Overseeing the Moderate Church: Part 3

This brings us to teaching. Moderate churches generally have a very weak educational program, because the doctrines that divide the church are off limits. Either one side dominates the classes and the other side doesn’t listen, or else the tough topics are just never talked about in a serious way. Or else there’s one class that teaches one doctrine and another class that teaches another–but no one is ever required to question his pre-existing beliefs.

After all, serious consideration of the doctrines that divide the members would seem, well, divisive. It just seems so prudent to avoid such issues and talk about what the church agrees on. But avoiding the conflict is the surest road to division.

Pacifism: In Answer to Tim’s and Guy’s Questions

As usual, Tim has posed a number of thoughtful, challenging questions. I post my answers here because he’s pushed me to address some questions I was planning on getting to in future posts. I add my answer to Guy’s post on lobbying the government at the end because of the importance of the topic.

[PS — I’ve been very impressed with quality and spirit of nearly all the comments. This has been a much better discussion than I’d ever imagined. I’m being pushed to figure out stuff every day.]

Tim wrote,

I still believe that the defensive wars of the times of the judges had to do with the Promised Land.

The examples from the Old Testament were intended to be illustrative of what God created government — all government — to do. If government doesn’t defend us from invaders and protect us from criminals, it’s not performing its God-ordained task (Rom 13:1-7).

I can’t imagine that God meant for his children to allow non-Christians to risk their lives to defend Christians. It would seem very unfair for the Christians to let others do their dirty work for them.

It’s Friday! Must be Time for a COMMERCIAL!!

And so, does honesty actually sell? What would happen if the church offered honest advertisements?

(Mat 10:34-39)  “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law– 36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Na – a – ah … Not a chance … We need to sell relationships and free use of the gym instead. Now that will change the world!!

Overseeing the Moderate Church: Part 2

In Part 1, we considered the difficulties of managing a moderate church, that is, a church that is divided between progressives and conservatives. While it’s not inevitable that such churches divide, they often do. The reason is almost always a failure of the leadership to confront the problem. Rather, most churches decide to delay the day of reckoning, piling political compromise on top of political compromise, until one day the church collapses.

Pacifism: Police and Defensive War, Part 1

John Howard Yoder argues that Christian pacifism should reject service in the military but not the police. After all, until Jesus returns, it’s obvious that life would be pretty awful for everyone if there were no police. The difference between the police and the military, he argues, is that the police don’t have the taking of life as a goal and are subject to strict oversight, with their actions being under guidelines reviewable by the courts. And that’s not an entirely unfair distinction. But it’s not entirely accurate either.

First, let’s begin with a little political science history. Why do we have government at all? By and large, government began back when humans began to plant fields. The invention of agriculture led to stationary villages and farms – and abundant food and other goods that could be easily stolen.

When some kings (of cities) raided Sodom and Gomorrah to take their possessions, it was not a war of conquest but of greed. It’s easier to steal than to work. And Abraham raised an army to get the goods back.

Overseeing the Moderate Church, Part 1

[This series from way back in March 2007, when there were maybe, oh, 30 readers, keeps getting attention because a lot of churches wrestle with these problems. I thought it might be helpful to re-run it, and I couldn’t help editing it just a tad.]

Some churches are thoroughly progressive, with progressive elders, staff, and members–at least, most of them. Some churches are thoroughly conservative, with conservative elders, staff, and members–at least, most of them. But most are not. Most are something else. Let’s call them “moderate.”

Obviously, a moderate church has a serious, built in problem–its elders, staff, and members are theologically divided. Now, this is not an insurmountable problem, but it’s a big problem. It’s especially big because most churches have leadership that seeks to avoid confrontation, meaning that this serious problem will not be addressed. Rather, the usual Church of Christ style is to sweep the problem under the rug.

Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: Why Christians Suffer

The lesson begins in Cappadocia, in Turkey — a high, flat plateau that was very inaccessible due to having natural barriers all around.

There were only small villages with tribal chiefs, and it was never really under Roman control.

The area had two volcanoes that covered the area with ash, creating tufa — stone soft enough to allow homes, hideouts, and even churches to be carved into the mountains.

The area became a place of refuge, due to its inaccessibility. Persecuted Christians often hid there.

RVL takes the group to a press — a winepress or olive press. “Gethsemane” means olive press — where great a weight presses on the olives to produce the oil.

Pacifism: A Reply to Guy

Even though he and I disagree on several things, I have to say that Guy has posted very thoughtful, very godly comments throughout these posts. I prepared a lengthy reply to a recent comment of his, and decided it would be better to post it here.

Guy wrote —

If i witnessed such an event first-person (say the Babylonian captivity), wouldn’t it appear to me that government was wicked and i needed to rise up and stop it somehow?   Yet unbeknownst to me, God had sent that wicked-appearing government to achieve some end of His.

Maybe. But in the case of the Babylonians and Assyrians, God sent his prophets to plainly tell his people what to do and what would happen if they didn’t comply. God’s people weren’t left to speculate.

Just so, Jesus gave very specific instructions for how to respond to the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans.

There are plenty of other examples where God said regarding an invading army: don’t worry; I’ll handle it.

But there are also examples of God telling his people to raise an army and handle it by force of arms. And there are all kinds of examples in between.

Pacifism: Fitting Government into the Story

We next approach the question from within the framework of the story (or narrative) of the Bible.

In Genesis 3, man and creation were cursed because of sin. This curse brought forth pain in childbirth, strife in marriage, weeds in the fields, and finally death. Paul declares that the entire creation was subjected to the curse —

(Rom 8:20-21)  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

When Jesus returns, the curse will be reversed.

(Rev 22:3)  No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city [where the saved live after the Judgment], and his servants will serve him.

And Paul teaches —

(1 Cor 15:24-26)  Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

See the connection? Death came with the curse, because of sin. Christ will defeat death at the end of time, right after all government has been destroyed.

Pacifism: A Thought Experiment

Reflect back on the first few posts where we learned that Lipscomb and Yoder point out that the Bible says governments will be placed under Jesus’ feet, arguing that in a sense all governments — good and bad — are the enemy of Jesus. Consider, for example —

(Col 2:15)  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

(Eph 6:12)  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The government sure seems like an enemy of Jesus!

On the other hand, the authorities are also God’s creation —

(Col 1:16)  For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

And then, in Romans 13, Paul tells us to obey the government — God’s enemy! This is a truly paradoxical attitude toward the powers and authorities. Why would God make an enemy for himself and then tell his children to obey his enemy?

Now, imagine that the Christian church were finally victorious, having converted every living soul on earth. Assuming that Jesus didn’t immediately return (I’m not inviting posts on millennialism of any kind), would we still need government?

ROLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL TIDE!!

Terrence “Mount” Cody blocks two fourth quarter field goals to send the Volunteers home with one more loss 12 – 10. (Sorry Matthew.)

The Tide rolls even when the offense has another terrible outing. Defense and special teams win football games.

This, of course, calls for the unofficial team song, as improbably sung by the Leningrad Cowboys & Red Army Choir (something about this video just seems to fit the insanity of the whole Tennessee rivalry) —

Pacifism: A Culture of Life, Part 2

Of course, merely having love as a motivation does not make things right. We need to act with an informed, intelligent love that is shaped and constrained by the gospel. The gospel tells us that it’s good to risk life to convert the lost, and not so good to risk life by jumping out of an airplane without parachute — even if the odds of survival are about the same. One risks a life that’s going to heaven anyway for the chance of bringing more people to Jesus — small risk for great gain — when viewed in gospel terms. The other risks life for nothing of lasting consequence. It’s not the odds that makes the decision good. I think it’s mainly about the stakes

Therefore, I’m unimpressed by the argument: we must not take a life because we believe in the culture of life. It doesn’t work because it doesn’t ask the right questions — questions about the gospel and about love.

That’s not the end-all be-all of the discussion, but it’s where any proper discussion has to start.

Smartphone Upgrade

At long last, if you view OneInJesus in your iPhone or other smartphone, the page will be reformatted automatically for the smaller screeen.

It’s a dramatic improvement — larger font, visual clutter removed. Very cool.

Pacifism: A Culture of Life, Part 1

It’s become common for Christians to speak of the importance of a “culture of life,” a phrase popularized by Pope John Paul II and dealt with extensively in his Evangelium Vitae (Gospel of Life). John Paul II argues against abortion and euthanasia, as well as birth control, the death penalty, and unjust war. He writes,

19. … There is an even more profound aspect which needs to be emphasized: freedom negates and destroys itself, and becomes a factor leading to the destruction of others, when it no longer recognizes and respects its essential link with the truth. When freedom, out of a desire to emancipate itself from all forms of tradition and authority, shuts out even the most obvious evidence of an objective and universal truth, which is the foundation of personal and social life, then the person ends up by no longer taking as the sole and indisputable point of reference for his own choices the truth about good and evil, but only his subjective and changeable opinion or, indeed, his selfish interest and whim.

Pacifism: John Howard Yoder, Part 2

Christian subordination

Yoder criticizes the positivistic view of government — that whatever government is in power is in power due to God’s will and therefore the government’s will is God’s will. The obvious counter-example is Hitler, and the argument against it is that Paul does not approve of the policies of the Roman government by saying it’s “of God.”

He also criticizes the normative view, which is that Paul is approving good government in the abstract but not approving the particular government of Rome. He is not saying that good government is of God and therefore good.

Yoder questions both our wisdom to make that judgment — which government is perfect? — and notes that this is simply not what Paul says in Rom 13. In historical context, Paul was writing shortly before the Jews in Judea were to rebel against Rome and suffer a horrific defeat. He did not want the Jews and God fearers in Rome to so sympathize with them that they participate in the rebellion. Paul was speaking of rebelling against Rome — the very pagan government then in power.

Back from Boston

Well, I’m back. Sort of. Actually, I’ve been back since Monday, but in my business, time off means time required to catch up later — and it’s been wildly hectic. By the time I get to the keyboard, I’m pretty beat. Hopefully, things start to settle down here shortly.

I came back to 537 emails including about 190 comments on OneInJesus. I’m hoping to catch up my reading over the weekend, if not sooner. It’s all a bit overwhelming.

Anyway … Boston was a good trip. The seminar wasn’t very good (billed as “advanced” and way too basic), a major client had a crisis (seems to always happen when I leave town), and it was so very c-c-c-c-cold! Did you watch the TItans/Patriots game (“game”, not “contest”)? Did you notice the snow? It was played in Foxboro, just outside of Boston. We were hoping to get some snow, which is rare here in Tuscaloosa, but all we got was freezing rain and wind. Yuck.

But on Saturday the weather was clear and we got to ride around Massachusetts looking at the fall foliage.

And we got to eat clam chowder recently voted the best in Boston (very tasty and … more importantly … hot!) And we had a couple of delightful meetings with my son’s house church.

Faith Lessons by Ray Vander Laan: An Unlikely Disciple

RVL shows the group a stone sheepfold. Shepherds would sleep in the opening so the sheep would have climb over him to leave and wolves would have to go through him to attack the sheep.

Jesus said,

(John 10:7-10)  Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

RVL then shows the group an ancient stable, with manure on the ground and a stone manger.  It was small and cramped and smelly. This, he says is the sort of stable Jesus was born in. No hay on the ground. It was as humble a beginning as one could imagine.

Pacifism: John Howard Yoder, Part 1

The late John Howard Yoder’s seminal The Politics of Jesus has had a dramatic impact on evangelical thought since its publication in 1972. I’ve read it twice and plan on reading it again. It’s that deep and that important.

Yoder is perhaps the most important voice for pacifism of his generation, and even though he’s not yet persuaded me to agree with his views on pacifism (but I’m re-thinking everything, as I promised), he’s persuaded me on a number of other points. He’s an important writer that all Christians of a scholarly bent should read.

Yoder sets forth his case for pacifism in chapter 10, dealing with Rom 13. This only makes sense, as those who object to pacifism routinely build their arguments from Rom 13.

The “authorities”

Yoder. like Lipscomb, argues that the New Testament treats civil government as the province of Satan. In Rom 13, Paul refers to the government as the “governing authorities” (v. 1).

Pacifism: David Lipscomb and Civil Government

David Lipscomb was the editor of the Gospel Advocate for nearly half a century, from the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. As a result, he was perhaps the most influential man in the Churches of Christ that were in the Deep South. Many of his teachings remain orthodox among the more conservative Churches of Christ today, but a surprising number of his views have been rejected and even forgotten — largely overwhelmed by the teachings of Foy Wallace Jr. in the mid-20th Century.

Among the views that Wallace successfully erased from much of the Church of Christ psyche was Lipscomb’s view of the Christian and government. You see, Lipscomb was a pacifist — and more. His views on the subject are laid out in his influential book Civil Government, which is available online for free. Lipscomb, who saw the suffering caused by the Civil War upclose from his home in Nashville, concluded that not only is it wrong to engage in war, but any participation by the Christian in secular government is wrong.

A Directory of Progressive Churches of Christ?

I often receive requests from readers for the name of a progressive Church of Christ in their area. And so I thought it might be helpful to create a resource that attempts to do just that.

The danger of making such a list is that some would see it as a move toward separation from other Churches of Christ. And some would take offense at the notion of “labeling” a church as anything.

And, then, there’s the problem with defining “progressive,” which is often used in more of a relative sense — A is more progressive than B.

For the purposes of such a list, my thought would be to define a Church of Christ as “progressive” if the leadership does not consider instrumental music a salvation or fellowship issue — even if the church is staunchly a cappella or otherwise very traditional in its practices.

What do you think? Good, useful list, especially for people moving into a new area? Or divisive step toward creating a new denomination?