How We've Thought About Sunday

About seven years ago I taught a class on Baptist history and polity for our Association’s CLD center (the CLD program is now called the ADVANCE program). We spent three hours one Monday late in the semester looking at the development of our denomination’s confession, the Baptist Faith & Message. The development of the article of the Lord’s Day was (and is) striking to me.

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New Hampshire Confession (1833) Article XV, “Of the Christian Sabbath”

That the first day of the week is the Lord’s-Day, or Christian Sabbath; and is to be kept sacred to religious purposes, by abstaining from all secular labor and recreations; by the devout observance of all the means of grace, both private and public; and by preparation for that rest which remaineth for the people of God.

Baptist Faith & Message (1925) Article XIV, “The Lord’s Day”

The first day of the week is the Lord's day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, works of necessity and mercy only excepted.

Ex. 20:3-6; Matt. 4:10; Matt. 28:19; 1 Tim. 4:13; Col. 3:16; John 4:21; Ex. 20:8; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:1; Matt. 12:1-13.

Baptist Faith & Message (1963) Article VIII, “The Lord’s Day”

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, work of necessity and mercy only being excepted.

Ex. 20:8-11; Matt. 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Col. 2:16; 3:16; Rev. 1:10.

Baptist Faith & Message (2000) Article VIII, “The Lord’s Day”

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.

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There is a great distance between “kept sacred to religious purposes, by abstaining from all secular labor and recreations; by the devout observance of all the means of grace, both private and public; and by preparation for that rest which remaineth for the people of God” (1833) and “activities...commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ” (2000). Is the difference due to Baptists’ deeper consideration of the liberty found in the Gospel, or conformity to a culture obsessed with entertainment and play? I’m sure that impassioned arguments could be made for either side.

We are Baptists. We balance continuity and discontinuity between the Old and New Testaments.

Discontinuity: Whereas the Law of the Old Testament was clear about sacred rest on the seventh day (Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15), the Law of the New Testament asserts that “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath,” that is, God Himself (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5). In honor of this, the New Testament describes the Church gathering on the first day, not the seventh day, of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2) because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). We call this the “Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10).

Where is the continuity? The New Testament is not free of commandment (Matthew 28:20; John 14:15; 15:10; 1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 4:2). The people of God are still under the rule of the only Lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22; James 4:12), Jesus Christ. How does that apply to the day of our gathering as the Church? If the New Testament represents the fullness of what was progressively revealed in the Old Testament, how is that seen in our observance of the day of gathering? Is Christ fully revealed as the glory of the Father by a full day dedicated to His worship or a single hour followed by a trip to the lake?

How reliable is “the Christian’s conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ,” when many Christians believe this is a religious way of “following your heart”? Too often the “Christian’s conscience” has nothing to do with prayerful meditation on Scripture and everything to do with “the way that seems right to a man” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).

These are not easy questions, and have been the subject of much debate for two millennia.

Consider the development of this article on the “Christian Sabbath,” or “the Lord’s Day.” Is your “rest” a dedication to entertainment no different from the world’s (except for maybe a few hours at Sunday School and worship), or is it a dedication of a day pointing to the “rest” that remains in eternity for those in union with the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ?

Praise the Father to the Fatherless

“Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord” (Baptist Faith & Message (2000), XVIII).

On Thursday mornings I have a men’s theology reading group at a local coffee shop. After yesterday's meeting I was driving around town listening to National Public Radio (NPR). There was a segment on the growth of human embryos in “lab dishes,”kept alive up to two weeks old – the current deadline for laboratory guidelines in the U.S. (the nervous system begins to form after this point). The embryos develop without “receiving instructions from the mother’s body…without any information from mom.”

My first thought was, “what a striking image of loneliness.” These human beings are conceived in a lab, grow for a brief period of time in a “lab dish,” and are terminated at two weeks – all in isolation from a mother’s womb. They are conceived to be observed and then thrown away. Alone. While not having awareness, they are human beings, and human beings were created to be the image of God, and were created with souls.

I am a one-issue voter: I am politically active for human life, conception to natural death. Apart from pro-life political activism, though, I was comforted by a single reality as I drove  - grieving - through town yesterday morning. These souls, conceived to serve human pragmatism alone and destined to die in two weeks, have a Father in heaven Who knows them and guarantees they are not to spend eternity as they spend those two weeks:

“…let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God;
Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is the LORD, and exult before Him.

A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God makes a home for the lonely” (Psalm 68:3-6).

While we oppose this laboratory conception of the lonely doomed, we should, at the same time, praise the Father Who has a home destined for them in heaven’s eternal family. He doesn't miss one of them, no matter how small.

He is worthy of our praise.

Daily Reading, Biblical Theology, and Spirit-Given Exhortation

January 29. I read Psalm 29,59,89,149.^[1] The apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 89 in his preaching of the Gospel. God’s covenant with David is actually a covenant with David’s Seed “according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3; 9:5). When we follow the apostles (who were uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit) in “trying to persuade…concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets” (Acts 28:23) we are walking a well-trod and ancient path. When we do this with fellow believers, we gift them with a whole Bible. Not just the four Gospels or the New Testament, but a whole Christian Bible. I rejoiced early yesterday morning to hear a fellow Bible teacher in this little town tell me the biblical maturity he’d seen in students who were beginning to grasp a whole-Bible Christian theology. Praise the Lord, and may the next generation of the Church know, preach, and obey the whole Book far more than us!

The covenants are the theological, God-ordained “glue” that holds the Old and New Testament together as the testimony of Jesus Christ. “All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, Who is Himself the focus of divine revelation” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, I).

“I have found David My servant;
With My holy oil I have anointed him

With Whom My hand will be established;
My arm also will strengthen him.

The enemy will not deceive him,
Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

But I shall crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.

My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,
And in My name his horn will be exalted.

I shall also set his hand on the sea
And his right hand on the rivers.

He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

I also shall make him My firstborn,
The highest of the kings of the earth.

My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever,
And My covenant shall be confirmed to him.

So I will establish his descendants [lit., “Seed”] forever
And his throne as the days of heaven” (Psalm 89:20-29).

Paul quotes this passage in his “word of exhortation” to the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch.[2]

“Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance - all of which took about four hundred and fifty years. After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus…brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead; and for many days He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now His witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus…David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but He Whom God raised did not undergo decay. Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you” (Acts 13:16-38).

Sunrise almost 3 weeks ago. The mountain (Cookes Peak) goes from shadow
to detailed definition in the full daylight (especially just before sunset). This is how
progressive revelation functions from the Old to New Testament.

God “found” David, and through the ever-living and ever-reigning Seed of David “forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.” Repent and believe in this Davidic King unto forgiveness and blissful eternal life before His Father.

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[1] I try to read the Psalms daily in an x, x+30 pattern. Psalm 119 should have been in today’s line-up, but I save it for the 31^st of the month and read it alone.

[2] Notice that this “exhortation” is not what we would call “practical” these days. It is pure biblical/covenantal theology. “Exhortation” is a work of the Holy Spirit, and it leads to the “increase” of the church (Acts 9:31). It causes joy (Acts 15:31). Remember Romans 15:4,5. This is the reason God gave the New Testament Church the gift of the Old Testament. This should be the substance of the Spirit-given prophecy in the Church (1 Corinthians 14:3).

Thankfulness and Praise in Hebrews 1:2

“…in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the world” (Hebrews 1:2).

I am thankful that the Son is the final Word. “All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, Who is Himself the focus of divine revelation” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, I). While 1:1 spoke of the Old Testament, 1:2 speaks of the New Testament, which gives us the direct sun which caused the shadows of the Old Testament. We now see clearly. Through His apostolic writers, the Holy Spirit has given us a Word all-sufficient and adequate for “these last days.” He has provided all we need, and is with us as we open the Book together to grow in knowledge of the Son to the glory of the Father. Praise Him for His Christ-centered plan (thank goodness it’s not about me) and provision!

I am thankful that this Son is Inheritor of all. It’s all His by right. They thought they would take His kingdom by killing Him (Matthew 21:38). Ah, but the Father has given all things into His ever-living hands (John 13:3), including authority over all flesh (John 17:2). And – I can scarcely begin to consider it – as children of God in Christ, we are called co-heirs (Romans 8:17)…I fear thinking too much on this lest I fall into foolishness, but I am confident it is a hope worth perseverance and endurance (read here for some thoughts on the Table and our sharing in His sufferings as co-heirs). Praise Him for His rightful ownership and authority over all, for He is just and wise and good!

I am thankful that this remarkable creation I love so much is not the result of blind, cold natural law or exceedingly improbable chance, but of a Person, the Son (John 1:3,10; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16,17; Hebrews 1:10). Being made through the One Who would be declared Christ, I like to say that creation is Christian. Here, though, the Holy Spirit tells us that the Father created time through the mediation of His Son: “…through Whom also He did make the ages [τους αιωνας]” (Young’s Literal Translation). He is the eternally divine Person Who is Master of all ages and moments: “All things come to pass unchangeably and certainly in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, Who is the first cause. Thus, nothing happens to anyone by chance or outside of God’s providence. Yet by the same providence God arranges all things to occur according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or in response to other causes” (1689 Baptist Confession, 5.2). See also Psalm 139:16; Daniel 2:21; Acts 17:26. Time and history are the result of the Father’s creation according to His perfect plan through the continual mediation of His Son, Who is the goal of time and history – including my small apportionment of that time and history. How could I not praise He Who alone is worthy? Every beat of the heart in my chest, every second that passes on the clock, He owns. He purposed it, made it, and destined it to bring Him ultimate glory. Be in awe, grow in your faith, and praise Him with great praise!

Cottonwood gold reflected in Bear Canyon Reservoir.

Thinking and Posting in Christ

“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;

And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

For you will heap burning coals on his head,

And the LORD will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21,22).

This is from my reading this morning. Whenever I’m reading in the Old Testament, I like to keep my eyes open for places where the text is quoted in the New Testament. These doublets from Proverbs are quoted by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans: “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written [in Deuteronomy 32:35], ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. [And, as it says in Proverbs 25:21,22,] ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (12:17-21). Paul doesn’t quote the last line of Proverbs 25:22, but take note that there’s a promise for obedience: “...the LORD will reward you.” There’s nothing deep or complicated about either the Proverbs passage or how it’s quoted and applied in Romans. I want to draw your attention to what comes immediately after this: Paul’s teaching on living as a Christian and a citizen under the authority of a government (Romans 13:1-7). Sometimes chapter and verse numbering causes us to read sections with more separation between them than the original inspired author intended.

Think about this: Paul’s teaching on living with enemies flows smoothly into his teaching on living as a Christian in an earthly State. I’ve looked at the Greek text – there are no contrastive conjunctions or any hint that Paul intends a separation between Romans 12:21 and 13:1. And, living as Christians in 21st century U.S.A., we would do well not to separate what God has joined together. We need to consider how we treat our political enemies – especially when they are in power. Paul’s teaching on this subject (and that of 1 Peter) was inspired under an Empire which was exceedingly hostile against Christianity. We would do well to listen to the Scriptures more than our own fleshly rage (which we dress up as righteous indignation) or the voices of politicos who are on our side but are sadly Christ-less.

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I continue to be grieved over how Christians comport themselves in the view of the world (I’m considering primarily social media here). Where is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I’m not talking about your choices of entertainment or habit or even apparent morality. I reference how you speak of your political enemies – not just the people in public office, but by extension the majority that put them into office (despite the conspiracy theories, our leaders did not steal or violently take their offices, but were put there by your neighbors). What are you saying to them? Let’s listen to Paul again - this time to the Corinthian Church: “...I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified...I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 2:2; 15:1-4). There is an absoluteness to Paul’s statements that we need to have in our lives as believers, especially in the sight of the world. Where is that determination or “first importance” in your posts and re-posts? Where is Christ and the salvation that comes through Him alone?

I am a Southern Baptist. Our confession says this about our work in this world on behalf of the Kingdom of God: “All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, XV). Do you know what’s missing from your words? The “Christ” repeated four times in the above statement on “The Christian and the Social Order.” There are two things I want to say that I’ve said over and over, and will continue saying: 1) If we don’t proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nobody will. 2) We must not be surprised when lost people act, think, and speak like lost people – it’s the only thing they can do. We should, however, be continually surprised when supposed believers act, think, and speak like lost people. Never cease being surprised by that.

Blood moons, geopolitics, the U.S. Constitution, Senate hearings, political saviors, Confederate flags...none of this will save. If I were “the serpent of old,” though, I would certainly be delighted at your obsession with these things, knowing that only “the blood of the Lamb,” a Christian “testimony,” and “the commandments of God” can successfully resist the ancient adversary (Revelation 12:11,17). It would seem from your speech, though, that these things are not your hope and foundation. But, hypothetically speaking, if the economic system collapses in a few months and you’re right (which I seriously doubt), how does that change the eternal place of the souls of our neighbors and political enemies? If the President resigned tomorrow and the former Secretary of State was thrown in prison the day after that, it wouldn’t change a thing about the reality that hell is waiting for most of the people around us. And some of these things you guys are lifting up as important are barely a step above inflammatory, baseless gossip. Barely. Some of the people you’re touting as worthy of hearing are without Christ, just as godless as the political enemies you seem to hate so much. As is popularly said, only God knows the heart (which ought to break and humble us all), but from what you lift up as important in the sight of all, the only difference between you and your enemy is philosophy. Certainly not Christ and His Father’s Kingdom. It would seem, at least from what you say and don’t say, that you must really hate these people not to give them the only protection from the wrath of God. You must really hate these people to be yelling at them about how stupid they are politically as they are falling headlong into the eternal fires of hell. That’s how it seems. Your posts will only distract from Christ those who already agree with you (and many on your political side need Christ, too!). They will not change the minds of your enemies, who have their own funny pictures mocking your guys, sarcastic statements describing how ignorant you are, and “facts” either interpreting the past or showing that your point of view is dangerous to the future of this country. It’s a stalemate, whether you know it or not.

Christ is the only Person Who can change the equation. Some day, it will be said, “it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the Gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17). Where is the Kingdom priority (not conservative political priority) in all you do and say (Matthew 6:33)? Think about who has your ear. Think about what you’re publishing for the world to see. Where is the truth of Scripture (the only thing that God has promised to use to open the eyes of the blind)? Where is Christ (the only name under heaven by which men may be saved)? Think. It is part of the Bible’s greatest commandment, so this is something a believer must do: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your...mind” (Matthew 22:37//Mark 12:30//Luke 10:27, from Deuteronomy 6:5).

“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;

And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

For you will heap burning coals on his head,

And the LORD will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21,22).

There is only one food and drink our enemies need – the body and blood of Christ, the Savior. Serve Him to them in every way you can.

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Speaking of thinking, let me strongly commend to you Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ, by Dr. Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (Crown & Covenant Publications, 2015). I have not read Dr. Butterfield’s previous book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, and probably wouldn’t have read this one if I hadn’t seen a few quotes from it. I can’t remember which quotes – there are few pages in my copy that don’t have something highlighted. Here are a few possibilities:

• “Stepping into God’s story means abandoning a deeply held desire to make meaning of our own lives on our own terms based on the preciousness of our own feelings” (pg. 5).
• “It is not the absence of sin that makes you a believer. It is the presence of Christ in the midst of your struggle that commends the believer and sets you apart in the world” (pg. 8).
• “If personal testimony does not reflect the Bible’s account of a life of faith and repentance, then for the sake of your friend and for the sake of Christ’s witness, bring the Word of life to bear upon the claim of conversion” (pg. 9).
• “If God is the creator of all things, then the Bible has his seal of truth and power, then the Bible has the right to interrogate my life and my culture, and not the other way around” (pg. 17).
• “...Jesus is the Word made flesh, and...‘knowing Jesus’ demands embracing the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus of someone’s imagination. The whole Bible” (pg. 21).
• “It is sinful to write people off because they sin in ways that offend you. God holds up the same mirror for us all, and none of us reflects the image of God in righteousness, holiness, and knowledge apart from Christ” (pg. 32).
• “...my personal experience must always be surrendered to what my triune God has done and who my triune God is” (pg. 38).

I’ll stop there, but it was one of those quotes that made me get the book. Dr. Butterfield doesn’t just lift up the Gospel, she thinks carefully about the Gospel and what it means in today’s cultural environment and in our lives as believers. She doesn’t just think “carefully,” but, more importantly, she thinks biblically and confessionally. I did two things with this book I’ve not done in ages: I read it in only two days and shed tears on its pages - the Gospel is a beautiful thing and I can't hear/read it enough. The final chapter on “Community” is one all those interested in evangelism and community outreach need to consider.

We need to have the Gospel in the center of our thoughts and identity. Dr. Butterfield has written a book that leads us in that direction – while writing in a very personal way overflowing with the love of Christ. This is a unique combination in modern Christian books. They’re either all anecdotes and feelings or unreflective theoretical theology. They’re merged here. Read and think. In Christ.

Brought Bible?

Hachita Baptist Church, Hachita, New Mexico, U.S.A.

Brought Bible?

I’ve looked at this old-fashioned board for years now. The only time I really pay attention to it is when I’ve been gone (to get an idea of what went on the week before). A few weeks ago, though, the “BROUGHT BIBLE” caught my attention (though I'm not sure they update that particular number).

“Do they need it?” I asked myself. As I preach or lead them in a Bible study, do they actually need the Book? Do I direct them back to it often enough? Do I inspire them to read further? Do I lift up its vital importance for their daily lives in this world as disciples of Jesus Christ? I was burdened by this. Challenged. How can I encourage them in the Word more than I do? If, by my preaching/teaching, I can get them to look at the Book in their hands, point to the words and really look at it, actively engage the weight of the thing, then the corporate moment in the Bible will cease to be passive. I’ve only got a few brief moments. Got to drive them into the Word more and more.

Then I thought about “stewardship.” It used to just be called “giving,” but somewhere along the way it got replaced by a more spiritual-sounding idea (not that I have a problem with changing words every once in a while...makes us think, which is always good). Anyway, stewardship. If you give to the church, then attending the times of preaching/teaching of the paid preacher is stewardship. You are paying to support the man of God, and are present when he does what you pay him to do. Seems responsible.

“The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says [in Deuteronomy 25:4], ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,’ and [in Luke 10:7] ‘The laborer is worthy of his wages’” (1 Timothy 5:17,18). We learn at least two things in this passage. First, “honor” means financial support, and not just respect (verse 18). Second, the evaluation of the “rule” of “the elders” is on how well they are determined to have worked “hard at preaching and teaching.” How can this evaluation be made if the evaluators aren’t present at the preaching/teaching of the Word? I’m not sure it can. How can you be sure that your giving to the church is being wisely spent, if you are not present to participate in one of the main reasons the New Testament says we must give to the church (in addition to the support of the poor, help to widows, and assistance to other churches)?

On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter preaches one of the greatest sermons recorded in the Bible. In response, “those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:41,42). “Continually.” Does one hour a week count as “continually”? A lot of preachers regard preaching twice a week (twice on Sunday, and three times if there’s a mid-week service) as a lot. Considering Acts 2:42 (“continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching”), I wonder if I’m doing enough. I mentioned last fall that I was considering adding a small-group Bible study to my schedule in response to a need that had been expressed to me. A church member admonished me that it might be too much. Is it too much? There’s only a little time: “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15,16). We’ll give an account for how we spend this small handful of moments, and if we’ve got something to do that is higher on our priority list than gathering to read the Word together...

Our confession says that Scripture “is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, 1). My greatest prayer request is that God will make this more and more a reality in our lives, beloved Church. More and more into His Word. Together.

A Brief Theology of Administration

It seems that in this last quarter the administrative aspect of my job has demanded a larger slice of time than it has in two decades of ministry. At the beginning of that two decades I was convinced I would never make it as a pastor because of committee meetings, deacons’ meetings, and business meetings. Thankfully, things are a little different now. No, I haven’t come anywhere close to mastering Robert’s Rules of Order, and I don’t believe meetings to be a means of grace like preaching, prayer, or the ordinances. But I do understand that in Baptist life the committee and its meetings are the rallying point for involvement in the cooperative. The committee and its meetings are a tool to involve “the saints [in] the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12,13). There is a collectivism in the Baptist Church that necessitates some means of organization (“A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord,” Baptist Faith & Message 2000, VI). This increased time in administrative duties and the fact that I am introducing the business session of our State Convention next week with a Scripture reading and prayer have me reading and meditating on “administration” as a theological concept.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, Who is our hope, to Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:1-5).

“Administration” (οικονομια) literally means “house-law” or “house-rule.” It is usually rendered “stewardship.” Notice that the ruling of the house according to laws is “of God,” and “by faith.” This ought to change everything. General Robert may guide us in our parliamentary procedure, but he’s not the goal or the motivation (the good General, by the way, wrote his “rules” after a calamitous experience leading a meeting at a Baptist church...I’m not making that up!). I think he’d agree. The apostle Paul introduces this letter (and this paragraph) by a focus on the command-Giver (“God our Savior”) and Hope (“Christ Jesus”) of himself and the Christian congregation. He reminds us of the ideal of the Church – that we are family (“Timothy, my true child in the faith”). I’m jealous for that kind of view of the Church for our congregation. After a mostly standard blessing from the Father and Son (notice, though, that he adds “mercy” to his usual “grace and peace”), he gets into the administrative stuff, along with its motivation and goal.

Timothy has been stationed in Ephesus to fight false doctrine and bad teaching. These things, Paul says, hinder the house-law of God which is according to faith (and biblical faith is always based on the Word of God). God says there is a certain way we live and grow together as His people (house-law), and we believe and obey it (faith) for His glory. “Strange doctrines,” “myths,” “endless genealogies,” and “speculation” hinder that life together as the covenant people of God. Timothy’s task is to make sure that God’s reign is firmly established in the congregation by putting down insurrection (“with gentleness,” 2 Timothy 2:25). The apostle’s goal is not just orderliness for its own sake, but the preservation of the means by which God rules His household: the proclamation, teaching, reading, praying, singing, meditation upon, and living out of His Word (“the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”). If the order does not serve the Word, it is vanity at best and idolatry at worst.

Committee meetings and the business of the congregation (or convention) need to have this in mind: our goal in all we do is to lift up the reign of God over us through His Word for our involvement in the “work of service,” our further unity as the Body, growth in obedience-producing faith, and the glory of God in His Son. Administration is good when it is “Great Commission” administration, the teaching of all the commands of the One Who has been given “all authority...in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18,20).

This is not optional for me as the vocational elder called to “shepherd” and serve as an “example” to “those allotted to [my] charge” (1 Peter 5:2,3). I must do all I can to lead us into a collective obedience to Christ to the glory of the Father (this is the practical application of Philippians 2:10,11). In a Church with congregational polity, this happens through administration, meetings, councils, committees, etc. But we cannot lose sight of the purpose. I cannot lose sight.

“For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain” (Titus 1:7-11). Part of God’s job description for me is that I’m to be “above reproach as God’s steward,” or οικονομος (house-ruler, enforcer of the laws of the house)...administrator. Again, this is founded upon and carried out through “the faithful word which is in accordance with teaching” and “sound doctrine.” It is the preservation of the reign of God over and through the congregation by His Word. That’s the job description. Don’t overlook (pun intended) the job title: “overseer” (a good, literal rendering of επισκοπος). I love teaching and preaching. I would do it all day long every day until I was so emptied that the great New Mexican winds would blow my rattling husk to the heavenly country. But this teaching and preaching must be done as one called to overlook the congregation – not any congregation, but this one currently “allotted to [my] charge.” Untrue beliefs and practices must be deterred, and the reign of Jesus in our lives must be lifted up above all. I must administrate from here.

The apostle Peter agrees: “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards [οικονομος] of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to Whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:7-11). The pressure of the “end of all things” is a motivation to “good administration” by the gifting of God. And, once again, it is manifested in a corporate setting (“serving one another”) through teaching (“speaking the utterances of God”) to the glory of God “through Jesus Christ,” Who alone is worthy of “dominion.” There is, further, a plurality of “good stewards.” God willing, there are several men gifted and called to serve the congregation in this way, vocationally and/or non-vocationally.

Returning to 1 Timothy, this is why Paul writes to Timothy: “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household [the οικος of the οικονομια we’ve been considering] of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:14,15). The administration of the Church is based on the “writing” inspired by God for our “conduct.” It is molded by the reality that this house is “the pillar and support of the truth,” that is, the Word of God.

Is the “house” a building? No, of course not. As our confession stated above (a “congregation of baptized believers”), the “house” is made up of those holding “fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm to the end” (Hebrews 3:6). The goal of our “business” in meetings and committees is “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5 – the text prior to this, 1:22-2:3, shows us that we are governed by the Word in this).

The ordering (administration) of the house of God must be done according to an obedience-producing faith by the authority of the Word of God for the purpose of bringing glory to God in Christ together as His people. This is the goal and the prayer of this steward. It requires more than I have in myself (and more than General Robert had in himself, for that matter). Thankfully, God the Son, the Lord of the manor, is faithful to accomplish His purpose for His house.

Maybe this is General Robert's real secret to orderly meetings...a uniform!

A Few Reflections on the 4th

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States...” (Declaration of Independence of the U.S.A.).

Jesus Christ is the “Supreme Judge of the world” (Matthew 16:27; 25:31-46; John 5:19-30; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Romans 2:16; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Timothy 4:1; 1 Peter 4:5).

The Founders created a nation and, in its declaration of independence, recognized that it would one day stand with all other nations to be judged by the only Judge of the world.

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Who has been moved to tears and strong feelings of loyalty over the Church? Where is there anything like a “Pledge of Allegiance” to the Church?

It’s not that I’m against patriotism or responsible citizenship; I am. What concerns me is that the songs, pledges of loyalty, and fierce self-identification of Christians is focused far more on national patriotism than the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus – God the Son – shed His blood to purchase His Church (Acts 20:28). This is not said of a nation. Jesus – bridegroom of the Church – loves her, gave His life for her, and is lovingly dedicated to cleansing her by “the washing of water with the Word” (Ephesians 5:25,26). With His blood Jesus purchased His Church “from [εκ, “out of”] every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

So how is it that we are not moved to a Christ-like love and allegiance to His bride, but on days like today we will passionately express our national patriotism? How can we grieve over the waywardness of this nation from the most basic moral standards of God’s Law (somehow separating an ideal vision of the nation from its current reality), but readily trash the whole Church for the sin present within it? Most of us can sing the numerous patriotic tunes in our churches’ hymnals (!) almost entirely from memory, but sing the few good songs about the Church with nothing near the same passion or enthusiasm.

May our “patriotism” become more Christ-like, putting the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ as primary over a dedication to country. The country, after all, is not eternal. The Church is. "It is He Who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings...the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom He wishes...the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes” (Daniel 2:21; 4:17,32), but concerning His Kingdom (the Church) He has said, “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever... His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation...His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation...He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever...behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed...the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom...the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him” (Daniel 2:44; 4:3,34; 6:26; 7:13,14,22,27).

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“All Christians are under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in our own lives and in human society. Means and methods used for the improvement of society and the establishment of righteousness among men can be truly and permanently helpful only when they are rooted in the regeneration of the individual by the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ. In the spirit of Christ, Christians should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. We should work to provide for the orphaned, the needy, the abused, the aged, the helpless, and the sick. We should speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death. Every Christian should seek to bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love. In order to promote these ends Christians should be ready to work with all men of good will in any good cause, always being careful to act in the spirit of love without compromising their loyalty to Christ and His truth...God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, XV, XVII).

Did you see it in there? “Church and state should be separate.” The one phrase in the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 that virtually no Southern Baptist affirms in their ideas of patriotism. Being citizens of heaven and earth requires some careful thought, both scripturally and confessionally.

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Is your eschatology linked to your patriotism? Can you conceive of the end of the U.S.A. (a popular topic for conjecturing among conspiracy theorists and "end time experts") apart from the "end of the world"? Does your eschatology allow for a possible passage of the U.S.A. into history (as many much older countries have since Jesus left the earth) and a continuation of world history? Is your reading of "end times" passages and your patriotism linked - that is, is your understanding of Scripture that it was written uniquely for your generation?

* * * * * * *

One more thing: “Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land’” (2 Chronicles 7:12-14). Context, friends. Who are “His people”? What was “their land”? God’s old covenant people lived in a land that was an expression of that covenant. The new covenant people of God in Christ have no such expression of the covenant. The land in which God’s new covenant people (the Church) live throughout the world is not connected to their covenant with Him in Christ. “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).

A better, more contextually faithful, statement on prayer is found in Jeremiah 29. “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare’” (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

Both/And Ever

“He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything...His body, which is the church" (Colossians 1:18,24, NASB).

“Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea” (4:15,16).

I know that in Church history there have been those who denied the reality of the universal Church (“...the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,” Baptist Faith & Message 2000, VI), but in my experience it is much more common to encounter those who deny the reality of the local Church (“A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth,” BF&M2000, VI). May we take note of Paul, who has no problem speaking of both the universal Church while writing to a specific local Church (“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae,” 1:1,2), and by God’s grace stop separating what Scripture comfortably describes as a single vision of His Church. His Church is both local and universal. There is not one without the other in the Scripture.

“The universal Church, which may be called invisible (in respect of the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace) consists of the entire number of the elect, all those who have been, who are, or who shall be gathered into one under Christ, Who is the Head. This universal Church is the wife, the body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all...in the exercise of the authority which has been entrusted to Him, the Lord Jesus calls to Himself from out of the world, through the ministry of His Word, by His Spirit, those who are given to Him by His Father, so that they may walk before Him in all the ways of obedience which He prescribes to them in His Word. Those who are thus called, He commands to walk together in particular societies or churches, for their mutual edification, and for the due performance of that public worship, which He requires of them in the world” (1689 Baptist Confession, 26.1,5).

The Eternal Christ

“...unto us a child is born, and unto us a Son is given: and the government is upon His shoulder, and He shall call His name, ‘...the mighty God, the everlasting Father’” (Isaiah 9:6, Geneva Bible). The “everlasting Father” had an everlasting Son.

“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now glorify Me, Thou Father, with Thine own Self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was” (John 17:4,5).

“But unto the Son He saith, ‘O God, Thy throne is forever and ever’” (Hebrews 1:8).

“...hath neither beginning of his days, neither end of life: but is likened unto the Son of God” (Hebrews 7:3).

“In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit. All are one in substance, power, and eternity; each having the whole divine essence, yet this essence being undivided...the Son is eternally begotten of the Father...all three are infinite, without beginning, and are therefore only one God” (1689 Baptist Confession, 2.3).

“Christ is the eternal Son of God” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, IIB).

Is your view of Jesus big enough? Is your worship, devotion, proclamation, and loving fear of Him deep enough? Holy Spirit, grow us up in our comprehension of Christ, the Son of God and God the Son, that “every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, unto the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).

Three Witnesses to Independence

“Civil power is earthly and natural, reaching only the external man; but ecclesiastical power is spiritual, regarding the internal man and the conscience. The latter is not regulated by natural reason, civil laws and human statutes, by which states are governed; but the Word of God alone and the canon of the Scriptures dictated by the Holy Spirit. It is not exercised in a political and worldly, but in a spiritual and mystical manner by the keys of the Kingdom of heaven and by the sword of the Spirit and other similar weapons; not carnal, but the power of God to the pulling down of strongholds and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:4,5). It administers the sacraments, which are seals, not of any earthly or civil privilege, but of mystical union with Christ and of His spiritual benefits. Nor does it regard any other end than the edification of the body of Christ, the establishment of His Kingdom and the salvation of sinners” (Francis Turretin [1623-1687], Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 18.29.16).

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, 1789).

“God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power” (Baptist Faith & Message 2000, XVII).