We Believe, Teach, and Confess

In the Lutheran confessions, The Epitome of the Formula of Concord regularly uses the phrase “we believe, teach, and confess” to explicitly state doctrinal points held by those within the Lutheran branch of the reformation.  The authors of the document are to be commended for the regular usage of these words as they give a threefold understanding of how we are to grasp the faith and make it known.  In this post I would like to examine what it means to believe, teach, and confess.

What we believe is based on the accumulation of facts and propositions.  As data are assimilated, adjustments can and will be made in order to properly categorize the input into relevant models for further mental processing.  When the data agree with already held views, the sorting process occurs rather easily, even subliminally.  Where conflicting, however, the individual must either abandon the new data as fallacious or make shifts in order to recategorize and reestablish systems of thought.  Even when no new fact becomes available, we review our understanding according to our environment and make adjustments accordingly.  Also, because belief is individual, there can be as many variations of comprehension and opinion as there are combinations of stimuli.  In order to establish a consistent system, a focused, disciplined pattern of instruction orients the person through a combination of truth claims and conclusions—one building on another.  As the individual grasps the concepts, the mind is ordered accordingly, so that new data and stimuli are more properly evaluated.

Belief systems manifest themselves in the way we order our lives and interact with one another.  The interactions teach, both implicitly and explicitly, what the beliefs are.  The setting is of no consequence.  Whether a teacher-student setting or a conversation, beliefs are communicated.  The instructor (i.e., the one communicating beliefs) will offer what has been learned through a combination of formal instruction and experience.  It is the former that should be prominent when laying down precepts, while the latter is useful for example or application.  This is an important distinction.  The reverse leads to unreasoned (and unreasonable) thinking, therefore instruction is be rooted in a framework serving as the reference point from which the data and concepts flow.  In a codified form, this framework digests and systematizes the body of knowledge from an objective base.  Multiple professional fields utilize such documents to standardize their bodies of knowledge for future instruction and reference.  These bodies of knowledge are created collaboratively by experts in their respective fields as standard works.

Christianity has a body of knowledge that is similarly assembled in that it has multiple writers that added their works over time, however a key difference is in the direct hand of God as Author and Editor overseeing the entire project.  The Lord revealed Himself at the beginning, and as time wore on, further revealed His nature, immediate plans, and future hope.  This historical backdrop,though appropriate for revealing the story of man’s redemption in Christ, requires those who understanding this unfolding aspect to accurately teach what the Almighty had given and to Whom and what He was pointing.  The final product is a largely narrative recounting of a Divine hand moving man toward a final end of full and complete reconciliation, restoration, and renewal of all things in Christ.

Because of Scripture’s narrative nature, men have attempted to assemble concise statements as useful tools for both learning and communicating the faith.  In the time of the early church, three were written that continue regular use today: Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed.  These creedal formulae range in length depending on the degree of specificity needed to ensure understanding and clarity of the subject matter and would later be incorporated into larger confessional documents.  Over time, larger confessional documents (e.g., Augsburg Confession, Westminster Confession of Faith [WCF], London Baptist Confession of Faith [LBCF]) were constructed, reflecting the framers’ understanding of Holy Writ within the context of cultural and theological struggles within the Church.  Even those denominational bodies with no stated confessional document (“no creed but the Bible” or “no creed but Christ”) operate in accord with the twentieth-century multi-volume work The Fundamentals, edited by A. C. Dixon and later by R. A. Torrey.

This does not absolve responsibility to know the Scriptures themselves.  Only by being constant and regular in their study do we maintain a steady course.  The Scriptures are the norm by which all confessions are normed (norma normans, Latin for “the norming norm”).  Confessional statements must be formed and checked against God’s word to ensure trustworthy transmission and correct understanding.  However, before the invention of the printing press, personal copies of the Bible were not available, therefore the creeds, along with liturgies and hymns, were invaluable to communicate Law and Gospel.  Even with the modern proliferation of Bible editions available today those ignorant or immature in spiritual matters need systematized collections to group the major truths of doctrine.  Similarly, those mature in the faith find the confessions and creeds useful for teaching the doctrines of God, aiding the ability to hold fast to and pass along the truth.

When Worlds Collide
While we order our belief systems to make sense of all we have received, there are times when logical contradictions arise.  Somewhere within the stream of Bible – Confession – Teaching – Belief there arises a disconnect, internally to the body of doctrine or externally through interrelation with the world, so that two or more held facts or conceptions come into conflict.  What should be a self-checking system of discipleship moves gradually off course, resulting in beliefs that do not adhere with what is taught, or teaching what is not confessed, or confessing what is not inscripturated.  Individuals and groups stray from the truth delivered to them, choosing to improve what has been given with input from paganism, naturalism, etc.  What remains is a fractured body of believers, each doing what is right in his own eyes.  While affirmations are given both to the Bible and confessional statements, individuals practice a personal religion.

In order to accommodate the individuality, denominational bodies shift their teaching to allow for the diversity of opinion.  Where a conflict arises with a confession, the document is relegated to an historical status much as a museum piece—interesting to look at, but irrelevant for the present—and where the conflict is with the Bible itself, interpretations are manufactured to soften the clear word of God in favor of the contemporary focus.  There is now no end of confusion and discord: Presbyterians jettison the WCF; Baptists ignore the LBCF; Lutherans cast off the Book of Concord; and Roman Catholics discard the canons.  This manifests itself with individuals and groups within a denominational framework advocating for positions opposed to the confessions they supposedly hold onto.

Peace for Our Time—Only in Christ
Read your confessional documents.  I am constantly surprised by those who refer to themselves as being of groups with well-defined confessions and catechisms but have never read any beyond what was required to be confirmed. Then abide by your confessional documents.  If you no longer agree, affirm the difference, leave that confessional stance, and find a group more aligned to your beliefs.  If you no longer believe in Reformed principles, go to the group most closely aligned with your principles.  Do not call yourself Reformed (or Lutheran or Baptist or whatever you are leaving).  Instead, people want to stay within their respective bodies, hoping to influence it away from its moorings.  This tactic has a storied history in Christendom.  Montanus, Arius, and Pelagius were early purveyors of new ideas within the Church who needed to be resisted.  And lest there be a bit of Pharisaical pride in the non-confessional camp for not being like “those groups” feuding over confessional statements—the “non-con” wing of Christianity seems more likely to be cock-eyed pragmatists, working toward Christian unity for the sake of unity regardless of harmful the instruction by wolves fomenting discord.

Regardless of our opinion towards confessions, read your Bible.  Listen to it being taught.  Study it in context.  Memorize it.  Bind God’s word as a sign on your hand, and let it be as frontlets between your eyes, and write it on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deut 6:8-9).  The commands of the Lord should be ubiquitous—a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psa 119:105).  Shepherds, be faithful in leading the flock to green pastures and still waters.  Make disciples: baptize and teach all that the Lord  has commanded.  We have been given a sure standard.  Believe.  Teach.  Confess.

Garbage In, Garbage Out? We Can Do Better.

In a recent episode of the “Boars in the Vineyard” podcast, one of the two pastors had to fly solo, so he decided to review the top five singles of the day in the Christian & Gospel genre of iTunes.  Those songs were:

• •  How Can It Be – Lauren Dangle
• •  Soul on Fire – Third Day
• •  Because He Lives (Amen) – Matt Maher
• •  Oceans (Where Feet May Fall) – Hillsong UNITED
• •  Greater – Mercy Me

Most of these I had heard previously, though the first was new.  While listening, my impression was that the middle selection by Matt Maher was the best lyrically.  Overall, the content demonstrated a depth of understanding about who Jesus Christ is and our position because of His sacrifice that reached far beyond what was communicated in the other four reviewed.  The lyrics can be found here.

Yes, the song is a rewrite of Bill and Gloria Gaither’s “Because He Lives.”  That is why it seems familiar, and their names are given as co-authors.  Notice though, that Maher decided to begin with a creedal affirmation in the Lord Jesus—something uncommon in Christian music—and continued with other creedal themes: original sin, resurrection, and life everlasting.  In some ways, he lyrically improved the Gaither version, but unfortunately retained the formulaic repetition to which the music industry and audience is accustomed.

What I found most interesting in the comparison was that Matt Maher is a practicing Roman Catholic.  He shamed the content of the avowed Evangelicals also reviewed.  While someone might make a case that this was accomplished only because he began with a song written by an Evangelical, I only need to point to Maher’s song “Christ Is Risen” to put this to rest.  His music has substance.

You might ask, “How is that possible?  Roman Catholics don’t have the truth.”  What they have and take seriously are the early creeds coupled with deliberate, systematic catechesis.  Church groups and denominations that eschew creeds, confessions, and catechesis tend to rely on a hodgepodge of teaching hoping that something sticks.  Those that espouse the same are beginning with a better system of instruction, unfortunately, many (most?) have decided to relegate these to the attic to dust off periodically as curios of antiquity or the trash heap for final disposal.  We should not be surprised by Matt Maher.  He is the product of systematic instruction: what goes in, comes out.  Or as Jesus Himself put it:

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.  (Lu 6:45)

What we are taught as important readily spills forth from our lips, pens, and song lyrics.

Christians are called to disciple nations by baptizing and teaching all that Jesus taught us (Mt 28:19).*  Pray that the Church reaffirms its high and holy calling to faithfully instruct the next generation and reclaims the bounteous treasure that has been entrusted to faithful men, that both inside and outside the gathering of its people each Sunday, Christ is effectively and rightly made known.


*  He is the Word of God incarnate, thus making Him the source, subject, and object of all Scripture.

Now Let's Get This Straight. Let's Get It Clear.

Title taken from Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee.

In a previous post, I shared the requirement the Lord gave for the future kings of Israel to hand copy His Law (most likely the text of Deuteronomy), so that they have intimate understanding of who God is, their unique calling as a nation, and the expectation placed on each and every person in the nation. As application, I recommended that spiritual leaders in each local assembly do the same to see how Jesus has fulfilled the righteous requirements and how that applies to our life in Christ.

Later in Deuteronomy, Moses takes steps for all the people to take in the Law and aid in its remembrance by recording the Law, giving it to the priests, and requiring the priests to read it before all as they are gathered together:

And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lᴏʀᴅ your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” (Deut 31:10-13)

What are the elements of this command and applications for us today?

Place
The men of Israel were required to assemble at a prescribed location:

Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lᴏʀᴅ your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. (Deut 16:16)

At the time of writing, God had promised His name at a particular place (Deut 12:11), but the exact location had not yet been made evident. Israel was not in the land. After the land had been conquered, the tabernacle was set up in Shiloh by Joshua (Joshua 18:1). Here God would be with His people (as He promised) until worship was moved into Jerusalem.

The assembly of the Lord’s people is no longer in a physical locality, but continues to be where He has promised to be—in the midst of His people. As those who are called out from the world, yet called into an entity (body of Christ), we are to function together where Jesus has promised to be forever (Matt 28:20)—the head both universally (Eph 1:22-23) and locally (1 Cor 12:27) in each assembly.

Time
The Feast of Booths was the last of the three annual feasts, and at this time, every seventh year, all debtors were released from their creditors.

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lᴏʀᴅ’s release has been proclaimed. (Deut 15:1-2)

The early Christians continued to meet according to their accustomed Jewish routine: weekly on the Sabbath and daily, both as a matter of course (Acts 2:42) and for the hours of prayer (Acts 3:1). Eventually, the practice became one weekly meeting shifting to the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). The regular gathering was deemed vital for the growth and well-being of the body. Ceasing that practice notified other Christians that the attendant was no longer being considered a fellow believer.

Worship
At the location would God place His name, the men were to assemble for three particular feasts picturing their relationship with God. During all three, sacrifice and other forms of worship occurred.

They shall not appear before the Lᴏʀᴅ empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God that he has given you. (Deut 16:16-17)

The Lord worked in His people through His word and blessed them monetarily or agriculturally, so each would offer a gift accordingly. God had promised to bless abundantly as the people were obedient, therefore these offerings should never be an issue.

In addition, worship is designed to be corporate. Under the Mosaic covenant, there were at least three present—God, priest, worshiper—but most of the offerings were shared (i.e., fellowship, communion) with as many of the priesthood as would go around, so that all might share and none be wasted. Likewise, all that gathered were expected to join in the praise. Consider David’s words:

I will bless the Lᴏʀᴅ at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lᴏʀᴅ;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lᴏʀᴅ with me,
    and let us exalt his name together! (Psa 34:1-3)

While the Lord had dealt individually with David, the call was for all the people to enter into the rejoicing. All are expected to gladly and willingly take part.

While we no longer offer tithes or animal sacrifices, the people of God are admonished to offer sacrifices of person (Rom 12:1), purse (Phil 4:18), and praise (Heb 13:15). It is these we give to our God because He so richly gives to us each Lord’s Day in His presence and every other day as we live before Him.

Teaching
An individual was unable to secure a copy of the Law because so few were available. The people relied on regular instruction and proper example in order to pass these things down without a personal document. As a result, individual study was impossible. The most logical approach was to teach the heads of the homes and have them pass it along to further generations.

During the release year, the Book of the Law was brought out and read in order to both teach and remind of God’s person and work with the idea that He be feared, and as a result be properly revered and worshiped. This assisted the fathers in their duty to teach their children and establish His word in their homes.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut 6:6-9)

This discipleship program worked well as long as the priesthood were faithful to scripture. When they cut corners or otherwise failed, the families broke down as well.

The church today has no less of a mandate to accurately and faithfully communicate God’s word. Those with oversight are to faithfully feed the flock as good under-shepherds (1 Pet 5:1-4) and entrust the teaching to faithful men (2 Tim 2:1-2), assisting heads of homes to be teaching the next generation. To ensure thorough instruction and reminder, a regular curricular cycle should be in place to teach the whole counsel of God.

Conclusion
When the people returned from the Babylonian captivity, after the temple and city walls were rebuilt, the people asked Ezra

to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lᴏʀᴅ had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. (Neh 8:1-3)

The Feast of Booths properly began on the fifteenth of the seventh month (Lev 23:34), but instead of waiting those two weeks, the people demonstrated their contrite hearts by asking for it early. Notice especially that the people were attentive “from early morning until midday” as they were hungry to receive what had been missing for decades. It brought both pain and refreshment to their souls.

This famine of God’s word came about because it had been snubbed and disregarded. The shepherds of Israel were guilty of dereliction of duty in making it correctly known. His shepherds today must remain faithful to teach, reprove, correct, and train in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). They are those who are to instruct and guide the sheep.
 Regular, faithful instruction builds up the body of Christ more than teaching on trendy topics or stroking the egos of the hearers. We are called to know and understand what God has for us in Christ. May we be passing this along.

God's Word Does Its Work

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
    and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
    giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.  (Isa 55:10-11)

To “believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy [Catholic] Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” is to recognize and confess the power of the external Word.  It means that one engages the people of the world with this belief through the only way in which this belief is made possible—by preaching, teaching, proclaiming, confessing, and sharing the truth of the Word in their lives where they are and out of love for them.…

To preach and teach Christ crucified and risen is to pierce an empty and dead world with the resurrection and the life.  To proclaim Christ is to let his reconciling truth pervade what was once meaningless.  To speak the Word is to bring hope and purpose to lives filled with empty entertainment, disguised despair, and aimless drifting.  Sooner or later, The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and Scrubs will lose their ability to distract wondering minds and sustain wandering hearts.  But even with the TV blaring, the Word of Christ is still strong enough to speak through the empty and fading amusement.

When the church (pastors and royal priesthood) are unwavering in the proclaiming and teaching of His Word, the Lord is unwavering in His promises of grace.  And those promises are readily confessed in the third article of the Apostles’ Creed—the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Lucas Woodford, Great Commission, Great Confusion, or Great Confession?, 160-1

Disjointed or Besieged: The Effect of False Teaching

Glenn Chatfield has posted a quote from Kenneth Wuest on how following false teaching is like being incapacitated from a dislocated joint.  This reminded of a podcast I heard with another good illustration of how false teachers and teaching affect us.

Imagine ancient warfare where there were walled cities and the enemy would come and surround the city, lay up siege works, and wait letting no one in or out.  The attacker's intention was to starve the residents to the point of submission before running out of their own stores.  During an effective siege, conditions inside the walls would become dire.  People sought anything to fill their stomachs.  Scripture relates how during a siege of Jerusalem, Rabshakeh shouts to the inhabitants that they were doomed to consume their own waste (2 Ki 18:27)—this from experience in siege warfare.  Another scriptural instance is Ben-Hadad's siege of Samaria during which one mother swindled another into eating the latter's son as a shared meal (2 Ki 6:28-29).

Satan attempts the same in us with false teachers.  Their instruction cuts us off from the pure milk of the Word with the intent to starve out what is true.  We become spiritually emaciated and become willing to take in whatever appears nourishing, though it may have no nutritional value at all.

The remedy is to be strong in the Lord in the full armor of God (Eph 6:10-20).  The battle is ever before us, so we must remain vigilant, and holding fast to the truth.

The Test of Relevantism

Mark Kalthoff has written an article defending the importance of liberal arts in a well-rounded education.  He makes the following observation concerning American academic culture.

We live in a culture of "relevantism."  Nearly every student, it seems, arrives on campus primed to ask, "How is this course, this assignment, this lecture relevant?  What can I do with it?  Tell me its immediate practical use."  Such questions arise because too many Americans know nothing of the old distinction between true education and mere training. *

The mentality of "relevantism" is not unique to academia but flourishes in the Church.  Pastors have recognized this shift and are increasingly shifting content from pulpit and classroom to deliver practical application useful for life in the church body or conducting oneself in the world.  In order to facilitate this change, doctrine is not given a priority except as it might bolster an application being presented.  Exegetical content give way to the thematic.  Categories of doctrine and theology become at best useful descriptions of what a local assembly or denomination holds as corporately true, though relegated to a status of sentimentality for individuals to pull out when opining about better past times but not able to immediately address pressing issues of the day.  The fruit of this culture is a group mentality that theology is boring and doctrine divides.  The overseers in a local body have a vested interest in resisting this wave of pragmatism and instead teaching the scriptures as they present themselves.  Doctrine and theology are not the bane of Christian life but vital instruments the Holy Spirit uses in us to effect godliness and repel false teaching.

Kalthoff warns against the attitude of immediate usefulness by reminding the reader that this is not the best gauge:

In view of this distinction between mere training and true education, I propose that submitting everything to a crass "relevantism test," the test that first asks, "What can I do with it?" is to ask the wrong question.  It is like asking about the uses for a newborn baby.  When immediate usefulness becomes the measure of value, we risk discarding things whose worth may be inestimable.  Further, it happens to be the case that things pursued for their own sake without regard to their practical utility quite often have the happy consequence of being useful in ways not originally perceived. †

Practical application has its place in Christian education, but we err when practicality is the totality of  education without establishing a foundation and building the superstructure within which the application is founded.  The usefulness or appropriateness of the basic instruction is often not immediately discernible.  Many years may go by before usefulness is realized. ‡  Both the instructor and student (or in Christian terms: disciple-maker and disciple) need to have the long view in mind.  As the information is assimilated, logical conclusions can be formed and used in appropriate times and seasons.

How does this instruction work itself out in the regular meetings of believers?  Ready-Fire-Aim tactics will not work.  Instruction needs to be consistent and committed, teaching the whole counsel of God and the plan of redemption.  Bible books should be covered as well as major theological sections (i.e., Christology, Hamartiology, Soteriology, et al) using a multi-year plan.  Will people balk at this approach and call out for something more "tangible" for today?  Yes, they will, but like any educator knows, the uneducated do not know what is essential, so understanding of the need must be integrated into the curriculum.

Someone once asked me if I want a church to be a mini-seminary.  No, I want believers in my assembly without correct doctrinal knowledge to properly handle the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15) and be firmly grounded, even if we have to teach "boring" things to get there.


* Mark A. Kalthoff, "The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge: Defending Classical Liberal Education from Melanchthon to Newman," Logia, Vol 21, No. 2, p. 51.
† Ibid.
‡ For instance, I now wish that more American citizens had paid attention to their instruction in American Government—or were even taught it.

Following the Pattern of Sound Words

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  2 Timothy 1:13

It behooves those who preside over the churches, every day but especially on Lord’s days, to teach … words of piety and of right religion, gathering out of holy Scripture meditations and determinations of the truth, and not going beyond the limits now fixed, nor varying from the tradition of the God-bearing fathers.  And if any controversy in regard to Scripture shall have been raised, let them not interpret it otherwise than as the lights and doctors of the church in their writings have expounded it, and in those let them glory rather than in composing things out of their own heads, lest through their lack of skill they may have departed from what was fitting.  For through the doctrine of the aforesaid fathers, the people coming to the knowledge of what is good and desirable, as well as what is useless and to be rejected, will remodel their life for the better, and not be led by ignorance, but applying their minds to the doctrine, they will take heed that no evil befall them and work out their salvation in fear of impending punishment.

Canon 19, Council in Trullo, A.D. 692

Hold Fast to Scripture Faithfully Delivered

Newly devised human traditions that claim to be divine revelation but disavow the apostolic witness must be gently and charitably resisted. * They must not be confused with the divinely revealed good news received from the apostles.  "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ" (Col 22:8; see also 1 Tim 1:4).  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they neglected the commandment of God "in order to maintain the tradition of men" (Mark 7:8; Tertullian, Praescr. 7).  The godly transmission of the memory of Jesus Christ must be maintained accurately and faithfully, since it is the living memory of God's own coming to humanity (John Chrysostom, Comm. Gal. 1.6).

Thomas C. Oden, Evangelicals and Nicene Faith, p. 10

*  Dr. Oden is being quite gracious in his approach.  There are times when a right sharp rebuke is necessary (Tit 1:11, 13).

Baptizing and Teaching—Disciplemaking Calls for Both

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:19-20)

This is one of the most familiar passages in the Bible with but one imperative—make disciples.  Yet in spite of this overt simplicity there seems to be the greatest difficulty in following the command.  Where does the difficulty lie?

The issue cannot be lack of authorization.  According to Jesus' own words above, all authority is his.  He then says go therefore (or possibly better translated therefore in your going) which acts as rhetorical device to say that the the authority vested in him is now being conferred on his followers.

The issue cannot be lack of clarity.  A sentence diagram shows the following:

Image from Issues, Etc. Journal, Fall 2011

Notice that there are two parts to the mandate:

        1) Baptizing in the name of the triune God
        2) Teaching all that Jesus has commanded

First, baptism is inextricably connected with salvation in relation to repentance and forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Pet 3:21), belief (Acts 8:12), reception of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17; 10:44-48), and identification with Christ (Acts 10:48; 19:5; Rom 6:3-4; 1 Cor 1:13; Gal 3:27).  Teaching without baptism, then, serves only to make informed heathens, not Christians.  Without the baptismal waters, there can be no objective connection with Jesus our Lord.  Am I saying that someone who believes without baptism cannot be saved?  No.  I am making the case that those who state they believe and have an opportunity to be baptized in some manner but do not take it are likely not believers.

Second, there must be an active educational relationship to impart knowledge beginning with the rudiments of the gospel.  Maturity in Christ attained by the constant intake of God's word.  It works in us to make us competent and thoroughly equipped (2 Tim 3:16-17).  Baptism without teaching does no more than provide some identification with an ideal that is to be experienced with the intended aspiration of a lofty or laudable personal, subjective goal, thereby becoming self-fulfilled or self-condemned, depending on one's conscience.  Again, this person is not a Christian.  Am I saying this person is not a Christian if he understands and believes the gospel?  No.  I am saying that the gospel forms the very base of all that comes later.  If that person does not desire and/or strive to learn more, he is likely not a believer.

Up to this point, my complaint has been with the person on the receiving end, however there must be those who are actively baptizing and teaching.  For the person rightfully recognized to baptize to not do so is tantamount to unbelief.  Likewise, every person has opportunity to teach what God has so freely given in the revelation of himself and the fullness of redemption in Christ.  The incumbency on each Christian is to teach another of the manifold grace of God.  Am I saying the person not teaching another is not a Christian?  No.  I am saying that any baptized person who is able to communicate God's word and will not pass along its truth to another is at the very least lazy and probably not a believer.

With a clear command and pattern for action, why is it that so many American church groups minimize, if not abandon, what the early church held to be the only baptismal formula?  What was once embraced as required for full rights of fellowship and worship in the local assembly has been replaced with "Come and join the experience."  The Church Growth philosophy has been found to be too thin a model to form spiritual growth.  Some who promulgate this model have insisted it is the correct direction needing but a tweak here and there.  Others in the same camp have turned to the postmodern mantra of subjective individualism: in any gatherings of believers, do what helps you feel and live better.  Let's just get together to meet felt needs and show how to have better morals.  And each of the above meet weekly without addressing the underlying problem of sin and the work of a Savior for that sin.  Where will these man-made paths end?  "Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities!  All is vanity."  (Ec 1:2)

Some have already understood that the aforementioned paths have no true content and are searching for the pure milk and solid food in the sound teaching of scripture.  They are desiring to be disciples in the biblical sense.  How are they discovered?  Ask them.  I regularly do so in my own assembly concerning a person's spiritual intake.  Some do not realize their lack of growth and are satisfied with spiritual bonbons that do nothing but give false comfort.  Those that are concerned appreciate the inquiry and regularly reveal that they want another to help along the way.  Because there are not enough men and women taking on the mantle of teacher to these, they struggle in starts and fits before finding solid footing, often by leaving their church for another.
 With the need so great and the fields being white unto harvest, * let us plead for the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers.  For those laborers working on their own tasks rather than being engaged in what the Lord instructed, "cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded," (Jas 4:8) and make disciples the way Jesus instructed.

*  Notice I use this in relation to disciple-making and not evangelism only.  The distinction is important.

Test the Prophets

And any prophet who teaches the truth, but does not live according to his teaching is to be considered a false prophet.  (Didache 11.10)

The final note is interesting in that it sets the actual walking of the Way as a test for anyone who acts as a prophet.  The correct teaching is not enough in itself, it must be backed up by the correct form of life.  The Didache has a bald statement intended as a test for the community to use to distinguish visitors in two groups: false and genuine. *

Visitors are not the only people who need to be examined: wolves, goatherds, and other self-promoters are a "dime-a-dozen."  Fellow believers, do the hard work of discernment.  Elders, do the hard work of guarding the flock.


* Thomas O'Laughlin, The Didache: A Window on the Earliest Christians, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 118

Got Old Testament?

Last night I finished a Bible study in Hebrews with a brother, Randy, I have been discipling who is a fairly new believer.  His wife has confessed Christ for many years, and when he started following, she encouraged him to read and study that book.  She loved the book and knew he would, too.  He did—in spades.

Most reading this blog will know the structure of Hebrews with its use of the Law and Christ's exceedingly abundant fulfillment of all it represented.  After we were done, Randy commented on how important it was to know the Old Testament to understand the New.  His experience as a Roman Catholic was for the teaching to dwell solely on NT with various smatterings of Psalms and well-known stories as moral examples.  I told him that evangelicals at-large are not much different. Sure, there are some denominations and individual churches who understand the importance of rooting Christian teaching in sound biblical theology and the progressive revelation of redemptive history, but my experience is that Christians are so intent on "believing in Jesus" that they ignore why the incarnation and his atoning work were necessary, much less their full import.

Why do I mention all that?  This morning I read a book review of Reclaiming the Old Testament for Christian Preaching by my good friend¹ at Pastoral Musings.  This offering from InterVarsity does not address the detail of each genre but the importance and method of preaching/teaching it to believers and making it applicable to today.  If the review is accurate, you will want to secure a copy of this for whomever is in a teaching role in your church, or get it for your church library so it can be shared.

Exodus 21 through Deuteronomy 33 appear to be dry reading because they are not taught or are not made applicable.  Let's change that.  I am currently leading a study with three other men through Deuteronomy.  They find the time rewarding and are putting together the puzzle pieces I mention above concerning Christ's work and our response to it.  The same can happen in your church.


¹ He acknowledges my internet presence.

Hymnals

Concordia Publishing House has a promotion going on entitled Hymnal in every Home.  The idea is to place a hymnal in every Lutheran's home as a resource for family devotions and teaching.

I applaud CPH for making the effort.  Every home should have a hymnal that is used regularly.  Throughout history, men of God were noted for always having a Bible and hymnal as their regular reading and teaching material.  They took seriously the following passages from Paul.

Ephesians 5:18-21 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Colossians 3:16-17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The need to use music for teaching was clear to the early church as noted in the following excerpts.  First from Clement of Alexandria:

In the present instance He is a guest with us. For the apostle adds again, “Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to God.”  And again, “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and His Father.”  This is our thankful revelry.  And even if you wish to sing and play to the harp or lyre, there is no blame.  Thou shalt imitate the righteous Hebrew king in his thanksgiving to God.  “Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; praise is comely to the upright,” says the prophecy.  “Confess to the Lord on the harp; play to Him on the psaltery of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song.”  And does not the ten-stringed psaltery indicate the Word Jesus, who is manifested by the element of the decad?  And as it is befitting, before partaking of food, that we should bless the Creator of all; so also in drinking it is suitable to praise Him on partaking of His creatures.  For the psalm is a melodious and sober blessing.  The apostle calls the psalm “a spiritual song.”

The Instructor, Book II, cap. 4.

Then another from Tertullian in relation to godly marriage:

Where the flesh is one, one is the spirit too.  Together they pray, together prostrate themselves, together perform their fasts; mutually teaching, mutually exhorting, mutually sustaining.  Equally (are they) both (found) in the Church of God; equally at the banquet of God; equally in straits, in persecutions, in refreshments.…Between the two echo psalms and hymns; and they mutually challenge each other which shall better chant to their Lord.  Such things when Christ sees and hears, He joys.  To these He sends His own peace. Where two (are), there withal (is) He Himself.  Where He (is), there the Evil One is not.

To His Wife, Book II

Lastly, I recommend this homily by John Chrysostom on Colossians 3:16-17.

I have hymnals of various denominations in my house—Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Plymouth Brethren to name some.  There are hymns used by all of Protestantism, while others are unique to a particular group.  Christian hymnody is broad and rich.  Local churches would do well to investigate the breadth and depth of what has been given to the church universal and make it their own.

What Does Our Music Teach?

1 Chronicles 25:1-8

David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. The list of those who did the work and of their duties was:

   Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah, sons of Asaph,

       under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king.

   Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah,

       and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun,

       who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord.

   Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth,

       Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi,

       Hothir, Mahazioth. All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer, according to

       the promise of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and

       three daughters. They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the

       house of the Lord with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God.

Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king. The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful, was 288. And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike.

The above section of holy writ can be easily skimmed for the facts concerning how the musicians were divided into groups for the temple service and missing an important element in their duties. Notice that these three groups were not simply three praise bands singing with the idea of creating a worshipful atmosphere or feeling in the temple. No, these musicians had a higher calling: they were prophets.

The duty of a prophet was (and is) to utter whatever the Lord wanted said. It dealt with the current state of affairs, looked forward to something future, or sometimes both in the same proclamation. How does that fit here? King David rightly understood that a primary use of music is teaching. The temple musicians were given the task of properly teaching God's word through song, probably through use of psalms and also other songs available but not canonized. Whatever the source, we can assume that every song had correct doctrine. By learning songs with incorrect doctrine, the people of Israel would have a skewed understanding of God and the scriptures and how to properly approach either in daily life. The doctrine was as important, if not more so, than the experience of worship.

This is no different in the New Testament. Paul understands the importance of music and desires that Christians should

[Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart (Ephesians 5:19)

and

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

Contemporary Christian praise and worship music takes a different view. Many adjectives are used to describe artists, albums, and songs. In print one can read the words "Spirit-driven," "vertical," "fresh," "new," "personal," "soul-searching," "worshipful," and other such descriptors. Admittedly, the bulk of these are written to market the product and to pique interest in the consumer, but take another look at those words. If these words are an honest appraisal of the content, the only goal of this music is to make people feel good. I have nothing against the aesthetics of music. When listening to or singing out a song, I enjoy how a songwriter and composer meld their crafts into a single work of art that touches the emotions. My complaint here is that music purportedly designed to praise and worship has as its goal the glory of the experience rather than the glory of God.

May I suggest that churches make an honest appraisal of what they are teaching through their music and place a priority on sound doctrine.

Sharing the Word of Truth

There is a blog entry at CyberBrethren directed to would-be preachers. Its main points relate to anyone desiring to share the glories of Christ via the word of God.

Biblical Teaching Methods

The pastoral epistles hold a wealth of information concerning practical theology. One of the nuggets to be mined is the proper way to teach with Paul giving several examples in the three letters of who, what, and how to teach. Two in 1 Timothy stood out recently because of their contrast.

Command and teach these things. (4:11)
Teach and urge these things. (6:2)

There are some immediate comments that can be made. For instance, these are imperatives Timothy is expected to obey. Next, the commands are in different order signifying different emphases. Thirdly, there are multiple items to be taught. Lastly, there is a modifier which helps us understand how the teaching is to be done. Now let us put these back into their respective context.

Paul begins chapter four by warning that some will depart from the faith and teach bad doctrine. Notice the characteristics listed:

• Devoted to "deceitful spirits and teaching of demons" (4:1)
• Seared consciences (4:2)
  
• Teaching equated with "irreverent, silly myths" (4:7)

The examples of bad doctrine are noteworthy as they are still being touted today as laudable Christian virtue--celibacy and abstinence from certain foods (4:3). These are not usually on any modern list of doctrine to condemn, yet here they are. But I digress. Rather Timothy is to be "trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine you have followed" (4:6) and to train himself in godliness (4:7) indicating a proper mixture of sound instruction and proper application. This two-part warning and adhering is what Timothy is to command, and in the commanding to teach, so it may be done correctly.

The other teaching imperative comes at the end of a section dealing with Christians and their relationships in the church. Firstly, there is instruction on how to treat fellow people of differing genders and age; then follows a long section dealing with the proper recompense of older believers--both widows and elders. Paul goes on to instruct how to deal with an elder in persistent sin. Lastly, he deals with those believers who are slaves. Each of these three major categories of humanity (older women, older men, and slaves) are legitimately outside of Timothy's sphere of authority. As a younger man, he would be expected to give due honor to his elders, and there would certainly be no external claim of authority over another person's slave. Because of this, the instruction to Timothy is altered: first he teaches, then he urges. The word urge is interesting in that it is the same word used of the Holy Spirit and translated "helper" (παράκλητος). It is the idea of one who comes along side. Here the influence is not one of direct authority but of gentle prodding, so that the teaching might be carried forth.

It is good to remember that each teaching moments carries with it certain responsibilities for proper technique. To correct bad doctrine, speak with authority and explain why. When dealing with people, speak the truth and gently guide into proper application.

Steel Toes Required

There are books that should carry a warning that steel-tipped footwear are necessary because the author will stomp on your toes in grand fashion. I am still hobbling from a passage read yesterday from D. A. Carson's book, A Call to Spiritual Reformation.

I worry about the rising number who, when asked where and how they think they might best serve, respond with something like this: "Well, I think I would like to teach somewhere. Every time I have taught, people have told me I have done a pretty good job. I get a tremendous sense of fulfillment out of teaching the Bible. I think I could be satisfied teaching Scripture."

How pathetic....In any Christian view of life, self-fulfillment must never be permitted to become the controlling issue. The issue is service, the service of real people. The question is, "How can I be most useful?, not, How can I feel most useful?

Those paragraphs struck me deeply because I had wanted to "teach somewhere" and "be satisfied teaching Scripture." Where is my source of contentment? Of course there is a difference, I am twice the age of a typical MDiv graduate. That alone adds credence to finishing my years teaching others the Word of God in an academic setting.

While academia has a certain pull for me (maybe a part-time position?), I greatly enjoy teaching in the context of the local church. And truth be known, that is actually a better setting for this ministry, because you can deal with the student as a disciple rather than as a student in a program.