All Councils "May Err and Many Have Erred"

So says the Westminster Confession of Faith (section 31.3), one of the key confessions of Reformed theology. This realization concerning the fallibility of human instruction goes along with ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda (“The Church reformed, always reforming”) to remind us of the church's need to constantly seek the truth of Scripture and never allow our flawed interpretations to override that truth.

Martin Luther realized that when he nailed the Ninety-Five Theses up on the door of Wittenberg Church 492 years ago today. Tradition and the wisdom of men supported indulgences, but the Gospel of Grace condemned it. We should similarly stand against the wisdom of men today, insomuch as it stands against the Gospel and the freedom that comes through union with Christ.

To celebrate the 500th birthday of John Calvin, which occurred earlier this year, Open for Business has offered varying perspectives on the Reformation over the past few weeks. With today's piece written by Steve Braun, the trilogy is complete:

• Biblical Challenges to Church Leadership by yours truly.
• Reformation Day Is a Stupid Holiday by Jason Kettinger.
• Ever Reforming by Steve Braun.

If you're hungry for more, you might also want to check out a very fine piece I stumbled upon over on the PC(USA) web site:

Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda. This motto calls us to something more radical than we have imagined. It challenges both liberal and conservative impulses and the habits and agendas we have lately fallen into. It brings a prophetic critique to our cultural accommodation—either to the past or to the present—and calls us to communal and institutional repentance. It invites us, as people who worship and serve a living God, to be open to being “re-formed” according to the Word of God and the call of the Spirit.

That is definitely the lesson we should take away from Reformation Day.

Tullian's Take

I don't claim to be well versed enough in the situation to make a clear statement on who is right in the Coral Ridge conflict, but I like what Tullian Tchividjian said in an op-ed published in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

Finally, whenever you see any of us who claim to be “Christ followers” behaving in a manner that is unlike Jesus, please forgive us. And please let that be a reflection on us, and not on Him. As imperfect people, we will continue to let you down and disappoint you, but Jesus will never let you down—he will never disappoint you. This conflict has “given the world the justification they're looking for to disbelieve the gospel”, and I am sorry.

Very true.

Preparing to Preach

I'm trying my first attempt at preaching a Psalm this week. I'm preaching from Psalm 54, which is related to either 1 Samuel 23 or 26. Here's the text of the Psalm (ESV):

TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. A MASKIL OF DAVID, WHEN THE ZIPHITES WENT AND TOLD SAUL, “IS NOT DAVID HIDING AMONG US?”

O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

I'm excited.

Secrets and Shadows

My prayer tonight is that truth can be removed from the shadows of secrecy, for it is not meant to be in the shadows of darkness. May light fill the darkness and expose it. For truth does not fail in the light; it needs no protection from the light. O God, let your light shine so brightly that truth may triumph and end discord.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1.5-7 NIV)

The Covenant Community

One of the first things that is emphasized at Covenant Seminary is the Covenant community. And by that, I am not referring to the students and professors at Covenant (though they are a part), but the one universal Church. We don't talk about this enough, even though beyond his son, the community is one of God's greatest gifts to his people.

In individualist America — or really, simply, the individualist world of today — it seems unnatural to worry too much about community. Doubly so to applaud and yearn for it. But, it is natural and, more importantly, it is Biblical. The community, the Kingdom of God, is not only something we talk about and look forward to as a future hope, but a present reality. It is the communion of saints, living and dead, who hold us up and show us the way. It is the body of Christ.

Sometimes, it exemplifies God's love (as in Acts 6.1-7), such as when the church sets apart people to care for the downtrodden. Sometimes, the community stumbles terribly, as the Corinthian church did. But, it is always an undeniably special blessing. Even with regards to seriously messed up Corinth, Paul offered sincere thanks for the people and the fellowship established there by the Spirit (1 Cor. 1.4-9).

During my first year in seminary, I found I was repeatedly assigned projects that sent me to the book of Hebrews, a book I had far less familiarity with than I should have. It has become a very refreshing book to me, because it reminds me of the support God offers us through his covenant community. We do not run the race alone, but with a faithful cloud of witnesses provided by a gracious God (Heb. 12.1-3).

Seminary is a hugely humbling, sometimes painful experience. That's why more than ever, upon entering it, I needed those words. Those experiences remind one to lean on and rejoice in the support that God has provided in his community. And, when things are going well, all the more to rejoice in his bountiful provision.

A few weeks ago, I was having coffee with a dear friend from seminary. We talked about this very subject and rejoiced over the community God gives us. We both noted how we had come to realize how important the close friendships we have from seminary are as we seek to do ministry. They insure we will always have people to turn to for prayer and advice. I am awed by the amazing support God offers me — my family, my mentors, my church family, my friends — and how he has worked in sometimes surprising ways to place them in my life. Why should I receive such wonderful blessings?

Of course, this extends as well to those who went before us — both in Scripture and church history — leaving treasure troves of faithful acts and writings to encourage us to faith. We would be remiss to forget those whom God has sent before, scouts leading the way as we move forward. God sends us out to do his work, but not without enforcements.

Sure, everyone yearns for the rightness of Eden. Everyone yearns for the day when God will restore the world to his creational intent. But, in the mean time, it is pure joy that we experience a very real part of that intent through the communion of saints.

Scriptural Authority and Challenges to It

One of the interesting things about the Bible is that it never is keen on presenting authorities as those who are always right. As a matter of fact, we see repeatedly that the worst offenses, the worst problems — the problems that lead the Israelites into spiritual and physical wildernesses — come from those in authority.

Even two of the best leaders, the two humans perhaps closest to God, Moses and David, committed grave offenses. The interesting thing is that at these times of failure it was appropriate, indeed, obedient for the godly to challenge the wrongs of their leaders. The prophetic voice, it is clear, is not the voice of a fortuneteller but the voice of moral judgment from God. Given the limited access to the Spirit in the Old Testament times, necessarily that place of judgment was limited to a few appointed prophets.

The prophetic mantle is more widely spread within the church than in the Old Testament, like all of the offices bestowed by the Holy Spirit and ultimately worn by our Covenant representative, Jesus. It is in this mode that Peter and John rightly note their allegiance not to the authorities over them but to God (Acts 4).

Of course, the Bible emphasizes the importance of leadership, but as each believer is called into leadership roles at various times and seasons, it is imperative that we remember that we are fallible — and it is not wrong for those under us to call us out. Insubordination is rarely a problem in the Bible, but abuse of power is a major problem. A leader who worries about insubordination ought to instead worry about him or herself. Leaders in the church should seek to foster an environment that is open and honest, that encourages challenges to their actions.

Obviously, these challenges need to be Biblical and respectful, but so long as they are, leaders need to practice control over typical human reflexes that might bring a chill to openness. All the more so as one goes higher up in leadership. The power is too great, the temptation to use that power too strong; for our own good, we should be checked constantly by people unafraid to say, “no.”

When leaders seek too much power it is like those who misread the Bible's commands for husbands and wives. When people read Ephesians 5, too often the focus is set on how wives are to submit, but with little care for v. 25, which gives husbands the command to love their wives as Christ loved the church — that is, unto willing death. If the husband is not perfect in that, how dare he concern himself with whether his wife submits? First, he ought to work to be more like Christ with fear and trembling.

Clearly, any leader that tries to argue for authority in sich from the Bible is missing the point. And, when that occurs, it is right that godly people such as Martin Luther and John Calvin sought reformation… divorce from those doing wrong. Ultimately, Biblical authority means to represent to the people the truths of the Bible and to live those truths as well as a human can. When leaders fail to do so, and fail to be willing to concede their failures, that authority is forfeit.

As Peter and John said in Acts 4.19, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.”

Meditation

HE IS RISEN!

I've been meaning to post more regularly on my blog, but the last few weeks have been — to put it mildly — rough. Both with my schedule at seminary as I've been juggling five group projects and some other matters I can't hash out in full just now, it's been a long, hard haul.

In any case, I meant to post a link yesterday to my annual Good Friday meditation. Resuming a tradition of past years, I was blessed with the opportunity to deliver it as part of the Good Friday service at St. Paul's. The link goes to an adaptation of that meditation into essay form.

But, that was yesterday. The grave has not only been filled, but also emptied. It is Easter morning. “O Death, where is thy sting?” Christ the Lord is RISEN today. Alleluia! Amen!

Happy Easter, my friends!

Liturgy, the Husk and the Worm

If you were to go by the general wisdom of American Christianity today, traditional worship is dead. To reach people today, one needs to dump the symbolism and rituals of the past for worship bands and other “contemporary” components — the symbolism and rituals, perhaps, of the present.

Is this really the case?

I don't think so. The problem with the conventional wisdom is that conventional wisdom generally runs behind the times. It was true that over the past few decades, contemporary worship has become the way to draw people. But contemporary worship, much like the Evangelical traditional service of the twentieth century, is really modernist at its core. It's functional. Everything that doesn't serve a purpose, the thought goes, ought to be removed. Next, add new stuff to serve new purposes (e.g. be marketable) and that will reach people. And it worked for younger Baby Boomers and older Generation Xers.

The thing I'm noticing as part of the so-called Generation Y (but on the edge of it, and also well connected with the parts of Generation X) is that the whole idea rings hollow. I talk to friends who are unchurched, and to the extent church intrigues them at all, they want the sacredness of the past. They want the meat of traditional theology, too. Same goes with many of my churched friends, even ones who seem generally “contemporary.”

(Let me digress before I go on, let me say that I am no critic of contemporary Christian music as a genre. In as much as Christians like Nicole Nordeman or the band members of Sixpence None the Richer write music that is every bit the equal of secular music, that excels as an art, I'm all for it. That's not the point, really.)

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Happy Reformation Day

I hope all of you had a happy Reformation day. I forgot to wear red today, but I did find myself thinking of “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” throughout the day. It's always a good day to look up the 95 Theses as well, and use that as an opportunity to contemplate our own failings as the modern church. How often do we inadvertently suggest that if only you would help with this expansion project or that dinner that it will somehow help salvation? Sure we don't do it directly, but I suggest that as Christians today we do this all the same.

Four hundred and ninety one years ago today, the Reformation began.

The Message of Acts

For the midterm of “Acts and Paul,” we are going to have to write an in-class essay that focused 70% on the message of Acts and 15% each on how that message applies personally and to one's current place of service. In preparation, I wrote out a tentative draft of the essay. It is closed book exam this Thursday, so this is writing session was more to get the words “embedded” in my hands and processed in my head than a process of preparing a typical first draft. Still, I thought I'd make some sort of use of it, so I I am posting it here. If you read through it, let me know if you think I succeeded on the stated goal.

“A poem should not mean, but be.” So said one of the great poets of the twentieth century, Archibald MacLeish. Meaning is important – direction and description are crucially important to life, but few people are motivated by “meaning” alone. The cliché about actions speaking louder than words gets at the heart of it. Luke seemed to know that quite well and he applied that lesson in the Book of Acts.

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