pagan Christianity?60 I don’t necessarily agree with Viola’s assumption that the best and most biblical model for the church is the house church, but I do find his research and documentation to be thorough and challenging. Essentially, Viola and Barna conclude that much – probably most – of the practices of Evangelical churches today find their origins in secular (and often pagan) culture, rather than in the pages of our New Testament. That should give us pause for thought.
Thus the title and topic of this message is “Are There Barnacles on the Bottom of Our (the church) Boat?” We will begin by looking at church history to see what changes have come about in the church since the days of the New Testament. I will focus on four61 of the most influential periods:
The period of the church fathers (ca. 100-300)
The period of Constantine (ca. 324ff.)
The period of the Reformation (1517ff.)
The Revivalist era (1700-1800’s)
After we briefly survey these four periods in church history, I will attempt to summarize some of the major (and most damaging) departures from the Scriptures in matters of the church. Then we will consider three different types of tradition, ending with that form of tradition that is pleasing to God. Finally, I will make some concluding comments pertaining to the way in which we serve church at Community Bible Chapel. 62
The Period of the Church Fathers (100-300)
We owe a great debt of gratitude to the church fathers who lived in the first couple of centuries after the death of the last of the apostles. Many of them stood tall against heresies and departures from the gospel as declared by our Lord and the apostles. They found it necessary to define sound doctrine and to defend it against false teaching. They also played a significant role in the recognition of those books which would be included in the canon of the New Testament.63 Many of them died for their faith, as these were days when the church was persecuted.
But having said this, I must also challenge a commonly-held assumption. I would summarize this assumption in this way: “Those who lived in closest proximity to the apostles must know best and most accurately how things should be done in the church.” Some are inclined to read the fathers as though they had apostolic authority, at least greater authority than we would grant to Christian leaders today. When it comes to how we should “serve church,” I fear that a number of church fathers simply got it wrong.64 I am tempted to say that a number of departures that are blamed on Constantine are actually rooted in the teachings of some of the fathers. Thus, Constantine merely formalized or institutionalized some of these errors.65
Let me mention some of these unhealthy departures from the New Testament, particularly pertaining to the function of the church. In the period of the fathers, there arose a distinction between the so-called “laity” and the “clergy.” There was the introduction of the doctrine of apostolic succession. There was also the unhealthy elevation of the bishop to a position that approached the authority of our Lord. Here, I rely on the research of Viola and Barna:
“According to Ignatius, the bishop had ultimate power and should be obeyed absolutely. Consider the following excerpts from his letters: ‘Plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself. . . . All of you follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father. . . . Wherever the bishop shall appear, there will the people be; even as where Jesus may be. . . . It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to baptize or to hold a love feast; but whatever he shall approve, this is well-pleasing also to God. . . . It is good to recognize God and the bishop. He that honors the bishop is honored of God. . . . Do nothing without the bishop. . . . Therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united with Him, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do you anything without the bishop and the presbyters. . . . You should look on your bishop as a type of the Father.’” (p. 111)
“It fell to the bishop alone to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, conduct baptisms, give counsel, discipline church members, approve marriages, and preach sermons.” (p. 111)
“Tertullian was the first writer to use the word clergy to refer to a separate class of Christians.” (p. 113)
“‘The priest, [Chrysostom] observed, is ever judged by his parish as though he were an angel and not of the same frail stuff as the rest of men.’” (p. 125)
Before Constantine embraced Christianity, the church had already begun to move in the wrong direction – away from the teachings of the Scripture. Apostolic succession, the re-sacrificing of our Lord in the celebration of communion, an elevated position for the priests and bishops, a distinction between laity and clergy were already taking shape. Barnacles – and many of them – were already growing on the bottom of the boat.
We owe the fathers a debt of gratitude, but we do not owe them unquestioned obedience. They, like all the great men of the Bible, were fallible. Unlike the apostles, they could not claim inspiration, inerrancy, and the authority of “thus saith the Lord.” We owe them much, but we also owe them and the church faithfulness to the Word of God, such that error is challenged, no matter what its source.66 I love these words of Paul, which surely apply:
6 I have applied these things to myself and Apollos because of you, brothers and sisters, so that through us you may learn “not to go beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of the one against the other. 7 For who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Corinthians 4:6-7, emphasis mine)67
Constantine had some kind of conversion experience which prompted him to embrace Christianity, making him the first “Christian” emperor of Rome, and thus ending the period persecution of the church. The persecuted church now became the privileged church. Sunday was declared a holiday, and “Worship became more professional, dramatic, and ceremonial.”69 Large and ornate church buildings were constructed, and the church (and the clergy) were granted immunity from taxation. Much of what Constantine added to the newly institutionalized church came from the culture of his day, and a good deal of that was clearly pagan. No doubt it was thanks to Constantine that the Roman Catholic Church was born.
I find it interesting to observe that the cessation of official persecution and this period of governmental favor was not really healthy for the church. And yet this seems to be what many Christians of our own day hope for, particularly when elections draw near.
The Reformation began when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. It was not Luther’s initial intention to break away from the Roman Church, but rather to reform it, and there was much that needed reforming. But Luther and the Reformers rightly focused on those matters which were of the greatest importance. They are summarized by the five “sola’s”:
Sola scripture (Scripture alone)
Sola fide (faith alone)
Sola gratia (grace alone)
Solus Christus (Christ alone)
Soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone)
The Scriptures alone were the sole authority for faith and practice, and not the declarations of the Roman Church. Salvation is by grace, through faith alone, and not by any works we (or the church) may perform. Salvation is by Christ alone, through His substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection in the sinner’s place. And all of this is to the glory of God alone (and not to men). These vital truths are the foundation of true faith, and thus the basis of one’s eternal salvation. Nothing is more important than correcting errors on these points.
But having said this, there were many other errors that needed to be addressed, many of them pertaining to monstrous “barnacles on the bottom of the church’s boat.” Viola and Barna summarize some of the changes that Luther brought about related to the church:
“In sum, the major enduring changes that Luther made to the Catholic Mass were as follows: (1) he performed the Mass in the language of the people rather than in Latin, (2) he gave the sermon a central place in the gathering, (3) he introduced congregational singing, (4) he abolished the idea that the Mass was a sacrifice of Christ, and (5) he allowed the congregation to partake of the bread and cup (rather than just the priest, as was the Catholic practice). Other than these differences, Luther kept the same order of worship as found in the Catholic Mass.”70
Having acknowledged that Luther was able to bring about some modifications to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, we must likewise recognize that these modifications were too few and too far between. The priest was still the one who normally administered the sacraments. His title may have changed from “priest” to “pastor,” but his functions remained largely unchanged. There was a very strong and clear distinction between clergy and laity. By and large, the laity was passive participants in the church, while the clergy led. Under the Reformers, preaching came to take a very dominant role and prominent place in the church gathering. While this greatly troubles Viola (and Barna, I assume),71 it does not trouble me nearly as much. I believe that consistent, systematic teaching plays a very important role in the life of the church.
As with the early church fathers, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the Reformers. But they were not infallible, either. While the Reformers strongly insisted that the ministry was restricted to the clergy (whether called a priest or a pastor), it was the Anabaptists who believed that the entire church body (i.e. the “laity”) were entitled to a much greater participation when the church gathered. The Reformers viewed this as a capital offense, and thus Anabaptist believers died at the hand of their Reformed brethren, men like John Calvin. Church history is not necessarily a pretty picture.
Here, we’re talking about men who were well known, men who were used of God to win many to faith in Jesus Christ73 – Methodist circuit riders and frontier evangelists, and men like John and Charles Wesley, George Whitfield, Charles Finney, and Dwight L. Moody. This movement was characterized by an emphasis on the evangelization of the lost, so that their preaching was aimed at unbelievers, rather than the saints. The focus was on the individual, rather than on the corporate body of Christ. Unlike the Reformers, there was the use of music and other means to appeal to men’s emotions, and thereby win them to Christ. Sadly, this led to various kinds of manipulative methods, and a pragmatic mindset – if it worked to win the lost, it must be right.
Once again we must be grateful for the way God used those through whom a significant number of lost men and women were brought to faith in Jesus. But they were not infallible either, and thus they brought changes to the church which have become “barnacles on our boat.”
So, to sum up the impact of church history on the church itself, let me call attention to several of the departures from Scripture which have negatively impacted the church.
(1) Departure from the biblical doctrine of the “priesthood of all believers” by embracing the false distinction between the “laity” and the “clergy.”
(2) A departure from a biblical emphasis on the “headship of Christ over His church” to an earthly, human, headship.
(3) A departure from the New Testament pattern of leadership by a plurality of men to looking to one man (the priest or the pastor) to lead the church.
(4) A departure from the New Testament precedent of a more informal, participatory gathering (led by the Holy Spirit) to a much more structured and pre-programmed meeting (led by men).
(5) A departure from the New Testament emphasis on the edification of the saints when the church gathers to an emphasis on evangelizing the lost.
(6) A departure from basing church practice on the New Testament Scriptures to operating on pragmatic principles (if it works, it must be right).
I’m not going to attempt to defend these observations or to elaborate on them at this moment in time. My purpose is simply to call your attention to the ways in which the church has departed from its New Testament roots without even being aware of it. Future lessons will develop these observations further.
1 Now the Pharisees and some of the experts in the law who came from Jerusalem gathered around him. 2 And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, holding fast to the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches.) 5 The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with unwashed hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’ 8 Having no regard for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” 9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ (that is, a gift for God), 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.” 14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand. 15 There is nothing outside of a person that can defile him by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles him.” 17 Now when Jesus had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? 19 For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.” (This means all foods are clean.) 20 He said, “What comes out of a person defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within and defile a person” (Mark 7:1-23, emphasis mine).75
Here, we are dealing with a “tradition” that does not originate in the Bible. Far worse than this, our Lord is chastising the Pharisees and scribes for creating a tradition of their own that “compels” the self-righteous adversaries of Jesus to disobey the commandment of God. The Law taught God’s people that they were duty bound to care for their parents. But in order to evade this obligation, the Pharisees and scribes created a tradition of their own – “corban” – by which they could use their money as they pleased (e.g., on themselves), rather than to care for their parents. They declared their material resources to be “corban,” devoted to God. They could, of course, use this “devoted” money on themselves if they chose, but they no longer felt obligated to spend it on the care of their parents. And thus we have a human tradition that is so strongly held it justifies (in the mind of the sinner) disobedience to God’s commands. This is a bad tradition.
“Ugly” traditions come in several forms, but they all have this in common: the traditions (the habitual practice) are prescribed in the Bible. The “bad” traditions (discussed previously) are those which are the “traditions of man,” rather than traditions that come from God. Indeed, these humanly-devised traditions justify (even appear to sanctify) disobedience to God’s commands. But “ugly” traditions are biblical practices, traditions that God’s Word sets out for us to practice. They become “ugly” for several reasons.
First, some biblical traditions become “ugly” when our daily lives do not conform to the traditions we observe:
21 “I absolutely despise your festivals! I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies! 22 Even if you offer me burnt and grain offerings, I will not be satisfied; I will not look with favor on your peace offerings of fattened calves. 23 Take away from me your noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. 24 Justice must flow like torrents of water, righteous actions like a stream that never dries up” (Amos 5:21-24; see also Isaiah 1:10-15).
In Amos, as well as in Isaiah, God says that He despises the ceremonial sacrifices of Israel because they are hypocritical. They act pious when they perform these rituals (traditions), but they live in an ungodly way the rest of the time. In Romans 2, Paul teaches that circumcision does not benefit the Jew whose life is not consistent with his ceremonial symbol. A Gentile who delights in the law of God is far better off without circumcision than a ritualistic Jew, without obedience.
25 For circumcision has its value if you practice the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man who keeps the law judge you who, despite the written code and circumcision, transgress the law? 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the written code. This person’s praise is not from people but from God (Romans 2:25-29).
Some traditions become “ugly” when we perform them before men, in order to receive praise from them (rather than God):
2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward. 3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. . . . 16 When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward. 17 When you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:2-4, 16-18).
Some traditions become ugly when we perform them only to get something from God, rather than as an act of worship:
3 They lament, ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast? Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’ Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, you oppress your workers. 4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by arguments, brawls, and fistfights. Do not fast as you do today, trying to make your voice heard in heaven (Isaiah 58:3-4).
Here, apparently “sacrificial” acts of worship (traditions) are performed for selfish reasons. We cannot expect God to “jump through our hoops.”
Finally, some traditions become ugly when they are only ritualistically performed, without a heart that is rightly directed toward God.
The sovereign master says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual (Isaiah 29:13).
You plant them like trees and they put down their roots. They grow prosperous and are very fruitful. They always talk about you, but they really care nothing about you (Jeremiah 12:2).
Such traditions are merely “heartless habits,” and thus they don’t please God.
Having seen traditions at their worst, we should now be prepared for good traditions. Good traditions are those traditions based upon biblical commands and apostolic practice, carried out with a heart to glorify God:
“God is spirit, and the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24).
I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you (1 Corinthians 11:2).
Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions that we taught you, whether by speech or by letter (2 Thessalonians 2:15).
6 But we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who lives an undisciplined life and not according to the tradition they received from us. 7 For you know yourselves how you must imitate us, because we did not behave without discipline among you, 8 and we did not eat anyone’s food without paying. Instead, in toil and drudgery we worked night and day in order not to burden any of you. 9 It was not because we do not have that right, but to give ourselves as an example for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this command: “If anyone is not willing to work, neither should he eat.” 11 For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life, not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others. 12 Now such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and so provide their own food to eat. 13 But you, brothers and sisters, do not grow weary in doing what is right. 14 But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note of him and do not associate closely with him, so that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15, emphasis mine).
The “traditions” we find here are the consistent practice of those things that were taught and exemplified by the apostles (the Apostle Paul, in the case of the texts cited). Thus, these traditions were evident by instruction, command, and example. I believe we can assume that these practices were observed in the proper spirit – the joyful desire to live in a way that pleases God.
I believe we can see that there are traditions which Christians are to observe and that these are plainly evident in the teaching of the New Testament and in the practice of the apostles and the churches. These “traditions” also pertain to how we “serve church,” as well as to how we live our daily lives. The New Testament does not leave us entirely to our own devices. It not only lays down certain principles, but it gives us certain imperatives, and illustrates them by the example of Paul, his fellow apostles, and the churches. We will talk more about this in our next lesson.
One of my goals in this lesson has been to demonstrate that many of the traditions and trappings that we have come to associate with “serving church” have little to nothing to do with the way the churches of the New Testament functioned. I think most Christians would be shocked to learn how little of what passes for “church” is actually found in the New Testament. The question, then, is not “Do we have any barnacles on the bottom of our boat?”, but rather, “Where are our barnacles?” We all have them.
So we must ask ourselves, “Just how bad is it to have barnacles on our boat?” How serious is it for a church to have embraced practices and traditions that have no precedent in the pages of the New Testament? Are we restricted to only those practices we find in the New Testament? Must we repent of any practices not found there? The New Testament churches do not appear to have a formal membership? Does this prohibit churches today from having a membership? I would say not unless it violates some specific command, teaching, or principle of Scripture. This is something we will talk about in our next lesson.
One of the things this lesson taught me was that even the great heroes of church history had their warts (or very big barnacles, if you prefer that imagery). The church fathers contributed significantly to the church by addressing heresy, defining sound doctrine, and initiating the process of identifying what books would be considered a part of the canon of Scripture. But they also overemphasized the role of the bishop, and they gave too much honor and authority to the priest. They paved the way for Constantine to institutionalize Christianity in a way that was not really healthy for the church. Great reformers like Luther and Zwingli and Calvin were far from perfect, and some of the errors they overlooked or instituted themselves are still with us.
But let us not be too hard on the great men of church history; the great men of the Bible had warts as well. I was thinking about the privileged position God assigned to Peter, a man whose foot was often in his mouth, and who could not find the courage to identify himself with the Master after His arrest. I was thinking about Aaron, the first high priest – a man who fashioned Israel’s first idol, while Moses was up on the mountain receiving the stone tablets. I believe that God wanted it to be very clear that men are all fallible. Only Jesus is perfect. Only He deserves our adoration, worship, and unqualified obedience. We gather barnacles on our boat when our focus turns from Him to someone or something else.
As we look back in history and identify those points in time when errors or distortions came into existence, we may wonder just how something like this could happen. It was very easy, my friend, just as it is today. No doubt the variation seemed like the practical thing to do. No doubt people felt that the benefits outweighed the dangers. What happened over twenty centuries of church history is still happening today. Someone seems to be a highly successful church leader, and everyone flocks to hear him tell how he did it. Few bother to question whether his methods or motives might be suspect. We often fail at those critical moments in history when we have the opportunity to obey God’s Word by faith, even when it appears risky.
Incidentally, what is true of “barnacles” corporately or collectively is also true individually. It may well be that as you or I look back over our lives, we may find that we have departed from God’s way of doing things because we felt we could do better on our own. We must persistently evaluate what we are doing and why, and compare this with what the Bible clearly teaches. We may have barnacles on each of our boats.
Finally, it seems to me that one area where many of our barnacles come from is that of our culture. Those who work too hard to accommodate culture will find that they may be doing so at the expense of obedience to God’s Word. The Bible doesn’t use the term “culture,” but it does use the term, “the world.” We are not to allow the world to press us into its mold (I think this is the way J. B. Phillips renders it); we are to be transformed by the Word of God.
1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable service. 2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).
I dare not end this message without calling your attention to a barnacle that could sink your boat. While every church fails to live up to the standards set in the New Testament, there are some churches who have compromised the gospel itself. They may claim that “all roads lead to Rome” – that all religions lead to heaven. That is not what Jesus said, nor what the apostles taught:
13 “Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it. 15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’” (Matthew 7:13-23)
Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a sick man – by what means this man was healed – 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:8-12, emphasis mine).
If the church is to do anything, it is to point sinners to Jesus as God’s only means of salvation and eternal life. If you have not acknowledged your sin and trusted in Jesus for salvation, you are not even a member of His church. This is the most critical issue of all. Do not make a mistake here, because the consequences are eternal.
59 Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 4 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style? It was prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on February 24, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
60 Pagan Christianity? was initially written by Frank Viola (apparently published in 2002) and was then re-written by Frank Viola and George Barna and published just this year (2008). It is published by Barna, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
61 Strangely, Viola and Barna pass over the period of the church fathers and begin with the Constantine era.
62 Community Bible Chapel, located in Richardson, Texas. I have been associated with CBC for over 30 years.
63 http://www.bible.org/node/697
64 In my opinion, it does not take long for men to depart from the truth, and this is certainly confirmed by the Scriptures. We see the Scripture twisting of the Judaisers in Acts 15 and the Book of Galatians, the moral and theological decay of the church in Corinth, the warning and rebuke of our Lord in Revelation 2 and 3, and Paul’s warnings to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 (note especially verses 28-35).
65 This is not to deny that Constantine introduced some new errors, based not upon the teachings of the fathers, but upon the pagan culture of his day.
66 See Galatians 1 and 2.
67 Compare Revelation 22:18-19.
68 Constantine died in 337 A.D.
69 Viola and Barna, pp. 19, 25.
70 P. 55.
71 “In short, the contemporary sermon delivered for Christian consumption is foreign to both Old and New Testaments. There is nothing in Scripture to indicate its existence in the early church gatherings.” (Viola and Barna, p. 88). Viola and Barna devote an entire (fourth) chapter to this matter (pp. 85-103).
72 This would encompass the 1700-1800s.
73 Not necessarily as many as we might wish, perhaps, or as many as they (and others of their day) may have thought.
74 Though not in this order, as you will quickly see.
75 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
In recent days, I have participated in several prayer gatherings. Each group was made up of sincere and dedicated Christians who were committed to prayer. Most of them were associated with churches that differ from ours in a variety of ways. How do we explain the fact that godly, evangelical Christians, Christians who have a high regard for the Word of God, do not come to the same conclusions regarding how to “do church”? Let me respond with a few observations.
First, our differences may be matters of conviction, rather than matters of doctrine. While some aspects of church life are (at least in my opinion) non-negotiables, not all fall into this category. Some practices are simply a matter of choice. Whether or not to have a Sunday school, or to meet on Wednesday nights for prayer meeting, are not matters written in stone. Thus, some of our differences are merely matters of conviction.
Second, some truths are more crucial than others. Minor differences should not divide churches, but should be an occasion to manifest grace and to display true Christian unity. Some doctrines are what we would call “fundamentals of the faith.” The rejection of one of these doctrines has both earthly and eternal consequences. To reject the deity of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of our Lord, or the doctrine of justification by faith would have grave implications. To differ over whether communion should be observed weekly or monthly would not have the same consequences.
Third, we may be strong in our view of the church, and yet be weak in other areas. When we are strong in one area, we should expect to be weak in others. I believe that just as every believer has strengths (spiritual gifts) and weaknesses, so churches have their strengths and weaknesses. Let’s give ourselves the benefit of the doubt for a moment and assume that one of our strengths is our understanding of how the church should function. It may very well be that a church that is “weak” in this area may be stronger than we are in prayer or in evangelism.
Fourth, being biblical entails more than just using the right terms and having the right forms; being biblical necessitates having the right heart attitudes. This is actually the topic of my next lesson, so I will not dwell on it here. But suffice it to say that there may very well be churches who do not have all the right forms (or all the proper terms), but who have biblical attitudes, and thus they may function better than other churches that outwardly appear to get it right.
Fifth, it is not my purpose to prove us right and all others wrong; it is my goal to explain how and why we “do church” as we do, and to show how we deal with the Scriptures to come to our conclusions. To be honest, we don’t expect to convince everyone that we are doing it right. For some, learning how and why we “do church” may prompt them to look elsewhere for a church that functions more closely to their understanding of Scripture. But we would hope that some will find our ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) something you believe to be biblical, and thus something that you want to embrace and support.
Our approach in this lesson is to explain how we approach the Scriptures regarding the church. I will do this on several levels:
Biblical doctrines
Biblical principles
Biblical commands
Biblical examples (the practice of the apostles and New Testament churches)
Having done this, we will show how all four of these factors serve to guide us in “doing church.” We will also confess to some areas of difficulty and make some suggestions regarding how we are to deal with those areas where we don’t seem to follow our own principles. Finally, we will conclude with some suggested areas of application.
(1) Biblical doctrine is the basis for church practice. Biblical commands and principles don't come to us in a vacuum; they are based upon biblical doctrine, and thus upon how things are in God’s economy. Let me illustrate this, beginning at the beginning. In Genesis 1 and 2, we find two creation accounts. In chapter 1, we are impressed with the fact that God does all things well. God sees His creative work and declares it to be good. In chapter 2,77 we find the creation events described from a different perspective. In this chapter, creation begins with various needs, all of which God meets. There was “no shrub,” “no plant,” “no rain” (as yet), and “no man” to cultivate the ground (verse 5). Later in chapter 2, we will find that there was “no mate” for Adam. Indeed, in contrast to chapter 1, it was “not good” for Adam to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Thus, God created various things in order to meet all of these needs.
God does not set down the one command (not to eat of the forbidden fruit) until after it has been established that He does all things well (chapter 1), and that He provides for every legitimate need (chapter 2).78 The forbidden fruit becomes a test of man’s faith in the goodness of God. Satan sought to convince Eve that she had a need for which God was responsible. (That is, Satan intimated that God was withholding something good from her, and from her husband.) Would Eve trust God to provide for all that she needed – to provide something truly good – or would she believe Satan, that she needed to acquire this for herself, independently of God?
Now think of the giving of the Law in the Book of Exodus. It was not until after God had saved Israel from their bondage to the Egyptians that He gave them the Law. The Law of Moses was a kind of Near-Eastern constitution, with God as Israel’s King and the nation as His subjects. And so it is that in the Book of Exodus we read these words just before the Law was given:
4 “‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 6 and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites” (Exodus 19:4-6).
1 God spoke all these words: 2 “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:1-2).
God’s commands were not given to the Israelites until the basis for following them was evident. He had shown Himself to be a God who could save, and thus He was worthy of their worship and their obedience.
Consider this text in the Book of Deuteronomy related to God’s prohibition of idolatry:
10 You stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.” 11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it and yet dark with a thick cloud. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything - only a voice was heard. 13 And he revealed to you the covenant he has commanded you to keep, the ten commandments, writing them on two stone tablets. 14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land which you are about to enter and possess. 15 Be very careful, then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire. 16 I say this so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of any kind of figure. This includes the likeness of a human male or female, 17 any kind of land animal, any bird that flies in the sky, 18 anything that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the deep waters of the earth. 19 When you look up to the sky and see the sun, moon, and stars - the whole heavenly creation - you must not be seduced to worship and serve them, for the Lord your God has assigned them to all the people of the world” (Deuteronomy 4:10-19, emphasis mine).
This passage is a part of the second giving of the law to the second generation of Israelites who were about to enter the Promised Land. Before God repeats His prohibition of idolatry, He sets the stage by reminding the Israelites of their encounter with Him at Horeb. When God manifested His presence on the mountain, there was a cloud and fire and a loud trumpet blast. But no one saw God; they only heard His voice. There is a good reason for this: God is invisible.79 Thus, the command not to represent God by means of any image (idol) is based upon reality, upon doctrine. Because God is invisible, He cannot be represented by any image.
We see the same thing in the New Testament. The doctrines set down by the apostles are the foundation of the church, and thus the apostles are spoken of as the church’s foundation:
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. 14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward (1 Corinthians 3:10-14, emphasis mine).
19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-20, emphasis mine).
Biblical doctrine is the basis for the commands and principles we find in the Bible, just as it is the basis for our faith and practice, which includes how we “do church.” I will only give a few examples because we will be dealing with these things in greater depth later in this series.
Example 1: Paul’s dealing with sin in the church at Corinth. Recent events have caused me to think once again about the early chapters of 1 Corinthians. In chapter 1, Paul quickly brings up the matter of divisions in the church. Various people are claiming their allegiance to particular leaders.80 Paul makes it very clear that the gospel is all about Jesus – Christ crucified (Genesis 1:18-25). Men dare not usurp His place, nor attribute God’s salvation to anything but His atoning work on the cross of Calvary. It is not men’s manipulative speech, but the Spirit’s illumination that speaks to the hearts and lives of Christians (chapter 2). In chapter 3, Paul indicates that he and other apostles have already laid the foundation by the gospel they have declared. Here, as elsewhere, Paul makes it clear how severe the consequences are for those who would seek to pervert the gospel:
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. 14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are (1 Corinthians 3:10-17).
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are following a different gospel – 7 not that there really is another gospel, but there are some who are disturbing you and wanting to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! 9 As we have said before, and now I say again, if any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let him be condemned to hell! (Galatians 1:6-9)
The doctrinal foundation for the church was laid by the apostles, and no one had better tamper with it (Galatians 1:6-9)! Everyone had better be careful how they build on it. In other words, what we build on this apostolic foundation must be consistent and compatible with it. The one who does harm to God’s temple (the church) will be destroyed. Little wonder, then, that Paul pronounces a curse on all who would pervert the gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). Likewise, in the Book of Acts, Ananias and Sapphira are struck dead (Acts 5:1-11), and Simon is cursed (Acts 8:14-24) for threatening the health of the church.
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul exercises church discipline long distance on the man who is living with his father’s wife. This man is “leaven,” Paul writes, and if left undisciplined, his sin will corrupt the entire church. Thus, he is handed over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, with the hope that his spirit will be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. This process of church discipline is the duty of the church, and it takes place in the context of the church (Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5). Discipline is the outworking of sound biblical doctrine, with the goal of keeping the church morally and doctrinally pure.81
Example 2: Paul’s dealings with Peter when he visited the church at Antioch:
11 But when Cephas82 came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he had clearly done wrong. 12 Until certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this and separated himself because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (Galatians 2:11-14).
Paul rebuked not only Peter (Cephas), but also Barnabas and others for acting contrary to biblical doctrine. In Mark 7:18-19, Jesus declared all foods clean, thus setting aside the Old Testament food laws which hindered interaction (fellowship) between Jews and Gentiles. In Acts 10 and 11, God made this change clear to Peter, resulting in the salvation of Cornelius and his household. But then Peter relapsed when some Jews came to Antioch and intimidated him, along with others like Barnabas. Paul’s actions were consistent with the decision of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 and set forth by the apostle in Ephesians 2 and 3. Jews and Gentiles dare not segregate in the church, for they are now “one new man” in Christ. Church practice must be consistent with biblical doctrine.
Example 3: Paul’s teaching on the ministry of women in the church:
1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 2 I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. 3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. 4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. 5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head. 6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. 7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man. 10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God. 13 Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? 14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. 16 If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:1-16, emphasis mine).
9 Likewise the women are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing, 10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. 11 A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first and then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression. 15 But she will be delivered through childbearing, if she continues in faith and love and holiness with self-control (1 Timothy 2:9-15, emphasis mine).
Paul’s teaching pertaining to the conduct of women in the church is not based upon the culture of his day (as many contend), but upon the hard facts of biblical doctrine, doctrine which goes all the way back to the beginning, to creation and the fall of man. How women are to conduct themselves in church is based upon these factors, as stated in 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2:
The headship of Christ83
The order and events of creation
The events surrounding the fall of man
The relationship between the angels and the church84
Church practice is based upon Bible doctrine.
(2) Biblical principles85 guide and govern church practice. There is a difference between a principle and a rule. The Pharisees majored in “rules” and skipped class when “principles” were taught. They insisted that you cannot “work” on the Sabbath. Jesus dealt with Sabbath issues on the basis of principles. One principle was, “It is right to do good on the Sabbath.” Thus, one could heal the sick and one could pull his ox out of the ditch.86 Another principle was, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”87 Principles provide more general guidelines, and thus leave room for some differences in interpretation and application. For example, “Don’t stay out too late, and be home at a reasonable hour” leaves room for judgment. What, then, are some of the New Testament principles that should guide and govern how we “do church”?
And do everything in a decent and orderly manner (1 Corinthians 14:40).
The Corinthian church was not “doing church” in a “decent and orderly” way. We know from chapter 11 that when they gathered they were drunk and disorderly, and this was going on at the Lord’s Table. This principle certainly indicates that chaos and confusion is not appropriate for the church.
27 If someone speaks in a tongue, it should be two, or at the most three, one after the other, and someone must interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church. Let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak and the others should evaluate what is said (1 Corinthians 14:27-29, emphasis mine).
This text serves to illustrate both the principle of proportion (two, or at the most three) and the principle of decently and in order (one after the other). I can imagine that when the Corinthians gathered everyone was trying to exercise their gift (or the one they desired and tried to imitate) at the same time. If there had been speaker systems in those days, they would have been fighting for the microphone. But here we see that two (and at the very most three) expressions of a particular gift were enough for one meeting. Even if they threw the clock away, there would not have been sufficient time for everyone to do (or say) everything they might wish. Because the church needs all the gifts and has various functions to perform, no one function can dominate to the exclusion of the rest.
Paul’s principle, as expressed twice in 1 Corinthians 14, was applied to one meeting. But the principle would also seem to legitimately apply to a succession of meetings. If the same person publicly exercised their gift week after week, that would prevent others with that same gift from participating. A man who has “had the floor” on one Sunday should think carefully about speaking the next week, and be even more reluctant to speak three Sundays in a row. The larger the group that gathers, the more this kind of restraint would be necessary.
26 What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church88 (1 Corinthians 14:26, emphasis mine).
Earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul dealt with the issue of eating meats offered to idols.89 In chapter 8, he momentarily left the assumption unchallenged that one was free to eat meats offered to idols (but not for long – see chapter 10). This was so that he could apply the principle of edification, prompted by love. Even if I were free to eat meats offered to idols, I would not be free to do so if my liberty caused my weaker brother to stumble (by imitating me, while his or her conscience condemned them). I am not to live for myself, but for the edification of others. And so the principle of edification was to govern all that took place when the church gathered, as well as at other times.
1 One should think about us this way – as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).
10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10-11).
A steward is a person who is entrusted with something that he or she does not own, but which they are responsible to use to profit their master. Thus, a steward has no basis for pride in what is in their possession. But a steward will give account for his stewardship.90 We are stewards of the gospel, of the spiritual gifts we have been given, and of the material resources with which we have been entrusted.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you (Hebrews 13:17).
In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5; see also 1 Timothy 2:9-15).
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if someone happens to have a complaint against anyone else. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also forgive others. 14 And to all these virtues add love, which is the perfect bond. 15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body to this peace), and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:12-17).
Humility, submission (to the Father’s will), and servanthood are rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ.91 These attitudes are to characterize the Christian, and thus become the motivation and basis for ministry in and through the church.
The principle of universality.
16 I encourage you, then, be imitators of me. 17 For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4:16-17).
Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches (1 Corinthians 7:17).
If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:16; see also 14:33; 16:1).
The principle of universality means that what Paul (or any other apostle) teaches (and practices) he teaches to all the churches, everywhere. Contrary to what some might think or say, Paul does not have one teaching for the Corinthian church and another for the church at Thessalonica. His teaching is universal, no matter where the church. I believe this universality is not only true in terms of place, but also in terms of time. What was true for the Christian or the church of the first century is also true for Christians and churches today. Thus, the teachings of the New Testament regarding the practice of the church apply as much to us as they did to those who first received them.
23 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law - justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! (Matthew 23:23-24)
If you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent (Matthew 12:7).
Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).
The law prescribed the tithe, and the Jews rightly complied. But Jesus made it clear that the principles of justice, mercy, and faithfulness were “more important.” When the Pharisees objected that Jesus (or His disciples) broke the Sabbath, He justified His “apparent” violation of the law by citing a higher principle. Thus, principles help us to keep commands in perspective. Biblical principles help us to better understand, and thus better obey, biblical commands.
(3) Biblical commands direct how we “do church.” Let me begin with an observation: In addition to requiring obedience, commands teach us principles. I am thinking of what the psalmist has to say about the law in Psalm 119:
Open my eyes so I can truly see
the marvelous things in your law! (Psalm 119:18)
Yes, I find delight in your rules;
they give me guidance (Psalm 119:24).
97 O how I love your law!
All day long I meditate on it.
98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
for I am always aware of them.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your rules.
100 I am more discerning than those older than I,
for I observe your precepts (Psalm 119:97-100).
It is obvious from these verses that the commands we find in the law (and in the New Testament as well) teach us important principles. Let me illustrate.
33 “If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his (Exodus 21:33-34).
If you build a new house, you must construct a guard rail around your roof to avoid being culpable in the event someone should fall from it (Deuteronomy 22:8).
The principle underlying these commands is this: We are responsible for the safety of others, and thus we should employ all possible means to keep others from harm.
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul is seeking to illustrate how one should forego his or her liberties for the benefit of others, and most of all for the good of the gospel. He begins by establishing his “right” to be supported financially, for this is the “right” he is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. He cites the practice of the other apostles, and then turns to the Old Testament text pertaining to oxen:
7 Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk? 8 Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” God is not concerned here about oxen, is he? 10 Or is he not surely speaking for our benefit? It was written for us, because the one plowing and threshing ought to work in hope of enjoying the harvest. 11 If we sowed spiritual blessings among you, is it too much to reap material things from you? (1 Corinthians 9:7-11)
From this command about not muzzling the ox, we are to learn that the one who labors is worthy of remuneration. The command about oxen teaches us a principle that applies to those who minister (in this context, apostles).
So what would some New Testament commands be that direct us in terms of how we are to “do church”? Consider the following:
14 Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, 15 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, 16 for it is written, ”You shall be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:14-16).
Note first of all that the command to be holy is rooted in the doctrinal truth that God is holy. This command is based upon doctrine. Thus, the church is called to promote and protect holiness. This is why our Lord instituted church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20), and why the Apostle Paul practiced it and urged others to do likewise (1 Corinthians 5).
Receive one another, then, just as Christ also received you, to God’s glory (Romans 15:7).
Once again, the command is rooted in what Christ has already done for us. Because Christ has accepted us, we are obligated to accept our fellow believers. This is a command that is fundamental to maintaining unity in the church.
13 You must put away every kind of bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and evil, slanderous talk. 14 Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).
Once again, this command is rooted in doctrine. We are to forgive one another because Christ has forgiven us.
24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:23-25).
1 My brothers and sisters, do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. 2 For if someone comes into your assembly wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, 3 do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”? 4 If so, have you not made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil motives? 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters! Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor! Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? 7 Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to? 8 But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. 9 But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators (James 2:1-9).
Based upon the equality we have in Christ, we dare not discriminate against our fellow believers.
I would grant that this principle is implied more than it is directly stated, but when several texts are taken together, I believe we should conclude that this is a biblical principle. Briefly summarized, the principle of plurality goes something like this: The headship of Christ over His church is best demonstrated through a plurality of leaders, rather than through one individual.92 Consider these texts.
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 12:1-12, emphasis mine).
22 And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:22-23).
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. 18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.93 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Colossians 1:15-20, emphasis mine).
4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-5).
Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him (1 John 2:27).94
Nowhere in the New Testament is there the kind of laity-clergy distinction which we see in many churches today. And nowhere can we find the office of pastor, which is broadly assumed today, virtually without question. It is the entire church that is a kingdom of priests. The church is to be ruled by a plurality of elders, and the ministry is carried out by the entire body, each contributing the benefit of his or her spiritual gift(s). Jesus is the Head of the church, and no one dares to assume His role.
This is a very unpopular principle today, but it cannot be denied that it is taught in the New Testament. It is clearly taught in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, as well as in 1 Timothy 2:9-15. Leadership in the church is to be by men; women are not to teach or exercise authority over men. Women are not to lead in the church meeting. We will discuss this principle more fully in a future lesson.
(4) Apostolic example and the practice of the New Testament church illustrate how Bible doctrine, biblical principles, and biblical commands are to be obeyed in the context of the church.
16 I encourage you, then, be imitators of me. 17 For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4:16-17).
5 in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you). 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction. 7 As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia (1 Thessalonians 1:5-7).
We are given much instruction by apostolic example and church practice in the New Testament. In Acts 20, Paul instructs the Ephesian elders about their responsibilities as church leaders by appealing to his example, which they have witnessed firsthand. Earlier in the Book of Acts, we saw how the church dealt with the highly divisive issue of inequities in the care and feeding of their widows (Acts 6:1-6). We see how the New Testament church in Jerusalem dealt with the problem of false teaching in Acts 15. And now in chapter 20, we see how Paul emphasized the importance of biblical teaching, how he was diligent to prepare the church for dealing with false teachers, and how he lived his life sacrificially, without seeking his own gain.
Paul also used the generosity of the Macedonians as an example for the Corinthians to follow in their giving (2 Corinthians 8-9). We find examples of the worship of the early church in Acts 2 and 20, as well as in 1 Corinthians 11 and 14. We see that the normal pattern was for the church to meet weekly, on the first day of the week.95 How the apostles and the early church implemented biblical doctrine, principles, and commands is very instructive for saints and the church today.
What I have been seeking to do is to explain how we interpret and apply the Scriptures in such a way as to derive our ecclesiology – our way of doing church. I have just stated that we “do church” on the basis of apostolic doctrine, apostolic principle, apostolic command, and apostolic practice. When all of these elements converge, then we can be confident that this is the way God wants us to live. This applies not only to how we “do church,” but to how we live out our faith in daily life.
We are also instructed when some of these elements are missing. That is why I feel confident that the New Testament does not teach infant baptism. I find no firm doctrinal foundation, no New Testament command, and no (clear) evidence of apostolic practice.
Consider also these words from John’s Gospel regarding foot washing:
12 So when Jesus had washed their feet and put his outer clothing back on, he took his place at the table again and said to them, “Do you understand what I have done for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example – you should do just as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the solemn truth, the slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one who is sent as a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you understand these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:12-17, emphasis mine).
There are some churches that have made this practice a tradition (I mean this in a good sense). Not long ago I was a part of a group of Gentiles that participated in washing the feet of some of our brothers and sisters in Christ from a Muslim background who had come to faith in Jesus. It was a wonderfully moving experience for all who were there. But is this something that every church must do?
There certainly is a principle underlying our Lord’s actions and words – that of humility and servanthood. And there was certainly a need for foot washing in those days, when people walked much more than we do. But is this a command that we find reiterated in the New Testament epistles? I cannot find it, though I can find teaching on humility and servanthood.96 Nor do I find an instance – other than this event described in John’s Gospel – where the apostles or the early church persisted in this practice. Thus, I would not find this an essential element in “doing church.” Neither do I find fault with those who do. Indeed, I express my thoughts here with some reservations.
We read in the first chapters of Acts that the early believers in Jerusalem met together daily and also that many of them sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the apostles to meet the needs of others. But this was not a command. Peter made it clear to Ananias that he was free to do as he wished with his property (and the proceeds of its sale – Acts 5:4). His sin was lying – ultimately lying to the Holy Spirit, who indwells the church. As time passes, it becomes the normal practice of the church to meet weekly, not daily, on the first day of the week. Since these matters are not commanded,97 and since we do not see these things uniformly practiced by the early church, we conclude that they are not mandatory. Once again, we don’t fault those who practice these things as a matter of conviction.
There are those who believe that the church should meet in houses, and that owning a church building is unwise, if not wrong.98 As I read the New Testament, I see that Jesus taught in the temple, in synagogues, from a borrowed boat, on a mountain side – basically wherever people would gather. I see that the earliest saints met in the temple and in houses (Acts 2:46). Paul taught in synagogues (Acts 17:1-2, 10), in the houses of people (Acts 18:7), in the market place (Acts 17:17), and in the “school of Tyrannus” (Acts 19:9-10). I do not see any clear command to meet in houses, nor any prohibition from meeting somewhere else. I do not see any biblical principle being violated by owning a church building. I do see the church making the care of the poor and the support of those who minister a primary concern, so spending the majority of a church’s budget on a building does seem suspect to me. One way or another, the saints met in a building. Whether that building is rented (as I assume the school of Tyrannus was), owned (the house of someone in the church where the church met), or purchased (as most church buildings are today) does not seem to be a crucial issue. Now the design of the church should be such that it facilitates the ministry of the church.
There are some issues which are a bit more problematic (although some would find some of the issues described above to be problematic to them). For example, some would contend that when the early church observed the Lord’s Supper, they did so as a part of an entire meal. I would not dispute this, for that does seem to be the norm (as we see in Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34). Nevertheless, this does not seem to be a command, and I see no principle that would seem to require an entire meal. It also seems clear that Paul urged the Corinthians to “eat at home” as a solution to the problems their church was experiencing. Thus, I see eating a meal as desirable perhaps, but not as a mandatory aspect of the observance of the Lord’s Table.
I am a little uneasy about the frequently repeated command to “greet one another with a kiss”:
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you (Romans 16:16; see also 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 Peter 5:14).
I must acknowledge that this is a command, and that it is one that is repeated several times in the New Testament, to several different churches. It is not only given by Paul, but also by Peter. I do observe that in each instance, it is given at the close of the epistle (for whatever that observation is worth). We don’t read of the apostles or the churches doing this, but we would hardly be wrong to assume that they did normally greet one another with a kiss. So is this something we must do to “do church” biblically?
Leaving this matter on hold for a moment, let me mention one more troubling question – that of the woman wearing a head covering. The passage in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 would surely seem to require it. Was it uniformly required in the churches? Paul wrote,
If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:16).
Thus, Paul seems not only to teach it generally, but he claims that it was the common practice.
So, what do we do with those things which are commanded in the New Testament and which were practiced by the New Testament church, which (for one reason or another) we don’t practice today as individuals or as a church? Let me give some suggestions.
First of all, why not just do it? Strive for the ideal by simple obedience, even though we may not have all our questions answered. Part of faith is obeying when we don’t understand it all. In a number of instances where we set aside New Testament teaching, command, and practice, it is simply because we don’t want to do it. That’s not good enough. “Just do it” may be the best approach.
Second, at least agonize about it. By this I mean that we should not just brush this matter aside, but we should sincerely agonize over our failure (refusal?) to obey what the Scriptures teach. We should question our motives for not following Scripture. I’m not nearly as troubled by those with whom I differ over such matters if they have agonized over a teaching with sincerity.
Third, study the Scriptures and seek to find a satisfactory solution (satisfactory to one’s conscience). Don’t just set the troublesome texts aside and forget them. Make them a matter of serious study, meditation, discussion, and prayer. Seek to discern the mind of God.
Fourth, if you don’t literally obey the instruction, at least seek to obey it in principle. Let’s assume that we have agonized over whether or not we should “greet one another with a kiss.” (This is surely not a Hollywood kiss.) Perhaps we have concluded that in our culture a kiss would be totally misinterpreted. Then let us seek to discern the principle behind this command, and then to determine what alternative practice would fulfill the intent or goal of the command, in a way that would be understood as such by those who observe it. Could a “holy handshake” replace the “holy kiss”? Perhaps. But failing to do anything about this command, and simply setting it aside, does not seem to be an option that is acceptable.
Let’s consider some truths to keep in mind as we conclude this lesson.
Church practices should be linked to biblical doctrine, principles, commands, and apostolic example. The title of this series is “Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?” The answer to this question is “No!” We should “serve church” in accordance with the doctrines, principles, commands and example of the apostles.
The importance of knowing Bible doctrine. Since New Testament principles, commands, and practices are based on Bible doctrine, we should realize how important doctrine is to the believer. Deviations in doctrine can result in many moral and practical problems. For example, we know that some of the Corinthians had been persuaded that there is no resurrection, and thus the door was opened to all kinds of evil:
12 Now if Christ is being preached as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. . . . 32 If from a human point of view I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals” (1 Corinthians 15:12-13, 32-33).
Let’s consider the cross of our Lord Jesus as another example of the importance of Bible doctrine. The “false apostles”99 obviously turned their noses up at the preaching of the cross:
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic Law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching. 22 For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, 23 but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:20-25).
The “false apostles” wanted a more appealing message, one that had the appearance of worldly wisdom and rhetorical skill. We can see some of the fruit of this and other false teaching throughout Paul’s Corinthian correspondence. In stark contrast, Paul had but one message to preach, and that was that salvation and sanctification are the fruit of Christ’s atoning death at Calvary and His resurrection in power.
Let’s get a bit more pointed as to how this applies to us. Our ministry group has been studying an excellent little book by C.J. Mahaney entitled Living the Cross-Centered Life.100 The cross of Christ is the basis for our salvation, but its implications are many-faceted. That is why we observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday – because the death of Christ is the foundation for all Christian living.
For example, there is a great deal of emphasis (inside and outside the church) on success. Is “success in life” really the goal? Certainly not “success” as the world defines it. When we seek to measure success as a Christian, the cross of our Lord should be the standard.
23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:23-25)
But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, 2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Now let’s look at this from the other side – from the perspective of suffering. How does the cross of Christ change (indeed reverse) our attitude toward suffering? Consider how our Lord101 and the apostles viewed suffering:
10 My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death (Philippians 3:10).
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body - for the sake of his body, the church - what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ (Colossians 1:24).
18 Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are perverse. 19 For this finds God’s favor, if because of conscience toward God someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. 21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls (1 Peter 2:18-25).
16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name (1 Peter 4:16).
I realize that the early church prayed that God would reveal Himself powerfully by miracles, signs and wonders, and miraculous healings, and that when God worked powerfully in answer to their prayers, many were saved:
29 And now, Lord, pay attention to their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage, 30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God courageously (Acts 4:29-31).
12 Now many miraculous signs and wonders came about among the people through the hands of the apostles. By common consent they were all meeting together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high honor. 14 More and more believers in the Lord were added to their number, crowds of both men and women. 15 Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets, and put them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow would fall on some of them. 16 A crowd of people from the towns around Jerusalem also came together, bringing the sick and those troubled by unclean spirits. They were all being healed (Acts 5:12-16).
Do we also not have to come to terms with the fact that God works powerfully through suffering? The death of Stephen102 sparked a missions movement which rocked the world and continues to do so today. Then there is the arrest, beating, and imprisonment of Paul and Silas in Acts 16, resulting in the conversion of the Philippian jailor, his household, and perhaps many others. The same could be said for Paul’s journey to Rome for trial:
12 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that my situation has actually turned out to advance the gospel: 13 The whole imperial guard and everyone else knows that I am in prison for the sake of Christ, 14 and most of the brothers and sisters, having confidence in the Lord because of my imprisonment, now more than ever dare to speak the word fearlessly. . . . 21 Give greetings to all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers with me here send greetings. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household (Philippians 1:12-14; 4:21-22).
How many of us see suffering as a privilege, and the means by which God may choose to glorify Himself? Does this mean that we should not pray for God to heal the sick and to protect His children from suffering? Not necessarily, but if we are living a cross-centered life, we must always keep in mind that our Lord’s suffering was, among other things, a pattern for us. We, too, must take up our cross to follow Him. Thus, I must be careful that my prayers are not dominated by the success syndrome of today, and by our aversion to suffering. Surgery may not “go smoothly,” and pain may not be taken away. And if this is the case we should rejoice, knowing that this is God’s purpose for us, and that in the process we will be drawn closer to Him, and others may come to faith.
Doing things God’s way (including “doing church”) is not a guarantee that we will become prosperous, famous, or successful in this life. It is not a guarantee that if we do so our churches will grow large. But we can be assured that He will be pleased and glorified. And that should be all we need or desire.
76 Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 5 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on March 2, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
77 Beginning at verse 4.
78 I realize that God did not create Eve (verses 18-25) until after He had communicated the prohibition to Adam (verses 16-17). But it was already clear that God did not leave any deficiencies uncorrected. Thus, God does everything well, and He meets every valid need.
79 See Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17.
80 As I’ve said elsewhere, I don’t believe that Paul, Apollos, and Cephas (Peter) are these men (see 1 Corinthians 4:6). Instead, Paul has used the names of these legitimate leaders to expose an error promoted by those who will eventually be exposed as false apostles in 2 Corinthians 11.
81 By the way, the immorality we see exposed in 1 Corinthians 5 is closely related, I believe, to the doctrinal departure (the denial of the resurrection) Paul deals with in chapter 15. As Paul indicates, if we believe that the Lord will not return and that we will not be raised for reward or punishment, then we might as well “eat, drink, and be merry” (1 Corinthians 15:32; see also 2 Peter 3).
82 See John 1:42.
83 See Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22; see also 4:15; 5:23.
84 See Ephesians 3:10; 6:10-12; 1 Peter 1:10-12.
85 I will focus on New Testament principles, but there are also Old Testament principles that are applicable as well. For example, see 1 Corinthians 9:1-18, especially verses 8-10.
86 See Mark 3:1-6.
87 See Mark 2:23-28.
88 More literally, “Let all things be done for edification.”
89 See chapters 8-10.
90 See Luke 16, especially verse 2; also see Matthew 25:14-30.
91 Philippians 2:1-8.
92 This topic will be the subject of a future lesson in this series on the church.
93 I prefer the rendering of the NKJV: “that in all things He may have the preeminence.”
94 This text must be understood in the context of other biblical texts, such as those which speak of the gift of teaching (e.g., Romans 12:7; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11), and 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:7-9, which speak of teaching as one of the responsibilities of an elder.
95 Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.
96 Philippians 2:1-8.
97 When we consider texts like Romans 14:5-6 and Colossians 2:16-17, it would seem that we are given considerable freedom as to when we worship, although I do believe that we should regularly do so.
98 This seems to be the position of Frank Viola and George Barna in their co-authored book, Pagan Christianity?
99 Their identity as false apostles is revealed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11, especially verse 13.
100 Multnomah Books, 2006.
101 See Luke 9:23-25 cited above.
102 See Acts 6:8—8:4ff.
At this point in this series, I start to feel a bit uneasy. I have been trying to say that we cannot “serve church cafeteria style.” The church is far too important to God to leave us to our own devices in these crucial matters. Thus, the New Testament Scriptures provide us with those doctrinal truths, principles, and commands to guide us concerning how to “do church.” In addition to this, the New Testament also provides us with examples to follow by describing how the apostles and the early church applied God’s instructions for the church.
But a New Testament church is not just a church that uses the right terminology and has all the right structures and procedures. A New Testament church manifests Christ to the world.104 Through the presence and power of Christ, the church ministers to itself and then to the world (see Ephesians 4:11-16). Thus, the church is not just about principles and procedures, but about people, people who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, who have been joined to the church, and who are divinely indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit. A New Testament church has New Testament life and power. It not only carries on the work of Christ, it manifests His character. In this lesson, I would like to focus your attention on the heart of a New Testament church by describing the heart attitudes which are necessary for a New Testament church to exist as our Lord intended.
I will begin by demonstrating the need for a new heart, first in the Old Testament, and then in the New. We will then see how God has graciously provided a new heart through the person and work of the Lord Jesus. While there are many characteristics of this new heart, I will focus on three of the primary ones: faith, hope, and love. Having done this we will conclude with a summary of what we have learned and a few suggested areas of application.
The Scriptures reveal the heart of God in both the Old and the New Testaments. One of my favorite texts is found in Exodus 34. Moses has been up on the mountain getting the Law on tablets of stone. Moses has been gone too long as far as the Israelites are concerned, and so they ask Aaron to fashion a visible representation of God for them, something God has already prohibited them from doing. Aaron complies, too quickly and too eagerly for me, and the Israelites now begin their revelry – which can be heard by Moses as he makes his way to the mountain to the Israelite camp. God threatens to destroy this stiff-necked people and make a new nation from the descendants of Moses. Moses intercedes for the Israelites, and God promises not to destroy the nation. God promises to see to it that the Israelites possess the land of Canaan, but He does not commit to be personally present, lest He destroy them. It was at this point that Moses asked to see God’s glory, and this is God’s response:
6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7).105
This is Israel’s only hope – that God would be gracious to His people and forgive their sins. Being gracious and merciful, forgiving men’s sins is God’s great glory. (We dare not neglect to say that God is also glorified when He judges sin.)106 God’s glory becomes the basis for Israel’s petitions for grace throughout the Old Testament.
When we come to the New Testament, we find that God’s glory is revealed in Jesus, the Son of God:
1 After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, 2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. 3 The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3, emphasis mine).
14 Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory - the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. 15 John testified about him and shouted out, “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’” 16 For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known (John 1:14-18, emphasis mine).
35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:35-38, emphasis mine).
Like the Father, the Son delights in showing mercy, particularly that mercy which saves lost sinners:
7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent. 8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search thoroughly until she finds it? 9 Then when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7-10).
1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, 2 even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, 4 since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
While God is not only good and gracious, the same thing cannot be said of man. Shortly after the fall of man in Genesis 3, we find this description of man in chapter 6, which sets the stage for the flood:
But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5).
From here, things only continue to go downhill. Man is not predisposed to do good, but to sin:
38 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them to make tassels for themselves on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and put a blue thread on the tassel of the corners. 39 You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. 40 Thus you will remember and obey all my commandments and be holy to your God (Numbers 15:38-40, emphasis mine).
Reading this reminds me of the statement which is found several times in the Book of Judges:
In those days Israel had no king. Each man did what he considered to be right (Judges 17:6).
More literally, this text informs us that men did what was right in their own eyes. In other words, they disregarded God’s law and did what they wanted to do.107
When God reiterated the law to the second generation of Israelites, He made it clear that He knew they would not be able to keep it because their hearts were evil:
28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you - they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever (Deuteronomy 5:28-29).
When the next generation pledged to keep the law, Joshua made it clear that they could not live up to their commitment:
14 Now obey the Lord and worship him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and worship the Lord. 15 If you have no desire to worship the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the Lord!” 16 The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can worship other gods! 17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery in the land of Egypt and performed these awesome miracles before our very eyes. He continually protected us as we traveled and when we passed through nations. 18 The Lord drove out from before us all the nations, including the Amorites who lived in the land. So we too will worship the Lord, for he is our God!” 19 Joshua warned the people, “You will not keep worshiping the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or your sins. 20 If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign gods, he will turn against you; he will bring disaster on you and destroy you, though he once treated you well.” 21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will worship the Lord!” 22 Joshua said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to worship the Lord?” They replied, “We are witnesses!” (Joshua 24:14-22, emphasis mine)
Jeremiah summed it up as well as words can put it:
The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
Without the right heart, the best men can do is to perform empty rituals:
The sovereign master says, “These people say they are loyal to me; they say wonderful things about me, but they are not really loyal to me. Their worship consists of nothing but man-made ritual” (Isaiah 29:13).
When we come to the New Testament, we find that time has not improved the situation. Men’s hearts are still corrupt, and thus men cannot please God by their own efforts:
9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 10 just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, 11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 ruin and misery are in their paths, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:9-18).
To summarize, the consistent assessment of the Old Testament is that man is corrupt from head to foot. It is a problem of the heart.
Jesus makes a point of the fact that the corruption of man’s heart is the true source of defilement, rather than something external to man:
17 Now when Jesus had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him? 19 For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer.” (This means all foods are clean.) 20 He said, “What comes out of a person defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within and defile a person” (Mark 7:17-23, emphasis mine).
This works both ways. Just as the heart is the source of sin, it is also the source of that which is good:
34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. 35 The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak” (Matthew 12:34-36).
In Luke’s Gospel, we find an account of an incident that reveals the compassion of our Lord Jesus, while at the same time exposing the lack of compassion of the Pharisees:
10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her to him and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13 Then he placed his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water? 16 Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?” 17 When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing (Luke 13:10-17).
The only solution for man’s corrupt heart was an entirely new heart. This would never come about by men’s efforts, but only as the result of God’s provision, apart from man’s merit or efforts. This would come about in the form of a New Covenant:
31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,” says the Lord. 33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
25 I will sprinkle you with pure water and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative and you will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave to your fathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God (Ezekiel 36:25-28).
The New Covenant was fulfilled by our Lord through His death, burial, and resurrection.
19 Then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood (Luke 22:19-20).
And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant (Hebrews 9:15).
The church is one of the fruits of the New Covenant. It would be impossible for the New Testament church to exist apart from the New Covenant. The New Covenant produces new hearts through the ministry of the Holy Spirit:
2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone, 3 revealing that you are a letter of Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on tablets of human hearts (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).
And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).
So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away - look, what is new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The Christian life requires a new heart, which I believe is virtually synonymous with a new mind. When we come to Romans 12, we are moving from doctrinal foundations to application. It is no wonder that the “practical” exhortations begin with these words:
1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice - alive, holy, and pleasing to God - which is your reasonable service. 2 Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God - what is good and well-pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).
We see the same thing said in slightly different words in Ephesians 4:
17 So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. 19 Because they are callous, they have given themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20 But you did not learn about Christ like this, 21 if indeed you heard about him and were taught in him, just as the truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught with reference to your former way of life to lay aside the old man who is being corrupted in accordance with deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and to put on the new man who has been created in God’s image - in righteousness and holiness that comes from truth. 25 Therefore, having laid aside falsehood, each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another (Ephesians 4:17-25, emphasis mine).
Before Paul sets down the conduct of the Christian, he first deals with matters of the heart and mind. One must think rightly and be rightly motivated before he or she can live in a way that pleases God. Three essential dimensions of the Christian’s new mind (or heart) are faith, hope, and love. We find these three elements in different places in the New Testament; sometimes they are all together, such as in the texts below:
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13, emphasis mine).
8 But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation. 9 For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, just as you are in fact doing (1 Thessalonians 5:8-11, emphasis mine).
I will first call your attention to various texts which include one or more of these three elements, and then I will focus on one larger portion of Scripture in the Book of Hebrews.
9 Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited (Romans 12:9-16).
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10, see also 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:13-26).
Love is not to be hypocritical, and thus one who loves rightly must hate evil and cling to what is good. This kind of love is eager to honor and serve others. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul instructs us that as great as our spiritual gifting might be, our ministry without love is annoying at worst and worthless at best. Love is the condition of heart that makes ministry profitable.
18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility - not willingly but because of God who subjected it - in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance (Romans 8:18-25).
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Hope is faith directed toward the future. We live in a world that is groaning from the effects of the fall of man. All creation, the Christian foremost, eagerly awaits a future day of redemption. The Spirit of God, dwelling within the Christian, prompts us to eagerly look forward to that glorious day when our Lord will return, and when all creation will be restored. That is known as hope.
In the first chapter of his first epistle, Peter speaks of the Christian’s hope by focusing on the certainty of our salvation and our security until the day when we will rejoice in the presence of our God. Because of the resurrection of our Lord, we have a “living hope.” Salvation awaits us, and we are securely in God’s grasp until that day. It is secured for us, and we are secured for it.
Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith. 4 For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 5 so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. 6 And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith (Romans 12:3-6, emphasis mine).
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves. 23 But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:20-23, emphasis mine).
The point I am trying to illustrate by these verses is that faith is not only the means by which one is saved (faith in Christ), but that faith is the means by which the Christian lives. And thus it is faith that is foundational to “doing church.”
I believe that faith, hope, and love are foundational heart attitudes or perspectives that are essential to doing church, and that no text of Scripture does a better job of expounding this than the closing (applicational) chapters of the Book of Hebrews – chapters 11-13.
I confess that I’ve never looked at Hebrews this way before, but it seems to make sense. Hebrews is all about Jesus (no problem with that!) and the New Covenant. The recipients of this epistle seem to be experiencing a measure of persecution, but it can hardly be considered severe:
32 But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. 33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. 34 For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession (Hebrews 10:32-34).
3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin (Hebrews 12:3-4).
The author (I might as well confess that I think it was Paul) writes to encourage these Jewish believers not to turn back to Judaism in order to avoid persecution. He seeks to accomplish his purpose by reminding them of the superiority of the New Covenant to the Old, of the person and work of Jesus Christ to the Old Testament law and sacrificial system. Thus, one of the key words in Hebrews is the word “better.”108
Here is where things begin to get interesting. The first ten chapters of Hebrews are built upon contrast – the author contrasts the superior work of Christ and the New Covenant to the law and sacrificial system of the Old Testament (Covenant). The writer concludes the first section of the book in chapter 10, the application of which is best summarized by these words:
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:19-25, emphasis mine).
Notice that these verses apply to the church.
If the book stopped at the end of chapter 10, it might be possible for someone to conclude that the Old Testament – and particularly the law – was not just inferior to the New, but downright bad. That is a far cry from what the author is saying, which is that the Old was good, but the New is far better. But chapters 11-13 return to the Old, but from a different approach than we find in chapters 1-10. It’s like the author is starting over, but with an entirely different perspective. In spite of the weaknesses and deficiencies of the law, it served a good purpose. More than this, God saved a good many people in the Old Testament times. And so the author returns to the Old Testament, but this time he is focusing on the Old Testament saints – those who came to faith in the days before the coming of Christ. Rather than seeking to contrast the Old with the New, he compares these saints to New Testament believers, pointing out that both are saved by faith, the same kind of faith.
In the first part of chapter 11, the author begins at creation (Hebrews 11:2-3) then moves to Abel (verse 4) and Enoch (verse 5), and Noah (verse 7). Concluding the first segment of chapter 11, the writer moves on to Abraham and Sarah (verses 8-12). These first 12 verses define and illustrate faith. Faith is believing in something that is not seen, but rather in what God has spoken. So far as saving faith is concerned, seeing is not necessarily believing:
8 You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 because you are attaining the goal of your faith - the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:8-9).109
In verse 6, we read:
Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
So faith believes that God exists, even though He is not visible, and that He rewards those who seek Him. Hope is faith looking forward. Hope is faith in what is not seen because it is yet future. But we can be sure of certain things in the future because God has given His word about them. When we come to verse 13, the author shows how faith (in what is not seen) leads to hope (regarding things not seen because they are still future):
13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16, emphasis mine).
The Old Testament saints looked forward to the salvation and rewards that would be accomplished by the Messiah. The author of Hebrews tells us that the Old Testament saints all110 died without receiving the promised rewards, yet they believed God and hoped for these rewards. Thus Abraham, when he was commanded to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice, was willing to obey because he believed (in hope) that God would raise him from the dead.111 Likewise, Moses refused the temporal pleasures of position and power in Egypt and identified with God’s people, in hope that He would thus obtain eternal blessings.112
When we get to chapter 12, the Hebrew believers are encouraged to persevere, aware of the host of heavenly watchers and having their eyes fixed on Jesus, because His suffering puts all Christian suffering into its proper perspective.113 In addition, the readers should recognize that their sufferings have not been severe – no blood of theirs has yet been shed.114 Because God is sovereign, we must acknowledge that any suffering that comes to one of the saints has ultimately come from the hand of God as discipline for our good. Our suffering is yet further evidence that we are His children.115 Thus, we are to toughen up and persevere.
And so we began with faith, moved on to hope, and then finally we come to love in chapter 13:
1 Brotherly love must continue. 2 Do not neglect hospitality, because through it some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as though you were in prison with them, and those ill-treated as though you too felt their torment. 4 Marriage must be honored among all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge sexually immoral people and adulterers. 5 Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:1-5, emphasis mine).
Brotherly love (love for others) will manifest itself in hospitality, and in identifying with those who are in prison or are otherwise suffering for their faith. In addition to faith, hope, and love, the author deals with other heart attitudes like submission to leaders and the joyful worship of our God.
It is true that we cannot “serve church cafeteria style,” but rather we must function in ways that are consistent with sound doctrine, and which are obedient to the principles and commands of Scripture, illustrated by apostolic practice. We have been given certain terms like elders and deacons, and we have seen how the early church functioned. But let us not err by concluding that being a New Testament church is primarily a matter of terms and forms. The essence of a New Testament church is more a matter of the heart.
The New Testament church is made up of those whose sins have been covered by the shed blood of Jesus, and who now have hearts of flesh, rather than hearts of stone. The New Testament church is one in which the Spirit of God dwells, empowering Christians to play their unique role in the body of Christ so that our Lord now ministers to the world through His body, the church.
We can use all the right terms and have all the right forms and traditions, but fail to be a New Testament church because we lack hearts that are filled with faith, hope, and love – not to mention many other attitudes that should characterize the Christian (like humility, servanthood, joy, and thanksgiving). This is why a church may not have all the right terminology or just the right forms, but may nevertheless manifest the life of Jesus.
The heart of a New Testament Christian (and a New Testament church) is the work of God’s Spirit, the outworking of the New Covenant inaugurated by the shed blood of our Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary. It all begins with Jesus, just as it ends with Him. I pray that you have trusted in Him, and thus have become a part of His church. And I pray that you are maturing (being sanctified), and thus are being conformed to His image and likeness. The New Testament church is such because of what Jesus Christ has done, and what He continues to do in and through us by His Spirit.
103 Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 6 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on March 9, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
104 The New Testament church should do corporately what the Christian husband is to do individually by loving his wife as Christ loved the church (see Ephesians 5:22-33).
105 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
106 The gospel includes both of these elements. God graciously forgives guilty sinners (those who trust in Jesus) by pouring out His judgment for sin upon His sinless Son, Jesus.
107 Compare Deuteronomy 12:8.
108 “Better” is found 12 times in Hebrews, twice as often as any other New Testament book (Matthew = 6 times).
109 Compare Matthew 11:20-24, where Jesus condemns those cities that had seen His great miracles, yet would not believe.
110 We know, of course, that Enoch did not die (verse 5), and then there would be Elijah as well.
111 Hebrews 11:17-19.
112 See Hebrews 11:25-28.
113 Hebrews 12:1-2.
114 Hebrews 12:3-4.
115 Hebrews 12:5-11.
I remember seeing (or hearing of) a book entitled, Sacred Cows Make Good Hamburger.104 There are a lot of sacred cows in the Christian church, and it is no doubt time for us to grind up some of them. These “sacred cows” are beliefs, traditions, and practices concerning the church, all of which fall short of the Scriptures. In this series, I have chosen to speak of them as “barnacles on the bottom of the boat” – things that have grown attached to the church, but which have little or no biblical basis. I believe this lesson on church leadership will reveal some pretty large barnacles on the bottom of the boat, barnacles (beliefs and practices related to leadership) which need to be given careful scrutiny. I would like to focus on the subject of church leadership in our quest to identify and grind up a few sacred cows.
We all need to be very careful here, for the “cows” of this lesson are “sacred” to us, and thus we are naturally inclined to be defensive. If you were to argue, “But that’s the way we’ve always done it,” there would be no debate. The question is whether or not this is the biblical way to do it. What does the Bible teach us about the leadership of the church? Who is in charge there? That is what we hope to discover in this lesson.
My approach in this lesson will be to begin by establishing the doctrinal foundation for the New Testament teaching and practice regarding church leadership. Next, we will take a closer look at the words of our Lord to church leaders – His disciples – in Matthew 23. Here, Jesus will teach us how to lead, both from the negative example of the scribes and Pharisees, and from His own positive teaching, teaching which He exemplifies in His life and ministry. Then we will turn our attention to the principles, commands, and practices of the New Testament. This will set the stage for some concluding words about the application of what we have seen from the Scriptures.
Foundation Stone Number One: The priesthood of all believers. I must begin by distinguishing the “priesthood of all believers” from the “priesthood of every believer.” I think there is a measure of truth in this latter expression, but in our (Western) individualistic culture this expression can be understood in a way that makes each and every believer appear to be independent and autonomous, as though we are our own best priest. The expression, the “priesthood of all believers,” places the emphasis on the corporate nature of our priesthood. We collectively minister to men as the body of Christ.
While we may be tempted to go straight to the New Testament, and specifically to 1 Peter 2 and Revelation 1 and 5, we need to remember that the promise to be a priestly nation was first given to the nation Israel:
4 “‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 6 and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites” (Exodus 19:4-6, emphasis mine).105
The question arises, “What happened to Israel’s priesthood, and how did this priestly mantle fall upon the church?” Let us observe how this came about.
The offer to become a priestly nation was given to the Israelites in Exodus 19. The law is yet to be given, beginning in chapter 20. Instead of looking at what happened from the account in Exodus, we find some added details provided by Moses at the second giving of the law (to the second generation of Israelites) in the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses reminds the Israelites that in those early days, God spoke to the Israelites (not just Moses) “face to face”:
1 Then Moses called all the people of Israel together and said to them: “Listen, Israel, to the statutes and ordinances that I am about to deliver to you today; learn them and be careful to keep them! 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 He did not make this covenant with our ancestors but with us, we who are here today, all of us living now. 4 The Lord spoke face to face with you at the mountain, from the middle of the fire. 5 (I was standing between the Lord and you at that time to reveal to you the message of the Lord, because you were afraid of the fire and would not go up the mountain.)”. . . (Deuteronomy 5:1-5, emphasis mine).
The Israelites were terrified by the thought of continually experiencing God “up close and personal.” They would rather keep their distance:
22 The Lord said these things to your entire assembly at the mountain from the middle of the fire, the cloud, and the darkness with a loud voice, and that was all he said. Then he inscribed the words on two stone tablets and gave them to me. 23 Then, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was ablaze, all your tribal leaders and elders approached me. 24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living. 25 But now, why should we die, because this intense fire will consume us! If we keep hearing the voice of the Lord our God we will die! 26 Who is there from the entire human race who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the middle of the fire as we have, and has lived? 27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.” 28 When the Lord heard you speaking to me, he said to me, “I have heard what these people have said to you – they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. 30 Go and tell them, ‘Return to your tents!’ 31 But as for you, remain here with me so I can declare to you all the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that you are to teach them, so that they can carry them out in the land I am about to give them.” 32 Be careful, therefore, to do exactly what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn right or left! 33 Walk just as he has commanded you so that you may live, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land you are going to possess” (Deuteronomy 5:22-33, emphasis mine).
The Israelites did not want a priestly role; they wanted Moses to assume this role and to be their mediator. God does not chastise the nation for requesting that Moses become their mediator; He acknowledges that their request was wise. It won’t take very long for this to become evident, for just a few chapters later the Israelites will be worshiping a golden calf while Moses is up on the mountain. And because the Israelites were stiff-necked and disobedient, it meant almost certain death if they got too close to this holy God:
For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, that I may know what I should do to you’” (Exodus 33:5).
It was the hardened hearts of the Israelites that put them at risk. They, like us, were “prone to wander,” prone to leave the God they professed to love. Until their heart problem was solved, there was no way that they could be a priestly nation. They needed a mediator, and Moses (for the time) was the solution to their problem. Had it not been for the mediatory role Moses played, the nation Israel (humanly speaking) would be no more.
Nothing more is said of a priestly nation until we come to the New Testament, and suddenly it appears after the birth of the church:
4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” 7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.
5 And from Jesus Christ – the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood 6 and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! Amen (Revelation 1:5-6, emphasis mine; see also 5:9-10).
How did this come about? It came about through the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, and the New Covenant which He established with His blood. This is especially evident in Revelation 1:5-6. The Israelites were well advised to “resign” from being a priestly kingdom because of their wicked hearts, which predisposed them to disobey God’s commands, rather than to obey them. But through the work of Jesus, our sins are forgiven, and we receive new hearts. Being a priestly nation no longer depends upon our ability to keep God’s commands, but rather upon the cleansing work of Jesus at Calvary. Because of His atonement for our sins once for all, we need not draw back, as the Israelites did, but rather we are to draw near:
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22, emphasis mine).
Because we have a Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who has cleansed us from our sins, we can draw near to God, and thus the church can serve Him as a priestly nation. Thus, the priesthood of all believers is now in effect, and it greatly impacts the way the church is led.
Foundation Stone Number Two: The Headship of Christ over His Church. Once again, we begin in the Old Testament with His prohibition of idolatry in Exodus 20:
3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, 6 and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:3-6).
God will not tolerate idolatry because He alone is God, and He will not share His glory with anyone or anything else:
6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you; I take hold of your hand. I protect you and make you a covenant mediator for people, and a light to the nations, 7 to open blind eyes, to release prisoners from dungeons, those who live in darkness from prisons. 8 I am the Lord! That is my name! I will not share my glory with anyone else, or the praise due me with idols” (Isaiah 42:6-8, emphasis mine).
When we come to the New Testament, we find numerous passages which speak of our Lord’s exaltation above anything else. This is often described in the context of the church:
18 – since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. 20 This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 23 Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:18-23).
9 As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).
9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority (Colossians 2:9-10).
The text on which I would like to focus is found in the first chapter of Colossians:
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. 18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross – through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Colossians 1:15-20, emphasis mine).
I am most interested in verse 18, and particularly the statement that “he himself may become first in all things.” I think I prefer the rendering of the ESV or of the NKJV, both of which speak of our Lord’s preeminence:
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent (ESV, emphasis mine).
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dad, that in all things He may have the preeminence (NKJV, emphasis mine).
The goal of the Father was to make our Lord Jesus preeminent. That is, He purposed for Him to be the object of our affection and attention. He meant for the Lord Jesus to be prominent. God purposed for His Son to receive glory from all creation. This truth has immense implications for us in terms of how we “do church,” as we shall see in a moment.
Let’s begin by looking at the text in Matthew 23:
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:1-12).
These words of Jesus could not be clearer in their indictment of the Jewish religious leaders (who were soon to orchestrate His death), or in their instruction to the disciples (and thus the church) regarding leadership. I believe these words directly bear on the matter of church leadership today, so let us listen well to our Lord.
Frankly, I am surprised to read what Jesus said about the scribes and the Pharisees in verses 1-3. These “spiritual” leaders of Jesus’ day have seated themselves in positions of authority. But rather than attack their authority, Jesus encourages the crowds and His disciples to give heed to their teaching. I am assuming that what Jesus said of civil authorities also applies – to one degree or another – to the religious leadership of the nation Israel:
1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment (Romans 13:1-2).
Our Lord assumes the authority of the religious leaders and instructs the crowd and His disciples to obey their teaching.106 But if Jesus told men to obey the scribes and Pharisees, the instructions which follow in verse 3 were a stinging rebuke to these leaders. Men were to give heed to their teaching, but not to their deeds. These men were hypocrites, something Jesus will repeat several times in Matthew 23.107 Then and now in that part of the world disciples not only learned at the feet of a master, they also followed him, imitating his every action. Jesus could not encourage men to follow the example of the scribes and Pharisees, for reasons that He is about to spell out.
The picture our Lord “draws” of these leaders is not very attractive. They lay heavy burdens on men’s shoulders, but they do nothing to help carry the load. This is in stark contrast to what we read in chapter 11, or in Galatians 6:
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30).
1 Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too. 2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:1-2).
These Jewish religious leaders were a burden, rather than a blessing.108 I think it may be safe to say that they not only lay burdens on men that they refuse to help them carry; they lay burdens on others which they do not endeavor to carry themselves. They had all kinds of loopholes which excused them from obedience to God’s commands.
The scribes and Pharisees were “status seekers,” always playing to the crowds so that they might be regarded as spiritual and might be followed as leaders. Everything was about appearances, rather than reality. They loved all those things which set them apart from (above) others, things such as the place of honor at banquets or certain articles of clothing or special titles of honor. These men were seeking their own glory, and not the glory of God.
In verse 8, Jesus turns to His disciples instructing them regarding how they are to lead in a way that is drastically different. I believe that verse 8 is probably the key to understanding verses 9-12. The disciples were not to allow themselves to be called “Rabbi” because this position and title belonged to no one but Jesus. He is the Rabbi; He is the teacher. To take this title is to seek to usurp the preeminence of our Lord; it is to aspire to glory that rightfully belongs only to our Lord.
It is also an offense against our brothers. When we aspire to attain honor that belongs only to our Lord, we exalt ourselves above our brothers. Jesus says that we are all brothers. Of course, some men are leaders and others are not. Thus, I don’t think Jesus is talking about authority here, but glory. We dare not seek to elevate ourselves above our brethren, as though we were somehow better than they.
If we are not to assume titles which exalt us, rather than our Lord, and which elevate us above our brothers, neither are we to assume the title “Father,” which belongs to God. Now I don’t believe that Jesus is seeking to prohibit us from referring to our biological dad’s as “father;” I believe that He is referring to the use of the term “Father” as a spiritual title. Jesus is talking about our heavenly Father, not our earthly fathers. We see this title used of those who are spiritual leaders in the Old Testament:
Then the king of Israel when he saw them, said to Elisha, “My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?” (2 Kings 6:21, NASB)
Now Elisha had a terminal illness. King Joash of Israel went down to visit him. He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” (2 Kings 13:14)
When the Second Person of the Godhead took on humanity, He was the exact representation of the Father’s nature109 and bears the Father’s image:
6 For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called: Extraordinary Strategist, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6, emphasis mine).
So it is that Jesus can say:
“Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9)
Since we have but one spiritual Father, we dare not give His title to mere men.
It was pretty smooth sailing when the titles were “Rabbi” and “Father.” These are titles that are not used in our church. But it gets more uncomfortable for me when I read this in verse 10: “Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ.” Regardless of how we translate the term here, 110 the sense of our Lord’s words is that no man should take (or accept) a title which belongs only to the Lord Jesus. I believe we can see that Peter (among the other apostles) took our Lord’s words to heart when he wrote this to his fellow elders:
1 So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you: 2 Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly. 3 And do not lord it over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock. 4 Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades away (1 Peter 5:1-4).
Peter does not elevate himself above other elders, but refers to himself as a “fellow elder.” He does not “order” them, but rather “urges” or exhorts them. He exhorts them to shepherd “God’s flock” (not theirs), and to do so without abusing their authority and fully aware that God is the “Chief Shepherd” to whom they are accountable and who will reward them for their service.
Jesus then moves from outward concerns such as one’s attire and titles and places of honor to the root issues of the heart. Those who are truly great are those whose heart is filled with the desire to serve others. Those who seek to elevate themselves will be humbled, while those who humble themselves will be exalted. Unlike His adversaries, Jesus practiced what He preached:
3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 4 Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. 5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross! 9 As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow – in heaven and on earth and under the earth – 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:3-11).
So, to sum up the teaching of our Lord, true spiritual leadership is not only vastly different, it is presented in stark contrast to the kind of leadership we see from the Jewish religious leaders (or the Gentile leaders) of His day. Heavy handed, authoritarian, ego-fulfilling leadership is out; humble servanthood is in. Followers of Jesus need to humbly serve Him and give Him all the glory. We dare not take upon ourselves those functions, offices, or titles which belong solely to our risen and glorified Lord. I believe that we shall see this played out in the principles, commands, and practices of the apostles in the New Testament.
There are several governing principles which underlie the commands and practices of the apostles in the New Testament. Let me list those I consider most crucial.
Jesus Christ is the Head of the church.111 As Head of the church, our Lord is the One who guides and directs His church. Now I understand that He does this through His Spirit and through the leadership of the church.112 But it is Christ in whom we must place our faith. First and foremost, it is Christ whom we are to follow. And it is God the Father and our Lord to whom all glory and honor belongs.113 Christ should be preeminent in His church.114
The brotherhood of all believers. We find this statement by our Lord in Matthew 23:8. The backdrop for this statement is our Lord’s prohibition of taking the title “Rabbi,” which would appear to set one man above the rest. It should be noted that Jesus is speaking here to His disciples, who (with the exception of Judas) will become His apostles. No one of them is to assume either the title or the position of preeminence above the rest. This is our Lord’s place. The disciples (apostles) are all brothers.
We need to be careful here because Jesus is not forbidding men from holding positions of authority. The apostles will have apostolic authority, and thus their teaching and their decisions (as in the Jerusalem Council) are to be followed. The same could be said for the elders of a local church. These are men who are to be respected and obeyed:
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls and will give an account for their work. Let them do this with joy and not with complaints, for this would be no advantage for you (Hebrews 13:17; see also 1 Peter 5:5).
What is forbidden by our Lord in Matthew 23:8 is illustrated in 3 John by Diotrephes:
9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to the deeds he is doing – the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church! 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen God (3 John 9-11).
The priesthood of all believers. Closely related to the brotherhood of all believers is the priesthood of all believers. The church is not a collection of individual believers who each minister on their own. The church is a body that collectively ministers to itself and grows to maturity, and that corporately carries on the ministry of our Lord Jesus on earth.115 The church is not a collection of “Lone Rangers.” To put it in musical terms, the church is not a gathering of soloists; the church is a choir.
14 But I myself am fully convinced about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another (Romans 15:14).
14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
12 See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes the living God. 13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception (Hebrews 3:12-13).
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:19-25).
The principle of body life. This is perhaps another way of stating what has been said above. The church is a body, and thus it must function as a body. The members of the body are all inter-dependent, and no member is autonomous. The body ministers to itself and also ministers to others. The head of the body is Jesus Christ and no mere mortal.
14 So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. 15 But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head. 16 From him the whole body grows, fitted and held together through every supporting ligament. As each one does its part, the body grows in love (Ephesians 4:14-16).
The “work of the ministry” is the work of the body.
11 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12, emphasis mine).
The principle of ministry through spiritual gifts.
28 And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, gifts of leadership, different kinds of tongues. 29 Not all are apostles, are they? Not all are prophets, are they? Not all are teachers, are they? Not all perform miracles, do they? 30 Not all have gifts of healing, do they? Not all speak in tongues, do they? Not all interpret, do they? (1 Corinthians 12:28-30)
When the church gathered, it was not so that one man’s ministry would dominate the meeting, but so that a variety of gifts and ministries could bless those who assembled:
26 What should you do then, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church (1 Corinthians 14:26).
It would appear that in the Old Testament just a small minority of the Israelites were gifted by God’s Spirit for particular tasks. There is no indication that the gifts of the Spirit were distributed among the entire congregation of Israelites, as is the case in the church today.
There are but two offices of leadership in the church. There are but two offices in the church: elders and deacons. Each of these offices has its own responsibilities. But while there are only two offices in the church, a great variety of spiritual gifts are divinely distributed among the members of the body of Christ. Too often there is the assumption that having the gift of pastor-teacher is equivalent to holding the office of “pastor.” But no such office exists in the New Testament. All of the elders are to “shepherd the flock of God,” and not just one man.116 And beyond this, every member of the body ministers to the body.
The principle of plurality. This principle may encompass several of the earlier principles, but it is still worth stating on its own. Contained within what I am seeking to demonstrate here is what I might call the principle of diversification or the principle of division of power. Think about it. We see this principle in the Godhead, as there is both unity and diversity in the Trinity. In the Old Testament, we see power distributed between the offices of prophet, priest, and king.117 You will recall how strong God’s reaction was when Saul, the king, took upon himself the function of the priest.118 It would cost him his kingdom. And so in the New Testament, we find that the church is to be ruled by a plurality of elders, and not just one man.
The headship of Christ is evident when a plurality of elders comes to a decision that all can support. I will not tell you that governing by a plurality of men is necessarily the quickest or most efficient method of leading, but it does cause men to look to our Lord and to His Word for guidance. And when that sense of His will is reached, we can move ahead with unity and with confidence.
The Word of God is our authority. There is a sense, of course, in which authority comes with the office of elder (or, in the early church, the office of apostle). But it is God’s Word that is our ultimate authority. That is part of what the Reformation was all about. Sola scriptura was the doctrine that only the Scriptures had authority to speak for God, not the Church. Put differently, when the edicts and declarations of men contradict the teachings of God’s Word, God’s Word prevails – every time.
We can see this in those texts which proclaim the authority of God’s Word.119 We can also see it in Paul’s final words to the Ephesian elders:
28 Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. 29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears. 32 And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace. This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:28-32).
Paul knew that he would not see these men again. He likewise revealed that false teachers would arise among them, as some would seek a following of their own (the very thing our Lord forbade). But in spite of knowing this, Paul commended these men to God, and to His Word. That is what will keep them from error. That is what will build them up in their faith. Our authority is God’s Word.
In Scripture, we can learn how to lead by doing the opposite of what ungodly leaders do:120
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling down she asked him for a favor. 21 He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, “Permit these two sons of mine to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He told them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right and at my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 Now when the other ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. 26 It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave – 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:20-28).
19 For since you are so wise, you put up with fools gladly. 20 For you put up with it if someone makes slaves of you, if someone exploits you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone behaves arrogantly toward you, if someone strikes you in the face. 21 (To my disgrace I must say that we were too weak for that!) But whatever anyone else dares to boast about (I am speaking foolishly), I also dare to boast about the same thing (2 Corinthians 11:19-21).
1 So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you: 2 Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly. 3 And do not lord it over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock. 4 Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades away (1 Peter 5:1-4, emphasis mine).
Biblical leadership even means looking out for those who go astray within the church, and perhaps even within the church’s leadership:
28 Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. 29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears. 32 And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace. This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:28-32, emphasis mine).
12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may eliminate any opportunity for those who want a chance to be regarded as our equals in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).
9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call attention to the deeds he is doing – the bringing of unjustified charges against us with evil words! And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders the people who want to do so and throws them out of the church! 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has been testified to by all, even by the truth itself. We also testify to him, and you know that our testimony is true (3 John 9-12).
The consistent practice of the apostles was to appoint a plurality of elders to lead each church that was founded:
5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife, with faithful children who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work, not arrogant, not prone to anger, not a drunkard, not violent, not greedy for gain. 8 Instead he must be hospitable, devoted to what is good, sensible, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 9 He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching and correct those who speak against it (Titus 1:5-9, emphasis mine).
23 When they had appointed elders for them in the various churches, with prayer and fasting they entrusted them to the protection of the Lord in whom they had believed (Acts 14:23, emphasis mine).
When problems arose and when decisions had to be made, they were made by a plurality of leaders (initially apostles and elders, and eventually elders). Often the congregation (or other interested parties) was involved in the process:
1 Now in those days, when the disciples were growing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Greek-speaking Jews against the native Hebraic Jews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the twelve called the whole group of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. 3 But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this necessary task. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 The proposal pleased the entire group, so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism from Antioch. 6 They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed and placed their hands on them (Acts 6:1-6).
1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch from childhood) and Saul. 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after they had fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, they sent them off (Acts 13:1-3).
1 Now some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate with them, the church appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with the apostles and elders in Jerusalem about this point of disagreement (Acts 15:1-2).
New Testament leaders were servants, who sacrificially gave of themselves for the sake of those they led:
33 I have desired no one’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me. 35 By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:33-35).
5 For we never appeared with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is our witness – 6 nor to seek glory from people, either from you or from others, 7 although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became little children among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children, 8 with such affection for you we were happy to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe. 11 As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his own children, 12 exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you live in a way worthy of God who calls you to his own kingdom and his glory (1 Thessalonians 2:5-12).
The church is to be led by a plurality of men – elders who are assisted in their duties by deacons. They are to be servants in heart, men of high character and principles, men who are highly regarded within the church and without. The work of the ministry is not the work of the pastor, but the work of the church, and gifted men have been given to the church to build it up to carry out its responsibilities.
More than anything, we desire to demonstrate the reality that Jesus Christ is the Head of the church. It is He who is to be preeminent, He who is to receive all praise and glory. When people come to our church and ask, “What’s it all about?” or “Who’s in charge here?” we hope that they very quickly perceive that it is all about Jesus, that He is the One who is in charge. It is not about the preacher, or about any one man in the church, it is about Him. As Paul has written,
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
We desire to do church to the glory of God, so that people see it is Jesus who leads us, who meets our every need, and who receives the glory. This church is about Jesus. He is God come in human flesh. He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” He is the One who died on the cross of Calvary to bear the penalty for sin. He is the Head of the church.
If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ as God’s only way to heaven, His only provision for the guilt and punishment of our sins, then I urge you to trust Him today.
103 Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 7 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on March 16, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
104 I would give more specific information about the book, but it was years ago that I saw it, and there are at least three books available at this moment with very similar titles.
105 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
106 I am assuming that this is within that which God’s Word commands or allows, and that one would not be obligated to violate either God’s Word or one’s conscience.
107 Matthew 23:13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29.
108 Contrast Paul’s conduct among those to whom he ministered (2 Corinthians 11:9-18; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9).
109 Hebrews 1:3.
110 The translations differ here. The NET Bible has “teacher;” the NIV “teachers;” the NASB “leaders;” the CSB “masters;” the ESV “instructors.”
111 Ephesians 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Colossians 1:18; 2:8-19.
112 An example of this is found in the sending out of Barnabas and Saul by the church in Acts 13:1-4.
113 See 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 2:7, 9; 2 Peter 1:17; Revelation 4:9-11; 5:11-13; 9:11-12.
114 Colossians 1:18.
115 Ephesians 4:4-16.
116 Acts 20:28-32; 1 Peter 5:1-4.
117 This same division of power is seen in our federal government with three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
118 1 Samuel 13:8-15.
119 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:1-4; 2 Peter 1:2-4, 12-21.
120 I realize that there are some secular leaders who actually imitate the biblical principles and practices of leadership, simply because “they work,” because it is “good business.” But the Scriptures focus on the kind of Gentile leadership that is dominated by the flesh, and instructs Christians to lead as servants, rather than as “lords.”
Perhaps I should begin with a confession. Looking back, I regret at least two of those times when I taught on the subject of the submission of women in the church. In both instances, I was preaching in a church where I had never spoken before. And I was speaking in a church where women played a significant (if not dominant) public role. If I were to do it over again I would, in these two situations at least, preach on something else.
This is not to say that I think what I taught was wrong, but it is to say that there is a place and a time for teaching on certain topics. Having made my confession, I believe that this is the place and the time for me to address the question, “Are Women ‘Second Class Citizens’ in the church?” Why now, but not then?
First of all, we are in the middle of a series on the church. The ministry of women in the church plays a vital role in the spiritual health and life of the church. Second, there are a number of people who are relatively new to our church, some of whom have never experienced the way we “do church” as it pertains to the ministry of women. This is my opportunity to explain how and why we practice our ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church). Third, the biblical teaching concerning the ministry of women in the church is strongly opposed by those outside the church (our culture), as well as by all too many who profess to be in the church through faith in Jesus. This is very disturbing and needs to be challenged from the Scriptures. Fourth, in order to reach a culturally and politically correct view of the role of women in the church, one must either ignore or deny clear biblical commands and instructions. Either that or these clear texts must be interpreted in a way that is frightening in its implications. If clear teaching on the ministry of women can be cast aside by mishandling Scripture, what other “unacceptable” doctrines will follow?
I approach this subject with a greater than normal sense of uneasiness. It is not an uneasiness based upon doubt, for I am confident that what I am about to teach is the clear and consistent teaching of God’s Word.2 Neither am I uneasy because I fear that someone will come along who will cast this message aside as sloppy scholarship or as the ranting of a chauvinist (which is what some would say about Paul). I am uneasy that my confidence will come across as arrogance (or, worse yet, actually be arrogance). I am uneasy that speaking so directly will cause someone to turn me off before they have actually considered whether or not what I am saying is true to God’s Word.
It is only fair for me to inform you that a number of my colleagues in ministry (outside our church) will likely strongly disagree with my conclusions. Thus, I am apprehensive because I do not wish to show disrespect or disregard for a number of my good friends and colleagues who strongly disagree with me on this issue. Nevertheless, I believe that what I am about to say needs saying. I only ask that you persevere with me through the next several lessons and consider whether or not this teaching is true to God’s Word. I trust that the Word of God through the ministry of the Spirit of God will speak to you. I don’t expect all to agree, nor do I believe that those who do agree will necessarily apply the Scriptures as I would. But I do hope and pray that these texts of Scripture will cause you to reflect on these important matters, and perhaps encourage you to make whatever adjustments are necessary and appropriate in both doctrine and practice.
I have concluded that the subject of the ministry of women in the church will require several lessons. This first lesson will concentrate on the teaching of the Scriptures regarding women in the church. I will begin by calling attention to biblical practice, in both the Old Testament and the New. I will next turn to the biblical and doctrinal foundations of the teaching of the New Testament regarding women in the church. Then we will focus on the biblical principles and commands regarding women in the church. Finally, in this lesson we will attempt to draw some conclusions and suggest some practical applications.
In the lesson which follows this message, I will attempt to respond to those biblical texts and logical arguments which some find so compelling that they believe they overrule and overturn the commands of the New Testament. The final lesson will be a kind of “Alfred Hitchcock” conclusion to this mini-series within our series on the local church. Instead of calling attention to what women are instructed to give up, I will seek to show how much more they gain when they embrace and experience the teaching of the New Testament regarding the ministry of women in the church. Please bear with me through this most crucial message.
As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says (1 Corinthians 14:33b-34, emphasis mine).
In this New Testament text, Paul indicates that what he is teaching is consistent with the teaching of the Old Testament. It is therefore appropriate that we begin in the Old Testament, not only for chronological purposes, but because the teaching of the New Testament is based upon the teaching of the Old. It is also interesting to observe that when Paul makes this statement regarding the Old Testament, he does not cite any particular text. I think this is because Paul has more than just one incident or text in mind; instead, he refers to the tenor of the Old Testament as a whole. Let’s take a moment to consider some teachings or practices which Paul may have had in mind.
Family leadership (rights of the first-born) was passed down from one generation to another through the males. The Abrahamic Covenant passed from Abraham to Isaac, and from Isaac to Jacob, and then through his sons. In the Book of Numbers, we find provisions made for the rare instances in which there were no males through which the inheritance would pass down.3 But it is clear that such instances are rare, and are the exception, rather than the rule.
When a census was taken, it was of males only. Of course, we should remember that a census was taken for military purposes, and thus only males 20 years old and older were counted.4
Circumcision was a male ritual. It was the male Israelites who identified with the Abrahamic Covenant5 by means of circumcision. (Here is one male “privilege” that is not highly sought by women.)
The laws regarding ceremonial uncleanness after the birth of a child made distinctions on the basis of gender. A woman who bore a male child was declared unclean for seven days, while a woman who bore a female child was declared unclean for fourteen days.6My experience is that girls are cleaner than boys,7 so the distinction must be made on some other basis.
Only the male Israelites were required to appear in Jerusalem three times a year for the three great religious feasts.8 In some instances, at least, this must have meant leaving the family behind in order to attend some of these feasts.
Contrary to popular representations, angels appear only in masculine form. O.K., I admit that this may be only a “for what it’s worth” observation, but it is interesting. In Genesis 6, the “sons of God” (whom I understand to be angels) were having sex with “the daughters of men” and producing children.9 The homosexuals of Sodom wanted to have sex with the angels who came to visit Lot.10The “Angel of the Lord” always appeared as a male as well. It would hardly be appropriate for Jacob to wrestle with a female angel.11And this being was none other than our Lord (who is also represented in masculine terms).
The regulations of the law regarding vows assume the subordination of women to men. A man was bound to his vows. When a single woman made a vow, it could be nullified by her father, and when a woman who had made a vow married, her husband had the right to set aside her vow (at the time he first learned of it, but not later on).12
The laws pertaining to jealousy and divorce also distinguished on the basis of gender. If a man doubted the purity of his wife, there was a process whereby his suspicions could be verified or shown to be false.13Regulations regarding divorce seemed to pertain only to the men, but not to the women. In other words, there were provisions for a man to divorce his wife, but not reciprocal provisions for a woman to divorce her husband.14
Women were not allowed to assume positions of leadership over men. There were no women priests,15 no women kings,16 and only a few women prophets.17 Indeed, it was an indication of divine judgment when women ruled over men:
My people--infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths (Isaiah 3:12, ESV).
The bottom line is that with a very few exceptions (and these served to prove a point), women did not lead men in the Old Testament. Instances where women did lead will be dealt with in our next lesson.
The Old Testament evidence is beyond dispute: God distinguished between males and females, on the basis of gender alone. This mountain of evidence sufficiently explains Paul’s concluding words in 1 Corinthians 14:
As in all the churches of the saints, 34the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says (1 Corinthians 14:33b-34, emphasis mine).
Students of the Scriptures have wondered just where in the law Paul’s words can be documented. The most reasonable explanation is that Paul is not speaking of any one text at all, but at the mountain of evidence we find in the Old Testament, some of which I have summarized above.
I believe it is safe to say that in the Old Testament men were the leaders and the women were expected to follow. Some would begrudgingly acknowledge this, but only because they expect this pattern will be overturned in the New Testament. Those with such expectations are destined for disappointment because the New Testament simply continues the pattern of the Old Testament, with a few modifications. Jesus elevated women beyond anything women had experienced in the culture of those days. He was not afraid to contradict His culture and to violate its rules when they were wrong.18 But when Jesus chose the twelve, He selected only men to accompany Him as His disciples and to carry on His ministry when He ascended to the Father. Women did accompany Jesus and His disciples during His earthly ministry, but their ministry was that of service, not leadership:
1 Some time afterward he went on through towns and villages, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and disabilities: Mary (called Magdalene), from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Cuza (Herod’s household manager), Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their own resources (Luke 8:1-3).19
Women did minister to Jesus and His disciples, but they did not minister in the same way that His male disciples did. Theirs was a vital ministry, but a different one. They were not serving in a leadership role, nor were they being groomed for future leadership.
Though it may not be of great significance, it is at least a point of interest to note that when we are told the size of a crowd to which our Lord ministered, the numbers were based upon the adult males (“men”) who were present:
Not counting women and children, there were about five thousand men who ate (Matthew 14:21).
Not counting children and women, there were four thousand men who ate (Matthew 15:38).
After the death and resurrection of Jesus (and the birth of the church), the same pattern continues. Judas is replaced as the twelfth disciple by a man. When churches were founded and leaders were appointed, they were led by a group of elders – all men. Even oversight of the care and feeding of widows was given to men – seven of them.20 So we see that the practice of male leadership is consistent, from the Old Testament to the New.
One of the objections to the teaching of the Bible regarding the submission of women in marriage and in the church is the mistaken assumption that submission is incompatible with equality. The argument goes like this, “If women are equal with men, then they cannot be subordinate to men.” If there was ever a case of equality, it is the equality of each of the three members of the Godhead – the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equally God, and yet the Son, though equal with the Father, is in submission to the Father:
Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Matthew 26:39).
48 The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day. 49 For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me” (John 12:48-52).
But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3).21
Likewise, the Holy Spirit, though fully and equally God, is in submission to the Son:
12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but will speak whatever he hears, and will tell you what is to come. 14 He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you” (John 16:12-15).
Since the submission of the Spirit and the Son in no way nullifies their equality with the Father in the Trinity, then surely the submission of women in no way nullifies their equality with men in Christ.
All of his life, Jacob had been striving with God and with men. It was not until the final episode of his life that he finally figured out that his blessings came from the sovereign hand of God and not through his manipulations. We see his recognition of, and submission to, the sovereignty of God in the blessing of Joseph’s two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (by birth order):
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” His father said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” 10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph brought his sons near to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, but now God has allowed me to see your children too.” 12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph positioned them; he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. 14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked - the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the Angel who has protected me from all harm - bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they grow into a multitude on the earth.” 17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you will Israel bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh (Genesis 48:8-20).
By birth order, Manasseh should have come under Jacob’s right hand and should have received the headship of the family. But Jacob blessed these two sons in a way that gave priority to Ephraim, the second born, and this had great symbolic meaning. Jacob chose to bless the younger above the older, just as God had chosen to bless him above his brother Esau. It took Jacob all of his life to surrender to the sovereignty of God, but he finally submits. It is God who raises men up and who puts men down.
Listen to these words of warning God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar through the prophet Daniel:
16 Let his mind be altered from that of a human being, and let an animal’s mind be given to him, and let seven periods of time go by for him. 17 This announcement is by the decree of the sentinels; this decision is by the pronouncement of the holy ones, so that those who are alive may understand that the Most High has authority over human kingdoms, and he bestows them on whomever he wishes. He establishes over them even the lowliest of human beings’” (Daniel 4:16-17).
Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson the hard way, but he came to understand the sovereignty of God through the humbling process God designed for him. Having been truly humbled, his definition of God’s sovereignty is about as good as it gets:
34 But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me. I extolled the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever. For his authority is an everlasting authority, and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one slaps his hand and says to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:34-35)22
In other words, God alone is sovereign, and thus He can choose one and reject another, as we find in Romans 9:6-29. He can raise one up to a position of power and put another down. And we would do well not to protest.23 The same can be said of God’s sovereign distribution of spiritual gifts.24
Now let’s go back to some of those apparently arbitrary distinctions based on gender. If God’s sovereignty entitles Him to choose some and to reject others,25 to elevate some and demote others, then does He not also have the right to distinguish between males and females? And is it not our responsibility as those who profess to have surrendered to our sovereign God to accept these divine distinctions? My point is this, even if we were to conclude that the distinctions God has drawn between men and women are arbitrary, our response should be submission to His sovereign will. As Nebuchadnezzar put it, we don’t have the right to slap God’s hand or demand that He justify to us what He has done.
12 Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! 13 You said to yourself, “I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. 14 I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!” (Isaiah 14:12-14)
This text, along with Ezekiel 28:1-20, seems to describe the arrogance of certain earthly kings in terms that also depict the arrogance, rebellion, and downfall of Satan. Satan had a position of prominence as one of God’s angels, but he was not content with being subordinate to God. He wanted more. He wanted to be like God. He wanted to be equal with God. No doubt He would have gladly seized the opportunity to overthrow God, if it were possible (which it is not). And so Satan was cast down for his rebellion.
When we come to the first chapters of the Book of Genesis, we find Satan seeking to entice Eve to embrace and to replicate his rebellion against God’s authority. He persuaded Eve to become discontent with God’s goodness, and with His authority. He made it appear that God was withholding something good from her (and her husband, Adam) – the knowledge of good and evil. Eve took the bait and disobeyed God’s command. More than this, she took the fruit and gave it to her husband, “leading” him to rebel along with her.26 Among other things, Satan persuaded Eve to become the leader in her marriage. And what was so great about the forbidden fruit? It was the “knowledge of good and evil.” She would become “like God,” Satan promised. She would attain forbidden glory. Personally, I believe that God intended to reveal knowledge to Adam and Eve through intimate fellowship and communion with them, rather than through obtaining knowledge by stealing it.
Satan does not give up. He continues to take the same approach in the temptation of our Lord.27 He seeks to induce Jesus to act independently of the Father by satisfying His own needs and desires. He seeks to tempt Jesus to make the Father His servant, rather than to serve the Father. He seeks to persuade the Lord to cast aside His submission to the Father in the pursuit of His own agenda. After all, it worked with Eve. And so, it would seem, Satan continues to employ the same strategy:
1 I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough! (2 Corinthians 11:1-4, emphasis mine)
This is not to lay the fall and its consequences entirely on Satan and Eve. We must also recognize Adam’s role in this matter. His role is passivity and silence, rather than assuming the leadership, which was his responsibility. Adam was there with Eve while all this was going on,28 and yet he is strangely silent. And when Eve led, Adam followed. This was the basis for his judgment:
17 But to Adam he said, “Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:17-19, emphasis mine).
We can hardly brush these Old Testament events aside because when Paul gives specific commands and instructions regarding the ministry of women in the church, he bases his instruction on these very texts:
3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. 4 Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his head. 5 But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head. 6 For if a woman will not cover her head, she should cut off her hair. But if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, she should cover her head. 7 For a man should not have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for man. 10 For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 In any case, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God (1 Corinthians 11:3-12).
11 A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first and then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression (1 Timothy 2:11-14).
And so I must ask the question, “Doesn’t the aggressive feminist agenda of our day have the same basic elements?” Shouldn’t this be a source of concern to every Christian? Doesn’t this bear on our understanding of how we are to “do church”? I don’t see how we can cast this matter aside or minimize it as irrelevant.
In Ephesians 3 and elsewhere, Paul indicates that God uses the church to instruct the angelic beings.
10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 3:10).
For this reason a woman should have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels (1 Corinthians 11:10).
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully. 11 They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory. 12 They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven - things angels long to catch a glimpse of (1 Peter 1:10-12).
What we do in the church is being watched by heavenly creatures.29 Since some of the angels seem to have fallen with Satan, the submission of women in the church is not a trivial matter. The conduct of women in the church is not merely a matter of culture; it is a much larger issue than that! Those who would cast off subordination as a divine command are not only setting a bad example, they are following a bad example.
But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3).
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church - he himself being the savior of the body (Ephesians 5:22-23).
Words can hardly be more clear than this. The principle of male headship is rooted in the relationships within the Trinity. As God the Father is the Head of Christ, so the husband is the head of his wife. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so the wife is to be subordinate to her husband.
Let’s begin by looking at some of the very specific commands pertaining to the ministry of women in the church:
(1) Women are instructed to cover their heads when praying or prophesying.30
(2) Women are to quietly receive instruction, but are forbidden to teach or to lead men in the church.
11 A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first and then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression. 15 But she will be delivered through childbearing, if she continues in faith and love and holiness with self-control (1 Timothy 2:11-15).
(3) Women are commanded to be silent in the church, which includes asking questions (which should be addressed to their own husbands at home).
33 for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says. 35 If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home, because it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. 36 Did the word of God begin with you, or did it come to you alone? 37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If someone does not recognize this, he is not recognized (1 Corinthians 14:33-38).
We should be very clear on the fact that these are commands, not suggestions. And to press this matter even further, these are the commands of our Lord, not just the edicts of a “cranky bachelor” (as some would think of Paul).
The commands of our Lord cannot be easily brushed aside, as our Lord Himself indicated:
18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Finally, the commands of our Lord and His apostles are universal and are not restricted to a particular time or culture.
16 I encourage you, then, be imitators of me. 17 For this reason, I have sent Timothy to you, who is my dear and faithful son in the Lord. He will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church (1 Corinthians 4:16-17, emphasis mine).
17 Nevertheless, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each person, so must he live. I give this sort of direction in all the churches (1 Corinthians 7:17, emphasis mine).
If anyone intends to quarrel about this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God (1 Corinthians 11:16, emphasis mine).
As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says (1 Corinthians 14:33b-34, emphasis mine).
Paul does not teach one practice for one church and another practice for another. The truth is universal and does not vary from place to place or from time to time. We renounce situational ethics, and yet when it comes to church principles and practices, some seek to prove “situational commands.” That is serving church cafeteria style.
In what I have been saying, I do not wish to give the impression that everything we do as a church can be defended from a text of Scripture. When it comes to application, some things are clear (like the prohibition of immorality), but other areas of application may be matters of conviction. The leaders of a church have to draw certain lines, and not everyone may agree with them.
Let me illustrate. Paul teaches that women are to remain silent in the church. We know that this means women cannot teach the men, and that they are not even to ask a question. But what does it mean to be “silent”? Some may conclude that this means absolute silence. Thus, a woman could not even sing with the congregation, or lean over to tell one of her children to be quiet. We have drawn the line elsewhere. We believe that the woman’s silence is directly related to the leadership and authority of men in the church. Thus, we believe that a woman should not “lead in prayer,” “teach the congregation,” or exercise authority when the church is gathered.
Do all the same rules apply in the home, or when a ministry group meets? Some might think so. We don’t allow women to teach men, even in small groups and in the context of the home. We do allow women to share observations and to ask questions in these smaller and less formal settings. Could our “lines” be challenged? No doubt, but wherever we do draw the line, someone is sure to disagree.
To press on, we know that Paul has forbidden women to teach men. But we also know that women can teach their children in the context of the home.31 Can a woman teach a Sunday school class? We believe so, but we draw the line at the junior high level. Women can teach children, and they can teach women,32 but we don’t allow them to teach young men. Where these lines are to be drawn is somewhat arbitrary. But a line must be drawn somewhere, and so we try to make these distinctions wisely, realizing that others may draw them elsewhere.
We know that women are not to lead men because that is to exercise authority over them.33 But is allowing a woman to serve on a committee exercising authority? In some cases I would think so, but not in all cases. And, if I were to be totally honest, I would have to say that some women would pose no problem at all in many situations where other women would be a problem. A truly submissive spirit is what makes the difference.
I have told this story before, but it bears repeating. Years ago my father was leading an adult Sunday school class in the church where he was a leader. (This was before he was convinced that men should assume the leadership roles in the church.) Without thinking, he asked a godly older woman to open the class in prayer. This woman (Mrs. Mell, who is now with the Lord) simply replied quietly, “Byron, I’d rather not if you don’t mind.” She did not explain that she felt it would be wrong for her to “lead” in this way. If she had explained her actions, she would have been teaching men, and so she chose to respond in a way that may have caused some to wonder if she was “out of fellowship” or something similar. Her response was an example of submission.
My point in all of this is that while the commands and principles may be clear and indisputable, the application is sometimes a bit harder to pin down.
Here is what I have been trying to say. Both the Old and New Testaments teach and exemplify male leadership, whether that be leadership over the nation Israel in the Old Testament (prophet, priest, king), or leadership in the church in the New. Put differently, with only rare exceptions, God does not appoint women to lead men. It is not just the Old Testament that teaches male leadership; the New Testament does the same, with some modifications.34 The teaching of the New Testament is consistent regarding male leadership, particularly in the church. Paul’s instructions regarding this matter are commands, not suggestions. Indeed, Paul claims that they are the commands of Christ. We dare not cast them aside as the hang-ups of a chauvinistic bachelor. We are to obey the New Testament instructions concerning the ministry of women in the church as the command of Christ.
I want it to be very clear that I am not teaching on the ministry of women because I believe that the women of Community Bible Chapel need correcting. So far, I have received only comments of affirmation from the women of our church. Their concerns have to do with points of clarification or application. The women in our church rejoice in the role God has given them in the church. I only wish that we men were doing as well at leading as the women are in following.
Furthermore, I likewise reject two reasons that some have suggested as an explanation of the biblical teaching on the role of women:
(1) Women are more gullible than men. I’ve seen a lot of gullible men, and a lot of very wise and discerning women. Some may seek support from Paul’s statement that Eve was thoroughly deceived, while Adam was not.35 While this is true, the reasons may not be related to gender.36 Eve was apparently not present when God gave this prohibition to Adam, and Adam may not have communicated well with her regarding God’s instruction. (Some women will likely think, “So what’s new?”) The larger question in my mind, is “Why did Adam disobey if he was not deceived?” He disobeyed willfully.
(2) Men are better at teaching and leading than women. I see no indication that spiritual gifts are gender related or restricted. Thus, I believe that women as well as men may possess any spiritual gift, including the gifts of teaching, pastoring, and leading. I believe that some women may be better teachers or leaders than men. If the gifting of women were inferior to the gifting of men, it would not be a sacrifice or an act of obedience for them to refrain from assuming leadership roles in the church.
Paul based much of his teaching on the ministry of women on the early events of the Book of Genesis – the order of creation and the events of the fall. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, he likens their situation to the fall:
1 I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough! (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)
I believe that the arguments employed against a simple and straightforward interpretation of Scripture regarding the ministry of women are weak and without substance. They fly in the face of the mountain of evidence to the contrary. They set aside the commandments of our Lord. They seek to restrict these commands to a distant time and culture, thereby opening the door to the demands of a pagan culture.
That is a very frightening path to take. As I said before, I do not undertake this teaching as an effort to straighten people out here at Community Bible Chapel. So far as I know, most all of you are pretty much in agreement with what I have been saying. But I have to tell you that this is rare and is considered strange to those accustomed to “doing church” in a typical fashion. Our belief and practice are not the going things in evangelical circles. It is not the way to make churches grow, and we’ll likely never be a mega church if we continue to do things as we are. It is likely that some may walk in our doors, realize how different we are, and walk right back out. That is the price for following your beliefs.
If I were to attempt to summarize the source of the animosity toward the biblical teaching on the ministry of women in the church, it would be to attribute it to “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” The world – that is, our culture – is saying to us, “We will have none of that!” The world will not stand for this kind of teaching. Then there is the flesh. Is it not true, my brothers and sisters, that we all want to be number one? Think about the disciples. Jesus is sitting with them at the Last Supper and is saying to Judas in the full hearing of his other disciples, “Yes, Judas, you’re the one who will betray Me,” and yet none of them heard it. Why? Because they had their own conversation going about who was the greatest in the Kingdom. Everybody wants first chair. That’s our flesh, seeking position and prominence and power.
Finally, this is high on the devil’s agenda. He’s been undermining authority because it is the theme of his heart. Look at what Paul says to the Corinthians who are seeking teachers who are wise, but are setting aside the gospel of Jesus Christ and His cross. Paul says, “But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” It’s just that simple, just that simple. Trust and obey. Take Jesus at His word, and accept it, and embrace it. But there will always be those who say that this is a much more complex issue. Claiming complexity won’t make these commands disappear. It really is simple, that’s what I’m saying. It really is simple. The issue is…our heart rebels against submission to authority.
Now, it may sound like I’m railing only at the women. Far from it! We men are failing to obey our Lord in taking leadership in our homes and in the church. We love that easy chair, that wide screen TV, sitting back and doing nothing. We are just as culpable. Our flesh is just as disinclined to do what God told us to do as women may be to what God has commanded them to do. We’re all rebels. We need God’s grace working in our lives to cause us to desire and to do God’s Word teaches.
Now, this is stealing on my thunder for the third lesson, but I want to say here that when God withholds something good, or apparently good, it is because He has something better for us. I’m going to give you this thought, knowing that it’s out on the exegetical limb a bit. Nevertheless, here it is. God said to Adam and Eve, “You may not partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God forbade them knowledge through eating the forbidden fruit. I would like to suggest to you that it was not that God wanted to keep them ignorant. It’s that God wanted to teach them the truth in intimacy and fellowship with Him. Isn’t that what they did in the garden? They walked with our Lord in the garden. What do you want to do, pick an apple and eat it, or do you want to say to the Living God, “Tell me more”? God wasn’t withholding anything excellent from Adam and Eve. He was withholding something so that they could have something better. And so I want to say to you, if you have gotten a negative feeling from this message, God is not keeping you from something truly good. He is leading you to something really good, and that is to Himself, because more important than anything else is that we know Him, and that we have intimate fellowship and satisfaction in Him.
If you have not trusted in the Lord Jesus as your Savior, I hope you won’t be offended unduly, but that you will understand that God did not come here to enhance our egos. He came to show us our sin and to provide a solution for our sin in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Acknowledge your sin and the perfection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Believe that He died for sinners and trust in Him, for the only way we can get to Heaven is through His Son. This, too, is repugnant to sinful, self-sufficient men, but it is the only way God has provided for sinners to be cleansed and for men to gain eternal life. We must submit to God’s provision for salvation if we would enter His heaven.
Father, thank You for these texts and this marvelous truth about your church. Thank You for the way in which You have orchestrated the life and ministry of the local church. And Father, just as we need to urge the women in our body to be submissive, we also want to urge the men in our body to be leaders. Help us Father to be obedient to You, and to follow Your commands to Your glory and for our good. In Jesus name. Amen.
2 Dr. S. Lewis Johnson, now with the Lord, was the head of the Greek department at Dallas Theological Seminary for many years. He was also a very gifted preacher, whom I had the privilege to sit under, and later minister with, at Believers Chapel. He once stated that the teaching of the New Testament regarding the church was as clear as its teaching on salvation. http://www.believerschapeldallas.org/a/Johnson/slj-15_Ecclesiology/7_SLJ_15_32K.m3u
3 See Numbers 27:1-11; 36:1-13.
4 See Numbers 1:2; 26:1-2.
5 See Genesis 17:9-14; Exodus 4:24-26. Later Judaism tended to associate circumcision with the Mosaic Covenant, rather than the Abrahamic Covenant.
6 See Numbers 30:1-15.
7 My wife and I raised five girls.
8 See Deuteronomy 16:16.
9 Genesis 6:4.
10 See Genesis 19.
11 Genesis 32:24-32.
12 Numbers 30:1-15.
13 See Numbers 5:11-31.
14 See, for example, Deuteronomy 24:1-4.
15 Indeed, only Levites could be priests. Saul forfeited his kingdom when he assumed the role of the priest (1 Samuel 13).
16 Wicked Athaliah (the granddaughter of Omri) did usurp the kingdom when her son Ahaziah was killed, but that did not last long. See 2 Kings 11; 2 Chronicles 22-23.
17 We’ll address this matter in a subsequent message.
18 See John 4:9, 29; Mark 1:40-42; Luke 7:34, 39.
19 See also Matthew 27:55; Luke 23:55.
20 Acts 6:1-6.
21 See also Philippians 2:5-8.
22 See also Romans 9:14-26.
23 See Romans 9:19-21.
24 See 1 Corinthians 12:11, 18.
25 See Romans 9:6-13.
26 His rebellion was different, for although Eve was thoroughly deceived, Adam was not. He knew what he was doing (see 1 Timothy 2:14).
27 Matthew 4:1-12; Luke 4:1-13.
28 Genesis 3:6.
29 See also Job 1 and 2.
30 1 Corinthians 11:4-16.
31 See Proverbs 6:20; 31:26.
32 See Titus 2:3-5.
33 1 Timothy 2:12.
34 I’m thinking here of matters like divorce. When we look in the Old Testament, it would seem that only men had the option of divorcing their wives, and not the reverse. But when we come to the New Testament, we find much more mutuality in these matters in Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 7. What is true for the husband is likewise true for the wife.
35 1 Timothy 2:14.
36 Some might cite Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 3:6, where Paul speaks of false teachers who “captivate weak women who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions.” This is talking about a certain kind of woman, not women in general. Further, whether male or female, people who are burdened with guilt and who are governed by their passions are an easy mark for deceivers.
This is the ninth audio message for the Can We Serve Church "Cafeteria Style?" series.
1 Certainly God is good to Israel,
and to those whose motives are pure!
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my feet almost slid out from under me.
3 For I envied those who are proud,
as I observed the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they suffer no pain;
their bodies are strong and well-fed.
5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;
they do not suffer as other men do.
6 Arrogance is their necklace,
and violence their clothing.
7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong;
their thoughts are sinful.
8 They mock and say evil things;
they proudly threaten violence.
9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,
and lay claim to the earth.
10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,
and even suck up the water of the sea.
11 They say, “How does God know what we do?
Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?”
12 Take a good look! This is what the wicked are like,
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer.
13 I concluded, “Surely in vain I have kept my motives pure
and maintained a pure lifestyle.
14 I suffer all day long,
and am punished every morning.”
15 If I had publicized these thoughts,
I would have betrayed your loyal followers.
16 When I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling to me.
17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple,
and understood the destiny of the wicked.
18 Surely you put them in slippery places;
you bring them down to ruin.
19 How desolate they become in a mere moment!
Terrifying judgments make their demise complete!
20 They are like a dream after one wakes up.
O Lord, when you awake you will despise them.
21 Yes, my spirit was bitter,
and my insides felt sharp pain.
22 I was ignorant and lacked insight;
I was as senseless as an animal before you.
23 But I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me by your wise advice,
and then you will lead me to a position of honor.
25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?
I desire no one but you on earth.
26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak,
but God always protects my heart and gives me stability.
27 Yes, look! Those far from you die;
you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need.
I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter,
as I declare all the things you have done.
A well-written song by Asaph (Psalm 73:1-28).1
Years ago I was about to speak at an in-prison seminar. An older lady sitting behind me sensed my eagerness, leaned forward, and whispered in my ear, “You’re chomping at the bit, aren’t you?” I confessed to her that I was indeed “chomping at the bit.” That’s the way I feel about this message as well. We’ve been talking about the ministry of women in the church for the past two weeks and both of those lessons have, of necessity, focused primarily on those things that women are prohibited from doing in the church – namely teaching and exercising authority over men.2
What makes me uneasy about my approach is that so much emphasis has been placed on what women can’t do that one might wrongly conclude that women have gotten “the short end of the stick” (so to speak). It is for this reason that I am eager to present this lesson, because we will now begin to direct our attention to the positive aspects of the ministry God has given to women in the church. I will seek to demonstrate that in the things that matter most God has dealt most graciously with those women who trust in Him and who seek to know Him intimately.
You might very well wonder why this lesson begins with Psalm 73.3 Actually, it is a very fitting text, which gets to the heart of the subject of this message. The psalmist is Asaph, who was one of David’s choir directors.4 He was also a “seer” or prophet.5 In this psalm Asaph comes to terms with his anger toward God for not blessing him in the manner he had come to expect, and even demand. The lessons he learns are applicable to virtually every Christian, as well as to those outside the faith.
The psalm begins with Asaph’s affirmation of faith: “Certainly God is good to Israel, and to those whose motives are pure!” (Psalm 73:1). The verses that follow tell us just what Asaph assumed this meant. Asaph reasoned that God was obliged to bless pious Israelites for their piety, and that these blessings took the form of physical and material well-being. Believing himself to be one of the pious, Asaph expected material prosperity, long life, good health, and freedom from the calamities which he believed should fall on the wicked.
As Asaph looked out from the choir loft (so to speak) what he saw did not conform to his expectations.6 Those he knew to be ungodly were doing very well. They seemed clothed with prosperity of all kinds. No doubt he could discern this by their clothing, jewelry, and transportation (which could be observed in the temple parking lot). These folks who fared so well were wicked. They not only spurned God’s law, they arrogantly shook their proverbial fists in God’s face, daring Him to do anything about their sin. They felt untouchable and safe in their sin. Meanwhile, the pious were those who seemed to be pursued by problems, not prosperity. It looked to Asaph as though God had forgotten the rules of the game; or, worse yet, that God simply did not care what men did. In Asaph’s mind God was giving away his blessings to the bad guys, while he, himself, was reaping the painful consequences of their sins. Had God forgotten how things were supposed to work or, worse yet, did He not know or care?
Asaph confesses that he was tempted to throw in the towel. It seemed to him that there was no benefit to faithfully following God. His reward for piety was trouble, while the wicked seemed to enjoy the good life.7 Fortunately Asaph realized that because he was a leader in Israel his sin would adversely impact many – his entire generation. When his perspective changed, he saw these same circumstances in a very different light. From here on in this psalm, Asaph’s thinking is from an eternal, God-centered, point of view.8 Now Asaph contemplates the events that take place in time in the light of eternity.
Asaph now looks on the wicked in a radically different way. Do the wicked seem to “have it made”? Is life going smoothly for them, with no bumps in the road? It won’t last long. Their good times are going to be short-lived. Their physical ease has not drawn them to God; quite the contrary, they feel independent of God. In their minds, they neither need nor want God. They arrogantly speak against God, and assume their prosperity is a validation of their rejection of God. Because of this their eternal torment awaits them in the not-too-distant future. After death comes the judgment, and it is then that the wicked will face the eternal wrath of God.
Asaph sees himself in a different light as well. He realizes that he is not nearly as pious as he thought. He was bitter toward God, pointing a finger of accusation in His direction. He was ignorant and acting like a mere animal (pursuing his appetites, and not thinking clearly). Did Asaph think God was distant and removed from his plight? Did he assume that God did not care? He is now aware of God’s presence. God had not left him; He had a firm grip on his right hand, guiding him with wisdom toward true honor and glory. True, his flesh may fail, and death will come, but God is always with him, in this life and will be throughout all eternity. The wicked are hastening to their destruction; Asaph is now overwhelmed with the joy of God’s presence. God is all that He needs, and Asaph is now eager to share this with others.
I love the translation of verse 28 that reads: “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good.”9 Here is a new and very different definition of “good.” Good is the nearness of God, and not the mere absence of pain or physical need. Whatever draws me near to God is good, while that which draws me from God is evil. Asaph’s troubles had ultimately drawn him to God. More accurately, God had drawn Asaph near to Himself through his adversities (see Psalm 119:71, 75). The prosperity of the wicked only made them more arrogant in their rebellion against Him. God was “good” to Asaph in the midst of his afflictions, and now, at last, he knows it.
So what is the connection to our subject? It is possible that some women may feel the way Asaph did. They may feel that their piety has not been rewarded as they would wish. They may conclude that men (perhaps men who are not as godly as themselves) have gotten the limelight and the most prominent positions in the church, while they are left with the mere scraps of Christian service. The whole matter hinges on one’s definition of “good.” What is the “good” that both men and women should seek, and what does leadership have to do with it? If it is prominence and visibility that is the “good” that is sought, there will be disappointment. But if we recognize, like Asaph, that “the nearness of God (spiritual intimacy with God) is our good,” then we will never be disappointed. We see this not only in this Old Testament text, but also in the New. Let us next consider Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
1 I wish that you would be patient with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are being patient with me! 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, because I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus different from the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the one you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it well enough! (2 Corinthians 11:1-4, emphasis mine)
The Corinthian saints were all too eager to follow new leaders and their teaching, teaching which turned them away from Christ to pursue so-called “wisdom.”10 Paul likens the situation to that which we find in Genesis chapter 3 and the fall of humanity. In the fall of mankind Satan deceived Eve,11 offering her wisdom (the knowledge of good and evil) that was to be achieved by disobedience to God’s command. While Satan promised Eve that they would be “like God” (in knowing good and evil) he did not inform her that this act of disobedience would disrupt their relationship with God. The intimacy they had known initially in the Garden of Eden would be lost. We knew that as soon as Eve and her husband ate of the forbidden fruit they sought to hide themselves from God. And very soon they would be cast out of the garden, never to return in their lifetime.
In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul will go on to say that Satan is now speaking through his spokesmen in the Corinthians church, seeking to turn them away from their pure and simple devotion to Christ.12 The sophistication and worldly wisdom of these false apostles had deceived some, seducing them from a pure devotion to Christ to following (worshipping?) mere men. The point to which I am seeking to call your attention is that the highest “good” is a pure and sincere devotion to Christ, the same “good” of which Asaph spoke in Psalm 73. Satan is seeking to draw us away from this pure and sincere devotion. God blesses us by facilitating this devotion. And so the question arises, “Does the role God has appointed for women in the church contribute to or hinder a woman’s (and a man’s as well) highest good – enjoying intimacy with God?” That is the question we will seek to answer in this lesson.
There are other goals that are essential for Christians,13 but the one I would like to deal with is that of sincere and simple devotion to God (as 2 Corinthians 11:3 puts it), or as the nearness of God (as Asaph expressed it in Psalm 73:28). And so in this lesson we are faced with this question: IS PUBLIC14 “EGALITARIAN”15 MINISTRY NECESSARY FOR INTIMATE FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. Put differently, Does the prohibition of leading men in the church hinder women from enjoying intimacy with God? I believe we will find that the answer to both questions is a resounding “No!” Allow me to document my understanding from the Scriptures.
Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:1-18 warns of the danger of seeking to practice one’s religion in a way that gains public attention and approval. It is the nature of our flesh to desire man’s praise. The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day had developed their attention-getting ministry techniques to a fine art. Our Lord sets the stage for His teaching with these words:
1 “Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, they have their reward” (Matthew 6:1-2).
Jesus warns against purposefully public demonstrations of religious devotion, in order to gain the praise of men. Instead, He teaches us to perform our acts of worship as privately as possible, knowing that God sees what we do in secret, and will reward us accordingly. Jesus identifies three particular religious practices: (1) charitable contributions in verses 2-4; (2) prayer in verses 3-15; and, (3) fasting in verses 16-18. Men are commanded to take the spiritual leadership in the church, and thus their roles are, of necessity, more public and visible. Women are restricted from much that is prominent and visible when the church gathers, and our Lord’s words in Matthew chapter 6 should make a woman reluctant to assume this visible role. (Needless to say, men should not perform their responsibilities in a manner intended to attract attention to themselves, and thus encroach on the preeminence of Christ.) I believe it is safe to conclude from our Lord’s words in Matthew chapter 6 that public ministry is no proof of piety; indeed, it can even be contrary to true piety.
A comparison of the spiritual insight of men and women in the gospels does not support the contention that the restrictions imposed on women regarding spiritual leadership limit them to a second class relationship with the Lord. I hate to admit it, but when I read the New Testament it seems that men – specifically the disciples – are spiritually less perceptive than women. This is in spite of their more dominant role in the life and ministry of our Lord.
On numerous occasions Jesus informed His disciples that He was going to be rejected in Jerusalem, crucified, and then rise from the dead on the third day. In spite of the directness of our Lord concerning His death, it either went over the disciples’ heads and they missed it completely, or they actually sought to compel our Lord to avoid such a course.16 More than once we find the disciples discussing (or debating) who was (or would be) the greatest in the kingdom, and amazingly this often took place in close proximity to our Lord’s prediction of His upcoming death.
30 They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand this statement and were afraid to ask him. 33 Then they came to Capernaum. After Jesus was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest (Mark 9:30-34, emphasis mine; see also Luke 9:44-46; 22:20-24).
I am inclined to conclude that one of the reasons why the disciples failed to grasp our Lord’s predictions of His rejection, suffering, and death was because they were too caught up in their expectations related to His success. His success (being recognized as Israel’s king) seemed to mean their glory as well.17 His death seemed to put an end to it all, as we can see from the despair of the disciples after His death and before His resurrection.18
When Jesus indicated to His disciples that He was to be betrayed by one of them, they once again missed what should have been clear. In John 13:21 Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him. In John 13:26 He indicated that His betrayer would be the one for whom He dipped a morsel and then gave it to him. In Matthew 26:25 Judas asks Jesus if he is the one, to which Jesus answers in the affirmative. And yet the disciples had no clue as to what Judas was about to do.19 I believe it is because they were too intent on debating who among them was regarded as the greatest.20
In John 12:1-8 we read an account of Mary anointing the feet of our Lord with very expensive ointment. We are informed that Judas protested, insisting that this was a needless waste. After all, he complained, the ointment could have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. But we know that his real motive was to have more money from which to pilfer (see verses 4-6). When we go to Mark’s account of this same incident (Mark 14:3-9) we are told that “some” of the disciples were complaining to each other about this “waste.” In other words, the disciples found it easier to agree with Judas than with Jesus. I would probably have been among them, but I must confess that this is pretty dull. In contrast, women like Mary were far more in tune with what Jesus said and did, and where this was leading.
I am fascinated to observe the way in which Matthew dealt with the subject of “bread” in chapters 14-16. In chapter 14 Jesus feed the 5,000 (men) with “bread” and fish. In chapter 15 the Pharisees and scribes protested because Jesus’ disciples ate their “bread” with (ceremonially) unwashed hands.21 Later in this chapter we read of the Canaanite woman who begged our Lord to deliver her demon-possessed daughter. Listen to this interchange between Jesus and this woman:
26 “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said. 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour” (Matthew 15:26-28).
This woman understood “bread” as a symbol, and she got it right! So also received what she requested, and was praised for her faith.
Moving on in chapter 15 we come to the feeding of the 4,000 in verses 32-39. When Jesus expressed His compassion on the hungry crowd the disciples respond as though they have never experienced such a situation. Didn’t they learn from the first feeding? Following Jesus’ instructions, the crowd was fed. But when we come to chapter 16 and the subject of “bread” we find the disciples as dull as ever:
5 When the disciples went to the other side, they forgot to take bread. 6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “It is because we brought no bread.” 8 When Jesus learned of this, he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you took up? 11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:5-12).
Unlike the Canaanite woman (who did not have the advantage of spending much time with Jesus), the disciples could only think of bread in literal terms. They did not understand that Jesus was using bread (and leaven) as a symbol. The disciples don’t score very high in this section of Matthew, but the Canaanite woman does.
How many times had the disciples heard Jesus speak of His death, burial, and resurrection? Even His enemies understood that Jesus had foretold His resurrection.22 And yet when the women reported to the disciples that Jesus had been raised, they thought the women were out of their minds.23 Once again, the women are ahead of the men in spiritual insight. While it is unclear as to who among the male followers of Jesus was present at His crucifixion, it is clear that the women who followed Jesus were present.24
I’m not quite sure how to word my next observation, but let’s just call it the “affection quotient.” When you think of all the men (especially the 12 disciples) who were closely associated with Jesus, how many of them do you find expressing their deep love and devotion to Him during His earthly ministry? Aside from John, whom we assume to be the beloved disciple,25 the one who reclined on Jesus’ breast,26 I do not find many instances of pure and simple love and adoration expressed by men. My sense is that women at least as frequently and likely more fervently and freely demonstrated their love for the Savior.27 In short, women worshipped Jesus just as much, or more so, than the men who followed Him.
I would conclude from what we see in the Gospels that while women were not given a public and prominent role in the preaching of the gospel, they were not deprived of intimate fellowship with Jesus, nor from a spiritual grasp of what Jesus’ ministry was all about. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the women who were near Jesus may have had a better grasp of His ministry and message than did the male disciples.
It should be very obvious that one’s spirituality cannot be discerned by one’s spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are not bestowed on the basis of one’s personal piety, but they are sovereignly bestowed by God.28 Paul indicates that it is not only the gifts that are sovereignly bestowed, but also the ministries through which these gifts will be deployed, and also the outcome of these ministries.29 Thus, one’s ministry is divinely directed, and if one is discontent with it, their complaint is with God.
Beyond this, Paul turns things upside-down when he challenges the Corinthians’ thinking regarding the greatest gifts. He teaches that those gifts which get the greatest honor are those which need a measure of compensation:
22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential, 23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity, 24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member, 25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another (1 Corinthians 12:22-25).
The Corinthians sought the more public and spectacular gifts, specifically tongues. But Paul seems to indicate that more honor is given to this gift because it is a lesser member. The unseen (less visible) gifts are actually the most important members of the body. In our human body we refer to our hidden members as “vital organs,” and rightly so. I believe that to seek a public, visible, gift and ministry may be to seek a lesser gift.
There is yet another important lesson to be learned from Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts. Consider the implications these words:
27 If someone speaks in a tongue, it should be two, or at the most three, one after the other, and someone must interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church. Let him speak to himself and to God (1 Corinthians 14:27-28).
Think about what Paul is saying here. One with the gift of tongues must use that gift publicly (that is, when the church has gathered) within certain boundaries. In general, his30 participation must be edifying to those gathered.31 But more specifically, if two or three have already spoken in tongues, or if there is no one to interpret, then the tongues-speaker is to be silent publicly. He may, however, “speak to himself and to God” (verse 28). The tongues-speaker is not deprived of the benefit of his gift. The only restriction is its public manifestation.
Does this same principle (of personal benefit, even if there is no public manifestation of the gift) not apply to the participation of women in the church? In this case there is no question but what the women cannot speak publicly.32 And yet they can “speak to themselves and to God.” They have complete freedom to worship God privately. Their opportunity for personal intimacy is unlimited; it is only occasions for public ministry that have been restricted.
And so to put Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts into the context of our message, are women seeking the visible manifestation of their spiritual gifts.33 God has placed certain limitations on them in this regard. But God has in no way hindered their opportunities for fellowship and the enjoyment of intimacy with Him.
In Psalm 73 it was not until Asaph viewed his circumstances from a heavenly perspective that he understood his circumstances correctly. Asaph felt that God had given him “the short end of the stick” because He had withheld what he perceived to be “the good life” – a life of physical peace and prosperity. But then he came to God’s sanctuary and he began to see things from an eternal (heavenly) perspective. The wicked will not spend eternity in the presence of God. They will spend eternity suffering the consequences of their sin. On the other hand, the righteous may draw near to God now, as well as for all eternity. Seeing things from an eternal perspective gives us the proper vantage point for understanding life.
I believe the same principle applies in the New Testament as well as in the Old. Paul says this in the concluding verse of 1 Corinthians chapter 13:
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).
Why was love the greatest of these three things? I believe that the answer is clear in the context of chapter 13. Both faith and hope are for this life, while love is for this life and for all eternity. Faith deals with that which is unseen.34 Faith is not needed in heaven because we will see it all (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2). Hope also has to do with that which is yet future, that for which we wait. It also deals with that which is not yet seen.35 That for which we now hope will be fully ours in heaven. Thus, our present afflictions, suffering, and groaning will end when our Lord returns.36 Love, however, is not just for this life; it is for all eternity.
So, the principle is that the best things are those which last forever, while the lesser things are those which last only in this life. Assuming this principle, let us ponder the implications of these words of our Lord regarding marriage:
29 Jesus answered them, “You are deceived, because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven (Matthew 22:29-30).
There will not be marriage in heaven. It is an earthly institution. Thus, there will not be a husband/wife relationship. Wives will not submit to their husbands in heaven, only on earth. Will all man-female distinctions disappear in heaven? I’m not sure, but it does seem possible.
Furthermore, the visible leadership roles to which some seem to aspire do not appear to exist in heaven:
33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. 34 “People37 will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done” (Jeremiah 31:33-34, emphasis mine).
11 It was he who gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, that is, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God – a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature (Ephesians 4:11-13, emphasis mine).38
Think of it, as a Bible teacher I am a dinosaur, a dying breed. What good will teachers and preachers be in heaven, when all is known and we are sitting at the Savior’s feet? What need will there be for leaders, when He is there to Shepherd His flock? What need will there be for evangelists or pastor-teachers? The public, visible, prominent gifts and functions that some so strongly desire on earth will not exist in heaven.39 Should this not serve as a clue to us as to what is eternally important?
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).40
Martha is working in the kitchen, preparing the meal. This was her place, was it not? This was no doubt where Martha received expressions of gratitude and appreciation: “Martha, that soufflé was incredible. Be sure to get that recipe to my wife.” Martha is irritated that Mary is in the other room with Jesus, perhaps with other guests. Martha is simmering: “Why isn’t Mary in her with me, pealing the potatoes?” Rather than complain to Mary, Martha complains to Jesus. Doesn’t the Master care about her, slaving away in the kitchen? Why doesn’t He make Mary join her, so that she can help? Jesus is very clear. One thing is needed. One thing is really important, and Mary has chosen it. That one important thing is not fixing dinner; it is enjoying intimate fellowship with Jesus. Once again it is the nearness of God which is our ultimate good. Mary chose the best thing and Jesus will not take it from her. Our Lord did not keep Mary, a woman, from that which was the ultimate good.
And so I am forced to conclude that while our Lord has clearly instructed us that the ministry of women is quite different from the ministry of men (especially in the public meeting of the church), this in no way hinders or restricts them from what is the greatest good by far – intimate fellowship with the Lord. Conversely, I believe it is safe to say that the public ministry of men in the church does not give them any greater opportunity than women to enjoy this same experience with God.
After what we have seen in this lesson I must ask this question: “Just what is it that God is allegedly withholding from women that egalitarians are so desperately seeking to gain?” Look at what the psalmist says in Psalm 84:
11 For the Lord God is our sovereign protector.
The Lord bestows favor and honor;
he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity (Psalm 84:11).
I am forced to conclude that God has not withheld anything “good” from godly women. Thus, whatever they feel God has kept from them is not really good at all. Is this not the lesson which Asaph had to learn? He was angry with God for withholding earthly peace and prosperity. But he came to understand that it was not the ultimate good – the nearness of God was his good. And for him this nearness came through adversity, rather than through worldly success.
I fear that what some women really want is to have what men have, just as Asaph wanted what the wicked possessed. I have no alternative but to conclude that they are seeking that which is not God’s best.
I believe that the submission and silence of women in the church are not a hindrance to their worship. Indeed, I believe that they may even facilitate worship. Let me attempt to illustrate what I mean. In the church meeting the men are to lead as the Spirit leads them. When there is a period of silence, I sometimes find myself getting too concerned about the silence. I wonder if I should stand and speak, or if one of the other elders should do so. And if I am prepared to speak, I find that I may be waiting for that moment of silence, so that I can do so. I find that I may be thinking more about what I will say than about our Lord and His marvelous work at Calvary.
A woman does not need to worry about what she is to say, or when she should say it. She is free to listen to what is being said. And when there is a period of silence, she can worship. She can pray for those whom God has prepared to speak. She has more opportunity for “undistracted devotion” to our Lord. Silence and submission need not be a curse for her, but rather a blessing.
These texts which we have been considering in terms of their implications for women also apply to us as men. There are times when a man’s silence is sin. Adam’s silence in the Garden of Eden was certainly sin. He listened to his wife and obeyed her, but he did not speak up, even though he was “with her” at the time of the temptation.41
But there are also times when the silence of men can be golden. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14 we read that when two or three prophets have spoken that is enough. Any more prophecy can be shared another time.42 The same is true of the tongues-speaker. If two or three have already spoken in tongues (or if there is no interpreter present), the tongues-speaker should be silent. He can speak to himself and to God.
What I am trying to say is that some of us are inclined not to speak up. I am not one of those. There are others among us (me included) who are inclined to speak, perhaps too much so. The very truths which encourage women in their silence can serve as encouragement to men to be silent, even though they could speak. It may be that a very inspiring thought comes to mind, or that someone is eager to share what he has seen from a particular text of Scripture. That person does not have to speak, especially if doing so usurps time that was to be dedicated to other important tasks such as prayer. If women can experience God intimately without speaking, so can men. We should speak when others will be edified, and not just when we feel inclined to speak.43
Satan’s scheme is to keep people from what is best by tempting them with some lesser thing which appears to be good and desirable, but which is a forbidden fruit. When we think of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden we tend to think of the “one tree” – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – and less of all the other trees, from which Adam and Eve could freely eat. But we should remember that there were two trees44 in the center of the garden: (1) the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and (2) the tree of life. By focusing Adam and Eve’s attention on the forbidden tree and its fruit, they lost sight of the most important tree of all – the tree of life. Satan seeks to keep our eyes off what is best, what is most important, and to distract us with something inferior, something forbidden.
In the first verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 11 Paul teaches that Satan is still employing his same tactics. He is still seeking to get us to desire what God has forbidden, and to neglect the truly good thing(s) He has provided. Satan wants to keep us from that which is truly life to us, and to tempt us with that which leads to death. I would venture to say that for each and every person hearing (or reading) me there is some particular forbidden fruit that Satan keeps dangling before us. It might be pornography, or an illicit relationship, or bitterness. These things can easily turn our attention from what is most important – a devotion to Christ which is pure and simple.
The “tree of life” is before us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is He and He alone who can forgive our sins and save us from an eternity in hell. It is He alone who is the way to God the Father. It is He alone who gives eternal life. I fear that there are some who reject the offer of salvation because they fear that trusting in Jesus will mean the end of our worldly pleasures. We fear that if we follow Him God will take away the “good things” of this life. All I can say is that God never takes away what is truly good. God takes away that which is not truly good in order that He may replace it with something better. Whatever you give up to follow Jesus (and there will be things to give up), you will not give up what is good, and you will gain that which is truly good.
Women, as I conclude my hope and prayer is that you will respond by praising God for what He has withheld, and for the vastly superior good that He has given – intimate fellowship with Himself.
Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 10 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on April 13, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
1 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
2 1 Timothy 2:11-12; also 1 Corinthians 14:33b-35.
3 A more thorough exposition of Psalm 73 can be found on bible.org: http://bible.org/page.php?page_id=518
4 1 Chronicles 6:39; 2 Chronicles 29:30.
5 2 Chronicles 29:30.
6 This is not to say that Asaph’s perception of things was accurate. His view is a rather distorted one. It is difficult to see clearly with the tears of self pity in one’s eyes.
7 My friend, Don Grimm, reminded me that the Hebrew term rendered “prosperity” in verse 3 is shalom. This word conveys the whole spectrum of blessings, of well-being. It is not just material wealth that the wicked enjoy. They had “the good life” in every sense.
8 That is how I understand Asaph’s reference to the temple. It wasn’t just being in the temple that changed his thinking, but viewing life from an eternal, God-centered, perspective.
9 NASB.
10 See 1 Corinthians 1:18—3:4.
11 In 1 Timothy 2:14 Paul makes it clear that Adam was not deceived, as Eve was. His sin was more deliberate.
12 By their proud claims: “I am of . . .” (1:12; 3:4), we can see where their devotion has shifted.
13 Other crucial goals are: the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31); and (2) the edification of others (1 Corinthians 14:26). I believe that if time permitted we could demonstrate that the biblical directives regarding the ministry of women in the church would satisfy both of these goals.
14 “Public” refers to the conduct of women when the church is gathered, or at least when men are present.
15 By “egalitarian” I mean the belief that women can do the same things that men can in the church, thus setting aside divine distinctions so clearly evident in the Scriptures.
16 Peter is a case in point in Matthew 16:21-23.
17 See Matthew 20:21.
18 See Luke 24:10-24.
19 See John 13:28-29.
20 See Luke 22:33-24.
21 Matthew 15:1-2.
22 See Matthew 27:63.
23 Luke 24:4-11.
24 See Matthew 27:55f; Mark 15:40f; John 19:25.
25 See John 20:2; 21:7, 19.
26 John 13:23.
27 See Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8.
28 1 Corinthians 12:11, 18.
29 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.
30 I use the masculine pronoun “his” here because throughout verses 27 and 28 Paul uses the term “him.” This is because it is assumed that only men will be speaking in tongues publicly in the church meeting.
31 See verse 26.
32 Verses 33-36; also 1 Timothy 2:11-12.
33 I am not suggesting that women cannot possess more public gifts such as teaching, leadership, and exhortation. I would only challenge the context in which these gifts can be used.
34 Hebrews 11:1-3.
35 See Romans 8:24-25.
36 See Romans 8:18-25.
37 It is unfortunate in my opinion that the masculine gender, expressed in the original text, is set aside for a kind of neutered rendering (“people”).
38 See also 1 Corinthians 13:9-12.
39 One might very well ask whether any of the spiritual gifts will be needed in heaven.
40 I find it of interest that in John 12 (where Mary is anointing our Lord with precious ointment) Martha is also said to be serving. Either this is the same incident, or Mary is once again at Jesus’ feet while Martha is in the kitchen.
41 This is my understanding of Genesis 3:6.
42 1 Corinthians 14:29-33.
43 I am dealing with a very delicate subject here, but it is one we must consider. Some people feel that an impulse (or, worse yet, a compulsion to speak) is the Spirit’s leading. Sometimes our desire to speak or to lead is not really God’s leading, but an impulse of the flesh. (I confess, I struggle with this matter personally.) Even when our impulse is from the Spirit (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14:26-33), it may not be the time for us to speak.
44 Genesis 2:9.
1 The words of King Lemuel, an oracle that his mother taught him: 2 O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows, 3 Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which ruins kings. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink, 5 lest they drink and forget what is decreed, and remove from all the poor their legal rights. 6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitterly distressed; 7 let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. 8 Open your mouth on behalf of those unable to speak, for the legal rights of all the dying. 9 Open your mouth, judge in righteousness, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. 10 Who can find a wife of noble character? For her value is far more than rubies. 11 The heart of her husband has confidence in her, and he has no lack of gain. 12 She brings him good and not evil all the days of her life. 13 She obtains wool and flax, and she is pleased to work with her hands. 14 She is like the merchant ships; she brings her food from afar. 15 She also gets up while it is still night, and provides food for her household and a portion to her female servants. 16 She considers a field and buys it; from her own income she plants a vineyard. 17 She begins her work vigorously, and she strengthens her arms. 18 She knows that her merchandise is good, and her lamp does not go out in the night. 19 Her hands take hold of the distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. 20 She extends her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hand to the needy. 21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all of her household are clothed with scarlet. 22 She makes for herself coverlets; her clothing is fine linen and purple. 23 Her husband is well-known in the city gate when he sits with the elders of the land. 24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes. 25 She is clothed with strength and honor, and she can laugh at the time to come. 26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband also praises her: 29 “Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all!” 30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. 31 Give her credit for what she has accomplished, and let her works praise her in the city gates.1
I was called upon to perform my civic duty by reporting for jury duty. When I was called for a particular panel, questions were asked of panel members both collectively and individually. In the course of the jury selection one of the attorneys asked the panel if any of us had a problem with lawyers (that brought to mind a whole litany of lawyer jokes), or with the trial process. A man in the back responded, “Yes, sir.” The lawyer asked the man to clarify his concerns. The man’s response went something like this:
“Something just seems wrong with the whole process. Here we are, sitting in court all day long, and you give us six bucks. There you are, being paid big bucks. There you are, sitting in your comfortable leather chair. Here we are, sitting on these hard wooden benches. Something just doesn’t seem right about that.”
Needless to say, that man was not selected for duty. (I must remember his words for future reference.) But one can see his point of view. For some (lawyers in particular), trials can be very rewarding. For others, it would seem that they get the short end of the stick. And so jury duty is just that, a duty which we endure. (Even the judge who dismissed the remainder of the jury panel told us we had “dodged the proverbial bullet.”)
My point here is not to protest against lawyers or against the jury system. It is no doubt the best system known to man. I tell this story not only because it is humorous, but because it expresses (to one degree or another) the way some women feel about their circumstances. In the words of the jury panelist, they think they are getting $6 a day and sitting on oak benches while the men get the big bucks and sit in cushy seats.2
When I say “some women” feel they have gotten the “short end of the stick” I must quickly follow up by making it clear that I have not heard this from any of the women in our church. The response to these messages (as well as to our practice over the past 31 years) has been consistently and enthusiastically positive. There has been no debate regarding the interpretation of Scripture on these issues, only a desire on the part of the women to understand the Scriptures so that they might fully obey them. Some have wondered where to draw the lines, and a few have even inquired as to whether or not we have gone far enough in our application of Scripture. What a wonderful spirit I have seen among our women and I praise God for this, and for each of them.
There are a number of reasons for this lesson, in which I will attempt to answer some of the questions that have been raised as a result of my teaching on the ministry of women in the church. There are many who strongly oppose the clear teaching of Scripture regarding the ministry of women in the church. Most would not consider themselves evangelical Christians. But some would. In this lesson I’m not concerning myself with those who oppose the teaching of Scripture. I do greatly respect those who have a personal faith in Christ, a high view of Scripture, and a commitment to obey God’s Word in regard to the ministry of women. Some of them hold to a somewhat different interpretation of the texts we have considered, or they have reached the conclusion that these texts should be applied differently. In other words, there are legitimate questions which should both be asked and answered.
Furthermore, the elders have determined not to make matters like “head coverings” a test of piety or of submission (either to husbands, or to the elders of our church). Indeed, we should make it clear that some of the elders and their wives have reached conclusions different than mine, or other elders. Because I greatly respect the wisdom and spiritual commitment of my fellow elders and their wives I must take their positions into account, and I need to try to convey those things which we all agree upon, and those where there is disagreement. What we are most concerned about it the heart attitudes of people in our church. We do not want mere compliance; we desire heartfelt obedience to God’s Word, realizing that this may take somewhat different forms within or outside our church.
If I have not said it clearly enough before this, one of the reasons that there are questions to be answered is that some decisions are necessary, but also arbitrary. Whether or not a woman wears a head covering in church is really a personal decision that doesn’t have a significant impact on others (unless, of course, the woman decides to wear a large hat, which obscures the view of those sitting behind her). But there are decisions that the elders must make that impact nearly everyone. Can there be women elders? Can a woman preach? Can a woman sing a solo? Can the women call out a hymn, share a prayer request, or pray in the church meeting? These are decisions that will have to be made, and some of them (Can a woman sing a solo, or share a prayer request?) can be arbitrary. With these things in mind, let us press on to deal with some questions that have been raised.
The most frequently asked questions have been about head coverings. In our congregation the issue of the submission and silence of women is not hotly debated, but graciously and gratefully embraced. Questions about head coverings do not originate out of a spirit of debate, but rather from a sincere desire to understand the interpretation and application of 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. Questions also arise about head coverings because the elders have chosen not to make this the focus of our teaching or practice regarding the ministry of women in the church. In short, we have not told our members what to believe or what they should do regarding head coverings. Thus, questions abound.
Let me observe as a kind of footnote that I find it fascinating to observe how much interest egalitarians have in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Really their interest is only in one verse, verse 5:
But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered disgraces her head, for it is one and the same thing as having a shaved head (1 Corinthians 11:5).
This is because they hope that verse 5 will give them some support regarding the public ministry of women in the church, and this is spite of the clear teaching of Paul, especially in chapter 14. And while they make much of verse 5, they quickly turn away from what follows in verses 6-16. I would simply say that if you are going to build a case on the basis of one verse in chapter 11, you have been not cast aside the rest of the paragraph. You can’t have it both ways.
Submission is the substance, silence (in the public meeting) is the application, and head covering, at best, is a symbol. As I mentioned earlier, whether or not a woman covers her head has very little impact on the church. Whether or not a woman is silent has many more implications. Submission and silence is at the heart of the New Testament teaching and practice; head coverings are more peripheral. This is not to say that Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 should be ignored. It should be taken seriously, but we should also expect that women may apply it differently. When they do so for good reasons, and with a proper spirit, we find that sufficient. Those who brush this text or the subject aside without giving it due thought are not taking Scripture seriously enough.
The answer to this question is simple: because not all elders or their wives interpret or apply 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 in the same way. This is an important point. I have previously indicated that verses 1-16 may not refer to the church gathered – something that is clear in the next paragraph.3 Some who I respect greatly believe that in the church meeting a woman demonstrates her submission by her silence. They believe that a head covering may be more appropriate when a woman is teaching (children or women), and thus she is not silent. There are also those who are reluctant to wear a head covering in church because they fear that it will produce the opposite effect than what Paul was teaching. In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul taught that a woman was to cover her head (including her hair) to veil her glory. She was to do this to avoid drawing attention to herself and to keep the focus on her husband. But in our society women don’t wear a head covering. In some churches if a woman wore a head covering she would actually be drawing attention to herself.
While I am still personally persuaded that a woman should wear a head covering in church, I would not impose my convictions on others, including my wife. She does wear a head covering because that is her personal conviction. But when others do not wear a head covering, or wear it in some other context, I respect their decision and understand that there are other factors to consider.
I believe that Paul teaches women to veil that which is their glory, so that they are not the focus of attention. In 1 Corinthians 11 it is a woman’s hair that is in focus, and this is one source of glory for a woman.4 Paul says that a woman’s hair is a covering, and this is true in the sense that it covers what would otherwise be a bald (and thus shameful)5 head. When Paul speaks of a woman’s hair as a covering he does so to make a point of her need for a covering. But he is not arguing that her hair is a sufficient covering because he argues that it is a part of her glory.6 Thus, long hair doesn’t suffice, in my opinion.
So what does suffice? In short I would say “something that covers a woman’s hair that does not, in and of itself, draw attention to her. A gaudy hat, for example, would not be an adequate “covering.” It would circumvent the purpose of the covering. The women in our church who cover their heads usually do so with some kind of scarf, and a few may wear a hat.
It think that it is quite clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 11that Paul is talking about long hair. It is shameful, Paul says, for a man to wear long hair.7 It is a woman’s glory to have long hair.8 So how long is long enough? I would let this text in Deuteronomy serve as a clue:
A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor should a man dress up in women’s clothing, for anyone who does this is offensive to the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 22:5).
Trust me, I’m not eager to get into the issue of women’s clothing here. But it seems to me that this text in Deuteronomy is instructing Israelite women to look like women in the way that they dress. So, too, with the men – they are to dress like men. When you see a person walking down the street, you should be able to tell whether they are male or female. I would apply this same principle to one’s hair. One’s hair should distinguish a woman as a woman, or a man as a man.
O.K., I’m going out on a limb here. I believe that we live in a day when our culture is seeking to obliterate the distinctions between men and women, between male and female. I think this is wrong, and contrary to God’s Word. And thus, I likewise oppose the translation of the Bible in a way that seeks to do away with gender distinctions. I realize that there are impressive advocates of this approach, but I disagree.
Assuming that a woman is convinced that she should cover her head, when would this be? Those women in our church who wear a head covering usually do so during the Lord’s Supper meeting. Most do not seem to cover their heads during the Sunday school or elective classes, or during the preaching. Some women have asked if we are not going far enough. They wonder if they should wear a covering for the entire morning. I think that I’m inclined to agree with those who cover their heads for the entire morning.
Part of this has to do with how we define Sunday Morning. The church from which Community Bible Chapel was birthed (Believers Chapel) had four preaching services on Sunday morning. The Lord’s Supper was observed on Sunday evenings. This evening meeting was viewed as the “meeting of the church” where the men who were led of the Holy Spirit took leadership in the meeting (by calling out a hymn, passing out the elements, teaching, etc.).
The problem (as we saw it) was that only a small percentage of those who attended on Sunday mornings came on Sunday night. We believed that the “meeting of the church” – the open worship meeting during which we partook of the Lord’s Supper – was the most important meeting of the week. When we started Community Bible Chapel we moved the “meeting of the church” to Sunday mornings, alongside the preaching and teaching service. Frankly, we tried to make it hard for folks not to attend the Lord’s Supper. And it has worked! But we never meant it to be assumed that the Lord’s Table portion of the morning was the entire “meeting of the church,” and thus that the preaching and teaching was a separate function. I consider the entire Sunday morning gathering to be the “meeting of the church,” and thus wearing a head covering for only a portion of the morning does not seem sufficient. Once again, I express my point of view and leave it to the women to decide when (or if) they will cover their heads.
As I understand the matter, the fundamental principle is that of submission. In a number of biblical texts (1 Corinthians 14:35; Ephesians 5:22-33; 1 Peter 3:1-7) the issue of submission is dealt with specifically in the context of marriage. Thus, we see that a good deal of Paul’s teaching about the ministry of women in the church is addressed to wives. But there are also a number of texts (1 Corinthians 11:1-16; 1 Timothy 2:8-15; Titus 2:3-5) where the focus is more related to gender, and thus we see that the application is to single women as well as to married women.9 It would be silly to say that a married woman could not preach but a single woman could. So, too, with being an elder. Thus I believe that the submission and silence of women in the church is that of all women, and not just married women.
My answer would be, “The same way married women do; by sharing it with a man (in the case of the married woman, this would almost certainly be her husband).” Women who have special needs for prayer simply convey these to a man before the service and they (at the man’s discretion) are shared with the church body. I know that some women have asked their husbands (or a man nearby) to call out a particular hymn. It is, of course, the man’s decision as to whether or not he will do so. But I must confess that I believe women should trust God to lead through the men, without prompting by the women.
Paul’s words are quite clear in 1 Corinthians 14:35. He says that a woman’s silence includes questions. She is to wait and ask her own husband at home. The purpose, I believe, is clear. By asking questions of her husband at home the wife is encouraging her husband to lead. Bypassing her husband is thus counter-productive. I am not overly paranoid about answering a question or two after my sermon. Often the husband and the wife are together at the time. But the wife should always strive to keep her husband in the lead.
Egalitarians are more eager to try to prove that there are women elders in the New Testament, but some will settle for an office of deaconess. The Greek noun diakonos is found quite often in the New Testament, but only three times is it rendered “deacon.”10 The term is found in a feminine form in reference to Phoebe in Romans 16:1:
Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea (Romans 16:1, emphasis mine).
This rendering “servant” or “minister” (in a non-clerical sense) is the most common way of translating the Greek term diakonos. There is no reason to assume that in Romans 16:1 it is a technical term for “deaconess.” And remember that in 1 Timothy chapter 3 the qualifications for a deacon assume that deacons are men:
11 Likewise also their wives must be dignified, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in every respect. 12 Deacons must be husbands of one wife and good managers of their children and their own households (1 Timothy 3:11-12).
It therefore strikes me as most unlikely that there is an office of “deaconess,” and if there were it would be a function where women submitted to men, and not the reverse.
I just so happens that today in our services we have sung at least two songs written by women. The fact that most of you did not note that the author was a woman is probably significant. Personally I have no problem singing a song written by a woman, or reading a book authored by a woman. Anyone who has seen the books I have read knows that I don’t assume the writer is an authority. I often cross out statements I disagree with, or write a note of dissent in the margin. Thus I do not see this as a position of authority over men.
It would be wrong to assume that most of the ministry occurs within the walls of the church on Sunday (or Sunday and Wednesday). God has gifted certain men (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor-teachers) to build up the body so that it can carry out the “work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:11-12). Very few people have a prominent leadership role in the church, men included. The ministry takes place outside the church, as the church takes Christ to the world. (Strangely, in our day it is expected that the world will come to the church.) Thus, some restrictions on the public ministry of women in the church is not a great hindrance to real ministry outside the church.
Any truth can be distorted, in principle or in practice, but the truth doesn’t cease to be truth (only its distortions). Here, I want to go on record that I recognize that the truths of Scripture pertaining to women and ministry have been distorted. I should probably go on to say that our practice of the truth is never perfect. Let us continually seek to understand and more accurately practice the truth of God’s Word.
A number of years ago my father asked a godly older woman to open the adult Sunday school class in prayer. (This was before my father had come to embrace the teaching of Scripture regarding the ministry of women in the church.) This woman, Mrs. Mell, softly responded to my father, “I’d rather not, if you don’t mind.” I’m sure some folks wondered what that was all about. Had she had an argument with her husband that morning, or was there some sin that kept her from praying publicly? No. She believed it was not her place to lead men and women in prayer. She did not explain her reason for declining, for to do so would have been to teach men (and women). And so she avoided praying in public as graciously as she could, and in a way that was completely consistent with Scripture. My point here is that I believe my dad (and perhaps others) learned from her actions, although she did not teach or exercise authority. Teaching does not only flow from men to women. Godly men are eager to learn from others, including their children.
I’m sharing with you what some of the godly women in our church have shared with me, at my request. The women begin preparing for Sunday the week before. Each week we send out a study guide for the following week’s sermon, which includes the Scripture text(s) as well as study questions. In addition to this we send out the Scripture texts and topic for the next meeting of the church (the Lord’s Supper and open worship meeting, led by the men). The women study these texts and meditate upon them in preparation for the coming Sunday. The women also pray for the men who will be leading us in teaching and worship, ahead of time and during our gathering on Sunday. They pray that God will lead the right men to participate and that their contribution will edify the church and glorify Christ. Because we observe the Lord’s Table every week they meditate upon our Lord and His sacrifice at Calvary. They listen to what the men have to say and worship our Lord privately, silently speaking expressions of worship to the Lord. I have never heard a woman in our church complain that they were short-changed in their worship on Sunday.
I am thinking in particular of the ministry of Aquila and Priscilla, as seen in Acts and Romans.11 It seems fairly clear that both Aquila and his wife were instrumental in enhancing Apollos’ understanding of the gospel:
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker, well-versed in the scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak out fearlessly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately. 27 When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he assisted greatly those who had believed by grace, 28 for he refuted the Jews vigorously in public debate, demonstrating from the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus (Acts 18:24-28).
It may be significant that the order in which this couple is named is reversed from verses 1 and 2 of the same chapter; and so also in Romans 16:3. Priscilla may have been a gifted teacher, perhaps even better than her husband. She is free to exercise her gift outside the church meeting, and in conjunction with her husband. I am thus inclined to grant that women have more freedom to minister outside the church meeting than within it. But she still does not function independently of her husband. She functions under his authority.
In the final analysis it is not men who are to receive the glory in the church but Christ.
20 Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think, 21 to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21).
As my friend Carey Dula put it, “we all have a place on the chain, but the goal is to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.” Women are not to seek glory for themselves, but to glorify Christ by giving their husbands greater prominence. Men are not to seek glory for themselves, but are to lead in such a way that Christ is glorified.
As I mentioned in a previous lesson, the same truths which encourage women to joyfully remain silent in the church meeting also encourage men who may also need to remain quiet. We do not need an audience larger than God alone. We can always speak to Him privately, without taking the floor and addressing the church. The application of biblical principles may differ somewhat between men and women, but the principles remain the same.
You may have wondered why this lesson began with a citation of Proverbs 31. I wanted to call your attention to this chapter because I believe that it is pertinent to this message. I want you to notice the first nine verses. Usually we begin with the “godly woman” in verses 10-31, but I would like us to begin at the first verse of chapter 31. It, too, deals with the ministry of a woman to her son. We know that Proverbs has a lot to say about the ministry of fathers and mothers to their children, but these first nine verses of chapter 31 describe the ministry of a mother to her son, who is destined to be a king. She has taught her son in a way that will prepare him to rule a nation. We might say that she taught her son about wine, women, and song.
She warned her son not to become a victim of moral impurity. A king will have many opportunities to pursue women, but this is really destructive. In our own times we have witnessed those in positions of political power fall into moral depravity. The common notion is that this is normal, and that it has no impact on the way a man rules a nation. This king’s mother taught him otherwise. She also warned of the dangers of alcohol. Strong drink clouds a man’s reasoning, rendering him incompetent to fulfill his responsibilities. Finally, his mother reminds him that he is not to abuse his power, but rather he is to defend the rights of the poor and the powerless.
These first nine verses remind me of the last verses of 1 Timothy chapter two:
9 Likewise the women are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive clothing, 10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. 11 A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first and then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression. 15 But she will be delivered through childbearing, if she continues in faith and love and holiness with self-control (1 Timothy 2:9-15, emphasis mine).
I realize that there are many different interpretations of verse 15, but doesn’t Proverbs 31:1-9 help us to understand what Paul is saying? A mother has a very powerful and influential place of ministry. Her ministry helps to shape the lives of her children, and who knows what God may have in store for some of them? Lemuel’s mother taught her son how to rule. A whole nation profited from the counsel she gave to her son. How many women have played a crucial role in the lives of their children? Her leadership12 in the home is priceless.
Now when we come to verses 10-31 we have another perspective of the value of a woman’s ministry. This woman is not only a very gifted person; her husband has complete confidence in her abilities and he facilitates her ministry.13 The hub of her activities is the home, but it is clear that she has a broad range of functions. She not only prepares meals and provides clothing; she also considers a field and buys it. She adds to the family income, not to mention the ways in which she economizes, thereby saving money. She does a fair bit of what we would call administration, and she also teaches (mainly children and other women, I would suppose).14 In all of this she brings honor and status to her husband.
The thing I wish to emphasize is that even in the Old Testament women had a very important role to play, though it was largely within the context of the home. And as we conclude may I also call your attention to the fact that the “godly woman” does receive public recognition:
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed,
her husband also praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done valiantly,
but you surpass them all!”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting,
but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.
31 Give her credit for what she has accomplished,
and let her works praise her in the city gates.
The godly woman is not only praised by her children; she is praised by her husband at the city gates. She may have a more private ministry, but her praise is public.
As I conclude this message I would like to end by publicly expressing my appreciation for the godly women in this church. While their ministry is not as public as that of the men it is a vital ministry they perform and they do it exceedingly well. I praise God for the women He has given to this church!
Copyright © 2008 by Robert L. Deffinbaugh. This is the edited manuscript of Lesson 11 in the series, Can We Serve Church Cafeteria Style?, prepared by Robert L. Deffinbaugh on April 20, 2008. Anyone is at liberty to use this lesson for educational purposes only, with or without credit.
1 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
2 It is sad to say that women do seem to have been short-changed in the workplace, but that is not the subject of these messages.
3 Notice how the paragraph begins at verse 17.
4 Elsewhere, both Paul (1 Timothy 2:9-10) and Peter (1 Peter 3:3-4) instruct women to avoid hair styles and jewelry which draw attention to themselves. I would hasten to add that looking overly “plain” may actually call attention to oneself. Dressing in good taste and in a way that conforms to Scripture is not something to be taken lightly.
5 I realize that many lose their hair when undergoing treatments for cancer, but it is they who most often choose to wear a wig. In Paul’s day a woman who shaved off her head was assumed to be a woman of loose morals. See 1 Corinthians 11:5-7.
6 I will repeat, as tactfully as I can, what I have said at other times. In our culture there are other parts of a woman’s body that are considered to be her glory. She would do well to cover those as well.
7 1 Corinthians 11:14.
8 1 Corinthians 11:15.
9 I think we must be careful to distinguish between a wife’s submission to her husband and the submission of women (in general) to the men. There are a number of texts in which wives are to be subject to their own husbands. Wives are to be subject to their husbands in a way that is different from their submission to other men. Some serious errors (sins) have been made by excesses in the area of the submission of women to men.
10 Philippians 1:1; 1 Timothy 3:8, 12.
11 See Acts 18:1-4, 24-28; Romans 16:3-5.
12 I am not denying the primary leadership role of the father; I am simply underscoring the influence of the mother in the home. We will see this in the remaining verses of chapter 31.
13 See Proverbs 31:11.
14 See Proverbs 31:26.
This is the twelfth audio message for the Can We Serve Church "Cafeteria Style?" series.