Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology [Updated & Expanded] 0825445116, 9780825445118

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"How grateful I am to John Hammett and to Kregel Publications for providing this revised, updated, and improved edition of Biblical Foun­ dations for Baptist

Churches.

While there was much to commend in the

initial version, this substantive work will become the primary source for thinking about a Baptist theology of the church for the next generation of students and pastors. Faithful to Scripture and informed by the best aspects of Baptist thought through the years, Hammett has given us a fresh, engaging, and thoughtful look at membership, leadership, polity, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and all aspects of ecclesiology. I am delighted to recommend this outstanding volume:' -David S. Dockery, President, Trinity International University/Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"It is hard to improve on what had become the standard in the field. However, this revised edition of Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches does exactly that.

An excellent book is now even better.

It is a joy to

commend it to all who want to better understand the important doctrine of the church" -Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

"I am delighted to welcome this revised edition ofJohn Hammett's superb study of Baptist ecclesiology. Already a classic in the field, this book will continue to introduce the principles of Baptist church life to a new genera­ tion. Highly recommended:' - Timothy George, Founding Dean, Beeson Divinity School of Samford University

"When John Hammett's Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches appeared in

2005,

it was widely recognized

as the

most substantive

contempo­

rary free church ecclesiology. In the last dozen years, the culture of the churches changed while Hammett continued deepening his biblical stud­ ies. This second edition demonstrates again that Hammett continues to offer the most substantive ecclesiology by bridging the biblical with the contemporary:' -Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Southwestern Seminary

"My favorite thing about John Hammett's Biblical Foundations for Baptist

Churches is that he combines both

deep theological

reflection

on

the

nature of the church with the practical nitty-gritty questions of pastoral ministry. There's material for the academic to engage-but even more, he's writing for the pastor and for healthy churches. You might not agree with every conclusion, but John Hammett's ecclesiology is biblical, thoughtful, historically-conversant, and respectful of other traditions, even while he makes the case for a congregational, baptistic church:' - Jonathan Leeman, 9Marks

"John Hammett has been laboring in the field of ecclesiology for years, and this book is the abundant harvest of those labors. Faithful to Scripture, conversant with church history and cultural context, rigorously systematic in its structure, and lucid in its prose, this book deserves to be read by students, pastors, and professors alike. Highly recommended:' -Bruce Riley Ashford, Provost and Professor of Theology and Culture, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

S E C O N D

E D I T I O N

BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS --FOR--

BAPTIST

CHURCHES A Contemporary Ecclesiology

John S. Hammett

��Kregel ��Academic

Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology © 2005, 2 0 1 9 by John S. Hammett All rights reserved. First edition 2005. Second edition 2 0 1 9

Published by Kregel Academic, an imprint of Kregel Publications, 2450 Oak Industrial Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505-6020.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or oth­ erwise-without written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations in printed reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2 0 1 1 by Biblica, Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Pub­ lishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN 9 7 8 - 0 - 8 2 5 4 - 4 5 1 1 - 8

Printed in the United States of America

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23 I 5

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3

2

1

CONTENTS Figures

6

Preface to

2nd

Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Preface

9

Introduction: Why This Book? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1:

PART

WHAT

7

Is

11

THE CHURCH?

1.

The Nature of the Church: Biblical Foundations

25

2.

The Marks of the Church: Historical Perspective

57

3.

The Essence of the Church: Theological Conclusions and Practical Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PART

75

2: WHo Is THE CHURCH?

Regenerate Church Membership:

4.

The Baptist Mark of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

91

Where We Went Wrong and How We Can Get Right:

5.

Returning to Faithfulness

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

117

3: How Is THE CHURCH GovERNED?

PART

6.

Baptist Church Polity: The Case for Congregationalism

145

7.

Meaningful Church Membership

173

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8.

Elders in Baptist Life: Leaders, Not Rulers

187

9.

The Office of Deacon: Servants of the Church

221

PART

4:

WHAT

Doss

THE CHURCH D o ?

10.

The Ministries of the Church: Five Crucial Concerns

251

11.

M o r eThan Simple Symbols: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. .

293

PART

5:

WHERE

Is

THE CHURCH GOING?

12.

Against the Grain: New Responses to a Changed Landscape . . . 343

13.

Into All the World: The Future of the Global Church . . . . . . . .

367

Conclusion: A Call for Faithful Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

385

Scripture Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

388

Subject Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

392

FIGURES

I.1:

How to Do Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

16

1.1:

Usage of the Term Ekklesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

34

1.2:

Summary of Implications of the Church as Family . . . . . . . . . . .

39

1.3:

Summary of Implications of the Church as the People of God . . .

41

1.4:

Summary of Implications of the Church as the Body of Christ. . .

49

1.5:

Summary of Implications of the Church as the Temple of the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.1:

55

Regenerate Church Membership as Central to Baptist Ecclesiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

116

5.1:

How to Recover Regenerate Church Membership

136

5.2:

J. Newton Brown's Church Covenant.

137

5.3:

Saddleback Church Covenant

138

5.4:

Capitol Hill Baptist Church Covenant

139

6.1:

Episcopalian Church Government. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

149

6.2:

Presbyterian Church Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

152

6.3:

Congregational Church Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

156

7.1:

Theological Triage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

177

10.1:

The Ministries of the Church in Acts 2:42-47

253

10.2:

The Life Development Process

263

10.3:

An Overview of "The Life Development Institute"

263

10.4:

A Definition of True Worship

274

10.5:

Four Suggestions for Improving Worship Services

276

10.6:

The Two Keynotes of Worship

281

6

PREFACE TO

2ND

EDITION

& IT

HAS BEEN MORE

than a decade since the first edition of this book appeared.

I have been grateful for the encouraging response to it, and do believe it has been helpful to many churches, pastors, church leaders, and students. But there have been a number of important changes in the ecclesiological world, and the subtitle of my book, A Contemporary Ecclesiology, has been becom­ ing less and less fitting. And so I was very thankful that Dennis Hillman and the fine folks at Kregel were open to the development of a second edition. In the past ten years and more, there has been a welcome renaissance in writings on ecclesiology, especially from a Baptist perspective. I have attempted to revise my discussion in numerous chapters to interact with these new sources and to incorporate where I have learned from them and where my own thinking has deepened-and I hope, improved. Care­ ful readers will note minor changes throughout and more

substantive

changes in chapters l. , 6, and 9. I have also had the chance to do additional research and writing in the past decade, particularly in the areas of church membership and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

1

That work is reflected in a

completely new chapter ( chapter 7, "Meaningful Church Membership") and an expanded chapter 1 1 ("More Than Simple Symbols: Baptism and the Lord's Supper").

1.

See John S. Hammett and Benjamin L. Merkle, eds., Those Who Must Give an Account: A Study of Church Membership and Church Discipline (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2 0 1 2 ) , and John S.

Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2015).

7

PREFACE TO 2 N ° E D I T I O N

8

Finally, the cultural context in which the church must live and minister has radically changed in the past decade. Some of the responses ten years ago to the developing postmodern culture, such as the emerging church, have

almost completely disappeared, while

missional

church and multisite

church,

new responses,

have become

such

as the

dominant.

More­

over, the increasingly post-Christian culture of North America has become evident in the increasing number of those who give "none" as their religious affiliation, and in the overall decline in religious affiliation across the board, including in my own denominational home, the Southern Baptist Conven­ tion. That has led to new approaches to ministry, such as the intentional development of revitalization, the recognition that the church in North America must take an increasingly missional posture, and work at contextu­ alizing the message of the gospel for a post-Christian culture. These changes in culture led to a complete rewriting of chapter 1 2 and a new chapter title, "Against the Grain: New Responses to a Changed Landscape:' I hope these changes will allow this second edition to continue to merit the subtitle of A Contemporary Ecclesiology, without sacrificing the positive features that many appreciated in the first edition. I especially want to express my gratitude for the support and encour­ agement I have received from my colleagues and the administration here at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, for the encouragement and ongoing dialogue with scholars at other seminaries and ministries like 9Marks, for the pastors who have read my book and sought to implement some of the measures I recommend, and for the students who have read my book and given feedback ( even if some of that feedback was required for class assignments). My secretary John May has worked with great patience in incorporat­ ing all the changes, additions, revisions, and revisions of revisions that this second edition involved. I want to express my appreciation to him for his diligence and servant spirit. Most of all, my deepest gratitude goes to the Head, Lord, and Builder of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout my life, he has surrounded me with churches that have enriched my life in ways beyond counting. I offer this book in the hope that he would use it as part of his plan for his church, "to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrin­ kle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph. 5 : 2 7 ) . Amen.

PREFACE

& THIS BOOK HAS BEEN BREWING in my mind for close to twenty years. Along the way, many people have contributed to it in some way. Most important have been the ten churches on two continents and in five states that have been my spiritual homes and the living laboratories in which I have seen many of the principles of this book lived out. To those churches collectively, I dedicate this book. My theological mentors will be apparent from the footnotes and much of the content of this book. I am grateful for the heritage of Baptist ecclesiol­ ogy, and have consciously sought to draw upon it. Sadly, much of that heri­ tage was ignored or forgotten in the twentieth century. I thank those who are working to restore it; my debts to them will be seen in my use of their works. Members of the churches where I have served, and colleagues and students at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, have heard many of these ideas. Collegial and classroom discussions have sharpened my thinking on a number of points, and I am grateful for the interest of my colleagues and students and their encouragement to present the ideas in book form. However, that encouragement would probably have been lost in the midst of academic responsibilities had it not been for the sabbatical granted by the administration and trustees of Southeastern Baptist Theo­ logical Seminary for the calendar year 2004. I thank them for the gener­ ous gift of time that allowed me to complete my research and put ideas on paper. Those ideas might have stayed on loose pieces of paper and never appeared in print form without the expertise of Phyllis Jackson, Donna

9

10

PREFACE

Cooper, and Laura White. I thank them for their help in getting the manu­ script prepared for publication. The staff at Kregel Publications, especially editor Jim Weaver, have been more than helpful. I thank them for their willingness to publish a denominational perspective in what is commonly regarded as a post­ denominational age. My wife, Linda, has been the most faithful and fervent prayer supporter of this project a husband could desire, and my children, Suzanne and Michael, have prompted my prayers that this book will play a role in help­ ing to create for them and their generation a host of healthy and faithful churches in which they will serve and be served. Most of all, I thank the Lord of the church for calling me to be a part of his bride. May this book contribute to the faithfulness of that bride.

I N T R O D U C T I O N

WH Y THIS BOOIZ? IN THE CONTEMPORARY information age, when books gush from publish­ ers, the Internet offers an endless flow of facts, and various forms of media compete for our attention, it seems incumbent on anyone who writes a book to answer the question on the minds of prospective readers: Why should I read this book? This chapter attempts to answer that question, and in so doing will give the reader an idea of what lies ahead. First, I want to show that the church is God's creation, Christ's body, and the special instrument of the Holy Spirit in the world today. Because the church is so important to God, it should be a primary concern to every Christian. Second, I argue that understanding the doctrine of the church is espe­ cially important to contemporary North Americans, because their pragmatic approach to church life, their concern to be relevant to their culture, and their desire to see their churches grow leave them vulnerable to the danger that their churches will be shaped more by those concerns than by the design of the Lord of the church. Indeed, how can churches be what God desires them to be if people do not know what he desires them to be? Thus, this book will seek to ask the foundational theological questions that will help God's people remain faithful to his ideals for the church, as revealed in Scripture. Third, I want to make a case that, even in our postdenominational age, there is a need for a book on the doctrine of the church from a Baptist

11

INTRODUCTION

12

perspective. Such a book will, I hope, be of some interest to those who are not Baptists, either out of simple curiosity to understand more about the largest Protestant denomination in North America, or out of a willing­ ness to examine Baptist claims that their doctrine of the church faithfully represents what the Bible teaches. But I especially want to urge Baptists to read this book, because I think few Baptists have a rationale for why they are Baptist, or even realize what it means to be Baptist; and many Baptist churches are hardly recognizable as Baptist churches in any historic sense. Historically, Baptists have been Baptist not out of blind denominational loyalty but because

of their commitment to what they saw as biblical

teaching on the doctrine of the church. That doctrine has been central to Baptist distinctives and was the motivating force behind our origin. It has been largely lost over the past century and is worth recovering, because it addresses critical needs of churches today.

WHY READ A B O O K ON THE CHURCH? For all those who desire to know God, or for all those who are followers of Christ, the church cannot be a matter of indifference. In the middle of the third century the great North African church father Cyprian said, "You cannot have God as father unless you have the Church as mother"! The great Reformer John Calvin called the church "the mother of all the godly"? More recently, in an article entitled "The Church: Why Bother?" Tim Stafford has affirmed the same sentiment:

''A

living, breathing congregation is the only

place to live in a healthy relationship to God. That is because it is the only place on earth where Jesus has chosen to dwell." These comments reflect the consistent New Testament teaching that Christianity is not an individualistic enterprise but a corporate commitment. Christians and the church belong together because the church is where the Christian life is born and nurtured. For twenty centuries, most of those who have come to know the true and living God have done so through some form of church ministry. Virtually all Christians have lived out their Christian lives in connection with some form of the church. That is why Hebrews 10:25 admonishes Christians to not give up meeting together; they need the church. It is vitally important to them.

1.

Cyprian, "On the Unity of the Church;' in Early Latin Theology, trans. and ed. S. L. Greenslade, The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956), 5: 127-28.

2.

John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles, The Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), 2 1 : 1 0 1 1 ( 4 . 1 ) .

3.

Tim Stafford, "The Church: Why Bother?" Christianity Today 49, no. 1 (January 2005): 42-49.

WHY THIS B O O K ?

13

But as significant as the church is to Christians, the most important reason for Christians to be passionate about the church is that the church is God's passion. It is central to what God has been doing down through history, creating a people for his own possession, a people who will be his people, and for whom he will be their God. Early in the biblical story, we see God calling Abram and promising that through him he would bless all the families of the earth (Gen. 1 2 : 1 - 3 ) . Throughout the Old Testament we see God forming Israel to be his people and, through them, bringing the Messiah into the world. In the Gospels, Jesus gathers a group of disciples, but does not yet call them the church. The story reaches a point of climax and transition with the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The coming of the Holy Spirit constitutes the church as God's new creation. The New Testament letters picture the life and growth of the church, continuing until the great purpose of God is fulfilled in Revelation 2 1 :3: "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God:' Virtually the whole Bible traces God's work of preparing for the church and working in and through it. The church is of central importance to God. Paul says that God's intent was that "through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms" (Eph. 3 : 1 0 ) . He goes on to say that God is eternally glorified in the church: "to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever" (v. 2 1 ) . Thus any book offer­ ing biblical teaching on the church should be of interest to anyone inter­ ested in the wisdom or glory of God. The church is also central to why Christ came. He came to seek and save the lost and then to gather them into a body. He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matt.

16:18).

Paul says, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph. 5 : 2 5 - 2 7 ) . He calls all those who love Christ to love his church as well, and to cooperate with him in his great project of building the church. But how can we cooperate with Christ in the building of the church if we do not understand what he desires it to be? This book presents what Christ calls the church to be. Further, the church is central to the presence of the Holy Spirit in the world today. The writer of Luke and Acts does not use the term church

INTRODUCTION

14

(ekklesia) for the group gathered by Jesus until after the coming of the Holy

Spirit on the day of Pentecost, because it is the presence of the Spirit that gives life to the church. The church is called "a holy temple . . . a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit" (Eph. 2 : 2 1 - 2 2 ) . The church is not the only way the Spirit is present in the world, but he is uniquely present in the church. As such, the church is uniquely empowered by God to minister in the world. A recent survey estimated that Southern Baptist congregations alone provide services such as food pantries and clothing closets to three million people a month.

4

Church members not only fund and voluntarily

staff many of the ministries of their churches, but church members also donate two-thirds of the contributions given to nonreligious charities.

5

In

so doing they reflect the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives and their churches. Furthermore, according to the projections of Philip Jenkins, the worldwide importance of the church is not decreasing but increasing, and dramatically so in the Southern Hemisphere.

6

The church survived

decades of oppression at the hands of communist rulers in Eastern Europe and, though often not recognized as such, was an important factor in the crumbling of the Iron Curtain. Today, the church continues to face perse­ cution in many parts of the world, in part because its power, the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, is not subject to political control. All these factors should make the church a matter of intense concern for all those interested in God and what he is doing in the world today.

WH Y RE AD A B O O K O N T H E DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH? American culture is marked by pragmatism, and most books on the church reflect that orientation. There are dozens of books on how to make a church grow, how to organize and administer church programs, how to revitalize a church's worship, how to get church members involved in missions, how to do almost anything churches do. While I share these pragmatic and practical concerns, in this book I focus on a different set

4.

This data is from a survey of a representative sample of more than seven hundred Southern Baptist congregations conducted in 2000, called Southern Baptist Congregations Today: A Survey at the Turn of a New Millennium. The results of the survey are given in Philip B. Jones, "Research

Report: Executive Summary of Southern Baptist Congregations Today" (Alpharetta, GA: North American Mission Board, SBC, n.d.), 3-4, available via www.namb.net. 5.

Tim Stafford, "Anatomy of a Giver;' Christianity Today 4 1 , no. 6 (May 19, 1997): 19-24.

6.

Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: York: Oxford University Press, 2002).

The Growth of Global Christianity (Oxford, UK; New

WHY THIS B O O K ?

15

of questions that are more fundamental to a church's long-term health, questions that deal with the doctrine of the church. This is the branch of theology called ecclesiology. To most people theology is about as appealing as a root canal. Such a view is unfortunate and inaccurate. There are problems with the health of most churches that cannot be corrected by tinkering with the mechanics of their programs. We need to do the important work of theology. Since the church is God's creation, it must be ordered and operated according to his instructions. Understanding those instructions is the task of theology. It is not a task entrusted to an elite group of scholars, but all Christians are commanded to love God with all their minds. Theology is simply using our minds to know and love God. As one theologian put it, "Theology is too important to be left to the theologians." This work of theology begins with the study of God's instructions, found in Scripture. This book will seek above all to be biblical in its understanding and presentation of the doctrine of the church. But we have help in understanding the message of the Bible from the twenty centuries of Christians who have gone before us, many of whom sought to understand the same Scriptures that we study. It would be foolish and arrogant to despise the counsel of earlier generations. History has much to teach us in understanding the Bible. At the very least, histori­ cal perspective can serve as a safeguard against the perennial danger of allowing our own historical context and culture to distort our under­ standing of Scripture. For those engaged in the important task of seek­ ing to communicate the gospel to a post-Christian, biblically illiterate culture, the laudable desire to

address that culture in a relevant and

intelligible way carries with it the danger of allowing the culture to shape and perhaps distort the message. History provides an anchor that can guard against drifting with the currents of culture. Today we have additional help in understanding the Scriptures from the global community of believers. They read the same Scriptures, but from a non-Western perspective. In many cases, they are closer to the culture of the Bible than Western theologians and interpreters and have insights to offer that Western theologians may miss.

8

7.

W. Ward Gasque, back cover of Robert Banks, Redeeming the Routines: Bringing Theology to Life

8.

Books like Timothy Tennent,

(Wheaton, IL: Bridgepoint Books, 1993). Theology in

the

Context of World Christianity ( Grand Rapids:

Zondervan, 2007) and E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O'Brien, Misreading Scripture with

INTRODUCTION

16

Scripture, informed by historical perspective thus forms the basis for theology. Theology takes the data of Scripture, utilizes the help of history and global insights, and develops doctrine to address the questions posed by life as we seek to live for God in God's world in the contemporary context. Such doctrine then serves as the basis for practical application in concrete, real-life situations. The process of theology can thus be pictured as a pyramid, in which theology is built on Scripture, is informed by history and global insights, and serves as a platform for ministry.

Utilize in Practical Ministry

Formulate Systematic Theology

Enrich Understanding with Historical and Global Perspectives

Begin with Scripture

Figure 1 . 1 : How to Do Theology

The tendency among most evangelical Christians is to go straight from Scripture to ministry without taking the necessary intervening steps. This book follows the full process, beginning with and emphasizing Scrip­ ture as the sole normative source for theology. It, secondarily, draws upon the resources of history, especially Baptist history and global insights, to challenge and, at points, to correct contemporary assumptions. It develops the major aspects of the doctrine of the church and includes examples and suggestions of how such doctrine can and should be fleshed out in practi­ cal ministry in local church contexts. The five parts of the book address the major theological issues involved in the doctrine of the church, with each part organized around a central question. The question for this introduction is, "Why this book?" Specifi­ cally, why read a book on the church? Further, why read a book on the

Western Eyes (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2012) are a couple of examples of the types of insights we are receiving from global Christianity.

WHY THIS B O O K ?

17

doctrine of the church? Finally, why read a book on the doctrine of the church from a Baptist perspective? Part 1 asks the question, "What is the church?" It seeks to answer that question in three chapters. The first chapter examines the New Testament word for church (ekklesia),

considers the major images for the church,

and describes the nature of the church as biblically conceived. Chapter 2 utilizes the resources of history, reflecting on the two major formulations of the marks of the church. The classical formulation describes the church as "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic;' and the Reformation sees the true church as marked by the preaching of the Word and the right adminis­ tration of the sacraments. I consider what these formulations add to our understanding of the church. From this biblical and historical material, chapter 3 offers five theological conclusions on the essence of the church, with each one leading to suggestions for practical application in church life and ministry. Part 2 turns to the question, "Who is the church?" Here I consider what may be called the Baptist mark of the church-regenerate church membership.

Chapter

4

gives

the

biblical

evidence

for

viewing

the

church as a body of regenerate baptized believers, traces how that under­ standing was lost following the conversion of Constantine in

A.D.

312,

and shows how it was recovered by Baptists and became the centerpiece of their ecclesiology. Chapter 5 recounts the sad story of how that mark of regenerate church membership was lost by Baptists in America in the twentieth century, and considers how and why it should be regained, involving changes in the practices of baptism, church membership, and church discipline. The question for part 3 is "How is the church governed?" Chapter 6 presents the case for congregational church government as the form most consistent with New Testament teaching. Chapter 7 builds on the emphasis of chapters 4 and 5 on regenerate church membership by look­ ing at how these regenerate church members live out their membership in meaningful ways, especially considering the privileges and responsi­ bilities of church membership, with the latter being of special importance for congregationalists. Chapters 8 and 9 present Baptist teaching on the two offices of church leaders: those called elders or overseers or pastors, and those called deacons. The important issues of the role, responsibility, qualifications, number, and selection of these leaders are given a careful and thorough consideration.

INTRODUCTION

18

Part

4 looks

at

the

ministries

of the

church

under

the

question,

"What does the church do?" Drawing on the important and paradigmatic description in Acts 2:42-47, teaching, fellowship, worship, service, and evangelism are affirmed as five essential ministries of the church in chap­ ter 1 0 . Chapter 1 1 presents a Baptist view of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, with some specific, practical suggestions for improving how Baptists celebrate these important acts. "Where is the church going?" is the final question, examined in part 5. Chapter 1 2 answers that question with the phrase "against the grain:'

That answer reflects the various responses churches are giving to the chal­ lenges presented by our changing cultural context. I give special attention to what I see as the six most important responses churches are giving. The final chapter, chapter

1 3 , broadens our vision by looking at the church

going into all the world, and considers some of the questions raised as churches are planted in other cultures. Each part of the book concludes with a list of study questions to help the reader reflect on the issues raised in the preceding chapters, and an annotated list of resources for further study, to assist those who want to go into further depth on specific issues. The book concludes, not with a question but a challenge-a challenge to give ourselves to the cause for which Christ gave himself, the develop­ ment of radiant churches, fully pleasing to him. That requires first under­ standing what God desires his church to be and then working patiently and lovingly to see that design embodied in our churches. Those inter­ ested in responding to such a challenge have ample reason to read a book on the doctrine of the church.

WHY READ A B O O K ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH FROM A BAPTIST PERSPECTIVE? While I have drawn doctrine first and foremost from Scripture, this book does present a clear Baptist perspective on ecclesiology. In so doing, I am countering the widespread postdenominationalism in our culture. Increasingly, people are reticent to identify themselves by a denomina­ tional affiliation, preferring to be seen simply as Christian. But in practice, it is hard to avoid making some denominational decisions. Even those who join a nondenominational church will find that it either baptizes infants or does not, it operates under a group of elders or it is ruled by the congregation. It would seem reasonable to expect those who attend or join

WHY THIS B O O K ?

19

a church to understand their church's rationale for its practices. If I am a Baptist, naturally I would want to understand my denomination's perspec­ tive on the doctrine of the church. But such an answer simply prompts a deeper question: "Why be a Baptist?" At times I have asked my students at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary or members of churches where I speak to tell me why they are Baptists. I get a variety of answers. Perhaps the most common answer is, "I am a Baptist because I was raised that way;

my parents were

Baptists

and that

is

all

I have

ever

known:' These individuals like the familiar Baptist literature and mission agencies and traditional programs. But family background alone does not provide a very strong reason for denominational affiliation. The proof of that is the ease with which many Baptists switch denominations. When they consider a church, they are likely to assign greater importance to the style of music and worship, the quality of the preaching, and the variety of the programs than to the denominational label. Others say they are Baptists because it was in a Baptist church where they first heard the gospel and recognized their need for a personal rela­ tionship with Christ, or that it was in a Baptist church that they were first taught the Bible, or that it was a Baptist church that reached out to them with love. Experiences like these produce a measure of denominational loyalty, but a small measure only, for there are many churches of other denominations

that proclaim

the biblical gospel,

teach the

Bible,

and

reach out in love and, sadly, there are some Baptist churches that do none of these things. Some realize they have little denominational identity and see that as a good thing. To the question, "Why are you a Baptist?" they answer, "I don't really think of myself as a Baptist, but simply as a Christian:' As we noted above, such an answer is characteristic of our postdenominational era and of evangelical Christianity as a whole, which has been largely identified with transdenominational parachurch groups. One such group, Promise Keepers, even at one time identified denominationalism as a sin akin to that of racism. I have some sympathy with this

answer.

Certainly being a Chris­

tian is far more important than any denominational commitment, and there have been all too many sinful, arrogant, and divisive expressions of denominationalism. But, as we noted earlier, in the end, some type of denominational identity is unavoidable. In practice, every church has to answer certain questions. Should we baptize infants or believers only? Are

20

INTRODUCTION

we to be governed by a bishop, by a board, or by the congregation? What type of practices do we believe are appropriate for worship? Is each church connected to others, or does each church have a measure of autonomy? The answers provided to these questions and others like them align an individual and a church, to some degree, with a denomination, or at the least, place them within a denominational tradition. So, while not the most important issue or essential to salvation, the question of denomina­ tional affiliation is not irrelevant or unimportant. To the question, "Why are you a Baptist?" a well-informed Baptist will reply, "because I interpret Scripture as teaching Baptist positions on the traditional ecclesiological questions." Such an answer need not be arrogant, or presume that Baptists have a monopoly on truth, or imply that Baptists are the only true Christians. Rather, it recognizes that since the Reformation, Christians-even Christians of deep piety and genuine love for Christ and commitment to his Word-have not been

able to

reach

agreement

on

the

interpretation

of Scripture

on

certain issues regarding what the church is and how it is to function. These disagreements led to the formation of different denominational traditions. These differences in interpretation endure to this day and present choices every thoughtful Christian must face. Thus any book on the doctrine of the church must present a perspective that is, to some degree, denominational. The perspective presented in this book is Baptist because I agree with how Baptists historically have interpreted the key ecclesiological issues. To the question with which we began this section, "Why read a book on the doctrine of the church from a Baptist perspective?" there are several answers. For those who are not Baptists, this book will explain

9.

There have been a number of books in Baptist history that have given answers to the question, "Why a Baptist?" One of the earliest and most famous is J. M. Pendleton, Three Reasons Why I Am a Baptist, with a Fourth Reason Added on Communion (St. Louis, MO: National Baptist

Publishing, 1856). His reasons all dealt with Baptist ecclesiology. Others, such as Louis Devotie Newton, Why I Am a Baptist (New York: Nelson, 1957); Joe T. Odle, ed., Why I Am a Baptist (Nashville: Broadman,

1972); Cecil P. Staton, ed.,

Why I Am a Baptist: Reflections on Being

Baptist in the 21st Century (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 1999); and Tom Nettles and Russell

Moore,

Why I Am a Baptist (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2 0 0 1 ) , include ecclesiological

reasons to some degree, but some also deal with family influence and appreciation for other aspects of Baptist life. Another book that sees some relationship between Baptist ecclesiology and Baptist identity is R.

Stanton Norman, More Than Just a Name: Preserving Our Baptist

Identity (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2001). Norman followed that book up with another,

connecting the same two themes: The Baptist Way: Distinctives of a Baptist Church (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2005).

21

WHY THIS B O O K ?

the basis for Baptist identity, which has centered around their doctrine of the church. Whether one traces the origin of modern Baptists to the early sixteenth-century Anabaptists

or the

early seventeenth-century

English Separatists, the key issue for both groups was the same: their belief in the church as a pure gathered group of believers only. Most other Baptist distinctives grow out of their doctrine of the church. It may well be that some non- Baptists who read this book will be provoked to reconsider their interpretation of scriptural teaching on the church and perhaps revise some of their views. For those who are Baptists, simple curiosity could be a motivation for reading this book. Most Baptists, and even many Baptist pastors, have never carefully thought through the biblical rationale for historic Baptist views and practices. Indeed, one of the main reasons prompting the writ­ ing of this book was the recognition that most Baptists are unaware of their ecclesiological heritage, in part because until very recently, there have not been many books that address the doctrine of the church from a Baptist perspective." This book can help to confirm and strengthen many in their Baptist identity by showing them the strong basis for that identity. Other Baptists, especially Baptist pastors, may be led to read this book because they sense that many of our churches are wandering, tossed to and fro by passing fads, suffering from problems that go beyond indi­ vidual, isolated acts to shoddy doctrinal foundations. In the past century, Baptists as a whole seem to have forsaken many of their historic posi­ tions, with little

awareness

of the slippage.

The

doctrine presented in

this book accurately reflects biblical teaching, is deeply rooted in Baptist history, is intensely practical and applicable in Baptist churches today, and is urgently needed if Baptist churches are to be the radiant bride of Christ. This concern for the welfare of the church motivated the writing of this book; I hope it will motivate many to read it.

10.

In the years since the first edition of this book (2005), there have been a number of works helping to fill that gap. Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman have jointly edited Baptist Foundations: Church Government for an Anti-Institutional Age (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2 0 1 5 ) , and have

each individually written books on ecclesiological topics. Among their contributions are Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2012) and Jonathan Leeman, Don't Fire Your Church Members: The Case for Congregationalism (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2 0 1 6 ) . Thomas White, Jason G. Duesing, and Malcolm B. Yarnell III edited Restoring Integrity in Baptist Church ( Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008 ); and as part of the series Foundations of

Evangelical Theology, Gregg Allison's work Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2 0 1 2 ) reflects his Baptist ecclesiology.

22

INTRODUCTION

STUDY QUESTIONS

1 . W h i c hof the reasons given for the importance of the church seems

most significant to you? How important is the church? Can someone be a Christian and not be involved in any church? 2. What questions do you have about the doctrine of the church that

you hope this book will answer? Write them down and review them after reading this book to see if your questions were addressed. 3. What is your own denominational affiliation? Why? How important is it to you? Could you see yourself becoming a member of a church of a different denomination? Why or why not?

PART

1

WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

C H A P T E R

T H E N A T U RE O F T H E C H U R C H Biblical Foundations

IN THIS CHAPTER, AND THE two that follow, we address the question that must be the starting point for any doctrine of the church: "What is the church?" In everyday language, we use the word church in a variety of ways. Quite often, we refer to the church as the building where we meet ("We're going to the church"). Some groups apply the term church to their denomination

(the

United

Methodist

Church).

More

knowledgeable

Christians know that the church is more than a building or denomina­ tion-it is people. But simply stating that the church is people, or even God's people, does not go very far. What is the church? For

two

thousand

years,

in

hundreds

of cultures

and

languages,

divided into a multitude of denominations, thousands if not millions of groups of Christians have assembled under the name of "church:' Some have certainly been far healthier than others. Some have been closer to what Baptists see as the New Testament pattern than others. What makes a group a church, as opposed to a club, a Bible study, a fellowship group, or even a parachurch group? What is the nature of a church? What marks identify it in the world? What is the theological essence of a true church?

25

26

CHAPTER I

Our concern in these first three chapters is to discuss these fundamental and foundational issues. Other issues, which are crucial but relate more to the well-being or health or proper order of the church than to its being or nature, will be treated in the following chapters. Since Baptists are people of the Book, a Baptist approach to the nature of the church begins with Scripture. In this chapter, we-first of all-explore the teaching of Scripture on the nature of the church. Then, respecting the witness of history, we examine in chapter 2 the major historic formulations of the marks of the church. Then, since doctrine is the basis for ministry, we draw upon our findings from Scripture and history to present theological conclusions and practical applications concerning the essence of the church.

THE CHURCH AND THE OLD TESTAMENT Looking to Scripture for our understanding of the nature of the church requires us to face the difficult question of the relationship of the church to the Old Testament and the people of God in the Old Testament, Israel. Some Christians, especially those who identify with covenant theology, emphasize the continuity of the church with Israel and thus find much in the Old Testament to inform our thinking on the nature of the church. As Reformed theologian Edmund Clowney puts it, "the Old Testament people of God become the church of the Messiah, formed as the fellow­ ship

of the Spirit. The Bible does not deliver shipments of doctrine in

cargo containers. Rather, the new grows out of the old, as the flower opens from the bud." Baptist author and pastor Mark Dever states: "In order to understand the church in the full richness of God's revealed truth, we must examine both the Old and New Testaments." The Old Testament allows us to see the historical rootedness of the church, going back to the call of Abraham, who is not only the father of Israel, but the father of all those who share his faith. Paul describes Abra­ hams offspring as not only "those who are of the law" (Israel) but also "those who have the faith of Abraham, (the church), concluding, "He is the father ofus all" (Rom. 4 : 1 6 ) . Th e church is also included in Gods great plan to call for himself a people, identified in both the Old and New Testa­ ment as "the people of God" This is seen perhaps most clearly in 1 Peter 2:9, in which four phrases used to describe Israel in the Old Testament

1.

Edmund Clowney, The Church (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1995), 29.

2.

Dever, The Church, 3.

THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH

27

("a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special posses­ sion") are now applied to the church. Thus, those taking a covenantal view emphasize continuity between the Old Testament people of God and the New Testament people of God. Clowney affirms, "The story of the church begins with Israel, the Old Testa­ ment people of God:' The question of whether the church fully replaces Israel in the purposes of God or not is, in the words of one covenant theo­ logian, "variously answered;' with some seeing the language of extension, continuation, or growth out of as a better description of the relationship of the church and Israel.

3

Millard Erickson, for example, describes the church

as "the new Israel;' which "occupies the place in the new covenant that Israel occupied in the old:' Yet he also affirms "a special future coming for national Israel:'

4

Others, taking a more dispensational view of things, think we should also recognize a significant degree of discontinuity.

Classical dispensa­

tional theology insisted on a radical or complete discontinuity between the church and Israel, but more recent formulations, as in progressive dispen­ sationalism, allow for a measure of continuity, seen in matters such as the use of the phrase "people of God" to refer to both Israel and the church, but insist that it is important to still maintain a distinction between Israel and the

church.

For Robert Saucy,

the fact that "similar terminology"

can be used for Israel and the church does not justify "a continuity of the people of God which views the church as the -

y Associations, Conventions

Figure 6.3: Congregational Church Government

32.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 297-98.

Deacons

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

157

In Figure 6.3, the congregation is at the top, representing its final author­ ity and the centrality of the local congregation in the Baptist conception of the church. There is a double line between the congregation and the pastors/ elders/overseers, representing the fact that the church has final authority over the elders, but the elders lead the congregation. The deacons serve both the elders and the congregation, and so has lines from both of them. However, since the deacons should not exercise leadership over the congre­ gation as a whole, nor over the pastors, there is no line from them to the congregation or the pastors. Finally, the relationship of the congregation to associations and conventions is not as direct and intrinsic to congregation­ alism as are its relationship to elders and deacons and so the line to that box is dotted. Yet associations and conventions have a place in congregational­ ism because they are an appropriate way for churches to show in a visible way their belief in the oneness of the larger body of Christ. This theory has not always been fleshed out in practice.

Powerful

pastors and dominating deacons have often sought to control congrega­ tions, either alone, in concert with each other, or in competition with each other. In fact, Wayne Grudem sees five varieties of congregationalism: single-pastor government, pastor-deacon government, plural local elder government, corporate board government, and pure democracy govern­ ment.

33

Another recent book on five views of church polity includes three

congregational models: single elder-led, democratic, and plural elder-led, still another presents single-elder and plural-elder congregationalism.

34

All these can be versions of congregationalism if the final court of appeal is the congregation itself. Congregationalism allows for leadership by pastors, elders, and/ or deacons, even strong leadership and a measure of delegated authority. It does not allow for government by leaders. Congregationalism is govern­ ment by the congregation. Baptists have supported congregationalism,

because they have thought it the most scriptural position. The follow­ ing sections present a case for congregationalism, showing its biblical

33.

Wayne

Grudem,

Systematic

Theology:

An

Introduction

to

Biblical

Doctrine

(Leicester,

UK:

InterVarsity/Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 928-36. 34.

Daniel Akin defends the single elder-led position; James Leo Garrett Jr., the democratic model; and James R. White argues for a plural eldership in Brand and Norman, eds., Perspectives on Church Government. In Cowan, ed., Who Runs the Church? Paige Patterson presents single-elder congregationalism and Samuel Waldron plural-elder congregationalism. The position of Akin and Patterson could also be called primary elder congregationalism, since they do not deny the viability of plural elders but only maintain that one elder must be primary.

CHAPTER6

158

support, its theological undergirding, its historical track record, and its practical benefits.

35

BIBLICAL SUPPORT FOR CONGREGATIONALISM There are numerous lines of evidence in the New Testament that support a congregational model of government. builds

the

18:15-20;

ans 2 : 6 .

36

case

for congregationalism from

Acts 6 : 3 ;

13:2-3;

15:22;

1

James Leo Garrett Jr.

six major texts:

Corinthians

5:2;

Matthew

and 2 Corinthi­

Most who build a case for congregationalism use these texts;

others cite additional texts,

37

but these six seem to be the clearest. One

further indirect support comes from the fact that there is no evidence that any body larger than a local congregation ever made decisions for a New Testament congregation. Even the decision of the council in Acts 1 5 is presented as what "seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" and is

urged upon them with the words "you will do well" to accept their recom­ mendation (vv. 28-29). But there is nothing in the account that resem­ bles

a general

assembly determining policy for

churches

under their

authority. The apostles, though they exercised authority in the churches as the authorized representatives of Christ, did not appoint bishops as their successors over churches but appointed bishops and elders to serve within churches. These actions seem in keeping with the congregational principle of local autonomy. Local autonomy, one aspect of congregationalism, is also supported by the overwhelmingly dominant use of ekklesia to refer to local churches in the New Testament.

38

There is no superior organizational level to which

churches are accountable.

35.

The case for congregationalism is given in slightly different forms in Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 278-83; Leeman, Don't Fire Your Church Members, 97-122; Stephen J. Wellum and

Kirk Well um, "The Biblical and Theological Case for Congregationalism;' in Biblical Foundations, 47-78, and Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2000), 20614. All four make a fine presentation of the case for congregationalism; my presentation shares

many points with theirs but also differs from their approaches on a number of minor points. 36.

Garrett, "The Congregation-Led Church;' 1 5 8 - 6 9 .

37.

Wellum and Wellum ("The Biblical and Theological Case for Congregationalism;' 76) cite a number of additional texts in reference to areas they see as under the congregation's authority in the New Testament: "the collection and distribution of monies for the relief of the poor ( 1 Cor 1 6 : 1 - 4 ; 2 Cor 8-9); the administration of the Lord's Supper ( 1 Cor 11:20-26);' and a few others,

but the activities referenced in these texts don't seem as clearly governing activities as those in the other texts. 38.

Garrett says ekklesia refers to a local church or churches in ninety-two or ninety-three of its 1 1 4 occurrences. Ibid., 1 7 1 .

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

159

Another less obvious but highly important support for congregation­ alism is seen in the dominant images for the church. None are hierarchi­ cal; all are interdependent and breathe the spirit of mutuality. For example, kingdom is not a major biblical motif for the church, but body and family are. Alastair Campbell says that in considering New Testament teaching on polity, it is "of the highest importance" that we recognize the signif­ icance of the fact that the early churches "came to birth within house­ holds or extended families'?" which consist more of brothers and sisters than rulers and subjects. In examining Luke's view of church leadership in the book of Acts, Scott Bartchy notes that Luke's ideal for the church was "a well functioning family;' a model that leads toward an "antipatri­ archal perspective" on leadership,

40

a perspective that accords better with

congregational polity than any other model. A third general or indirect support is seen in the fact that most of the letters in the New Testament were addressed to churches, not just to their leaders. Peter, Paul, James, and John seemed to expect churches to take responsibility for their own doctrine. Paul tells the churches of Galatia to reject heretical teaching, even if it comes from an angel or apostle (Gal. 1 : 8 - 9 ) . Apparently, he saw doctrinal purity as a congrega­ tional responsibility. But the two clearest examples of congregational government come in the areas of regulating church membership and choosing local leader­

ship." The first area comes to the fore in discussions of church discipline. In Matthew 1 8 : 1 5 - 1 7 , the final decision for dismissing a member is not assigned to a bishop or elders, but to the church. Historically, Baptists saw this as an exercise of the authority given to the church in the gift of the "keys of the kingdom'' (Matt. 1 6 : 1 9 ) and consistently identified the power to discipline their members as one of the proper activities of a congrega­ tion.

39.

42

Paul assigns the same responsibility to the Corinthian church in

R. Alastair Campbell, The Elders: Seniority within Earliest Christianity (Edinburgh, UK: T & T Clark, 1994), 2 4 1 .

40.

S. Scott Bartchy, "Divine Power, Community Formation, and Leadership in Acts;' in Longenecker, ed., Community Formation in the Early Church and in the Church Today, 97-98.

41.

Interestingly, these are

also the two

activities most commonly highlighted

in

seventeenth­

and eighteenth-century Baptist confessions of faith as belonging to the church. D. A. Carson adds

a third general area of congregational responsibility:

"They enjoyed responsibility for

and authority over a substantial range of questions affecting internal order:' Carson, "Church, Authority in the;' 2 5 1 . 42.

See, for example, the statement of the London Confession of 1644: "Christ has likewise given power to his whole Church to receive in and cast out, by way of Excommunication, any member;

CHAPTER6

160

1 Corinthians 5 : 9 - 1 3 . He describes their action later as " [ t j h e punishment

inflicted on him by the majority" (2 Cor. 2 : 6 ) , indicating a congregational proceeding. Since the individual involved had repented, Paul now urges them to restore him. Again, the responsibility is placed on the congre­ gation. The phrase "the punishment inflicted on him by the majority;' is interesting. While not explicit, it seems entirely possible and probably likely, that the congregation here took some type of vote and made a deci­ sion that was not unanimous. In the area of choosing leaders, some see the action of the believers in Acts 1 in choosing a replacement for Judas as indicative of congrega­ tionalism, but clearer is the example in Acts 6, where the apostles told the "whole group" to choose those who would assist the apostles. This passage, Acts 6: 1 - 6 , is commonly seen as the origin of the office of deacon. The narrative here is really quite astonishing. You have a very young and very large congregation, a very important decision to make, and the most mature members of the congregation, the apostles, aware and available. Wouldn't it make

more

sense to

restrict

decision-making on

such

an

important issue to mature leaders, like the apostles? But here it is the apos­ tles who charge the congregation to make the decision as to who will serve ("choose seven men from among you") and the text adds, "This proposal pleased the whole group" (Acts 6 : 5 ) and "They chose:' It seems to clearly reflect congregational decision- making. I will confess that I am curious as to how such a large congregation came to an apparently swift decision that the apostles accepted (I wish we had the minutes of any meetings they held!). But the clear implication is a high degree of trust in the ability of the congregation to be able to receive guidance from God and make deci­ sions pleasing to Christ, the head of the church. In Acts 1 3 : 1 - 3 , it seems that the church was involved in commis­ sioning Paul and Barnabas to their work as missionaries, and upon their return, Paul and Barnabas reported to the church (Acts 1 4 : 2 7 ) . In Acts 1 5 , the church was involved in the discussion (vv. 4, 1 2 ) and decision (v.

22) of the group there. It is true Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for

and this power is given to every particular Congregation, and not one particular person, either member or Officer, but the whole:' This statement is clearer than most, but there are similar indications in confessions up to the nineteenth century, when the practice of discipline began to decline. For the connection of this power with the keys of Matthew 1 6 : 1 9 , see Benjamin Griffith, "The Glory of a True Church, and Its Discipline Displayd," in Dever, ed., Polity, 63-91, a work with the subtitle, "Wherein a true Gospel-Church is described. Together with the Power of the Keys, and who are to be let in, and who to be shut out:'

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

161

the churches they founded ( 1 4 : 2 3 ) , and Paul instructed Titus to do the same for the churches in Crete (Titus 1 : 5 ) , but these are clearly excep­ tional situations, both because the congregations involved were in their infancy and because an apostle, or in the case of Titus, an associate of an apostle, had unique authority. All these examples of congregational action, along with instructions about the procedure to follow in disci­ pline of an elder ( 1 Tim. 5 : 1 9 - 2 0 ) , support the final responsibility of the congregation over its leaders.

THEOLOGICAL UNDERGIRDING F O R CONGREGATIONALISM Some support congregational polity, even though they see the New Testament teaching on church government as incomplete, inconclusive, or indefinite. They do so because they see congregationalism as undergirded by certain important theological principles. Leon Morris says, "Perhaps it would not be unfair to say that the chief scriptural buttresses of this position [congregationalism] are the facts that Christ is the head of the church . . . and that there is a priesthood of all believers.":" The principle of Christ's headship over the church is seen as supporting congregational government because the other forms

of church government place the

church in the position of obeying a bishop or presbytery or general assem­ bly, rather than Christ. As Gregg Allison puts it, "The organic connection between Christ and his body, together with the authority that such head­ ship entails, precludes human intermediaries wielding authority over the church.":" Of course, it could be argued that the presbytery or bishop is the ordained way for Christ to direct his people, but it has seemed to many that the directness of Christ's authority over the church is compromised by the other forms of government. Congregationalism preserves the congre­ gation's direct responsibility to submit to Christ's headship. Their ability to discern and obey Christ's direction is assured by the second principle supporting congregationalism, the priesthood of all believers. The priesthood of all believers is seen by many as the strongest support for congregational government. James Leo Garrett Jr., Millard Erickson, and Stanley Grenz all acknowledge its importance. Garrett notes "the important connection between the priesthood of all Christians and Congregational

43.

Morris, "Church Government;' 257.

44.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 2 8 1 .

CHAPTER6

162

polity?" Erickson says, "It is my judgment that the congregational form of church government most nearly fulfills the principles that have been laid down. It takes seriously the principle of the priesthood and spiritual compe­ tency of all believers':" Grenz states, "proponents claim that democratic congregationalism is the consistent outworking of . . . the priesthood of all believers'?" The priesthood of all believers affirms that each believer is both able and responsible to seek God directly and receive guidance from him directly apart from any human intermediary. Yet each individual believer is also fallible. Thus, the proponents of congregationalism have seen that the best way for the church to find God's direction is for all the believer-priests to seek God's face and come to a consensus as to his direction for the church. As Grenz says, "This comprises the central principle of democratic congre­ gationalism. The entire company of believers discerns Christ's will for his

people?" But here the warning given in a previous chapter bears repeating: This principle of the priesthood of all believers, and its support for congre­ gational church government, depends on the congregation being composed of true believers, for only such are believer-priests and only such are able to seek and receive guidance from God. Congregational church government demands regenerate church membership.

The Historical Track Record of Congregationalism There are three points to be made from history in support of congrega­ tionalism. The first is simply to note that there is some evidence of congre­ gationalism in the early post-New Testament church. Though the growing importance of the bishop is obvious in the second and third century, there is also evidence of some congregationalism in the early church. Clem­ ent of Rome acknowledges the action of the church in Corinth, which had removed from the office of bishop certain men who had either been appointed to that office by the apostles or "with the consent of the whole church:' Clement was displeased with what they had done, but it shows that the move to episcopal governance was not immediate. In that congre­ gation, there remained some congregational decision- making.

45.

Garrett, "The Congregation-Led Church;' 185.

46.

Erickson, Christian Theology, 1096.

47.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 723.

49

An even

48.

Ibid., 724.

49.

Clement, "The Letter of the Church of Rome to the Church of Corinth, Commonly Called Clement's First Letter, 44;' in Early Christian Fathers, 63-64.

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

clearer

example

is

found

163

in the

Didache.

There,

an

unknown

teacher

instructed a rural early-second-century congregation to elect their own leaders: "You must, then, elect for yourselves bishops and deacons who are a credit to the Lord?" But admittedly, the evidence from early on is scant. Episcopal government did become the norm as we move through the second century and into the third and beyond. But here we may note a second point. The period of the dominance of episcopal government coincided with the period when most people did not have access to the New Testament. Once the Gutenberg printing press revolutionized bookmaking,

and the

Bible became

more widely avail­

able and more regarded as the standard for all areas of theology, includ­ ing ecclesiology, almost immediately, congregational church government began being proposed, by the early Anabaptists and later by the English Separatists, some of the Pilgrims and Puritans, and the Baptists. Finally,

in the light of the last several centuries, what is the track

record of congregationalism? Some charge congregationalism as foster­ ing an environment where church fights and splits commonly occur, or even at best, as an inefficient way of decision-making.

51

Those who have

lived in congregational contexts may have seen both, but that is not the whole story. Mark Dever states what he sees as "the verdict of history. . . . While it is clear that no certain polity prevents churches from error, from declension, and from sterility, the more centralized polities seem to have a worse track record that does congregationalism in maintaining a faithful, vital, evangelical witness.?" Perhaps the clearest evidence here has been the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. Begin­ ning in 1979, leaders sought to address what they saw as a leftward drift in the Convention agencies and seminaries. Over a fifteen-year period, there were able to bring about a remarkable change in theological direc­ tion in their seminaries and agencies, such that one writer has called it "the Baptist Reforrnation.?" Some have questioned the need for change or the true motives behind their actions,

54

but one fact seems indisput­

able. Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention were able to succeed

50.

"The Didache, 16" in ibid., 178.

51.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 285-86, notes and gives his response to such criticism.

52.

Mark Dever, A Display of God's Glory (Washington, DC: Center for Church Reform, 2001), 38.

53.

Jerry Sutton,

The Baptist Reformation:

The Conservative Resurgence in

the Southern

Baptist

Convention (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000).

54.

See the four widely varying accounts "The Southern Baptist Convention, Happened and Why?" Baptist History and Heritage, October 1995.

1 9 7 9 - 1 9 9 3 : What

CHAPTER6

164

where attempts at change in other denominations did not, in large part because the Southern Baptist Convention preserved in its constitution elements of the congregationalism practiced in its churches. In the end, it was thousands of grassroots Southern Baptists, sent out by their churches, who voted for change. They were mobilized by very able leaders, but they were able to effect change, because the convention machinery was finally accountable to local congregations.

55

PRACTICAL BENEFITS OF CONGREGATIONALISM The primary practical benefit of congregationalism is that it provides for what is a practical inevitability. Mark Dever asserts that every church is congregational in nature; that is, they can continue to exist only as the people support them. The people can always vote, with their funds and feet if in no other way. Dever says, "The congregation will have their say. That's a simple fact. It is like gravity. It's just a matter of the way things work'?" But rather than merely acknowledging that a degree of congrega­ tional involvement is inevitable and seeking to minimize it, a wiser course is heartily adopting a full congregationalism and accepting the challenge of developing a congregation that can responsibly and fully participate in governing itself, rather than a congregation that passively accepts what­ ever the leadership hands down. James Leo Garrett Jr.

says congregational polity is "more capable

than other polities of developing loyalty to and support of the congre­ gation" and it is "very likely to produce stronger, more mature Chris­ tians than other polities."? Correspondingly, a lack of involvement and participation in discerning the direction of the church seem likely to weaken the sense ofloyalty and commitment among the members of the congregation. Some might question the practical benefits of congregationalism. How practical is it, some might ask, for a congregation to have to gather to vote on every minute decision it faces? But this is to misunderstand

55.

There have been a multitude of analyses of the controversy in the SBC. For a short synopsis and bibliography, see Chute, Finn, and Haykin, The Baptist Story, 285-92. Surprisingly, few comment on how it was the ability of local congregations to send messengers, who in turn could vote for presidents and trustees committed to change, that was crucial to the controversy ever beginning.

56.

Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 225.

57.

Garrett, "The Congregation-Led Church;' 193.

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

165

congregationalism. It does not entail that the congregation meet and vote to decide every matter. In practice, most congregational churches delegate a good deal of decision-making authority to their leaders, and there seems biblical support for doing so. A measure of authority is given to leaders in order for them to lead, with final governing human authority

given

to

congregations,

both

under

the

ultimate

author­

ity of the Head of the church, Jesus Christ. Thus, the model affirmed by many today is an elder ( or pastor) led, congregationally governed church.

58

As to which decisions should be left to the leaders and which

reserved for the congregation, New Testament examples of congrega­ tional action include matters of church discipline and restoration of membership (Matt. 1 8 : 1 5 - 1 7 ; 1 Cor. 5 : 9 - 1 3 ; 2 Cor. 2 : 6 - 8 ) , selection of leaders (Acts 6 : 2 - 6 ) , setting apart of some for certain responsibilities (Acts 1 3 : 2 - 3 ) , and perhaps congregational responsibility for maintain­ ing soundness of doctrine is indicated in the fact that most of Paul's letters are sent to the churches, not just to their leaders (Gal.

1:8-9).

But there may be some pastoral wisdom in involving the congregation also in other decisions, especially those that impact the congregation as a whole (matters like budgets, or building a new facility).

59

At any rate,

all that congregationalism requires is that congregations have the final governing authority; it does not require that they vote on every minute decision churches must make. Another objection some may make to the practical benefits of congre­ gationalism

is

the

association

of

congregationalism

with

"democratic

processes.'?' In our increasingly global church, how practical is it to ask churches

to

operate

through

democratic

processes

in

contexts

where

democracy is unknown? In many contexts, there may need to be extensive teaching, even in Western contexts, to call members to take up the responsi­ bilities Scripture lays on church members in the area of church governance, but democratic processes may be interpreted more broadly than just the political methods used in the West. For example, a tribe that has always

58.

Gregg

Allison

describes

his

model

as

"plural-elder-led,

deacon

and

deaconess-served,

congregational church with strong connections" (Sojourners and Strangers, 297). Others simply affirm elder-led congregationalism (Leeman, Don't Fire Your Church Members, 122; Wellum and Wellum, "The Biblical and Theological Case for Congregationalism:' 76). 59.

For a thoughtful treatment of how to decide which decisions should be left to leaders and which to reserve for congregations, see Leeman, Don't Fire Your Church Members, 123-52.

60.

This phrase is from the definition of a church in

The Baptist Faith

and Message, VI:

congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes:'

"Each

166

CHAPTER6

made decisions consensually but informally, could reach a decision that would represent the will of the congregation, without ever having a Western style business meeting and taking a vote. Again, what is of the essence of congregationalism is the congregation as the final human authority govern­ ing the church; how the congregation works together in making those deci­ sions may involve a variety of processes. Those processes may be called democratic as long as in the end it is the demos, the people, who make the decisions.

61

But they do not necessarily have to be Western processes.

CHALLENGES FACING CONGREGATIONALISM Despite the long and virtually unanimous support for congregational­ ism among Baptists, it is facing a number of challenges today, of both a practical and a theological nature. If genuine congregational government is to endure among Baptists, these challenges must be addressed.

The Needfor Responsible, Regenerate Congregations As we noted in the previous chapter, congregational church govern­ ment presupposes regenerate church membership, for only a regenerate congregation can govern itself responsibly. But we also noted that regen­ erate church membership is largely a fiction among Baptist churches in North America today.

Most churches have large number of members

who have not been present in worship services for years, have shown no signs of commitment to Christ or to the local church, and yet remain as members in good standing and may well show up to vote in crucial church business meetings. With such congregations, many Baptist pastors think of church business meetings with a sense of dread and fear, as something to be avoided as much as possible, for they have seen all too often how what is theoretically supposed to be a search by a congregation ofbeliever­ priests for Christ's

guidance has degenerated into

an

angry argument

among factions vying for control. For their part, many members of such congregations find business meetings either boring or unedifying and stay away in droves. Either way, congregational church government is frus­ trated by the lack of congregations able and willing to govern themselves responsibly. The need to develop responsible congregations is probably 62

the number-one challenge facing Baptists in North America today.

61.

Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 2 1 2 .

62.

For suggestions as to how to develop responsible congregations, see the material in chapter 5.

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

167

The Rise of Larger Churches Another practical challenge to congregationalism is that raised by the trend toward larger churches. One observer has noted that this is a feature

of the

contemporary

scene

unprecedented

in

church

history:

"The recent rise of larger and larger churches at an increasingly fast rate of growth is unique to this final quarter of the twentieth century?" This trend is continuing in the twenty-first century. A 2 0 1 0 survey of Prot­ estant churches concludes, "while the United States has a large number of very small churches, most people attend larger churches. The National Congregations Study estimated that the smaller churches draw only 1 1 percent of those who attend worship. Meanwhile, 50 percent of churchgo­ ers attended the largest 10% of congregations (350 regular participants and up ):'

64

In the Southern Baptist Convention alone, there are at least 545

churches with one thousand or more in weekly attendance.

65

The difficulties raised for congregational government by churches of such size are threefold. First is the difficulty of getting such large numbers of people to come and participate in congregational government. Stanley Grenz says, "Democratic congregationalism is the active role of all in the corporate determination of Christ's will, not the rule by the voting major­ ity at meagerly attended church meetings.?" The larger the church, the greater the practical difficulty it will face in getting widespread congrega­ tional involvement. Second, even if a large church can get all its members present, it will face the difficulty of ensuring that all the members are well informed on the issues under consideration. For this reason, Millard Erickson feels that in larger churches more of the decision- making has to be entrusted to leaders chosen by and responsible to the congregation. He cautions, however, that "the elected servants must be ever mindful that they are responsible to the whole body'"" Even smaller churches typically entrust many minor deci-

63.

John Vaughan, Megachurches and America's Cities: How Churches Grow (Grand Rapids: Baker,

64.

The survey found that 59 percent of churches have 99 or fewer attenders; only 2.5 percent of

1993), 40.

churches have attendance of one thousand or more, but around 4 million more people worship in those few larger churches than in all the smaller churches combined (see Hartford Institute for Religion Research, "Fast Facts about American Religion," at http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/ fastfacts/fast_facts.html#sizecong, accessed 6/21/2017). 65.

This is from a 2 0 1 4 report by Thom Rainer (see thomrainer.com/2014/07/2014-updatelargest­ churches-southern-baptist-convention, accessed 6/21/2017).

66.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 724-25.

67.

Erickson, Christian Theology, 1005.

168

CHAPTER6

sions to their leaders, not feeling the need to be consulted on every specific item. The larger the church, the greater will be its need for delegation of authority from the congregation to its leaders. But it should be clear that the authority with which they act is delegated from the congregation. Third is the fact that most megachurches tend to be "heavily pastor 68

centered" and to be pastor-led in practice, even if congregational in theory.

John Vaughn argues that churches naturally evolve from congregational to presbyterian to episcopal

as they grow in numbers, and sees such a develop­

ment as positive, for he sees congregational polity as a hindrance in grow­ 69

ing a megachurch.

Yet the first church described in the book of Acts, the

church at Jerusalem, was a megachurch and yet there is strong evidence of its congregationalism (see Acts 2:44-47; 4:32; 5 : 1 2 ; 6:2-6;

1 5 : 2 2 ) . Larger

churches can practice congregationalism, but they must sufficiently value it to make the greater effort that will be necessary to so effectively.

Strong Pastoral Leadership and Church Growth Another challenge related to the rise of larger churches is the strong pressure for churches to grow numerically and the claim that strong pastoral leadership is essential for such growth to happen. In the last generation a whole school of thought has developed called church growth. Those involved in this school of thought study numerically growing churches and try to isolate important factors contributing to growth. One factor they highlight is the importance of strong pastoral leadership, or what is sometimes called a CEO ( chief executive officer) model of pastoral leadership.

70

Strong pastoral leadership is not in itself incompatible with congrega­ tional government, but often the CEO model brings with it the corporate concept of hierarchical authority with control being exercised from the top down. As David Crosby notes in his study of church government in the church growth movement, the CEO model fits much more naturally in

68.

Garrett,

"The

Congregation-Led

Church;'

190, citing Wilson Hull Beardsley, "The Pastor as

Change Agent in the Growth of a Southern Baptist Mega Church Model" (D. Min. diss., Fuller Theological Seminary, 1 9 9 1 ) .

Megachurches and America's Cities, 84-85.

69.

Vaughan,

70.

This style of pastoral leadership is advocated by a number of church growth authors, including Peter Wagner,

Leading Your Church to Growth (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1984); Lyle Schaller,

The Decision-Makers: How to Improve the Quality of Decision-Making in the Churches (Nashville: Abingdon, Broadman Rapids:

1974);

and

& Holman,

Zondervan,

Glen

Martin

and

Gary

Mcintosh,

The

Issachar

1993). Thom Rainer, Surprising Insights from

2001)

has

found

strong

leadership and church growth in his research.

support

for

the

link

Factor

(Nashville:

the Unchurched (Grand between

strong

pastoral

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

169

episcopal or presbyterian polity than in congregationalism." Yet the imper­ ative to grow is so strong in some Baptist circles, and decision- making is so often governed by pragmatism rather than theological or ecclesiologi­ cal considerations, that the perceived advantage of strong pastoral leader­ ship in church growth has led many to an abandonment of congregational government in practice, if not theory. Demonstrating that effective pastoral leadership is consistent with congregational church government is one of the challenges facing congregationalism and its advocates.

The Emergence of Elder Rule One challenge to congregational rule goes beyond practical difficulties to a theoretical and theological issue. It is the small but noticeable emer­ gence of Baptist churches practicing elder rule. There is nothing intrinsi­ cally problematic for Baptists in the use of the term elder. The New Testa­ ment uses the terms elder, overseer ( or bishop), and pastor interchangeably and so did Baptists for much of their history. The 1 8 5 9 Abstract of Princi­ ples, which still serves as one of the guiding documents for two Southern Baptist seminaries, refers to the scriptural church officers as "Bishops or Elders, and Deacons:' There were even those called "ruling elders" among some Baptist churches in the eighteenth century, especially those influ­ enced by the Philadelphia Association. But these ruling elders functioned more as assistants to the pastor, and could be as accurately called "lay elders;' for they did not share the preaching and teaching responsibilities of the pastor or minister. In any case, their rule was under the authority of the congregation and thus unlike the authoritative rule of a presbyterian ruling elder.

72

Even that type of ruling elder was generally discarded by

Baptists in the nineteenth century. Today, some Baptist churches are adopting a plurality of elders and utilizing

lay

government.

elders, 73

while

retaining

a

commitment

to

congregational

Elder leadership can coexist with congregational govern­

ment. Recently, however, other Baptist churches have allowed major deci-

71.

David Eldon Crosby, "Church Government in the Church Growth Movement: Critique from a Historic Baptist Perspective" (Ph.D. diss, Baylor University, 1989), 325-32.

72.

See the discussion by Charles W Deweese, "Baptist Elders in America and

Evaluation:'

The

Quarterly

Review

(October-December

1989):

in the 1700s: Documents 57-65;

the

analysis

by

Slayden Yarbrough, "Southern Baptists and Elder Rule;' The Oklahoma Baptist Chronicle 37, no. 2 (Autumn 1994): 17-32; and the evaluation by Greg Wills, "The Church: Baptists and Their Churches in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries;' in Dever, ed., Polity, 19-42. 73.

This is the perspective of Dever, A Display of God's Glory, 16-43.

CHAPTER6

170

sions on matters of staff, budget, and congregational direction to be made by groups of elders with little or no congregational participation. Stanley Grenz calls this development "semi-Presbyterianism"?' It seems to involve a serious, essential movement away from congregationalism. To some degree, more decision - making by elders may be related to the earlier challenge we mentioned, the rise of large churches. In large churches, the difficulties of getting the congregation together and inform ing them of the issues, coupled with the necessity of timely decisions, may lead the congregation to delegate a larger measure of decision- making authority to their leaders, but subject to

congregational oversight and

review. What is troubling about some of the forms of emerging elder rule is the deemphasis on the role and importance of the congregation. In most of these churches, there is still some degree of congregational involvement or oversight, but whereas traditional congregationalism expected active congregational participation and ensured ultimate congregational control, some of the newer forms of elder rule minimize congregational participa­ tion and blur the lines of ultimate authority and control. Two questions merit examination. First, why is this challenge to the longstanding Baptist commitment to congregational church government arising-and particularly, why today, after centuries of congregational­ ism? Second, how should Baptist churches respond? To the first question, there are numerous suggested answers. Bill Leonard sees an authoritarian mood among some Baptists who emphasize verses that speak of the duty of believers to obey their leaders (Heb. 1 3 : 1 7 ) and speak of elders ruling the church ( 1 Tim. 5 : 1 7 ) .

75

Such verses certainly may have been muffled

by the individualistic, egalitarian culture of America where nobody would think of ordering someone else to obey, and may need more emphasis in our churches today, but Paul never expected uncritical obedience. He only called believers to follow him as he followed Christ and taught the true gospel ( 1 Cor. 1 1 : 1 ; Gal. 1 : 8 ) . Moreover, there have been many Baptists who have held a high view of pastoral authority without rejecting congre­ gational government. The two involve no necessary conflict. James Leo Garrett Jr. thinks Southern Baptists are being influenced by popular independent preachers such as John MacArthur who practice

74.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 725.

75.

Bill Leonard, "The Church:' in Has Our Theology Changed? Southern Baptist Thought Since 1845, ed. Paul A. Basden (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 177-78.

BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

171

elder rule in their churches.

76

The development of radio and television

ministries has certainly broadened the reach of popular preachers, and there is no doubt some truth to Garrett's assessment. But there are two more important motivating factors, one on the side of leaders and one on the side of the congregations. The most important factor motivating pastors to move toward elder rule

is

the

difficulty

in

working

with

congregations

often

filled

with

members who give no evidence of regeneration and do not seem intent on seeking Christ's will in congregational business meetings. To a pastor who feels his congregation is obstructing his attempts to lead them in godly ways, elder rule might be very appealing. On the part of congregations who offer no opposition to allowing the elders to make decisions for them, the most important factor is the devel­ opment of a consumer attitude toward church membership. American culture has been characterized by recent authors as a consumer culture. Rodney Clapp describes it this way:

"We are no longer 'students; but

'educational consumers; no longer 'worshipers; but 'church shoppers; no longer 'patients; but 'health consumers; and so on."? Bruce Shelley and Marshall Shelley have reflected specifically on how this consumer culture has entered and affected the church. They say, "Many people assume that their needs count for more than their loyalty. If their needs go unmet, they are quick to switch to another church, just as they would doctors, grocery stores or airlines to find better service?" It is interesting to contrast this with the attitude of the early Baptists of the Philadelphia Association. In 1 7 2 8 , a member church of the association asked for their advice on the question of whether or not it was proper to allow a member of one church to move his letter to another church, when his residence had not changed. The association answered in the negative, reflecting the idea that church membership is not a matter of finding a place where one's needs may be met, but finding a place where one can obey God's commands with a clear conscience.

76.

79

James Leo Garrett Jr., Systematic Theology: Biblical, Historical, and Evangelical (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 2:580.

77.

Rodney Clapp, "Consumption and the Modern Ethos;' in The Consuming Passion: Christianity and the Consumer Culture, ed. Rodney Clapp (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998), 7 - 1 5 .

78.

Shelley and Shelley, Consumer Church, 166.

79.

Excerpts from the minutes of the Philadelphia Association are available in Leon McBeth, A Sourcebookfor Baptist Heritage (Nashville: Broadman, 1990), 147-55.

CHAPTER6

172

This consumer attitude does not tend to develop the type of commit­ ment needed to sustain responsible self-government, but it is increas­ ingly prevalent in many churches. Many members view their commit­ ment to their church much as they view their commitment to shopping at Walmart. They may enjoy the goods and services offered, but they are not remotely interested in working with fellow shoppers to govern the store. If a better deal comes along, or things change and Walmart no longer meets their needs, they will vote with their feet and shop elsewhere. It is the unconscious adoption of this idea of consumer membership that explains why there has been no complaint from the congregations in the churches that have adopted elder rule. Members seem glad to dispense with business meetings and leave running the church to the elders. Pastors are glad to be able to implement their plans without interference from apathetic or hostile congregations. Thus, the challenge to congregational­ ism from elder rule may be one some pastors are slow to address. Baptists should resist elder rule, for two reasons. First, while elder or pastoral leadership is crucial, and the use of a plurality of elders can be cogently argued, elder leadership does not negate the case for congrega­ tional government. In the end, the biblical support and theological under­ girding for congregational government is much stronger than the case for elder rule. Second, the motivations behind elder rule ( the desire of pastors to avoid dealing with difficult congregations and the idea of consumer membership) do not lead in a healthy direction. The idea of consumer membership is profoundly nonbiblical and does not produce the type of committed members the church needs, and elder rule cuts off the wisdom available

for

decision-making

from

the

whole

body of God's

people.

The biblical support, theological undergirding, and practical benefits of congregationalism are sufficient to justify a call to pastors and churches to address the contemporary challenges, including that of elder rule, and develop congregations committed to responsible self-government. Though we have already discussed at some length the importance of regenerate church membership in a previous chapter, the role of church members in congregationalism and the value in cultivating meaningful membership are so crucial that before moving on to discuss leaders, we will turn next to a discussion of church members.

C H A P T E R

7

MEANINGFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

INTRODUCTION THE WHOLE IDEA OF MEMBERSHIP

has fallen on hard times in contempo­

rary North American life. In Bowling Alone, sociologist Robert Putnam has shown the overall decline in membership in all types of societies, includ­ ing churches.

1

No doubt there are many factors in this decline. Individual­

ism, consumerism, a widespread questioning of the value of institutions, rejection of authority, and what one calls "commitment phobia" are all part of the "cultural baggage" those advocating church membership must 2

face.

In addition, the perceived failure of churches to help their members

grow as disciples of Christ and the corresponding perception of church members as hypocritical, harsh, and judgmental deepen the difficulty that 3

church membership faces.

Perhaps partly as a response to these difficulties, and perhaps partly helping to create such difficulties, many churches ask very little of those who do come as members. But such an approach is disastrous for churches

1.

Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000), 70-71. Drawing on multiple sources, Putnam sees a long, slow decline of about 10 percent in church membership from the 1960s to the 1990s. The decline is most pronounced in the "younger generations" (79).

2.

Jonathan

Leeman,

The

Church

and

the

Surprising Offense

of God's

Love:

Reintroducing the

Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2 0 1 0 ) , 357.

3.

Dan Kimball, They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007). The major part of the book (73-209) is devoted to six problems emerging generations have with churches, including what is perceived as their political agenda, judgmental spirit, oppression of females, homophobia, arrogance and ignorance concerning other religions, and fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible.

173

CHAPTER 7

174

as a whole, and especially for churches that practice congregational church government. For congregationally governed churches, membership must be taken very seriously, for it is members who have the final authority, and for all churches, it is impossible to have a healthy church without healthy church members. Thus, in this chapter we will broaden the discussion beyond polity alone, to other aspects of the importance of meaningful church membership. Here we will be building on, but also going beyond, the

earlier discussion

of regenerate church membership

in

chapters 4

and 5. We will review briefly the biblical basis of membership and other requirements for church membership (beyond regeneration), but focus most of the attention on what makes membership meaningful-namely, its very important privileges and responsibilities. Fortunately, there has been a growing recognition of the crucial importance of recovering mean­ ingful church membership in recent years, and thus we have a number of helpful works to draw upon.

4

The Biblical Basis of Church Membership Some have thought the idea of church membership must be a modern, Western invention and certainly not anything practiced by New Testament churches. While there may not have been written lists, the early churches certainly knew those who were in the church and those in the world, those subject to the church's discipline and those the object of the church's evan­ gelism (see 1 Cor. 5 : 9 - 1 2 ) . Even the term "member" has a biblical basis, in the comparison of the church to the one body of Christ composed of many members (Rom. 1 2 : 4 - 5 ) . But the idea of membership is inherent in salvation itself. In 1 Peter 2 : 5 , we find that coming to Jesus is coupled with "being built into a spiritual house;' with "spiritual house" used here as an image for the church. All those who come to Jesus he wants to connect with other

4.

Jonathan Leeman has been prolific on this topic, writing The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love,

along with

shorter works

( Church Membership:

How

the

World Knows

Who

Represents Jesus [Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2 0 1 2 ] ) , and Don't Fire Your Church Members. Mark

Dever has contributed chapters on church membership to numerous books (Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches, and one of four chapters on church

membership in Those Who Must Give an Account: A Study of Church Membership and Discipline, eds. John S. Hammett and Benjamin L. Merkle [Nashville: B & H Academic, 2 0 1 2 ) . The author of this work, in addition to editing and contributing to the work just cited, has contributed two chapters on church membership to Baptist Foundations, and most recently, Jeremy Kimble has written 40 Questions about Church Membership and Discipline (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2 0 1 7 ) .

MEANINGFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

175

believers in a local church. This shows, as Joseph Hellerman puts it, that "salvation is a community-creating event" such that "salvation includes membership in God's group;' for which he coins the term "familification." Church membership is also necessary to be an obedient Christian. We are told to "not give up meeting together" with other Christians (Heb. 1 0 : 2 5 ) , to use our spiritual gifts "for the common good" ( 1 Cor. 1 2 : 7 ) with

the goal being "that the body of Christ may be built up" (Eph. 4 : 1 2 ) . There are also dozens of "one another" commands (love, pray for, teach, build up, etc.). How could a believer obey such commands apart from meaning­ ful, active church membership? Two

other responsibilities

make

the

necessity of church

member­

ship even more inescapable. We are to hold one another accountable, and when necessary, discipline one another ( 1 Cor. 5 : 1 1 - 1 2 ) . But this is only for those "inside;" that is, members of the church. Finally, we are given commands on how we are to relate to leaders. We are to respect and honor those who are over us, and submit to their authority ( 1 Thess. 5: 1 2 - 1 3 ; Heb. 1 3 : 1 7 ) . The only context for such accountability and leadership in the New Testament is the church.

The Requirementsfor Church Membership The first, most obvious and most important requirement for member­ ship is genuine saving faith. The order of events in 1 Peter 2:4-5 is coming to Jesus, then being joined together with others "being built into a spiritual house:' The same order is inherent in the very idea of membership as it is understood in the New Testament. How could one be a member of the body of Christ if not vitally joined to the Head? How could one be a part of the family of God if not given a right into that family by receiving Christ (John 1 : 1 2 ) . But since we spent considerable space in chapters 4 and 5 arguing for

regenerate church membership, and since it seems obviously connected to what salvation does and what church members are called to do, I do not think we need to further emphasize this most important requirement. Though no verse says it explicitly, and while there are certainly excep­ tions, there is a strong cumulative case for baptism as a second require­ ment for church membership. Baptism is mentioned as seemingly the first step in the Great Commission, where Jesus commands his followers to

5.

Joseph Hellerman,

When

the

Church

Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus'

Christian Community (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2009), 124, 132.

Vision for Authentic

CHAPTER 7

176

«make disciples of all nations, baptizing them" (Matt. 2 8 : 1 9 ) . It fits the order of events on Pentecost Day, where those who «accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day" (Acts 2 : 4 1 ) . That pattern-accepting the message, being baptized, and being added to the church-seems to fit the meaning ofbaptism as the rite of entry into church membership and the inclusion of baptism among the items of unity in Ephesians 4:3-6. The fact that there are a number of baptisms in the book of Acts with no mention of those baptized being added to the church is due largely to the pioneer context in Acts, where many of the converts were the first in their area to believe. There were not yet any existing churches into which they could be baptized. But through­ out subsequent church history, almost all Christian churches, Protestant and Catholic, have seen baptism as the doorway into church membership. Historically, Baptists have not seen infant baptism as valid baptism at all, and so have required believers who want to become members of their churches to receive believer baptism. But recently, British Baptists, some «theologically progressive Baptists" in North America, and even the strongly evangelical Baptist pastor John Piper have dropped or have advo­ cated dropping the requirement for believer's baptism as a requirement for Baptist church membership.

6

Even among a number of the students this

author teaches at a Baptist seminary there have been questions raised as to the necessity or importance of maintaining this requirement. I suspect at least one of the reasons for the changing views on this requirement is the changing context. In the nineteenth century, a fairly evangelical Protestantism was widely shared by Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists. Their debates naturally turned to the issues on which they disagreed,

and believer's

baptism

was

central

among

such

issues.

7

In

today's context, in which evangelical beliefs have been widely abandoned by many Christian groups, not to mention society at large, genuine believ-

6.

For

the

movement

among

British

Baptists

and

theologically

progressive

North

American

Baptists, see Nathan Finn, "A Historical Analysis of Church Membership;' in Hammett and Merkle, Those Who Must Give an Account, 73-75. For John Piper's advocacy of dropping the requirement of believer's baptism for membership, see the Desiring God website ( desiringgod. org) and search for documents on baptism and church membership. 7.

For example, John L. Dagg, in his Treatise on Church Order, devotes sixty pages to arguing for believer's baptism by immersion, considering numerous objections from paedobaptists and giving detailed responses. See John L. Dagg, Manual of Theology. Second Part. A Treatise on Church Order ( Charleston, SC: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1858; reprint Harrisonburg,

VA: Gano Books, 1982), 1 3 - 7 3 .

MEANINGFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

177

ers in Christ, who so share our evangelical views that they want to join our churches, seem to have so much in common with us that it dwarfs the relatively unimportant things on which we differ. For example, Baptists and paedobaptists enjoy fellowship and friendship across denominational lines in groups like Together for the Gospel and other parachurch groups.

Many have recognized the value of differentiating various levels of importance attached to different doctrines, labeling some as first order, others second order, and others third order.

First-order doctrines are essential Christian doctrines, affirmed by all Chris­ tians (such as the Trinity, the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, salvation by grace through faith).

Second-order doctrines are traditional denominational doctrines, the matters that have caused denominations to be created (such as baptism, the Lord's Supper and differing forms of church government).

Third-order doctrines are those on which most churches allow disagreements, even among their members (matters such as the order of events surround­ ing the second coming of Christ, the nature of the millennium, and, for most Baptists, differences on the doctrine of election and associated issues).

Figure 7 . 1 : Theological Triage

By common consent, baptism is a doctrine on which Christians can disagree and still regard one another as true believers. It is a second-order doctrine, different from first-order doctrines on which all Christians must agree. But I would argue that it is a second-order doctrine, which is held as a defining belief for a denomination, and not a third-order doctrine, one on which members of a local church may differ among themselves. A clas­ sic example of a third-order doctrine is one's eschatological perspective on the millennium, rapture and so on. Most Baptists have agreed to require very little theological agreement on such matters as a requirement for church membership. But baptism seems to be a different type of doctrine than such aspects of eschatology, because baptism is a command given

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178

to us by Christ. I do not feel much of a sense of obligation to persuade others to my view on eschatology; I do feel some concern on the matter of baptism. My paedobaptist friends may be at peace with their conscience on this matter, but I feel conscience bound to honor Christ's command to be baptized and not to move a command to the level of something optional for those walking together in church membership. This has been and remains the majority view among Baptists.

8

A third requirement that also is more implicit than explicit is what may be called a covenantal type of commitment.

9

Earlier (chapter 5) we

discussed the historic Baptist practice of gathering a church around a church covenant, and recommended doing so as a step toward recovering regener­ ate church membership. But even if a church adopts no formal statement, simply accepting the responsibilities the New Testament places on church members and understanding the type of relationship that is meant to exist among church members involves the type of commitment that is best signi­ fied as covenantal. In Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32, the earliest church members began from the start to care for one another. The epistles add the dozens of "one another" commands (Rom. 1 2 : 9 - 1 6 ; Col. 3 : 1 3 - 1 6 ; 1 Thess. 5 : 1 1 - 1 5 ; Heb. 10:24-25) that could only be fulfilled in the context of committed rela­ tionships.

10

Paul took it as axiomatic that the members of a body care for one

another ( 1 Cor. 1 2 : 2 5 - 2 6 ) . And the image of the church as a family, and the practice of calling a fellow church member "brother" or "sister;' clearly point to an extremely committed relationship, especially when family and sibling terminology are understood in their first-century context.

11

I recommend

formalizing this type of commitment in a carefully written covenant that is officially affirmed by both congregation and new member on the occasion

8.

For a spirited defense of believer's baptism as a requirement for church membership, see Bobby Jamieson, Going Public:

Why Baptism

in Required for Church Membership (Nashville: B & H

Academic, 2 0 1 5 ) . For more on baptism, see chapter 1 1 of this book and John S. Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2 0 1 5 ) .

9.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 124-32. While acknowledging no specific use of covenantal language for the relationship of church members to one another, Allison argues that the New Testament does provide a "covenantal framework" for the church. Similarly, Alan Hirsch calls "a covenantal community" one of the two

"irreducible minimums of a true expression of

ecclesia" (Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church [ Grand Rapids:

Baker, 2007], 40). 10.

To get an idea of how pervasive such "one another" commands are in the New Testament, see the dozens of verses cited by Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2012), 41-43, especially 8-26.

11.

Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family, 34-96.

MEANINGFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

179

of the new member being received as such, but the key is living in relation­ ships that have that covenantal type commitment.

The Privileges ofMembers Prospective members should be told up front what they can expect to receive as members and what will be expected of them as members, and both should be reflected in the church's covenant. While some of the privileges may be enjoyed by even a casual visitor, some are limited only to members. One privilege would be the blessings of the ministry of the body. The church takes responsibility to love and care for its members. This includes pastoral care from the church's leaders, as it is the members for whom leaders will give account,

12

but also includes the one-another ministry of members,

for Ephesians 4: 1 6 indicates that believers grow to maturity only through the ministry of the whole body.

13

We are to love all (regular attenders, visi­

tors, and members), but members have a priority (Gal. 6 : 1 0 ) . Another

privilege

is

that

of

corporate

worship.

14

While

personal

worship should be a part of every believer's life, Christ pledges to meet with his people in a special way when they gather in his name (Matt. 1 8 : 2 0 ; 1 Cor. 5 : 4 ) . The teaching of gifted pastors, the observance of corporate

ordinances, the edification from praying and singing together, and the pleasure of fellowship should all be part of what happens when the body gathers. These blessings fall to some degree on all who attend, but it would be natural for fellowship to be deeper among members, and some would argue that observance of the ordinances should be limited to members only. We will discuss this point further in our chapter on the ordinances. A third privilege I think the body is designed to provide but most do not seek is corporate confirmation of individual guidance ( see Acts 1 3 : 1 - 3 for one example). One area most Christians struggle with at some time

12.

See the moving meditation on the weightiness of this responsibility by Andrew Davis, "Those Who Must Give an Account: A Pastoral Reflection;' in Hammett and Merkle, Those Who Must Give an Account, 2 0 5 - 2 1 .

13.

Among the conclusions James Samra reaches in his dissertation on "the undisputed Pauline epistles" is the crucial role of participation in the body in the process of maturation. See James Samra, Being Conformed to Christ in Community: A Study of Maturity, Maturation and the Local Church in the Undisputed Pauline Epistles, Library of New Testament Studies 3320 (New York

and London: T & T Clark, 168-69. 14.

For a list of the responsibilities a church and its leaders should provide to its members, see the sample church membership covenant in Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008), 3 1 3 - 1 4 .

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in their life is finding God's will for a particular situation. I believe that if relationships in the body are what they should be, there should be some in the body who can seek to understand God's guidance on behalf of a sister or brother and confirm ( or not) their sense of guidance. But this will only be possible if there is the type of covenant commitment that should characterize membership.

15

A final privilege that only members receive is the blessing of corpo­ rate accountability. Not only are pastors charged to watch over their flocks (Heb. 1 3 : 1 7 ) , but members of the body are also to watch over one another. Hebrews 1 2 : 1 5 calls on believers to "see to it" that none of them fall prey to bitterness, and in the end, it is the church which takes the final respon­ sibility for

discipline.

It

is

possible

for

churches

to

become

judgmental, but the greater danger in our day is the

harsh

and

opposite extreme.

Jesus did say, "first take the plank out of your own eye" before you criticize another, but his point was that "then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye"

(Matt.

7 : 3 - 5 ) . We too often take Jesus's

words as an excuse to leave the plank in our own eye and the speck in our brother's eye. Giving others the right to hold you accountable is part of the covenant commitment made in membership. Having people actually care enough to hold you accountable is an incalculable blessing that may save you untold heartache.

The Responsibilities ofMembership In large measure,

the

responsibilities of church

membership involve

living out that covenantal type commitment that we argued is a require­ ment for membership and intrinsic to it. Members promise to love and care for these people who will also be loving and caring for them. They pledge faithfulness in attending, in praying and caring for others, and in caring for the church's welfare as a whole (which in turn involves informed participa­ tion in the church's business). It should also include explicit acceptance of the church's right and responsibility to discipline them should they stray (a sad but necessary legal protection in our society today). One responsibility explicitly given for the common good is the use of one's spiritual gifts ( 1 Cor. 1 2 : 7 ) . Of course, this presupposes that one of the ministries of the body to members is to help them discover their areas of

15.

See Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family, 1 6 3 - 8 1 , for how his church sought to provide this blessing to its members.

MEANINGFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

181

giftedness (by advising, teaching, giving feedback and opportunities), but this does not exhaust all aspects

of service. Spiritual gifts are no excuse to

neglect the common duties of membership, like loving, encouraging, teach­ ing and praying for one another, even if not particularly gifted in such areas. A common rubric of member responsibilities uses the idea of steward­ ship of one's time, talent and treasure. The stewardship of time and talent involve a commitment to faithful attendance and service as mentioned above. The commitment to financial stewardship I see as proportionate giving. I think tithing is a good place to start, but believe the New Testa­ ment standard is proportionate giving, and encourage giving a higher percentage as God blesses us financially.

16

Moreover, while I think the

church should be first in a member's giving, I do not believe in what is sometimes called "storehouse tithing" (giving a tithe to the church before giving

to

any

other

ministry).

Faithful

stewardship

may

also

involve

support of other ministries. One final matter that is both privilege and responsibility is also one reason for the inclusion of this chapter in the part of this book dealing with polity. It is the member's privilege and responsibility to participate in congregational governance. While voting on matters needing the church's decision is perhaps the most traditional and visible part of this privilege/ responsibility, it by no means exhausts it. To give intelligent, godly input into church decisions, the member must first be praying about the matters facing the church, be seeking to become informed about such matters, and be listening to the Lord and to the leaders of the church. As we argued in the previous chapter, Scripture gives examples of congregations participating in matters such as who is to be baptized and admitted into church membership, who is to be disciplined, and who are to be recognized as leaders. Not mentioned in Scripture, but commended by pastoral wisdom, would be seeking congregational input on decisions with major financial consequences and congregational impact (budgets, buildings, etc.). The tendency in some churches to see "business meet­ ings" as boring and things to be avoided betrays our weak understand­ ing of church membership and our lack of commitment to meaningful

16.

Proportionate giving; that is, giving a higher percentage of one's income as it increases, seems the principle taught in 1 Corinthians 16:2. For more on tithing, see David Croteau, Perspectives

on Tithing: 4 Views (Nashville: B & H, 2 0 1 1 ) ; for a broader perspective on stewardship, see Craig Blomberg, Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions, New Studies in Biblical Theology 7 (Nottingham, UK: Apollos/Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1999).

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membership. The business of the church should be boring only to those who have no concern beyond getting their own needs met at church, and business meetings are things to be avoided only if they involve gather­ ings of members who show no signs of being regenerate. But those who love Christ and are in a covenant relationship with a local body should be eager to gather, pray, seek God's face together, and vote to seek God's guidance for the body. Pastors and leaders should train their people to be able to handle such a responsibility in a competent and godly manner, and the participation of members should benefit the leaders, in giving confirmation to what they have felt was the Lord's will, or giving them a check, to rethink what they thought. As well, participation should benefit the members, as it is one means of both living out their covenant commit­ ment and strengthening their sense of personal connection to the life and health of the body. One consequence of the ever lowering age at which Baptist churches are administering believer's baptism has been to raise the question of an age limitation for voting members. As we argued above, baptism has been seen as the doorway into church membership; church membership includes

the

privilege/responsibility of participation

in

congregational

governance. That caused no problems in earlier times when baptism was usually delayed until the teenage years.

17

But today baptisms of preteens

and younger children and admission of them into church membership with the responsibility of voting has seemed contrary to common sense. Some churches have begun separating baptism and membership, such that baptism does not lead to membership for those under a certain age. Another option is separating members from voting members ( with voting members defined as members of a certain minimum age, such as sixteen or eighteen), to avoid the awkward situation of having children vote on matters they are clearly not able to understand. Perhaps a better way would be to delay baptism until children have sufficient maturity to assure that they are making a credible profession of faith; children of such age should be able to understand the issues before the church, at least on a very basic level, and they could begin to learn to seek God's face with the body and begin to take on the full responsibilities of membership.

17.

Mark Dever gives a lengthy list of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Baptists who were baptized in their late teens or early twenties, including the two sons of C. H. Spurgeon, whom he baptized when they were eighteen. Dever, "The Church;' in A Theology for the Church, revised edition, ed. Daniel Akin (Nashville: B & H, 2 0 1 4 ) , 662-63, n. 1 7 1 .

MEANINGFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

183

Some Practical Matters ofMembership A very practical but necessary question

to

ask is what

process

a

church should follow in receiving a new member. Most Baptist churches conclude their services with an invitation to place faith in Christ and to join the church. The difficulty is in being able to ascertain immediately if a person responding to the invitation does in fact meet the requirements for membership. Too many churches attempt to do so, and will conclude their services by a call to vote on receiving those who responded to the invita­ tion, either to receive them as candidates for baptism, or to receive them as members (via "transfer of letter" or "statement of faith"). The call for a vote is a meaningless relic of a time past when members took receiving a new member as a serious matter, carrying with it covenantal responsibilities for the spiritual welfare of the one joining. But with the loss of emphasis on regenerate church membership, welcoming new members became a rubber stamp. Little was expected of new church members, and there was little sense of responsibility to or for them on the part of existing church members. What would be a better process? For those who do respond to the invitation and request membership, by all means welcome them warmly, but it should be understood up front that coming forward during the invitation is not the end of the process, but the beginning. Thus, the meaningless vote is not necessary. Simply state something like, "Please come forward after the service and welcome these who will be beginning the process toward church membership:' After indicating their desire to join there must be some method to discover if they meet the qualifications. The method many churches are adopting is called a new members' or new converts' class. In such a class, the first topic should be a review of what it means to savingly trust Christ. This should involve all applicants for membership, for some who seek to come via transfer of letter may come from churches where the gospel was not clearly taught. So important is this first step that some churches include a personal conversation with a pastor or deacon, to ensure that every new member is a genuine believer.

18

For those who are new believers, the class may be a bit longer, involv­ ing preparation for baptism. But all could profit from instruction on the

18.

See the twelve-step process recommended by Mark Dever and practiced at his church (Dever, "The Practical Issues of Church Membership;' in Hammett and Merkle, eds., Those Who Must Give an Account, 9 6 - 1 0 1 .

CHAPTER 7

184

basic disciplines of the Christian life, and all would need instruction in the specifics of the church's beliefs and practices. Finally, all should be acquainted with the church's covenant, and asked if they can commit to walking in fellowship with the body. Following the

completion

of the

class,

prospective

new members

would be presented to the church body ( during a normal business or members meeting would be the most appropriate time). For new converts, the one who led the class could recommend that the church vote to baptize the candidate, stating that the candidate has made a credible profession of faith and understands what it means to be a follower of Christ. On the basis of this type of recommendation, the church could make a respon­ sible vote. Following baptism and the signing of the church covenant, the candidate would become a full member of the church. For those previ­ ously baptized and transferring their membership from another church, there would again be a recommendation from one who could vouch for the authenticity of the candidate's faith. As the candidate signed the cove­ nant, the church would vote to receive them. Such a vote is not like votes in a political election, but more like saying "I do" in a wedding ceremony. And as a wedding is a mutual commitment, so should a new member cere­ mony be. The new member must affirm the covenant in some way ( orally or by signing), and the church must affirm their part of the covenant, to receive this one as a new member and care for them as a family should. Another practical matter is the question of when is it right to leave a church. With the serious type of covenantal commitment that is involved in

church

membership,

what

would

be

proper

grounds

for

breaking

such a commitment? It must be more than mere convenience or a minor disagreement. I think there would be one of three reasons in most cases: ( 1 ) geographical move (our membership should be where we live); (2) call

to minister in another place ( we may leave one church when we believe God calls us to minister elsewhere); (3) such a serious problem in one's present church that one cannot be an effective agent for change, but can only be damaged by the situation

(moral failures, doctrinal problems,

toxic spiritual atmosphere). A good test question to assess the seriousness of a problem is to ask if you could in good conscience bring a new Chris­ tian or a non-Christian to your church. If the answer is no, you probably shouldn't bring yourself or your family there either. A final question is being raised by some who are finding some nonbe­ lievers who want to be involved in a local church's ministries. Some have

MEANINGFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP

185

discovered that in our postmodern context, some want to belong before they believe, because they are more convinced of the reality of Christ by the genuineness of our fellowship than by our rational apologetics.

19

We

would certainly want nonbelieving friends to attend worship, hear God's word, and experience fellowship with believers, perhaps even join a small group. They may even serve in some aspects of a church's ministry, but care would be needed here. They should not be asked to do anything that makes them an official representative of the church, that involves them in Christian instruction, or gives them leadership in Christian worship (even playing an instrument in a praise band). And, while we want to be welcoming, we would need to ask them to refrain from participating in some things that are members only (voting and communion particularly), and graciously explain why. Otherwise, we devalue both the privileges and responsibilities of membership.

CONCLUSION As argued in an earlier chapter, I think recovery of regenerate church membership is the most urgent priority for Baptist churches today. Only then could membership be meaningful membership, the type we have been considering in this chapter. Not only would it make possible a responsible practice of congregationalism, it would be a huge step toward the church becoming the radiant bride of Christ that is its destiny (Eph. 5 : 2 5 - 2 7 ) .

19.

Ed Stetzer says, "With few exceptions, people come to Christ after they have journeyed with other

Christians-examining

them

and

considering

their

claims"

(Ed

Stetzer

Putnam, Breaking the Missional Code [Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2006), 124.

and

David

C H A P T E R

8

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE Leaders, Not Rulers

A BAPTIST PERSPECTIVE ON CHURCH LEADERS AN

EMPHASIS

ON

CONGREGATIONAL

government

should

not be

inter­

preted as a denial or denigration of the crucial role church leaders play in the life and health of a church. One of Paul's first steps in the churches he founded was to provide for leaders (Acts 1 4 : 2 3 ; Titus 1 : 5 ) . Scripture gives specific examples, directions, and qualifications for those who are to lead churches, and practical experience verifies their importance. No church can be healthy with poor leaders. The first leaders of the New Testament churches were the apostles. They, along with

prophets,

evangelists,

and

pastor-teachers,

are

mentioned

in

Ephesians 4: 1 1 - 1 2 as those given by Christ to the church to equip the saints to do the work of ministry. Indeed, the first element listed in the account of the life of the early church is devotion «to the apostles, teaching" (Acts 2:42). But apostles, prophets, and evangelists are not generally recognized as offices 1

pertaining to the local church.

1.

There is almost nothing in terms of instruc-

There have been some, most noticeably Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, who have seen five offices

187

CHAPTERS

188

tions or qualifications for them, as there are for elders and deacons, and they are not mentioned as officers of any local churches in the New Testament. Apostles

and prophets

are

most

commonly seen

as

extraordinary

ministries, serving an important foundational purpose (Eph. 2 : 2 0 ) , but are not intended to be ongoing offices in the church. After Acts 6, the original twelve apostles begin to fade into the background. In the council described in Acts 1 5 , they do not hand down a decision, but act in concert with the elders and the whole assembly (v. 2 2 ) . Some see missionaries today as serving an apostolic function, but that is quite different than a local church office. Some varieties of polity ground the authority of bish­ ops in a supposed succession from the apostles, but there is no evidence in the New Testament that the apostles ordained, appointed, or envisioned successors. Indeed, when one of the twelve, James, is martyred (Acts 1 2 : 1 2 ) , there is no move to replace him. It seems the early church recognized the apostolic office as a passing one.

2

There were numerous prophets associated with the New Testament churches, but none were seen as officers of any particular church. Prophets in the New Testament were commonly involved in ministries of exhorta­ tion and interpretation of Scripture, and so some today refer to pastors as prophets and see prophecy as preaching, but few affirm the office of prophet as normative for local churches today. The term evangelist occurs only three places in the New Testament (Acts 2 1 : 8 ; Eph. 4 : 1 1 ; 2 Tim. 4 : 5 ) . Many have exercised such a ministry, perhaps the most famous being Billy Graham, but it too is not commonly recognized as an ongoing office in the local church. Terms such as minister and priest are used to refer to offices of leader­ ship in some churches today, but in the New Testament, they are used to

in Ephesians 4 : 1 1 (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers), and have championed what they call the fivefold ministry, or the acrostic APEPT, as the leadership structure essential for the long-term health of missional churches. See Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, The Shaping 1

of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission For the 21' -Century Church (Peabody, MA and Erina,

NSW, Australia: Hendrickson, 2003), 1 6 5 - 1 8 1 . But their view is a decidedly minority one and has a number of weaknesses, the most glaring being the danger of building an entire approach to church leadership on one verse, to the neglect of many others. See the discussion and critique in John S. Hammett, "The Church According to Emergent;' in William Henard and Adam Greenway, eds., Evangelicals Engaging Emergent: A Discussion of the Emergent Church Movement (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2009), 249-51. 2.

See the interesting discussion of the surprisingly small role played by the apostles, especially the original twelve, in the early Christian movement in Bartchy, "Divine Power, Community, Formation,

and

Leadership

in

the

Acts

of the

Apostles;'

in

Formation in the Early Church and in the Church Today, 9 8 - 1 0 1 .

Longenecker,

ed.,

Community

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

189

refer to all believers. First Peter 2:9 calls the church a "royal priesthood;' and John says Christ has made all his followers "a kingdom and priests" (Rev. 1 : 6 ) . And while the word minister is used in some groups to refer to those serving as pastors or elders, in the New Testament it describes the work to which all Christians are called (Eph. 4 : 1 2 ; 1 Peter 4 : 1 0 ) . In Baptist life, there have been two categories of those called leaders or officers in the local church. The first office has been called by a variety of terms. Scripture most often refers to this office as elder and, less frequently, overseer or bishop. Contemporary Baptists prefer to use the term pastor. The second office is universally referred to as deacon, but often with divergent understandings of the proper responsibilities of those occupying that office. A variety of factors, including the rise of elder rule and the feminist movement,

have

occasioned

a

good

deal

of discussion

concerning

the

functions and qualifications of leaders in Baptist life in recent years. Those controversies, plus the intrinsic importance of leadership, call for a thor­ ough discussion of this topic. This chapter considers the office designated by the terms elder, overseer, or pastor. Chapter 9 examines the office of deacon.

ELDERS/ OVERSEERS /PASTORS

The Issue of Terminology As the heading above indicates, we are first faced with the issue of terminology. What are we to call this office? For many people, the terms

elder (presbyteros) and overseer or bishop (episkopos) carry associations with presbyterian and episcopal polity, though they were widely used by Baptists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

3

Today, the term most

often used in Baptist life is pastor (poimen). Is there any importance to what we call this office? There is at least some value in understanding how these terms have been used ( or misused) historically. Despite the strong evidence that the three are interchangeable terms for one office, there was a movement, beginning early in the second century, toward the development of what is called the monarchical bishop as an office separate from and higher

3.

See, for example, the interesting resolution passed by the Sandy Creek Baptist Association on October 24, 1829: "Resolved, That we, as a body, will discontinue, and recommend to the churches and preachers discontinue, the title of reverend prefixed to a minister's name, and substitute, as a more scriptural appellation, the title of Elder:' G. W Purefoy, A History of the Sandy Creek Baptist Association from Its Organization in

A.D.

1758 to

A.D.

1858 (New York: Sheldon and Co., 1859), 143.

CHAPTERS

190

than the office of elder.

4

That pattern endured until the Reformation.

Calvin recognized what many earlier exegetes had seen, that Scripture uses the terms elder and bishop interchangeably.

5

However, Presbyteri­

anism, as it developed, began to distinguish two different types of elders, based on 1 Timothy 5 : 1 7 . Those called ruling elders were usually laypeo­ ple, involved in the governance of the church but not in the teaching and preaching of God's Word. There was usually only one teaching elder in a church, an ordained man, the one chiefly responsible for the minis­ try of teaching, more often called the pastor or minister than teaching elder. For a time, there was some debate among Baptists as to the valid­ ity of having ruling and teaching elders in the church, but the practice was never widespread, because it was seen as having a very slender and debatable biblical basis; it virtually disappeared after 1 8 2 0 .

6

How are these terms used in Scripture? The word elder is used most often in the Gospels for the Jewish leaders, with whom Jesus often clashed. They were usually the more mature men ( since elder does mean older) and were the leaders of synagogues. The term was taken over for the leaders of the early church, especially the church in Jerusalem. In all, the word elder is used as a term for a church leader in the New Testament seventeen times, ten of those times in the book of Acts, with eight of those with reference to the church in Jerusalem.

7

Perhaps it seemed the most natural term for these

early Jewish believers to use for their leaders. Overseer or bishop is found only four times as a noun with reference to a church office; a verbal form is used once to describe the function an elder serves.

4.

8

Pastor is used as a noun

The earliest evidence for this usage is found in the early second-century letters of Ignatius (35107) to a variety of churches. See J. H. Strawley, The Epistles o f St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch

(London: SPCK; New York: Macmillan,

1900). The bishop is seen as the head of the church

in a city, with the elders or presbyters under him. As the office developed, a bishop came to oversee the congregations in an area called a diocese. Those exercising leadership in a single congregation came to be called "priests;' which is a contraction of the term presbyter, or elder. 5.

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 1 : 1 0 6 0 ( 4.3.8).

6.

See the discussion by Greg Wills, "The Church: Baptists and Their Churches in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries;' in Dever, ed., Polity, 33-34. Evidence of the debate can be seen in Samuel Jones, "Treatise of Church Discipline ( 1 8 0 5 ) ; ' in Dever, ed., Polity, 145-46.

7.

With reference to the elders of the church in Jerusalem, see Acts 1 1 : 3 0 ; 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23; 16:4; 2 1 : 1 8 ; with reference to elders of other churches, see Acts 14:23; and 20: 1 7 . Elsewhere in the New

Testament, see 1 Timothy 5 : 1 7 , 19; Titus 1 : 5 ; James 5 : 1 4 ; 1 Peter 5 : 1 ; 2 John l; and 3 John 1 . Some would add 1 Peter 5:5, but others would see the term there as simply referring to an older man. 8.

Acts 20:28; Philippians 1 : 1 ; 1 Timothy 3:2; and Titus 1 : 7 . First Peter 2:25 uses episkopos to refer to Christ. The verb episkopeo is used for the work of an elder in 1 Peter 5:2, and episkope is used for the office of bishop or overseer in 1 Timothy 3 : 1 .

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

191

only once for a church office (Eph. 4: 1 1 ), but twice the verbal form is used to designate the responsibility of an elder (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5 : 2 ) . More often,

pastor or shepherd is used to refer to Jesus, the great and chief shepherd of the sheep (John 1 0 : 1 1 ; Heb. 1 3 : 2 0 ; 1 Peter 2:25; 5:4). The evidence for the interchangeability of the three terms is seen most clearly in Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 . In Acts 20, Paul sends for the elders of the church at Ephesus (v. 1 7 ) . When they arrive, he says the Holy Spirit has made them overseers of the flock (v. 28) and he charges them to pastor, or shepherd the church of God. In 1 Peter 5, Peter addresses the elders (v. 1 ) , telling them they are to pastor or shepherd the flock and that they are to serve as overseers (v. 2 ) . The synonymous use seems obvious and has been widely recognized as such by exegetes.

9

Baptist confessions of faith utilize

all three terms for this church office. Clearly, the term to be used for the leaders of the church does not seem to have been a major concern of the writers of Scripture.

10

Of greater concern is what they do.

The Role and Responsibility of Elders There are scattered references to the tasks or responsibilities of elders throughout the New Testament. The most important texts are Acts 2 0 : 2 8 31;

Romans

1 2 : 8 ; Ephesians

4:11-16;

1

Thessalonians 5 : 1 2 ;

1

Timothy

3 : 1 - 7 ; 5 : 1 7 ; Titus 1 : 5 - 9 ; Hebrews 1 3 : 7 , 1 7 ; and 1 Peter 5 : 1 - 4 . These texts

describe the four primary responsibilities assigned to this church office. The first may be called the ministry of the Word. While all Christians are commanded to teach and admonish one another (Col. 3 : 1 6 ) , those who are elders are to be especially gifted and responsible for teaching the church. Acts 2 0 : 3 1 and Titus 1 :9 reflect the charge laid on elders to preserve sound doctrine; Ephesians 4: 1 1 links the office of pastor with that of teacher;

1

Timothy 3:2 has «able to teach" as one of the elders qualifications; 1 Timo­ thy 5: 1 7 describes certain elders who work at «preaching and teaching;' and Hebrews 1 3 : 7 identifies leaders as those «who spoke the word of God to

you:' Whether it is called preaching, teaching, prophecy, or exhortation, the ministry of the elder is emphatically a ministry that includes the communi­ cation of God's Word. It is primarily by means of his preaching and teaching that the elder exerts the influence of leadership in the congregation.

9.

Benjamin Merkle, The Elder and Overseer: One Office in the Early Church, Studies in Biblical Literature, ed. Hemchand Gossai, vol. 57 (New York: Peter Lang, 2003).

10.

For convenience sake, we will use the term elder in the chapter, recognizing that the office to which the term refers is usually called "pastor" in most Baptist churches.

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192

Communication of God's Word is also involved in his second area of responsibility, which is commonly termed pastoral ministry. This is directly related to the charge laid on elders to shepherd the church (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5 : 2 ) . One of the duties of a shepherd is to feed the flock; for

Christians, our food is the Word of God ( 1 Peter 2 : 2 ; Matt. 4 : 4 ) . So the shepherd must provide his flock with healthy biblical food. Another duty of the shepherd is to protect the sheep (John 1 0 : 1 1 - 1 3 ) . One danger to the flock highlighted in the New Testament is the danger of false doctrine (Acts 2 0 : 2 9 - 3 1 ) . By teaching the truth, the shepherd provides them with protection. This protection is also spoken of in more general ways as "watching over" the flock. The word used in Hebrews 1 3 : 1 7 , agrupneii, has the idea of constant wakefulness or unceasing vigilance. This care would be expressed concretely in acts like pastoral visitation, personal counsel­ ing, and ministry in times of sickness (see esp. James 5 : 1 4 ) and grief. Shep­ herds who love their sheep notice when their sheep are hurting and seek to be with them to care for them. Making that pastoral responsibility even more solemn is the reminder that leaders "must give an account" for those under their care (Heb. 1 3 : 1 7 ) . The third area of responsibility assigned to this office is that of oversight or leadership. This is why the term overseer (episkopos) is appropriate. This officer gives overall administrative oversight and leadership to the church. Three other biblical terms seem to be related to this area of responsibility. In Titus 1 :7, the elder is called to be an oikonomos, or steward of God. This word was used of the servant in a household who managed affairs on behalf of the master (Luke 1 2 : 4 2 ) . As it is a position of considerable trust, the key requirement of a good steward is faithfulness to the master ( 1 Cor. 4 : 2 ) . This responsibility fits well with the ideas of oversight and leadership.

A second term, found in Hebrews 1 3 : 7 , 1 7 , and 24, seems to add a tone of authority to the leadership pastors are to exercise. It is true that the individuals involved here are not explicitly described as elders, pastors, or overseers. The word used for them, a form of the verb hegeomai, is simply translated "leaders" and can be used for a variety ofleaders, includ­ ing military and political ones. But the work they are described as doing (speaking the Word of God, watching over the flock) points to them serv­ ing in the role of elders and pastors. The note of authority is found in the command in verse 1 7 : "Obey your leaders and submit to them" (ssv). The third term relates to the nature and extent of pastoral or elder authority. This much disputed question is one of the central differences

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

between presbyterian

193

and

congregational polity.

The key term in this

dispute is the verb prohistemi, which is used six times of church leaders.

11

It can be used in a variety of senses, from the authoritative leadership one would exercise in an army, to the idea of assisting or helping, to the idea of leadership in a family. With reference to church leaders, it seems to carry a very general sense.

12

But the difficulty of determining the nature and

extent of the authority involved can be seen in the various ways the term has been translated, especially in 1 Timothy 3:4-5 and 5 : 1 7 , the two texts that most explicitly and directly connect this activity to the elder. The King James Version, Revised Standard Version, and English Standard Version see the elders in 1 Timothy 5 : 1 7 as those who "rule" the church, while the New International Version sees them as those who "direct the affairs" of the church. But on 1 Timothy 3:4-5, all except the King James Version see the overseer as the one who is to "manage" or "care for" the church; only the King James Version uses "rule:' As mentioned in the discussion of Presbyterian polity in chapter 6, there are two factors that support seeing pastoral authority as less than govern­ ing. One is the use of the verb epimeleomai in parallel with prohistemi in 1 Timothy 3 : 5 . The former is only used elsewhere in the New Testament for the actions of the Good Samaritan in taking care of the man attacked by robbers, action that hardly seems to be what one would call governing. This parallel usage, in a text from the same epistle, on the same topic, would seem to question interpreting prohistemi in 1 Timothy 5: 1 7 as governing authority. The second factor is overall New Testament teaching on the relationship of church members and leaders. On that topic, we find a deli­ cate tension. On the one hand, church members are called upon to recog­ nize their leaders' authority, submit to them, and obey them ( see 1 Thess. 5 : 1 2 ; Heb.

1 3 : 1 7 ) . As Daniel Akin points out, "this mindset is foreign to

our radically autonomous, democratic and egalitarian culture:'

13

On the

other hand, the way leaders exercise their authority in the New Testament is never dictatorial, but with a humble spirit, open to the input of others,

11.

Romans 12:8 does not specifically link it to an office, but speaks of how those who lead should do so. First Thessalonians 5: 12 is also a general reference. First Timothy 3:4-5 gives the ability to lead or manage one's family as a qualification for an overseer; 1 Timothy 3 : 1 2 uses it in the same way as a qualification for a deacon. First Timothy 5: 17 speaks of leading as an activity of the elders.

12.

For more information, see L. Coenen, "Bishop, Presbyter, Elder:' in New International Dictionary of New

Testament Theology,

1 : 1 8 8 - 2 0 1 , esp.

189,

193,

197-98 on prohistemi; and B. Reicke,

"prohistemi" in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 6:700- 703.

13.

Daniel Akin, "The Single Elder-Led Church;' in Perspectives on Church Government, 72.

CHAPTERS

194

and seeking to "lead the church into spiritually minded consensus.?" This pattern fits congregational government with elder leadership. Moreover, the support for congregational government in the New Testament also qualifies the nature of pastoral authority. Thus, the leadership exercised by elders is very important and should be obeyed by the church, though not uncritically or apart from congregational input. Elder leadership with congregational government is in keeping with the meaning of prohistemi and the biblical description of the leadership responsibility of the elder.

15

There is a fourth responsibility of the elder, one that is easily overlooked because it is so basic, yet it seems to be the responsibility most clearly related to the qualifications for the office in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 . That respon­ sibility is to serve as an example to the flock ( 1 Peter 5 : 3 ) . Leaders are to be set apart, not just to honor them but to recognize them as setting forth the pattern of faith and life that the congregation is to emulate (Heb. 1 3 : 7 ) . This leads naturally into the next topic, the qualifications of an elder.

The Qµalifications of Elders The qualifications for this office are given primarily in 1 Timothy 3 : 2 - 7 and Titus 1 :6-9, with a much briefer description in 1 Peter 5:2-4. Since these lists comprise some of the most detailed and pointed teaching on church order in the New Testament, they deserve careful examination.

16

The first notable aspect of these lists is their ordinariness. As D. A. Carson notes, "almost every entry is mandated elsewhere of all believers?" Whatever is involved in being an elder, it is not a calling to a higher standard of Christian living. How could it, when every Christian is commanded by Christ to "be perfect" (Matt. 5:48) and when the goal and destiny of every Christian is Christlikeness (Rom. 8 : 2 9 ) ?

14.

D. A. Carson, "Church, Authority in the;' in Elwell, ed., Evangelical Dictionary o f Theology, 2 5 1 .

15.

I am glad to note a growing movement toward this position among Baptists. While they differ on the plurality of elders, Mark Dever, Daniel Akin, James R. White, Paige Patterson, and Samuel Waldron all seem to affirm the compatibility of congregational government and elder leadership. See Dever, A Display o f God's Glory; Akin, "The Single Elder-Led Church"; White, "The Plural Elder-Led

Church;'

in

Perspectives

on

Church

Elder Congregationalism;' in Cowan, ed.,

Government;

and

Paige

Patterson,

"Single­

Who Runs the Church? and Waldron, "Plural-Elder

Congregationalism;' in Cowan, ed., Who Runs the Church?

16.

See also the extensive discussion of these qualifications in Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership:

An

Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership,

3rd

ed.

(Littleton, CO:

Lewis and Roth,

1995), 67-83, 186-203; and Benjamin Merkle, 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008), 109-57.

17.

Carson, "Church, Authority in the;' 249 (emphasis in original).

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

195

But if these character traits are commanded of all Christians, what is their significance here? The key to understanding the meaning of these lists of character traits is remembering that one of the responsibilities ofleaders is to set the example for the flock ( 1 Peter 5 : 3 ) . The character required to be an elder is the character necessary to be an example to the flock. Such a person would not need to be perfect (such persons are in very short supply among fallen humanity) but would need a degree of maturity and proven character that would enable him to serve as an effec­ tive example, including an example of how to confess and repent when he does stumble. Second, it is also striking how different these qualifications are from modern lists of qualifications for a position. There is no mention of the need for training or educational requirements, little in the way of skills or experience or certification. Character is the central issue. A third aspect that should be noted is that while there are a number of similar qualifications and some exact parallels between 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 , there are also a number of differences between the two lists. For example, Titus says nothing about the fact that an elder should not be a recent convert ( 1 Tim. 3 : 6 ) ; Timothy does not include the characteris­ tics of being "upright, holy, and disciplined" (Titus 1 : 8 ) . These differences imply that Paul was not trying in either list to be exhaustive, but giving a representative list of character traits an elder should embody. Nonetheless, while the lists are not intended to be exhaustive, they are fairly compre­ hensive. They cover five major areas.

Moral Qualifications The first may be called moral qualifications. The person in view in these lists is a person of integrity and good judgment, free from vices such as drunkenness, greed, and a quick temper, and one who is worthy of respect. The initial words in the two major lists, "above reproach" ( 1 Tim. 3:2)

and "blameless" (Titus

1 : 6 ) , serve as summaries.

For the flock, he

would be a worthy example; for the outside world, he would be someone who would command their respect.

Marital and Family Qualifications The second area of qualifications, and perhaps the most controver­ sial, comes in the area of marital and familial qualifications. First Timo­ thy 3 and Titus 1 both say an elder must be "the husband of one wife"

CHAPTERS

196

(ssv), Interpretations of this phrase vary from the idea that'ihe must be married;' to "he must not be a polygamist;' to "he must not be remarried;' to "he must not have been divorced':" With the prevalence of divorce in recent American society ( and sadly, even within Baptist churches), the last interpretation has become perhaps the most debated interpretation. Some say that a person who is divorced cannot be considered "blameless" and cannot qualify as a husband of one wife. Thus divorce disqualifies one from serving as an elder.

19

In some circles, such an interpretation is viewed

as virtually required if one believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible. Others make a distinction based on the circumstances of the divorce. For example, if the divorce occurred before conversion, some say, it is wiped away, because in Christ, the divorced person is a new creation. All these interpretations, however, overlook the central point of these lists. The question that should be asked is this, "Can this person serve as an example to us in the area of marriage and family?" While some would object that this approach avoids or undermines the literal interpretation of Scripture, literally, the passage says nothing about divorce at all. Had Paul wanted to exclude divorced persons, he simply could have said, "he must not be divorced:' Also, if someone wants to be fully literal, he would have to conclude that a single person could not qualify as an elder (thus disqualify­ ing Paul and Jesus), nor could a married person with less than two children, since 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 both mention the elders relationship with his children. But no one disqualifies either single persons or those with less than two children. Further, we do not see the other qualifications in this same way. No one argues that a person who got drunk once while in college is permanently disqualified, nor someone who at one time struggled with his temper. Rather, we interpret these in terms of his present character. Finally, to those who differentiate preconversion and postconversion divorce, the issue is not forgiveness, but fitness. All our sins, pre- and postconversion, are equally forgiven. That's not the issue. Can this person serve as an example in this crucial area oflife? That is the question."

18.

These are the options listed by Gordon Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Good News Commentary (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, San Francisco, 1984), 43-44. Fee himself advocates a position close to mine; that is, the elder must be exemplary in marriage and family life.

19.

This is the view of Warren Wiersbe, Be Faithful (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1986), 42. John Piper, Biblical Eldership, interprets the phrase to prohibit remarriage after a divorce. In Piper's view, divorce per se does not disqualify one; remarriage after divorce does.

20.

It seems that the interpretation of this qualification as referring to one's present, exemplary marital status and not to the issue of previous divorce is gaining ground. It, or something close

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

197

In practice, such an interpretation would exclude some who have been married to only one woman and have more than two children, but are lousy husbands or dads. Perhaps they meet the letter of the lists of quali­ fications, but not the purpose behind the lists. Someone who has recently been through a divorce would likewise not be in a position to be an exam­ ple to the flock. However, someone who at some time in the past suffered through a divorce, but in the years since has established a solid track record as a husband and father would not be automatically disqualified. In terms of those who are single, or married but with little experience in parenting, such persons are not automatically disqualified, but limited. They may be exemplary in all their current family relationships, but if they have no mari­ tal or parental relationships, it is difficult to see how they can be an example in those areas. Perhaps even more difficult is the question of a man who is otherwise qualified, but whose children are not noteworthy for their obedi­ ence to him ( 1 Tim. 3:4; Titus 1 : 6 ) . What degree of obedience is required to meet this qualification? Obviously, Scripture gives no objective standard by which to measure degrees of obedience. The best solution is to recall again the purpose of the qualifications: Can this person serve as an example to the congregation in the area of parenting? If not, it would not be either wise or loving to place him in a position of leadership over the body. He needs, rather, to focus his energy on his own family.

Areas of Giftedness In addition to his role as an example to the flock, an elder also has teaching and leadership responsibilities. Therefore, there are also some qualifications in terms of giftedness that are included in the lists. First Timothy 3:2 says an elder must be «able to teach:' Titus has the same idea but expresses it in terms of an elders ability to «encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it" (Titus 1 : 9 ) . Together, they imply that the elder must have some degree of ability or giftedness in the area of communicating God's Word, and must have an understanding of sound doctrine. Some elders may have a greater degree of giftedness in teaching or a greater depth of understanding of doctrine than other elders, but all elders should be competent in both areas. An elder should also give some

to it, is the view held by Merkle (40 Questions, 128), Strauch (Biblical Eldership,

192-93), and

Allison ( Sojourners and Strangers, 2 1 4 - 1 5 ) . There is also the interesting change of translation of the key phrase in the

NIV.

In the 2001 edition, 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6 have "the husband of

but one wife:' while the 2 0 1 1

NIV

has "faithful to his wife" in both places.

CHAPTERS

198

evidence of giftedness in leadership, revealed in his management of his own family ( 1 Tim. 3 : 5 ) .

Spiritual Maturity One of the qualifications, unique to Timothy but implicit in the idea of an elder, is that of spiritual maturity. In the words of 1 Timothy 3:6, he must not be «a recent convert" (neophytos). Titus has no similar language, but an elder would be assumed to be a man of some years, an older man. Again, Scripture attaches no specific number to this qualification, but it is a quali­ fication that seems to be often overlooked. Most of the prospective pastors I train as a seminary professor are relatively young men. Many are not recent converts, having grown up in Christian homes and having been converted as children. Still, many lack the maturity and judgment that come with age, and sometimes their inexperience has gotten them into trouble. Since there is no specific standard, it is hard to determine how young is too young, but this qualification serves as a warning. It is ideal when a young pastor can serve as an associate under an experienced pastor for his first few years of ministry. When that is not possible, young pastors should pursue informal mentoring relationships with older pastors in their community.

Limited to Males There is one final qualification pervasively assumed throughout these lists. It too has become controversial in recent times. These lists assume that all elders will be males. The nouns, pronouns, articles, and endings on adjec­ tives all point to males as those in mind. An all-male eldership has been the overwhelming norm in Baptist life, and has recently been officially affirmed by Southern Baptists in The Baptist Faith and Message 2000,

21

but there have

also been some Baptists who have begun to affirm and argue for female elders. Countless gallons of scholarly ink have been spilled in discussions of this issue, and a full review of it is beyond the scope of this book's objectives. Nevertheless, it does pertain directly to the qualifications of elders, and thus a brief recap of the key issues in this debate is in order. Two overall perspectives have emerged among evangelical Christians over the past twenty years or so. One is called egalitarianism. It affirms the full equality of men and women, and sees the ability to serve in any role open

21.

Article 6 of that document states, "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture:'

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

199

to men as intrinsic to genuine equality for women, especially roles in the 22

home and church.

The other perspective, though sometimes called tradi­

tionalism-or mistakenly, patriarchalism-is properly called complemen­ tarianism. It affirms full equality between men and women, but sees equality as compatible with differing, complementary roles for men and women in the home and church.

23

When complementarians point to passages such as

the lists in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 or other texts relating to differing roles in the church (such as 1 Tim. 2 : 9 - 1 5 ) or home (Eph. 5:22-33), egalitarians respond that such texts are culturally conditioned, were addressed to specific situations, or are, for one of a number of reasons, limited in their application, such that the limitations placed on the roles open to women in those texts do not apply today. Complementarians have argued that the passages them­ selves give no hint of limitation, but rather seem to be based on eternally valid principles going back to the very creation of male and female. I remain a complementarian because I fail to see any convincing argu­ ment that empties the key texts of their significance. First Timothy 2 : 9 - 1 5 contains some phrases that are difficult, but the phrase prohibiting women from teaching and exercising authority, occurring as it does immediately prior to the qualifications for elders whose responsibility it is to teach and

22.

Some of the key works enunciating this perspective are Gilbert Bilezikian, Beyond Sex Roles: A Guide for the Study of Female Roles in the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985); Alvera Mickelsen,

ed., Women, Authority and the Bible (Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 1986); Gretchen Gaebelein Hull, Equal to Serve: Women and Men in the Church and Home (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1987); Linda

Belleville,

Women

Leaders

Baker, 2000); Craig Keener, Paul,

and

the

Church:

Women and

Three

Crucial

Questions

Wives: Marriage and

( Grand

Rapids:

Womens Ministry in

the

Letters of Paul (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1992, rev. with new introduction 2004), and John

Stackhouse, Jr., Finally Feminist: A Pragmatic Christian Understanding of Gender ( Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005). All these are representative of what is called evangelical feminism. Less evangelical but foundational to much egalitarian thought, is the important work of Paul Jewett, Man as Male and Female ( Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975). The works of more radical feminists

are legion. One collection showing their approach is Letty Russell, ed., Feminist Interpretation of the Bible (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1 9 8 5 ) . 23.

The landmark work for this perspective is John Piper and Wayne Grudem, eds., Recovering Biblical

Manhood

Crossway, Equality;'

and

Womanhood:

A

Response

to

Evangelical

(Wheaton,

Feminism

IL:

1 9 9 1 ) . It includes a comparison of the statement on "Men, Women and Biblical

from

the

egalitarian

group,

Christians

for

Biblical

Equality,

with

the

Danvers

Statement, the doctrinal statement of the complementarian group, The Council on Biblical Manhood

and

Womanhood

(see

403-22,

469-72).

More

recent

support

is

contributions of Craig Blomberg and Thomas Schreiner to James Beck, ed.,

found Two

in

the

Views on

Women in Ministry, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005); Strauch, Biblical Eldership, 5 1 66; Merkle, 40 Questions,

Kostenberger

and

1 3 5 - 4 2 ; Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 223-240; and Andreas

Thomas

Schreiner,

eds.,

Women

in

the

Church:

An

Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, 3rd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2 0 1 6 ) .

Interpretation

and

200

CHAPTERS

exercise authority, seems clearly intended to prohibit women from serving as elders. Other roles, such as teaching men in Sunday school classes, serv­ ing in various positions on the staff of a local church, and many other roles, were not a part of New Testament church life and thus are not directly addressed. The propriety of women serving in such roles is debatable and depends on the specific job description and the church's understanding of these roles; what seems clear is the prohibition of women serving as elders. But what seems clear to me does not seem clear at all to others.

24

In fact,

they cannot see why I cannot see that the complementarian position stands in contradiction to the spirit of Christ and the tendency of the whole New Testament. When equally earnest Christians, equally seeking to understand Scripture, come to such opposing convictions, one wonders if there may be some unrecognized influences affecting the interpretation of Scripture. One such influence is obviously the feminist movement. It has been one of the most profoundly important movements of the past hundred years, affecting the Western world on a variety of issues. Biblical scholarship does not occur in a vacuum but is fully exposed to the currents of history. The question is, has the feminist movement been like a light on Scripture, enabling us to see its true teaching more clearly, without patriarchal or chau­ vinist assumptions, or has the feminist movement been more like a light in our eyes, blinding us to what has been obvious to past generations? A curious feature of modern society is our tendency to believe that newer is better. In terms of history, this means we tend to believe that we understand things better than our predecessors. Thus, we often underesti­ mate the importance of historical rootedness. This is especially important in the area of theology. The Holy Spirit's ministry of illuminating the Scriptures is not a recent development. Thus, I am reluctant to believe that the over­ whelming majority of exegetes and students of Scripture down through the centuries are wrong. I do not think history or tradition is infallible. I am a congregationalist, despite the fact that most Christians for centuries were not. But the burden of proof lies on the historically newer interpretation. The egalitarian interpretation cannot bear that burden. I think it has been unduly swayed by the secular spirit of modern, political feminism.

24.

For example,

Veli-Matti

Karkkainen

claims

that the key texts I see

as prohibiting females

serving as elders "have been successfully defeated with reference to lack of authenticity, cultural conditioning of texts, the occasional nature of prohibitions, translation alternatives, and so forth''

(Hope and Community, vol.

5, A Constructive Christian Theology for the Pluralistic

World [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2 0 1 7 ] , 419).

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

201

Another factor, helpfully noted by Stephen Clark in his book, Man and Woman in Christ, is the changing idea of equality and identity involved in

the transition from a traditional to a technological society.

25

Clark argues

that the organizing principle of traditional society was relational. What determined ones identity were one's relationships; that is, whose daughter am I, from what clan or tribe do I come, who are my ancestors? People were valued for things intrinsic to them, for being something as opposed to doing something. In technological society, the organizing principle is functional. What determines identity is what one does; that is, I am a teacher, a doctor, a mechanic. Identity is achieved rather than ascribed. Value depends on what one can do. This distinction casts a helpful light on the egalitarian-complementarian debate. I have noticed in reading both sides that they often seem to be talking past each other and rarely connecting. The egalitarian side does not believe that complementarians can really believe in genuine equal­ ity if there is a distinction in the roles open to men and women. This is rooted in the functional idea of identity. If a woman is denied the chance to achieve something simply because she is a woman,

equality is under­

mined because it is seen in a functional framework. Equality means equal opportunity to achieve. Those in the complementary camp seem to be operating with a relational understanding of equality. Men and women can be equal and yet have different roles, because value and equality is a matter of being, not doing. This distinction can also help resolve one difficulty that has troubled many on both sides of this debate. That difficulty is the question that arises in the minds of many when they read what seem to be prohibitions against women serving as elders: Why? It is obvious that there are many gifted women who are excellent teachers; many are very capable leaders. Why should they be prohibited from serving as pastors? It seems capricious. There seem to be two responses to this question. First, we cannot or should not need to know all the reasons why God commands us to do as he says. There was no reason why Adam and Eve should not have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit was ripe, delicious, and desirable. It was within reach.

God had created it and

put it there. The only reason for not eating of it was because God had

25.

Stephen B. Clark, Man and Woman in Christ (Ann Arbor, Ml: Servant Books, follows I am drawing from Clark's argument on pp. 467-506.

1980). In what

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commanded them not to do so. Obedience involves trusting, sometimes without knowing the reason. However, in this case, there may be reasons why Scripture prohibits women from serving as pastors, but they are not functional reasons. God may gift a woman in teaching and leadership, and yet ask her to serve in a context other than that of an elder, not because of any functional inabil­ ity, but for relational reasons. God may have a purpose for asking males and females to relate in a certain way. Perhaps those relationships reflect something of the relationship of the Father and Son ( 1 Cor. 1 1 : 3 ) . Perhaps they reflect something of God's original intention in creating men and women (Gen. 2 : 1 8 ; 1 Tim. 2 : 1 3 ) . But these reasons don't make much sense to us, because they are not functional reasons. Similarly, we all know many women who seem far more capable of leading their families than their husbands. Yet one of the purposes why God assigns husbands to be the head of the family is to illustrate something of the relationship between Christ and the church (Eph. 5 : 2 3 - 2 4 ) . If all this is true-that is, that the egalitarian view is undergirded by a technological, functional view of life, and the complementarian view is based on a relational view of life-how do we decide which view to adopt for male-female relationships in the church today? We live in a world that is clearly dominated by a functional understanding of life, and while a functional view is perfectly acceptable in some arenas of life, I believe faithfulness to Scripture requires adopting a relational view in the church and within the Christian family. God desires his people in these two areas to show relationships that reflect something of his nature and his relationship with us. Scott Bartchy, though writing on a different topic, makes a helpful observation concerning the society in which the church originated.

He

states that there were two primary institutions in the Greco- Roman world that provided the metaphors for human relationships: politics and kinship. In the political realm, egalitarianism was a key term, referring to things like "equal access to vote, positions of public leadership, and the ownership of property?" In kinship, the key term was patriarchy. But the New Testament, particularly Luke in the book of Acts, while antipatriarchal was not egalitar­ ian. Bartchy says that the goal of Lukes portrayal of the development of the church in Acts "was not the creation of an egalitarian community in the

26.

Bartchy, "Divine Power, Community, Formation, and Leadership;' 97.

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

203

political sense, but a well-functioning family in the kinship sense?" Egali­ tarianism is a political term, dealing with equal rights, and is an idea we can applaud in the political realm. But the church is a different type of entity, more like a family than a state. Issues of individual or personal rights are secondary to the health and well-being of the family, and that family may be healthiest when men and women fill complementary roles. Therefore, since it seems to be the teaching of Scripture, since it is the overwhelming view historically speaking, and since it seems to accord with the relational view of life that the church as a family is called to exhibit, I affirm a complementarian view of male and female roles. In the church, that means that the office of elder is limited to males. How far that limitation extends to other roles not mentioned in Scripture (Sunday school teacher, youth group leader, minister of music, etc.) is a matter for debate on which we should be willing to allow a degree of diversity, since the answer seems to depend in large measure on individual factors such as the understanding of the role by the individual church, and thus must be decided on a case-by-case basis. However,

as

a complementarian,

I recognize that my position is

contrary to the strongly egalitarian current flowing in this country, and that women have been wrongly oppressed by men throughout history. I must admit that at times I am not completely comfortable with the tone and applications made by some of my fellow complementarians. There­ fore, I would urge churches, especially complementarian churches, to "bend over backward" to encourage and employ women in all the ways they feel Scripture allows. In other words, if we truly believe that men and women are equal, and that women and men are gifted, and that only one role is clearly limited to men, then to make our professions more than merely words, let them become visible in actions. I think the body of Christ will be healthier, the ministries of churches will be stronger, and the complementarian position will not be seen as simply a theologi­ cal justification for oppressing women. Indeed, I would echo the words of the Danvers Statement:

With half the world's population outside the reach of indigenous evange­ lism; with countless other lost people in those societies that have heard the gospel; with the stresses and miseries of sickness, malnutrition, homeless-

27.

Ibid., 98.

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ness, illiteracy, ignorance, aging, addiction, crime, incarceration, neuroses, and loneliness, no man or woman who feels a passion from God to make His grace known in word and deed need ever live without a fulfilling ministry for the glory of Christ and the good of this fallen world ( 1 Cor. 1 2 : 7 - 2 1 ) .

28

A Divine Call One final matter in terms of the qualifications of the elder concerns a qualification that many think is vital, but is not found in any list. It is the matter of a divine call to ministry. Daniel Akin includes "a call to ministry and aptness to teach'' as among the qualifications for the office of elder,

29

but only the second is found in the biblical lists. Nonetheless, for many Baptists, a special divine call is the most important and indispensable qualification. Commonly, the first question put to a young man seeking ordination has to do with his conversion and call to ministry. The list of those emphasizing the importance of a call to ministry includes Baptists like John Dagg, Charles Spurgeon, and W A. Criswell.

30

Most mention

the necessity of an inward call, which Gerald Cowen calls "a profound conviction that God has chosen one to serve Him in a special way;' and an outward call, which is corporate confirmation of the individual's convic­

tion, often expressed in ordination, as fellow believers affirm their belief that he is gifted and qualified to serve.

31

Those who emphasize the necessity of a divine call want to highlight God's initiative in the lives of those who become pastors and the serious commitment involved in entering pastoral ministry. Certainly the impor­ tance of pastoral ministry is seen in the extensive qualifications that are given for the office. Certainly those who are involved in pastoral ministry should do so with the conviction that they are doing the will of God. But should doing the will of God not be the goal of every believer, in all areas of life? While there is no problem in saying that God has called some to pasto­ ral ministry every Christian should see his or her vocation, be it medicine, business, or farming, as a calling from God.

32

A survey of the terms called

28.

Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 9.

29.

Akin, "The Single Elder-Led Church;' 54.

30.

See the discussion in Dagg, Manual of Theology, 241-54; and Cowen, Who Rules the Church?

31.

Cowen, Who Rules the Church? 2 9 - 3 1 .

17-32.

32.

This was involved in Luther's idea of the priesthood of all believers: "It is pure invention that pope, bishop, priests, and monks are called the spiritual estate while princes, lords, artisans, and farmers are called the temporal estate . . . . All Christians are truly of the spiritual estate, and

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205

and calling in the New Testament finds the overwhelming proportion refer to a call common to all believers. All believers are "called to belong to Jesus Christ" and "called to be his holy people" (Rom. 1 : 6 - 7 ; 1 Cor. 1 : 2 ) . Indeed, the very word church (ekklesia) implies that believers are those called out by God. Paul exhorts the Ephesian believers to "live a life worthy of the calling" they had all received. Of the eleven occurrences of the word call­ ing (klesis) in the New Testament, none refer to a special calling of an

individual; all but one (Rom. 1 1 : 2 9 ) seem to refer to a calling issued to all believers. Furthermore, ministry is not a work reserved for some, but the responsibility of all. First Peter 4 : 1 0 says all believers are to minister, faith­ fully using whatever gifts they have been given. If, then, all believers are called to minister, how is a young man to determine if he is called to pastoral ministry? Jason Allen raises that very question in a helpful book, Discerning Your Call to Ministry. He suggests three categories: "called to minister" (which applies to every Christian); "called to ministry" ( which he applies to ministries that have "a direct ministerial component"); and "called to the ministry" (which he describes as "the final formal category, defined in the New Testament in places like Ephesians 4 : 1 1 - 1 6 , 1 Timothy 3 : 1 - 7 , and Titus 1 : 6 - 9 " ) .

33

I would take a

slightly different approach, and combine the first two categories. While I think I understand what Allen means by vocations that have "a direct ministerial component;' and recognize that we do see some vocations in that light, I think it wiser to see anything that God calls one to do as minis­ terial, when done as service (ministry) to him. Then I would call his third category the call to pastoral ministry, and see it as a subcategory of the call to ministry, given to all Christians. Allen then gives ten helpful questions that can guide one in discern­ ing the call the pastoral ministry, the most objective being, in my opinion, having the requisite character and gifts, and having others affirm one's sense of calling.

34

There should be a subjective aspect of one's call as well,

there is no difference among them except that of office. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 2 [ : 1 2 - 1 3 ] that we are all one body, yet every member has its own work by which it serves the others:' Martin Luther, "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Estate;' in A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with Introductions, ed. Denis Janz (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999), 9 1 . 33.

Jason Allen, Discerning Your Call to Ministry: How to Know for Sure and What to Do About It

34.

Ibid. The ten questions are given in ten chapters, which form the bulk of the book ( 2 5 - 1 2 9 ) .

(Chicago: Moody, 2016), 1 9 - 2 1 .

I would highlight his second, fourth, and fifth questions: "Does Your Character Meet God's

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what Allen calls "the internal call;' but here is where I have seen many young people become confused. Some wait for a "Damascus Road-like experience:' Allen wisely cautions concerning receiving such a dramatic call, "Some do, but most don't,":" I do believe that God still guides his people, but I do not think we can insist that his guidance must be the same for all people, or even the same for one individual in all decisions of life. What about the idea of a calling to full-time First,

the term full-time might be misleading.

36

vocational ministry?

Does

it not imply that

others are part-time Christians? Should not all Christians do all they do in obedience to God's will? Does not God call for all of every Christian's life? Calvin says, "the Lord bids each one of us in all life's actions to look to his calling:' He adds, "no task will be so sordid and base, provided you obey your calling in it, that it will not shine and be reckoned very precious in God's sight?" So all Christians are to obey God's calling in all of life's activities. All Christians are called to be full-time Christians. As to the second aspect, vocational ministry, it is certainly valid to pay pastors ( 1 Tim. 5: 1 7 ) , and pastoral ministry is so important to the life and health of a church that churches normally seek to pay their pastors and thus relieve them of working another job to provide for themselves and their families. But God's calling is always a calling to minister, not to receive a paycheck. Anyone gifted and called to pastoral ministry should begin to seek avenues to be involved in teaching and leading, whether they are paid to do so or not. All Christians are called to minister because they are gifted, whether paid or not. Paul provides a good example here. In Acts 1 8 : 3 - 4 , Paul worked as a tentmaker with Priscilla and Aquila. Apparently he concluded that doing so, and thus providing for his needs, was the will of God for his life. It was God's calling for that time in his life. He ministered on every Sabbath,

using his

gifts

in

evangelistic ministry.

But when

Silas

and

Expectations?" "Has God Gifted You to Preach and Teach His Word?" and "Does Your Church Affirm Your Calling?" ( 1 0 ) . 35. 36.

Ibid., 24. For a very useful book presenting and critiquing three different approaches to the perennial question of how to find God's will, see Douglas Huffman, ed., How Then Should We Choose? Three Views on God's Will and Decision Making (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2009). I am not sure that

the three views presented (by Henry and Richard Blackaby, Garry Friesen, and Gordon Smith) are mutually exclusive. God may choose to guide in different manners in different situations and with different persons. 37.

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 21:724-25 ( 3 . 1 0 . 6 ) .

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

207

Timothy came from Macedonia (with financial support for Paul), he gave himself to full-time ministry (Acts 1 8 : 5 ) . He ministered part-time when he had to and full- time when he could. Those gifted in pastoral ministry should not wait until a church hires them full-time but should to seek to exercise their gifts as time and circumstances allow immedi­ ately. If a church recognizes the value of someone's ministry and wants to provide for him so that he can devote his full time to that ministry, that is wonderful, but hundreds if not thousands of Baptist churches have been planted and led by pastors who farmed or taught school or worked in other ways to provide for their families. Their call to pastoral ministry was no different from that of those called to serve churches that had the means to support them. Nor were they being disobedient to their call­ ing in working in other ways to provide for their needs. God's call to all believers includes a call to provide for their needs. For some, that call is answered through their calling to pastoral ministry; for others, that call­ ing is answered alongside their calling to pastoral ministry. In short, while it is useful to speak of a call to full-time vocational ministry to describe a calling to a type of ministry that normally is of such value to a local church that they want to enable someone to devote his full time to it, it is open to misunderstanding and thus may require some qualification. All Christians are called to minister and to live out God's calling on their lives full time. For some individuals, their gifts and quali­ fications are recognized by God's people as equipping them for pastoral ministry. As they seek God's will, they hear his call to that type of ministry. In most cases, churches will want to enable them to devote their full time to their ministry. Thus, their call to provide for their needs coincides with their call to minister. For others, their call to pastoral ministry involves serving small or new congregations that have no means to support them. They answer God's call to provide for their needs through other avenues, and answer God's call to minister as their time and circumstances allow.

38

This discussion of the qualifications of the elder has been long but necessary. While I am a convinced congregationalist, it is obvious that churches can be healthy with any pattern of polity, if they have good and godly leaders. Even more important than the pattern of our polity is the

38.

This will also be true of most churches that adopt a plurality of elders. Normally, a number of them are not paid and are sometimes called "lay elders:' They work other jobs to provide for themselves and their families, and minister as elders as their time allows.

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character of our leaders. Congregations should ponder these qualifications carefully, and evaluate candidates for leadership graciously but biblically.

The Number of Elders We raise the issue of the number of elders because, while most Baptist churches today have one pastor or elder, some see strong support in Scrip­ ture for a plurality of elders.

39

Beyond the fundamental theological ques­

tion of which pattern seems most in keeping with Scripture, the idea of a plurality of elders raises other practical questions of implementation. If a church has a plurality of elders, are they all equal? Would they take turns preaching on Sundays? Would they all be financially supported by the church? For larger churches with multiple staff members, would all the members of the pastoral staff be considered eldersr'" All these ques­ tions merit consideration, but the first matter to consider is the teaching of Scripture on this issue. When one looks at the verses containing the words elder, overseer, and

pastor, a consistent pattern of plurality emerges. The church in Jerusalem is spoken of eight times in the book of Acts as having elders;

41

the church

at Ephesus had elders (Acts 2 0 : 1 7 ) ; the churches to which James wrote had elders (James 5 : 1 4 ) , as did the churches to which Peter wrote ( 1 Peter 5 : 1 ) . Perhaps the strongest support is found in Acts 1 4 : 2 3 : "Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church:' Elder is used in the singular only three times; once in a generic sense ( 1 Tim. 5 : 1 9 ) and twice for an individual (2 John 1 ; 3 John 1 ) . There is no verse describing anyone as the elder of a church. Overseer is only used as a term for a church officer four times. Three times it is used in a generic sense ( 1 Tim. 3 : 1 - 2 ; Titus 1 : 7 ) . The one place where it refers to the officers of a specific church it is used in the plural, for the overseers of the church in Philippi (Phil. 1 : 1 ) . The one place where pastor is used for a church office it is in the plural, though not referring to a specific church (Eph. 4 : 1 1 ) .

39.

Advocates

of a plurality of elders

include

White,

"The

Plural

Elder-Led

Church;'

255-96;

Grudem, Systematic Theology, 928-36; According to Greg Wills, the texts reprinted in Polity, ed. Mark Dever, give ten examples of earlier Baptists who also believe the New Testament churches practiced plural eldership. See Wills, "The Church;' 34. Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, 2 1 5 - 1 6 ; Benjamin Merkle, "The Biblical Role of Elders," in Baptist Foundations, 283-89; Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 292-95; and Strauch, Biblical Eldership, 35-50. 40.

For consideration of such questions, see Andrew Davis, "Practical Issues in Elder Ministry;' in Baptist Foundations, 291-309; and Merkle, 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons, 1 6 1 - 2 2 3 .

41.

See Acts 1 1 : 3 0 ; 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23; 16:4; 2 1 : 1 8 .

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

209

Moreover, when church leaders are referred to in other ways, the pattern is the same. The church of the Thessalonians was commanded "to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord" ( 1 Thess. 5 : 1 2 ) . Clearly the reference is to a group, not to an individual. Likewise, the letter to the Hebrews refers three times to the "leaders" of the group to which that letter was sent ( 1 3 : 7 , 1 7 , 2 4 ) . Look­ ing at this evidence, E. C. Dargan states, "It appears to be well-nigh certain that in the apostolic churches generally there was a plurality of elders"? John Piper states categorically, "All New Testament churches had elders,":" In addition to this strong biblical support, there are also theologi­ cal and practical reasons for plurality in leadership.

Theologically, the

doctrine of human depravity warns us against entrusting too much power or authority to any one individual. Practically, plural leadership would seem to offer many advantages. Mark Dever says of his experience:

Probably the single most helpful thing to my pastoral ministry among my church has been the recognition of the other elders. The service of the other elders along with me has had immense benefits. A plurality of elders should aid a church by rounding out a pastor's gifts, making up for some of his defects, supplementing his judgment, and creating support in the congrega­ tion for decisions, leaving leaders less exposed to unjust criticism. Such a plurality also makes leadership more rooted and permanent, and allows for more mature continuity. It encourages the church to take more responsibil­ ity for the spiritual growth of its own members and helps make the church 44

less dependent on its employees.

James White sees a plurality of elders as advantageous in fostering matu­ rity as elders learn from each other, in providing a check for the errors of any one man, in better providing for the full spectrum of needs in a congregation, and as helping in the exercise of discipline.

45

Ben Merkle

notes four advantages of a plurality of elders: Elders can provide account­ ability for one another; they can provide a balance of gifts; they can share

42.

Dargan, Ecclesiology, 57.

43.

Piper, Biblical Eldership, 6.

44.

Dever, A Display of God's Glory, 24.

45.

White, "The Plural Elder-Led Church;' 282-83.

CHAPTERS

210

the burdens of ministry; and having a plurality better demonstrates that ministry is not for only a select few.

46

In view of the strong case for a plurality of elders, how is it that the great majority of Baptist churches today have one pastor? A variety of factors are probably involved. First, it should be noted that the single­ elder model has not been universal in Baptist life. In the early nineteenth century, Samuel [oness "Treatise of Church Discipline" noted several of the advantages of plurality in leadership, president

of the

Southern

Baptist

47

and W. B. Johnson, the first

Convention,

argued from

and practical benefits for a plurality of elders in each church.

Scripture

48

But over

time, the single-pastor model became dominant. It seems likely that the rapid growth of Baptist churches, from outstripped the supply of qualified men.

49

1 5 0 in

1 7 7 0 to

1 2 , 1 5 0 in

1860,

In some churches, deacons have

taken the role of elders and provide some of the benefits of plurality in leadership.

In fact, many nineteenth-century Baptist churches

saw the

pastor and deacons as constituting the church's eldership. so In the twen­ tieth century, the business model entered Baptist life and perhaps condi­ tioned people toward adoption of the single pastor, patterned after the chief executive officer of the business world. In the absence of an explicit command in Scripture concerning the number of elders, the single-elder model became dominant.

51

Perhaps the classic case for the single pastor is that given by A. H. Strong in his influential theology text.

52

Negatively, he begins by noting

that there is no requirement for a plural eldership. The New Testament nowhere prescribes any number, and the fact that many churches had plural elders may be due simply to their size. On the positive side, he points to some indications that some churches had only one pastor. He sees Acts 1 2 : 1 7 ; 1 5 : 1 3 ; 2 1 : 1 8 ; Galatians 1 : 1 9 ; and 2 : 1 2 as indicating that James "was the pastor or president of the church at Jerusalem, an intimation which

46.

Merkle, 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons, 183-87.

47.

Samuel Jones, "Treatise of Church Discipline;' in Dever, ed., Polity, 146.

48.

W B. Johnson, "The Gospel Developed;' in Dever, ed., Polity, 190-95.

49.

These numbers are from Mark Noll, America's God (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2002),

50.

Wills, "The Church;' 34, says such a view was adopted by the Tyger River Baptist Association of

51.

Ben Merkle notes the possible influence of the business model ofleadership, but also suggests three

166.

South Carolina in 1835, and reflected the practice of many churches

reasons why so few Baptist churches have a plurality of elders: "Lack of Qualified Men:' "Lack of Biblical Knowledge;' and "Fear of Change" (40 Questions about Elders and Deacons, 188-91). 52.

Strong, Systematic Theology, 9 1 5 - 1 6 . 43.

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

211

tradition corroborates.?" He further claims that the use of overseer in the singular in 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1 : 7 supports the idea of a single pastor, and believes the reference to the "angel of the church" in the seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2-3 should be interpreted as referring to the pastor of each church. Finally, Strong claims that plural eldership is natu­ ral and beneficial only in cases where the size of the church requires it. What can be said in evaluation of Strong's case for the single elder­ pastor? First, he is correct in saying that there is no biblical requirement for plural elders. Thus, having either a single pastor-elder or a plurality of elders is not a matter of obedience to a clear command of Scripture, for there is no such command. A decision on this question is thus a matter of drawing out the implications of Scripture, and allowing a degree of diver­ sity may be advisable.

54

Nonetheless, Strong's arguments for a single pastor

are quite weak. James may have had a certain prominence in the church at Jerusalem, but that church did have a plurality

of elders. The use of

overseer in the singular in 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1 : 7 is clearly generic, giving the qualifications for any elder. It really has no relevance to the issue of plurality. As to the angels of the seven churches of Revelation 2-3, it is barely possible that angelos in these instances refers to a pastor or elder, but it would be the only place in the New Testament or anywhere else in Greek where angelos bears that meaning. It is a very unlikely interpreta­ tion. By contrast, the case for a plurality of elders, outlined above, seems quite strong. In fact, it would be fair to characterize the New Testament as assuming a plurality of elders. After all, that was the pattern they would have inherited from synagogues, which employed a council of elders. Daniel Akin, while acknowledging that it is easier to make the biblical case for a plurality of elders, nonetheless maintains that a viable case for the single elder can be made from Scripture. He points to the possibility of a single elder in house churches and contends that there is a biblical pattern for "a plurality ofleaders with a senior leader over them?" He also notes the New Testament emphasis is on the character of leaders, rather than the number of leaders, and thus there should only be one elder in the many churches he suspects would have only one qualified man. Finally, he

53. 54.

Ibid., 9 1 6 . For example, Akin, "The Single Elder-Led Church;' says he could pastor a single elder-led church or a church with a plurality of elders or copastors because the New Testament allows flexibility on this matter (73).

55.

Ibid., 66. He sees evidence for this pattern in Exodus 1 8 : 1 9 - 2 2 . 46.

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adds the observation that, in practice, only one can and must lead. Yet, in the end, Akin concludes that "a plurality of God-called men in leadership, led by a senior pastor/ teacher" is the preferable model.

56

In a similar fashion, Paige Patterson, while defending the position called

"single-elder

congregationalism:'

states

that

the

position

as

he

understands it could also be called "primary-elder congregationalism;' because he acknowledges that some churches in the New Testament had a plurality of elders, and so may churches today, when necessary.

57

But he

argues strongly that a plurality of elders cannot be mandated because there is no commandment relating to the number of elders. In the absence of such a command, he believes we should decide the issue of plurality based on what we see of leadership patterns elsewhere in Scripture. He says "the general pattern that emerges in the Bible is that God calls a leader from among the people:' As he adds later, "it is difficult to find any place where God called a cornmittee.?" He believes that pattern is substantiated by the practice of church history and true to "the psychology of leadership;' in that every human endeavor seems to require a leader. Thus, while many churches may need more than one elder, one among the elders "should be the primary leader and preacher-teacher for the flock'?" For my own part, I think the consistency of the example of a plural­ ity of elders in New Testament churches and the practical benefits that result from such a plurality constitute a strong recommendation for the advisability of adopting a plurality of elders in local churches. But I would not raise that recommendation to the level of a command. That would be going beyond New Testament teaching. I can imagine at least two situa­ tions in which I would not seek to adopt a plurality of elders, at least not immediately. The first would be a church where there were no other men qualified to serve as elders. The pastor's task in such a setting would be to mentor some who could become qualified. The second situation would be the more common scenario of a very traditionally minded church. I would not divide a church over the issue of a plurality of elders. If there was

56.

Ibid., 67-73.

57.

Paige Patterson, "A Single-Elder Congregationalist's Closing Remarks;' in Cowan, ed., Who Runs

58.

Patterson, "Single-Elder Congregationalism:' in Cowan, ed., Who Runs the Church? 150, 152.

the Church? 283.

He sees that pattern in the sole leadership of Moses, the individual judges and prophets, Peter's leadership

among the apostles,

the position of James

"messengers" to the churches in Revelation 2-3. 59.

Ibid., 152.

in

the

church

in Jerusalem,

and the

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

213

significant resistance, I would not push for immediate adoption but would teach and train the congregation in the hopes that over time the resistance would lessen. In the meantime, I would be looking for individuals in the church who fit the qualifications for elder and begin using them as elders, even without that title. That is, I would solicit their input on various ideas and seek to involve and mentor them in a variety of areas of ministry. They could provide some of the benefits of a plurality of elders without incur­ ring the objections some would make to formal adoption of a plurality of elders. But in other cases, it may be both possible and desirable to move a church toward an open adoption of a plural leadership. For those consid­ ering moving a church toward a plurality of elders, a number of practical questions of implementation must be faced." "Where do I begin" would be a common question for pastors. Perhaps a prior

question would be,

"Should

I begin?"

Transitioning a church

from a traditional practice to a smoothly functioning plural leadership will probably take at least two to three years.

61

A pastor would need to be

convinced of the biblical basis and important practical benefits of such a change to make the long-term commitment transitioning would require. It may be wiser for those anticipating a short pastorate or unconvinced that plural leadership has New Testament sanction and practical value to not attempt a transition. Even those who are convinced and desire change would be advised to proceed slowly and build trust among the members of the congregation initially. For those who decide to proceed with change, assessment of present practice and policy is a good starting point. Most Baptist churches have some affirmation of congregational government in their governing documents ( constitution, bylaws, charter, confession of faith, etc.), but in practice, many are deacon ruled, staff ruled, or pastor ruled. In fact, Jeff Noblitt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, was moved to transition his church to plural leadership when he realized the temptations he faced as pastor in a church where the pastor

60.

I have been aided in thinking through the issues in transitioning a church to a plural eldership by a book by Phil A. Newton, Elders in Congregational Life: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for

Church Leadership (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2005). Newton draws upon his own experience and that of several others with whom he has had contact. John Piper also reflects on the process his church followed in "Rethinking the Governance Structure at Bethlehem Baptist Church'' (http://www. desiringgod.org/library/topics/leadership/governance.html, accessed September 24, 2004). 61.

John Piper's church took close to four years to adopt plural eldership ( see Piper, Biblical Eldership, 2). Four years also elapsed between Mark Devers installation as pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and their adoption of elders ( conversation with Mark Dever, September 17, 2004).

CHAPTERS

214

was accepted as a virtual dictator.

62

Other churches may be accustomed to

rule by powerful deacons. A wise pastor will identify where he is likely to encounter problems and opposition at the outset. The second step is a long-term focus on preaching and teaching. Phil Newton recommends studying in depth all the major texts on leadership with the existing church leadership in a context that allows for give and take, questions, and discussion on how a church can follow biblical guide­ lines. 63 Eventually such teaching must also be presented to the church body as a whole. Here too there must be opportunities for questions to be asked and feedback to be received. Eventually, a specific proposal for changing the leadership structure of the church would be presented to the church. It would be best for this proposal to emerge from the existing church leadership and be presented to the church as a draft for their dialogue, discussion, input, and revi­ sion. Putting proposals in writing would force the church to think through some issues systematically. For

instance,

what would

the

new leaders

be

called?

Jeff Noblitt

initially called them "Pastor's Council;' to avoid the reaction he feared would come to the term elders. Eventually, his church came to accept that term, and biblically, it is the most appropriate term. But far more impor­ tant than their title are their qualifications and responsibilities. Their qualifications we have discussed at length above. We have also considered the responsibilities of elders in general, but need to speak more specifically of the responsibilities of the elders in relationship to the one called the pastor. Of course, in the Bible a pastor is simply an elder; the terms are interchangeable. But in practice, most Baptist churches have one man that does most of the public preaching and teaching and is known as the pastor. What would these new elders do? Would they take turns preaching? We noted above the four responsibilities assigned to elders in the New Testament: the ministry of the Word, overall leadership of the church, pastoral ministry, and setting an example. All elders should be qualified and capable of involvement in all four. One of the qualifications is "able to teach:' But there are many settings and areas of teaching. If one of the

62. 63.

Newton, Elders in Congregational Life, 139. Ibid., 152-59, presents a well-thought-out plan for leading a church in working through the biblical teaching.

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

215

elders, the one called the pastor, is especially gifted in preaching and teach­ ing the Word, there is no reason why he should not handle the bulk of the public preaching and teaching. In fact, it could be argued that 1 Timo­ thy 5 : 1 7 , while not validating a distinction between teaching elders and ruling elders, does recognize "a distinction in gifts and function within the eldership.?" John Piper thinks it "very likely [that] one will be the 'preach­ ing elder' while not excluding others from that responsibility?" Similarly, if an elder is particularly gifted in administration or visiting the sick, there is nothing wrong ifhe focuses his efforts in that area. All elders share in all the responsibilities of the elders, but they need not all share equally in all these responsibilities. How do the other elders relate to the one called the pastor? Is he the senior elder, or the teaching elder? In New Testament terminology, the pastor is an elder, and all the elders are pastors. In terms of contemporary Baptist usage, the pastor is the one primarily responsible for the public preaching of the Word. He is usually paid and thus able to devote his full time to pastoral ministry. He is also the one most of the church members look to for lead­ ership and ministry. By virtue of his intense involvement, experience, and giftedness, he may exercise leadership among the elders, but he should not seek to be the senior elder in the sense of ruling over them, lest he and the church lose one of the major advantages of a plurality of elders, namely, the help other mature and godly men give in decision-making and leadership of the church. The pastor should see himself as one of the elders, accountable to them and under their corporate authority, even as they as a whole are under the ultimate authority of the congregation. Another question could be asked concerning the relationship of the elders to the other staff members in churches with multiple staff. Are all staff members elders? Not automatically. Not all the jobs on a modern church staff require those who would qualify as elders. For example, many fine youth ministers, Christian education ministers, and music ministers could perform their ministries well, without necessarily meeting all the qualifications for elders. However, staff members exercising general pasto­ ral oversight and leadership should probably qualify as elders to hold their positions. Which staff members function in that way would differ from church to church and from job description to job description. The other

64.

White, "The Plural Elder-Led Church;' 282.

65.

Piper, "Rethinking the Governance;' 17.

CHAPTERS

216

staff members, though they may have responsibility for a specific area of ministry, are accountable first to the elders, as those charged with general oversight of all the ministries of the church; second, to the congregation as a whole; and, ultimately, to the Lord.

66

How many elders should a church have? A church should set no fixed number, but wait to see how many the church recognizes as qualified and how many are willing to serve. However, the larger the church, the larger the number of elders it will need to shepherd the flock. Another important issue would be the process for selecting elders. Scripture

gives

little

explicit

help

on

this

matter.

Paul

and

67

Barnabas

appointed elders in the churches they planted (Acts 1 4 : 2 3 ); Titus was to appoint elders «in every town" in Crete (Titus 1 : 5 ) . Aside from those two instances, elders and overseers appear in the churches of Ierusalem, Ephe­ sus, Philippi, and elsewhere with no explanation. However, two biblical principles would seem to apply. The biblical support for congregational church government would argue for a role for the congregation in the process. The biblical teaching on the leadership role for the elders would support their involvement in and oversight of the process. Below are some suggestions for a process that incorporates these two biblical principles and that has been found workable in local church contexts. Certainly, the pastor would want to preach very carefully on the quali­ fications for elders prior to any selection process. After careful examination of the qualifications, all members of the congregation would be invited to pray and submit nominees. Perhaps requiring that such nominations be accompanied by a rationale explaining how the person nominated meets the biblical qualifications would be advisable to lessen frivolous nomina­ tions or the idea that such nominations are a popularity contest. Someone or some group would then have to screen the nominees. Initially, the screening committee might consist of the pastor and the deacons, or a special committee chosen for the purpose; later, the existing elder body would be the obvious choice. This group would receive and evaluate the nominees, with the pastor, or an elder, giving leadership and oversight. Some members of the committee may know of circumstances that would make some nominees ineligible. Those the group considered as

66.

See Merkle, 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons, 169-82; and Davis, "Practical Issues in Elder Ministry': 300-09.

67.

See Merkle, 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons, 199-207.

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

217

at least possibly qualified would be contacted concerning their willingness to serve. Those willing would then be asked to complete some material, evaluating their own qualifications. They would be asked doctrinal ques­ tions, indicating their understanding of God, the gospel, the church, and other basic doctrinal issues. They would be asked to evaluate their own marriage and family relationships, and other aspects of the qualifications. The group would review each nominee's responses. All those seen as will­ ing and qualified would be brought before an ordination council. Such a council is often formed of local pastors but could be formed of a local church's elders as well. This council would ask further questions relating to the fitness of the nominees to serve as elders. The council would then issue a recommendation to the church, in favor of or opposed to ordination. The names of those nominated and recommended for ordination and service as elders of the church would then, for the first time, be made known to the church at large. Those who were initially nominated but not recommended would never be mentioned publicly. A period of time ( two to three weeks) would be given for any church member to give a reason to the committee why a nominee is unqualified and should not be accepted. The committee would investigate any such charge.

If found valid, the

nomination would be withdrawn. If there were no challenge, or any chal­ lenges were found to be invalid, the congregation would be asked to affirm or reject the nominee. While all prospective leaders should receive a clear consensus of approval, it would probably be wise to specify a percentage ( e.g., 75 percent of those voting) required for a nominee to be selected. All those

selected would be

ordained.

This

ordination would

not

signify that the individual was entering "full-time vocational ministry" but would be the church's affirmation of his qualifications to serve as elder and recognition of his entering into ministry as one of their elders. A wise pastor would also set a priority on training new elders, especially in their first year or so of service. A final matter in the selection of elders would be the issue of terms of service or rotation. By virtue of his character, an elder should always serve as an example to the flock, but there is no biblical barrier to the possibility that an elder could take a time apart from active service in the church leadership. There are pluses and minuses to mandatory rotation from active service after a set length of time. Some advocate rotation on the ground that it keeps any one individual from accumulating too much power, but internal accountability among the elders should prevent that

218

CHAPTERS

occurrence. More cogent is the observation that circumstances in an indi­ vidual's life may change. Family or career responsibilities may change and affect one's ability to minister as an elder. Provision should be made for such situations. In opposition to mandatory rotation are the observations that some elders' skills and abilities in ministry may improve over time, that we don't force pastors to rotate out of their ministry, and that manda­ tory rotation could mean the replacement of qualified elders by unquali­ fied or less qualified men. John Piper sees the issue of terms of service as balancing the need to have the most qualified men in positions of leader­ ship with the need «to guard against burn out and stagnation.?" On the whole, a church should have a provision for rotation of elders, and encour­ age elders to take a sabbatical from active service from time to time, but leave the final decision on an individual's rotation to the individual in consultation with the elders. Finally,

there

should

be

a statement

in

a church's

constitution

or

bylaws mandating an annual review of the church's leadership structure, to be done by the elders and reported to the congregation. This would include matters such as the possible rotation of one or more elders off active service and the solicitation of nominees for new elders, if needed. It would also be an appropriate time for reviewing the paid staff of the church, and considering if further staff need to be added. It would also provide an opportunity to review the church's policies as to the qualifi­ cations and responsibilities of the elders, to inform new members and refresh longtime members on these matters. All

these

governing

proposals

documents.

should Since

be

some

incorporated

within

may

that

believe

a

the

church's

plural

elder­

ship implies elder rule, it may be wise to state explicitly that ultimate authority for church decisions resides in the congregation, acting under Christ's lordship and headship, and that the authority exercised by the elders is delegated to them by the congregation and is ultimately subject to congregational review. It may even be helpful to delineate some of the specific decisions that are reserved for the congregation ( approval of budgets, hiring of staff, approval of elders, any decisions affecting the church as a whole) and those that are delegated to the elders.

68. 69.

69

On the

Piper, Biblical Eldership, 1 1 . Jonathan Leeman, Don't Fire Your Church Members, 124-31, offers a helpful discussion of how to decide which decisions should be congregational and which delegated to the elders.

ELDERS IN BAPTIST LIFE

219

whole, though, it would be wise and healthy to keep the congregation as involved as practically possible, while recognizing the impossibility of congregational

involvement

on

every minor item.

Congregational

involvement would seem to be an incentive to congregational commit­ ment, which is another reason to preserve congregational government alongside a plurality of leadership. Moving a church to a plurality of elders could be problematic. It is

still very much

a minority view in

Baptist life today,

and

Baptist

churches like change as little as most other churches. There is no biblical command that requires churches to adopt a plural eldership and thus there is no problem with a pastor moving slowly on this issue or even working informally with a group he sees and relates to as elders, even if they are not recognized as such by the church. Some remain convinced that the single-elder model has a solid biblical basis or that there should be a primary elder if a church has a plural eldership. On the whole, the weight of the biblical evidence supports plural eldership, and the prac­ tical benefits offered by a plurality of elders seem considerable. Thus, churches should move toward a plural elder model with two conditions: ( 1 ) that the church have men who meet the qualifications for elder, and (2) that the church be accepting of such a change.

C H A P T E R

9

THE O F F I C E O F DEACON Servants of the Church

THE OFFICE OF DEACON HAS been universally accepted among Baptists, but their understanding of the nature and responsibilities of deacons has undergone a number of shifts over the years. In some ways, those shifts have paralleled shifts in the understanding of pastors or elders. Now with a resurgence of interest in examining the role of elders, the time seems ripe for a corresponding reconsideration of the role of deacons, especially in the area of leadership.

THE BIBLICAL BACKGROUND While deacon is the universal term for this office, the word diakonos and related terms in the New Testament are much more often translated by terms like servant or minister.

1.

1

The verb diakoneii is found thirty-six

It is interesting to note that recent translations like the New International Version or New American Standard render diakonos and the related terms by "minister" much less often than the

King James Version, perhaps recognizing that

"minister"

in contemporary English use

connotes more of an ecclesiastical office, whereas diakonos in New Testament use is more a general word for "servant:'

221

222

CHAPTER9

times in the New Testament, reflecting the same uses of the term as secular Greek: to wait on someone at a table, to care for someone's basic needs, or to serve in a general sense.

2

The related noun diakonia is usually translated

as service, and diakonos as servant. Only in two texts is the meaning clearly that of deacon (Phil. 1 : 1 ; 1 Tim. 3 : 8 - 1 3 ) . Most see Acts 6:2-4 as related to the origin of deacons, and some see Romans 1 6 : 1 as a basis for the office of deaconess, but that is a matter that will require further examination below. The major importance of knowing the broader background of diako­ nos is in understanding the role deacons were designed to play. There was

no counterpart to deacons in Judaism, and with the scanty material in the New Testament, theologians have taken the normal meanings associated with diakonos as indicating the types of activities appropriate to deacons, namely, caring for material needs and general serving. Nothing in the background suggests that it is a role of overall leadership or authority.

THE ORIGIN OF DEACONS Most see Acts 6 as describing the origin of deacons or, at least, the prototypes of deacons.

3

Though some object that Luke nowhere applies

the term diakonos to the men chosen to coordinate the distribution of food to widows, there are several good reasons for the traditional view. First, the related noun diakonia and a form of the verb diakoneii

are

found in Acts 6 : 1 - 2 . Second, the qualifications and activities of the men selected in Acts 6 seem commensurate with the more detailed informa­ tion in 1 Timothy 3 : 8 - 1 3 . Third, if Acts 6 is not linked to the origin of deacons, we have an office with no precedent in Jewish society, with no origin described in Scripture, and yet an office that was widely and readily accepted by New Testament churches. Fourth, there is strong historical support for this interpretation of Acts 6: "The unbroken tradition of such writers from Irenaeus onwards is correct in declaring this to be the origin of the deaconship in the Christian Church."

2.

K. Hess, "Serve, Deacon, Worship;' in Brown, ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament

3.

Saucy presents arguments for and against seeing the origin of the office in Acts 6, and concludes

Theology, 3:545.

by calling the seven selected in that text as "prototype deacons:' Robert Saucy, The Church in God's Program (Chicago: Moody, 1972), 154-55.

4.

D. Bannerman, The Scripture Doctrine of the Church: Historically and Exegetically Considered (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1887), 416-17. I thank Gregg Allison for calling this source to my attention (Sojourners and Strangers, 241, n. 1 3 3 ) .

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

223

THE QUALIFICATIONS OF DEACONS The 3:8-13.

qualifications

of deacons

are

found

principally in

1

Timothy

The seven chosen in Acts 6 were to be "full of the Spirit and

wisdom'' (Acts 6 : 3 ) , and that is consistent with the description in 1 Timo­ thy 3, but the list of qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 is more complete. There are important similarities and differences between the qualifications for deacons and those for elders, found in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1 : 5 - 9 . All three passages portray a dignified man of good reputation. All three exclude drunkenness and greed. Titus 1 :9 and 1 Timothy 3 : 9 both have a concern that the individual know sound doctrine. First Timothy 3 requires a degree of maturity for both elder and deacon, though the requirement is worded differently, with the warning that the elder must not be a new convert (v. 6 ) , while the deacon must be tested first (v. 1 0 ) . Titus 1 :6 says an elder must be blameless, a requirement for deacons in 1 Timothy 3 : 1 0 . All three have the same qualification in terms of marriage

("husband of one wife") and a similar requirement in the area of parent­ hood, with 1 Timothy 3 using the same verb, prohistemi, or manage, for both elder and deacon (see vv. 5, 1 2 ) . There are also noticeable differences. The list of qualifications for the deacon is shorter and less detailed than that for the elder. The office of elder seems to have somewhat more stringent requirements. Also, there are certain functions associated with the elder that are not associated with the deacon. The elder must be "able to teach" ( 1 Tim. 3:2) or "encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it" (Titus 1 : 9 ) . The deacon must know doctrine, but he is not charged with teaching it to the church. This is not to say that an individual deacon cannot be gifted in teaching; Stephen was one of the seven and yet may have been a gifted teacher. But the gift of teaching is not intrinsic to the office of deacon. Also, the office of elder is explicitly linked with the function of oversight, both in the fact that elder is synonymous with overseer and in specific phrases identifying the elder as the one who must "take care of God's church" ( 1 Tim. 3 : 5 ) ; he is the one who "manages God's household" (Titus 1 : 7 ) . Finally, there is one requirement for deacons that has no counterpart for elders. It is found in the description in 1 Timothy 3 : 1 1 of the gynaikas, a much-debated and controverted word that requires separate discussion. Some see it as referring to deacons' wives and is thus another qualification for deacons; that is, they must have wives of a certain character. Others see the word as indicating a third office, that of deaconess. We will examine the arguments for and against both views shortly.

224

CHAPTER9

THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEACONS One reason for considering the qualifications of deacons so carefully is that they provide a clue to the role and responsibility of deacons. We have no description in the New Testament of deacons acting as deacons, with the single exception of Acts 6, which, while controverted, is still widely used as a model for the ministry of deacons. Aside from that episode, we have no example of deacons at work. In what follows, we will draw clues for the role and responsibility of deacons from the associa­ tions that gather around the word diakonos itself, from the description of the actions of the seven in Acts 6, and by implication from the qualifica­ tions in 1 Timothy 3 . The associations around the word diakonos we have already mentioned. The word is closely associated with humble, some would say even menial, service. That does not make such service unimportant, for even the offer­ ing of a cup of cold water in Christ's name brings reward (Matt. 1 0 : 4 2 ) . Christian leaders are called upon to exercise leadership in a humble spirit, and Christian leaders in the New Testament are often referred to servants

(diakonos): Paul (Col. 1 : 2 3 , 2 5 ) , Apollos ( 1 Cor. 3 : 5 ) , Timothy ( 1 Tim. 4 : 6 ) , and Jesus, who points to himself as the exemplary servant (Mark 1 0 : 4 3 4 5 ) . But it seems likely that deacons are not called to give leadership to

the church in the same way as are elders. If the two offices were identical, why would two be needed? Diakonos indicates more of a support role than

episkopos or presbyteros. The example in Acts 6 fits the distinction between the ministry of leaders (elders/overseers/pastors) and the important but different minis­ try of other servants (deacons). The rationale for the selection of the seven is given in the apostles' words, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables" (Acts 6 : 2 ) . The distribution of food was important; it threatened to divide the early church. But the apostles could not do everything, and their calling was "the ministry of the word of God:' The relationship of the ministries of elders and deacons has been seen in the same light. The elders are called to the ministry of the Word of God and to overall leadership of the church, while the deacons are called upon to deal with the material needs of the people, the care of the sick and poor, and the temporal affairs of the church in general. These were the functions assigned to the deacons in the churches that emerged from the Reformation. Calvin says simply, "The care of the poor was

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

225

entrusted to the deacons." One of the very earliest Baptist confessions, the 1 6 1 1 Short Confession o f J o h n Smyth, says that deacons "attend to the affairs of the poor and sick brethren:' and many other Baptist confes­ sions echo similar ideas. Another common duty or role of deacons in Baptist life is derived from the phrase "wait on tables:' Benjamin Keach said, "The Work of Deacons is to serve Tables, viz. to see to provide for the Lord's Table, the Minister's Table, and the Poor's Table." The reference to the Lord's Table indicates that deacons often assisted pastors or elders in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. R. B. C. Howell, in one of the most influential books on the diaconate of the nineteenth century, states concerning the duties of deacons: "The table of the Lord must frequently be spread. The necessary furniture for the purpose, as well as the elements, must be provided and

superintended." Deacons also assisted in the distribution of the elements, though leading in the administration of the ordinances was seen as a responsibility limited to elders. The reference to the minister's table, or the minister's remuneration, reflects the growing role deacons would have in the financial affairs of the church in the nineteenth and twentieth centu­ ries. The reference to the Poor's Table indicates the same responsibility mentioned by Calvin, that the deacons administered the ministry of the church to the needy. Indeed, Andrew Davis thinks benevolence ministry "may most closely resonate with the original responsibility of the Seven in Acts 6;' and thus argues that deacons "can and should be heavily involved in the benevolence ministry of the church," The example in Acts 6 can also be applied in a more general way. The pastors or elders of the church are given the job of teaching the Word of God, providing pastoral ministry to the members, and giving overall leader­ ship to the church. That is a job too demanding for any one person, and it can be challenging even for a body of elders. The deacons are there to assist the pastors and relieve them of any duties that would prevent them from doing those things that most require their energy, time, and attention. John Piper says, "From our study it would seem that the office of deacon exists to assist the leadership of the church by relieving the elders of distractions and pressures that would divert them from the ministry of the word and

5.

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 1 : 1 0 6 1 (4.3.9).

6.

Benjamin Keach, "The Glory of a True Church:' 66.

7.

R. B. C. Howell, The Deaconship (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1846), 82.

8.

Andrew Davis, "Practical Issues in Deacon Ministry:' in Baptist Foundations, 328.

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CHAPTER9

prayer and the general, visionary oversight of the church." Those "distrac­ tion and pressures" may vary from church to church. At one church, there may be so much hospital visitation that pastors have no time to study and prepare to teach Gods Word. Deacons could assist in that area of minis­ try. In another church it may be an aging building that requires consider­ able maintenance. Deacons could relieve pastors of the need to deal with those matters. Perhaps one reason why, in the providence of God, we are not given an explicit job description for deacons is to allow them the flexibility to serve in a variety of roles that allow the elders to focus on those things that most utilize their gifts and most match their calling. This is reflected in descriptions of the deacons, role as caring for the secular or temporal affairs of the church, so that pastors may be "relieved from secular burdens, and be left to the spiritual service of the church?" Gregg Allison urges caution in reading too much of a "tidy division, of spiritual matters for pastors/ elders and physical and temporal matters for deacons from the example in Acts 6. From the list of qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 : 8 - 1 3 , which will be considered next, he argues that while teach­

ing, leading, and shepherding seem to be reserved for the pastors or elders, "all other avenues of service are available to deacons." Perhaps another way of seeing the ministry assigned to the Seven in Acts 6 ( and deacons today by extension) could be "leadership over the service-oriented functions of the church.t" At any rate, it may not be fully accurate to draw from Acts 6 the description of the ministry of deacons as physical or temporal, and the ministry of elders and pastors as spiritual. Every service offered to Jesus by a believer and done in the power of the Spirit may be called spiritual service. But Acts 6 does seem to draw a distinction between the ministry done by some servants (apostles in Acts 6, pastors/elders today) and the ministry done by other godly servants, namely, deacons. Further hints are supplied as to the role and responsibility of the deacon in the qualifications listed in 1 Timothy 3 : 8 - 1 3 . First, simply the fact that he is listed alongside the elder with a varying list of qualifica­ tions implies that his duties are different. We noted above that there is no requirement for an ability to teach, implying that teaching God's Word is not part of the job of the deacon. Managing God's work or the church is

9. 10.

John Piper, "Rethinking the Governance:' Dagg, Manual of Theology, 266.

11.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 242-43.

12.

Merkle, 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons, 240.

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

227

not explicitly mentioned, implying that the deacon is not one who exer­ cises oversight of the church as a whole, but he is required to manage his household well, so the role may involve limited oversight of a particular area. Not being greedy is mentioned (v. 8 ) , and so the role of the deacon may have something to do with the finances of the church. That has in fact been one of the responsibilities consistently associated with the office of deacon. In early twentieth-century Baptist life, management of business and financial affairs identified the ministry of most Baptist deacons. A very popular book on deacons stated, «The business of the church and its finances constitutes the special and distinct assignment of the deacons.t" Perhaps this ministry also accounts for the fact that deacons must first be tested ( v.

1 0 ) , to prove their trustworthiness before handling funds.

His skill in managing his household (v. 1 2 ) would also support the role of management of the temporal affairs of the church. But most of the qualifications listed for deacons are similar to those of elders. This implies that deacons may share at least one of the functions of elders, that of setting an example of Christlike character. Anyone identified as an officer of the church in some way represents the church publicly and is thus required to possess a degree of maturity. It also indicates that the office of deacon is not a small, unimportant ministry that anyone can fill. Though it may involve humble service, if it is to be limited to men who are required to have this type of blameless character, it must be important. Indeed, the ministry of a deacon can profoundly affect the lives of individuals and the health of the church, and thus it must be exercised in a Christlike way. However, these biblical clues have not been the only factors influenc­ ing Baptist perceptions of the role and responsibility of deacons. Howard Foshee says that in the late 1800s, «the business-world concept of 'board of directors' was, unfortunately, transferred to the church,"!' With the board of directors idea, the distinction between the overall leadership role of the elders and the serving role of the deacons began to blur. In practice, many deacon boards practiced something close to elder rule. Perhaps even more commonly, deacons in Baptist churches were «treated as de facto elders or something between elders and deacons;' especially in smaller, single-pastor churches,

13.

15

or in still other cases, «deacons have

P. E. Burroughs, Honoring the Deaconship (Nashville: Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1929), 69.

14.

Howard Foshee, The Ministry of the Deacon (Nashville: Convention Press, 1968), 32-33.

15.

Merkle, "The Office of Deacon:' in Baptist Foundations, 3 1 1 .

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CHAPTER9

held a position somewhere between simple servants in the church and a power bloc acting as a 'check and balance, against the authority of the senior pastor,":" From the very term diakonos, the clues from the minis­ try given to the Seven in Acts 6, and implications from the qualifica­ tions for deacons in 1 Timothy 3 : 8 - 1 3 , it seems clear that deacons should see their role and responsibility as something other than leadership of the church. Even one popular approach to deacon ministry, the Deacon Family Ministry Plan, in which each deacon takes responsibility for some degree of pastoral ministry to a number of families in the church,

17

seems

to run the risk of confusing the roles of pastor and deacon, while point­ ing to the need for a plurality of pastors/ elders, to effectively shepherd members, in all but the smallest churches. The best way to clarify the role and responsibility of deacons would be the establishment of a plural eldership. That would force churches to think through the relationship of the two offices and would result in a renewal of the servant aspect of diaconal ministry, with leadership left to the elders. As to specifics, it seems advisable for churches to follow the pattern of Acts, in which the roles and responsibilities of deacons are left flexible, to enable them to address whatever is hindering the ability of the church's elders to accomplish their ministry.

18

THE NUMBERAND SELECTION OF DEACONS There is no biblically mandated number of deacons a church should have, though Gerald Cowen observes that if the church in Jerusalem only chose seven for a church with several thousand members, by comparison most Baptist churches have too many deacons.

19

Once again, the wisest

16.

Davis, "Practical Issues in Deacon Ministry;' 325. The terminology "senior pastor" would suggest

17.

According to Bruce Grubbs (introduction to Robert Sheffield, The Ministry of Baptist Deacons,

Davis is thinking oflarger churches, those with multiple staff.

ed. Gary Hardin [Nashville: Convention Press, 1990], 10) by 1990, one-third of Southern Baptist churches had adopted the Deacon Family Ministry Plan. 18.

Merkle

suggests

facilities, benevolence,

finances,

ushering

and logistics

as

possible

duties

for

deacons ( 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons, 241); Davis offers the approach of deacons serving in teams, each team assigned to one key area of a church's ministry, serving under the oversight of an elder and reporting to the elders as a whole. The elders would lead in setting the agenda, but the deacons would be responsible to "make things happen" in their area. He mentions teams for areas such as "college, corporate worship, encouragement (including bereavement, event support, hospital visitations, and new births), building and grounds, finances, family and youth, hosting . . . , new member assimilation, internationals . . . , men's ministry, women's ministry, missions . . . , senior adult ministry, and urban outreach" ("Practical Issues in Deacon Ministry:' 327). 19.

Cowen, Who Rules the Church? 1 1 4 .

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

229

course is to specify no number or ratio the church must maintain, but to be guided by two factors: the needs of the church and the number of quali­ fied candidates, with the second being the more important of the two. A church can do well with a small number of deacons, but to have unqualified deacons invites problems. Moreover, there is no need for annual elections of deacons. Rather, new deacons should be selected as needs arise and as existing deacons need to withdraw from active service. A mandatory rota­ tion of deacons is not necessary, though deacons should be allowed to step down without any sense of failure or disqualification if they feel called to a different area of ministry, simply need to rest, or if the elders feel that a rotation would be in the best interest of the church and the deacon. Deacons would be selected, then, only when vacancies arise or new areas of need are identified. As to the method of selection, Acts 6 points to congregational action. In a manner similar to that with elders, nominations could be made by any member, submitting names along with a rationale showing how the individuals nominated match the biblical qualifications. This presupposes, of course, that these qualifications have been explained to the members. As with the elders, there needs to be a body that screens the names." The best body would be a group of elders. In churches without elders, the pastor and a couple of the senior deacons would probably be the best choice. They would examine the names of those nominated, elimi­ nate those who obviously did not meet the qualifications, and talk to the remaining individuals concerning their willingness, their evaluation of their fitness, and their sense of call to this ministry. A list of all those found to be qualified and willing would then be submitted to the congregation. At this point, many churches make a needless mistake. If they have more

names

of qualified

and willing

candidates than

their bylaws

or

constitution prescribe, they often ask members to select only some of the names submitted. For example, suppose a church's bylaws prescribe four new deacons, but eight qualified and willing applicants are found. Members are often asked to pick four of the eight. The result is that the election becomes more of a popularity contest than an affirmation of

20.

Davis argues that the elders should be key in this screening process, assuring that candidates meet the spiritual qualifications given in Scripture. He adds, "This filtering by spiritual criteria is vital and represents a major difference between the biblical pattern and the traditional 'board of deacons/church committee' polity:' in which "people are selected based on their skill set and willingness to serve:' Davis does insist, however, that church vote is necessary and the only way by which deacons "are empowered to serve in this role" ("Practical Issues in Deacon Ministry,' 326).

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230

deacon candidates, and those not elected quite often become bitter and resentful. Rather, the church should vote yes or no for each name and take the number of deacons approved by the church. If all are qualified, there is no reason why all should not serve. Few churches have an overabundance of willing and qualified servants.

DEACONESSES The final issue we must consider in connection with the office of deacon is the propriety of the corresponding office of deaconess. This is a difficult question for several reasons. There are g o o d arguments on both sides concerning the interpretation of the key texts, there is evidence on both sides from church history, there are pragmatic issues pro and con, and one can argue for or against the office based on how one understands the office of deacon. This is an area of growing diver­ sity among Baptists. I will try to present both sides of the issue and give the position I feel best fits the evidence, but acknowledge that it is a complex question. The decision as to whether women may serve in the office of deacon ( or as deaconesses) depends on the answer given to the questions raised by three texts. First Timothy 3: 1 1 raises the question as to whether the refer­ ence to gynaikas ( the word for "women") should be seen as the wives of deacons, or women serving in the office of deaconess. Romans 1 6 : 1 refers to Phoebe as a diakonos of the church in Cenchreae: Should diakonos be interpreted in the general sense of "servant;' or is this verse indicating that Phoebe held the office of deacon ( or deaconess) in the church in Cenchreae? The third key text is 1 Timothy 2: 1 2 and the question is, does the prohibi­ tion against women teaching and exercising authority over men apply to what deacons do, or is this prohibition applicable only to the teaching and exercise of authority done by those in the office of pastor/elder? The first text to examine is 1 Timothy 3: 1 1 . In the midst of a chapter devoted to giving the qualifications for church offices, we find a verse list­ ing the qualifications for those simply called gynaikas. The word means women, but can also be translated wives, and is translated that way in many English translations

21

(KJV, ESV, TEV, HCSB, N r v ) .

Within the context

of 1 Timothy 3, however, many feel that it refers to a special group of women, deaconesses

21.

(RSV, NRSV, NAS, NIV 2 0 1 1 ) .

It is interesting that the 1984 NIV had "wives" but the 2 0 1 1 "women:'

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

231

There are numerous arguments that can be given for each side.

22

Here

are some of the most common arguments given in favor of seeing the verse as referring to women who are to serve as deaconesses.

1 . The introductory word hosautos ("In the same way") is used in verse 8 to introduce the qualifications for deacons; it usage in verse

11

suggests the introduction of a new office parallel to deacons. 2. The virtues required in verse 1 1 are very similar to those for deacons, arguing for a similar office. 3 . The noun gynaikas, while meaning wives in some contexts, has no modifying adjective

(such as "their")

to

indicate wives, and

Paul could have easily said "wives of deacons" if that had been his meaning. 4. The lack of any reference in the preceding verses to the wives of elders makes it unlikely that this verse is referring to the wives of deacons. Why would the wives of deacons be singled out? 5. At this time there was no

feminine

form

of the word diakonos;

that explains why the verse has gynaikas for females serving in the diaconal role.

There

are

also

several

arguments

used

to

support

the

idea

that

gynaikas here refers to the wives of deacons. Here are some of the most commonly used.

1 . The singular form of gynaikas, gune, is used for wife in the very next verse ( 1 Timothy 3 : 1 2 ) , as well as earlier in this passage (verse 2 ) . Why take it in a different sense in verse 1 1 ? 2. This list of qualifications is much shorter than that for deacons or overseers, too short for a text introducing a new office. 3. The lack of any qualification referring to marital status and fidelity is missing in verse 1 1 , but is a qualification for every other office ( elder,

22.

Among the sources that give some of the arguments from both sides, see Merkle, 40 Questions about

Elders

and

Deacons,

249-56;

Allison,

Sojourners

and

Strangers,

244-46;

William

Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 46 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000), 202-03; I. Howard Marshall with Philip Towner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles, International Critical Commentary (London and New York: T & T

Clark, 1 9 9 9 ) , 493-94.

232

CHAPTER9

deacon and even widow). The obvious explanation is that her marital status is inherent in gynaikas. 4.

"Deacons' wives" fits the flow of the passage much better. Qualifica­ tions for a deacon are given in the verses before and after verse 1 1 . It would seem very strange to interrupt the qualifications for one office with the qualifications for a different office, then, after only one verse, to go back to the previous office. If, however, the interpretation of "wives" is adopted, having a particular type of wife fits as another deacon qualification, and leads naturally into verse 1 2 .

5.

The reason why the wives of deacons are mentioned but not elders is easily explained by their different roles.

The wives of deacons

could easily assist them in their ministries, but the ministry of elders involved

teaching

and

exercise

of authority,

activities

that

seem

prohibited to women in 1 Timothy 2: 1 2 .

While

the

two

sets

of arguments

seem

fairly evenly balanced,

I

think the second set is slightly stronger. I think the fourth argument for deacons' wives, the argument from the flow of the passage, is espe­ cially strong. At the same time, I do not think that such an interpreta­ tion means that women should not serve as deacons, or deaconesses. That simply is not addressed by this passage. The second important text is Romans 1 6 : 1 . In that verse, Phoebe is described as "a diakonos of the church in Cenchreae," Is Phoebe being recognized as holding an office, deacon or deaconess, or is she simply being commended as a servant? In favor of the latter are two arguments. The first is that of the twenty­ nine times diakonos is used in the New Testament, it means "servant" in all but three, or possibly four, times. Moreover, at the time the letter to the Romans was written, there is no record of any church, with the possible exception of the church in Jerusalem, that had recognized an office of diakonos. We find the word used in an official sense in Philippi­ ans 1 : 1 and 1 Timothy 3 : 8 , but both those epistles are later than Romans. How could Paul be speaking of Phoebe holding an office that was not yet recognized? On the opposing side, it must be recognized that Paul never describes someone as being a "servant" of a particular church. Moreover, the type of service she is described as having rendered fits well with the type of ministry associated with deacons. On this question, too, the scales seem fairly evenly balanced, but it seems that majority opinion is moving in favor of seeing Phoebe in an offi-

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

233

cial sense, as a deacon. According to Thomas Schreiner, this is the inter­ pretation of the majority of modern commentators.

23

At least two recent

Bible versions have adopted the translation "deaconess" in Romans 1 6 : 1 (2011

NIV,

and some of those arguing for seeing 1 Timothy 3 : 1 1

NRSV),

as referring to deaconesses assume this view of Romans 1 6 : 1 as an argu­ ment for their view of 1 Timothy 3 : 1 1 , so sure are they of their position on Romans 1 6 : 1 .

24

I am not as sure as they are, as the opposing view still

seems to have some strength, but I see the deacon translation as entirely possible and exegetically defensible. The third text crucial to the question of women serving as deacons is 1 Timothy 2: 1 2 . In the previous chapter, I argued that the prohibition of

teaching and exercise of authority limits the role of elder to males. Does the same prohibition apply to the office of deacon? I think not. I think it very likely that the type of teaching and authority Paul had in mind in 1 Timothy 2: 1 2 was that which only elders do. Just a few verses after 1 Timothy 2: 1 2 , Paul gives the qualifications of an elder as being able to

teach, and being able to manage is such a way as to "take care of God's church" ( 1 Tim. 3 : 2 , 5 ) . But there is no qualification requiring deacons to be able to teach, and while they are required to be good managers of their household, there is no evidence that their position involved an exercise of authority in the church.

25

Thus, I see no bar to women serving as deacons

from 1 Timothy 2: 1 2 . In summary, I see no clear affirmation of women serving as deacons in 1 Timothy 3 : 1 1 . That is one possible interpretation of the verse, but I see it as slightly less likely than the opposing view, of seeing the wives of deacons in view. I think there may be a slight tip of the scale to seeing Phoebe as a deacon in Romans 1 6 : 1 , but even if one sees her as simply a commended servant, I do not think the absence of affirmative examples of women serving as deacons in the New Testament amounts to a prohibi-

23.

Thomas

Schreiner,

Romans,

Baker Exegetical

Commentary on the

New Testament

(Grand

Rapids: Baker, 1998), 786-88. An example would be C. E. B. Cranfield, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary

on

the

Epistle

(Edinburgh: T & T Clark,

to

the

Romans,

2

vols.,

International

Critical

Commentary

1979), 2 : 7 8 1 . While acknowledging the translation of diakonos as

servant as "perhaps just conceivable;' he regards the more official translation as deacon as "virtually certain," 24.

Marshall refers to Phoebe in Romans 16:1 as "a clear example of a female deacon" and includes it as an argument for his interpretation of 1 Timothy 3 : 1 1 (The Pastoral Epistles, 494).

25.

For

an

opposing

view,

see

Merkle,

40

Questions

about

Elders

and

Deacons,

256-57.

He

believes that deacons do exercise authority "in the physical/logistical realm, which would be inappropriate for women" as a violation of 1 Timothy 2 : 1 2 .

CHAPTER9

234

tion. I do not see the prohibition of 1 Timothy 2: 1 2 as applying to deacons, and so I feel able to affirm the propriety of women serving as deacons, with one condition-namely, that there be a clear distinction between the role of deacon and elder. That is not the case in all Southern Baptist churches, but for those in which it is, I would have no problem recognizing women as deacons. At the same time, the model I feel most comfortable affirm­ ing is one in which deacons and their wives are chosen together and serve together, with a wife of virtue being seen as one of the qualifications for serving as a deacon. Historically, the acceptance of women serving as deacons ( or deacon esses) has gone up and down. There is some evidence of deaconesses in the early church. The earliest clear discussion comes from a third-century document called the Didascalia.

But A. G. Martimort argues that "the

ancient institution of deaconesses . . . was encumbered with not a few ambiguities.?" For the first five centuries, deaconesses were found in only a limited number of Eastern churches, and not at all in Egypt, Ethio­ pia, Rome, Africa, or Spain.

27

Their chief function was "assistance at the

baptism of women, at which, for reasons of propriety, many of the cere­ monies could not be performed by deacons.?" As infant baptism became increasingly the norm, this function was no longer needed, and deacon esses virtually disappeared. Among Baptists, there has been a mixed appraisal of deaconesses. The first English Baptist confession of faith, penned primarily by Thomas Helwys, specifically refers to "Deacons, Men and Women who by their office releave the necessities off the poore and impotent brethre concern­ ing their bodies, Acts 6.1-4:'

29

However, most confessions are silent as

to the gender of deacons. Church records reveal that deaconesses were not

uncommon

among

early Baptists,

but were

found

mainly among

the General Baptists. The Particular Baptists, by far the larger branch of Baptists, allowed women less active roles. There

were

notable

advocates

30

of deaconesses

among

nineteenth­

century Baptists in America. R. B. C. Howell argues that Scripture "autho-

26.

A. G.

Mortimort, Deaconesses: An Historical Study,

trans. K.

D. Whitehead

(San Francisco:

Ignatius Press, 1986), 250. 27. 28.

Ibid., 5-6. F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., "Deaconess;' in Cross and Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3 8 1 .

29.

The spelling is that of the original, reproduced in Lumpkin, Baptist Confessions of Paith, 1 2 1 - 2 2 .

30.

Leon McBeth, Women in Baptist Life (Nashville: Broadman, 1979), 140.

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

235

rizes, and in some sense, certainly by implication, enjoins the appointment of deaconesses in the churches of Christ."! He calls them "female assis­ tants to the deacons;' whose duty it was to minister to females, to help the sick and helpless, and to assist females in being baptized. He also acknowl­ edged that some churches have failed to appoint deaconesses and that, in some such cases, women of intelligence and piety have voluntarily under­ taken the necessary duties, becoming "substantially deaconesses;' making "amends for the want of proper ecclesiastical action?" J. R. Graves, while Howell's opponent on most issues, agreed with him on this issue, seeing "no good reason why saintly women should not fill the office of deaconess today in most churches. In fact, they often perform the duties of the office without the name.?" A third example comes from First Baptist Church of Waco, Texas, whose records show that they recognized six deaconesses in 1877, during the pastorate of B. H. Carroll, who was later the founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

34

But such churches were never the norm. Charles W Deweese notes, "Although deaconesses have existed in every century of Baptist life, the position has never been widespread.?"

Deaconesses began

to

decline,

especially in the twentieth century as the role of the deacons began to change from ministry to management. With the business model dominat­ ing church life, most churches hesitated to put women on the "Board of Directors'?" Churches that did so were viewed as moderate or liberal, for placing women in positions of leadership was seen as violating 1 Timothy 2 : 1 2 . But today there is something of a revival of interest in deaconesses,

especially among churches that see the eldership as limited to males. They can utilize deaconesses because they see the role as one of service rather than leadership.

Since John Piper understands the office of deacon to

involve neither teaching nor leading men, he concludes, "It appears then that the role of deacon is of such a nature that nothing stands in the way of women's full participation in it:'

37

Mark Dever testifies that his church

has felt itself free to recognize deaconesses, because they clearly distin-

31.

Howell, Ihe Deaconship, 1 3 1 . 24.

32.

Ibid., 134.

33.

Graves's statement is found in McBeth, Women in Baptist Life, 142. McBeth's source is an article in the February 22, 1879 newspaper, The Baptist.

34.

McBeth, Women in Baptist Life, 143.

35.

Deweese, A Community of Believers, 102.

36.

Ibid., 103.

37.

Piper, Biblical Eldership.

CHAPTER9

236

guish the deacons from the elders, with the latter assigned responsibility for leadership and limited to males.

38

What is one to make of this debate? Certainly the contemporary femi­ nist movement has sensitized us to the importance and value of women being involved in ministry. Indeed, in many churches, women have served in the role of deaconess without the title. With a majority of American church members female, the need for females to minister to other women in many areas is obvious. Moreover, there are considerable historical prec­ edents and, as discussed above, some possible biblical passages to support the recognition of deaconesses, such that churches cannot be charged with explicitly violating Scripture if they utilize deaconesses in a serving role. However, as noted above, the passages cited (Rom. 1 6 : 1 ; 1 Tim. 3 : 1 1 ) are not clearly pointing to an office of deaconess. First Timothy 3: 1 1 may be interpreted as teaching that the wives of deacons are part of the qualifica­ tions for the diaconate and will help them in their ministry, particularly in their ministry to other women. Thus, the need for ministry to women by women has an obvious group designed to meet that need, the wives of deacons, whose character qualifies them and their husbands for such ministry.

39

In terms of Phoebe, whether an official deacon or simply a

commended servant, she is like millions who have followed her, who have served because they were gifted and empowered by the Spirit, and saw areas where their service was needed. Regardless of whether they have a formal office and title or not, such godly servants quietly and simply serve. They deserve the same commendation as Phoebe.

ORDINATION Baptist

churches

traditionally

ordain

their

leaders,

both

elders

and

deacons. But why? What does ordination mean and what does it accomplish? For such a widespread practice, there is a surprisingly sparse biblical basis. Possible Old Testament precedents include events like the commis­ sioning of Joshua as Moses's successor (Num. 2 7 : 1 8 - 2 3 ) , or the conse­ cration of Aaron and his sons (Exod. 28-29; esp. 2 8 : 4 1 ) and the Levites (Num. 8 : 5 - 2 2 ) , but none of these are real parallels to contemporary ordi­ nations. There is no suggestion in the New Testament that Moses is in

38.

Dever, A Display of God's Glory, 1 3 - 1 4 .

39.

I have seen this idea put into practice in a Baptist church we were a part of in Mundelein, Illinois. Husbands and wives were elected and served very effectively as deacon teams.

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

237

any way a model or type of a pastor or deacon, and ordination is not seen as transferring power to lead a nation. As to the consecration of priests, the New Testament teaches the priesthood of all believers and calls upon them all to be a set-apart, or holy, people. In the New Testament, there is no record of anything like a formal ordination of the twelve apostles. They were simply called and appointed by Christ (Mark 3 : 1 4 ; Luke 6 : 1 2 - 1 3 ) . The apostles themselves neither ordained nor appointed successors; thus any theory of ordination as involving apostolic succession or transfer of apostolic authority is problematic at best. The evidence for something like ordination is limited to Acts and the Pastoral Epistles. In Acts 6 : 1 - 6 , we find the closest parallel and clearest basis for ordina­ tion to a church office. If, as argued above, Acts 6 does narrate the origin of deacons, verse 6 describes their ordination. They were selected by the congregation and received public recognition, followed by apostolic laying on of hands. Alan Culpepper notes several similarities between this account and the commissioning ofJoshua as Mosess successor in Numbers 2 7 : 1 8 23. In each case, there is an appointing, a reference to the Spirit, a public

presentation, and a laying on ofhands." However, there is also an important difference. The seven appointed in Acts 6 were not replacing or succeeding the apostles,

as Joshua was Moses. Rather, the seven who were ordained

were to assist the apostles, as the Levites were to assist Aaron and his sons. Laying on of hands is also found in Acts 1 3 : 3 , where Paul and Barn­ abas were set apart for the ministry to which God had called them, but laying on of hands is not mentioned in Acts

14:23 or Titus

1 :5, where

elders are appointed. The word used in Titus 1 : 5 , kathistemi, is used in Acts 6 : 3 for the appointment of the seven, is found three times in Hebrews for the appointment or ordination of priests ( 5 : 1 ; 7:28; 8 : 1 ) , and does seem associated with an official type of appointment. The word used in Acts 1 4 : 2 3 , cheirotoneo, can mean choose or elect by raising hands, raising the

question of congregational involvement. The context seems to indicate that Paul and Barnabas appointed the elders in this case, but the active role of the congregation elsewhere in Acts argues for at least "the concur­ rence of the congregations,":" In any case, laying on of hands, which some see as the "actual act of ordination,"? is not mentioned in these two texts.

40. 41.

Alan Culpepper, "The Biblical Basis for Ordination:' Review and Expositor 78, no. 4 ( 1 9 8 1 ) : 478. Richard Longenecker, "The Acts of the Apostles;' in The Expositor's Bible Commentary, ed. Frank Gaebelein (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1 9 8 1 ) , 9:439.

42.

Saucy, The Church in God's Program, 1 6 3 .

CHAPTER9

238

Laying on of hands is mentioned twice in connection with Timo­ thy ( 1 Tim. 4 : 1 4 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 6 ) . It seems that both Paul and the presbytery laid hands on him, and that act was associated with a gift, perhaps an empowering of the Spirit for ministry. However, such giving of gifts is not mentioned in other contexts of ordination, and is not included in the instructions regarding elders in 1 Timothy 3 or Titus 1 . In any case, it is not clear if Timothy was ordained as a pastor/elder at all. He may have been commissioned as Paul and Barnabas were in Acts 1 3 , to a special ministry, but not to a regular church office. Thus, using the descriptions regarding the laying of hands on Timothy as a pattern for contemporary ordinations is problematic. A final reference in 1 Timothy 5:22, warning Timothy to not be hasty in the laying on of hands, is probably a reference to ordination of elders, since it is found in a section dealing with elders. Other references to laying on of hands have to do with conferring of the Spirit (Acts 8 : 1 7 - 1 8 ;

1 9 : 6 ) , healing (Mark 6:5; Acts 9 : 1 2 ,

blessing (Matt. 1 9 : 1 3 - 1 5 ; Mark 1 0 : 1 6 ) .

1 7 ; 2 8 : 8 ) , and

43

Over the course of church history, ordination grew in importance. It eventually became viewed as a sacrament, conferring grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit on the recipient. Also, since ordination was asserted to go back in unbroken succession to the apostles, ordination also conferred on one a share in the authority Christ granted to the apostles. Thus, as Glenn Hinson puts it, by virtue of their ordination, "the clergy were thought to differ essentially and not just functionally from the laity":" This under­ standing

of ordination

came

under

sharp

attack in

the

Reformation,

because it contradicted the idea of the priesthood of all believers, it created a false dichotomy between clergy and laity, and it lacked biblical warrant.

43.

45

It is interesting to note that there was once a fairly strong sentiment among some early Baptists that laying on of hands

should be given to all baptized believers. The Philadelphia Baptist

Association adopted the Second London Confession verbatim, but felt compelled to add two articles. One dealt with singing in worship, and the other with the laying on of hands, which they referred to as an ordinance of Christ "to be submitted unto by all such persons that are admitted to partake of the Lord's Supper:' The purpose of this act was for "a farther reception of the graces of the Spirit, and the influences thereof; to confirm, strengthen, and comfort them in Christ Jesus:' However, other churches and associations, such as the Charleston Association, often adopted the Philadelphia Confession, but dropped this article. See the discussion in Lumpkin,

Baptist Confessions of Faith, 348-53. 44.

E. Glenn Hinson, "Ordination in Christian History;' Review and Expositor 78, no. 4 ( 1 9 8 1 ) : 485

45.

For a recent exposition of the meaning and importance of the doctrine of the priesthood of all

(emphasis in original).

believers, see Uche Anizor and Hank Voss, Representing Christ: A Vision for the Priesthood of All

Believers (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016).

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

239

Even so, the idea that the ordained are a special class persists, even among many evangelical groups, and militates against the biblical idea that all believers are called to ministry. Raymond Bailey even makes the following

radical

suggestion:

"Perhaps

the

doctrine

of the

priesthood

of believers could best be demonstrated by doing away with ordination altogether. It may well be that the greater diversity of ministries does not call for more ordinations but for the abolition of the practice as coun­ ter-productive to the mission of the church in the modern world":" He suggests that we could observe baptism as the ordination of every believer for service and thus find a way to affirm all believers in their call to minis­ try. At the same time, he acknowledges that ordination may be too firmly entrenched in our traditional practices to be abandoned.

47

The most famous Baptist of the late nineteenth century, C. H. Spur­ geon, refused ordination, due to the sacramental understanding common in England. Yet there is a biblical basis for recognizing leaders in some way, and a properly understood practice of ordination could serve some positive purposes. First and most important, ordination allows a church to affirm the gifts, character, and calling of those it recognizes as qualified to serve as elders and deacons. This seems to be something of a biblical principle, that God confirms individual leading by corporate affirmation. For example, it wasn't the case that Paul and Barnabas alone heard God's call to go out as missionaries and went out; they and their church heard that call together and the body then affirmed that call and sent them out (Acts

13:1-3).

Corporate affirmation, if taken seriously, could be a powerful means of confirming God's call to ministry in the lives of many prospective pastors and deacons. This idea of corporate affirmation leads to two suggestions in the actual practice of ordination. First, the laying on of hands should not be limited to those ordained, but open to any member of the congregation. If ordina­ tion is not about communicating sacramental grace, but affirming some­ one's gifts, character, and calling to ministry, what is to prevent any believer from laying hands on a brother or sister whom he or she can affirm? Such a practice has biblical precedent (Num. 8 : 1 0 ) , it accords with the meaning of

46.

Raymond Bailey, "Multiple Ministries and Ordination;' Review and Expositor 78, no. 4 ( 1 9 8 1 ) :

47.

Ibid., 534.

533.

240

CHAPTER9

laying on ofhands,

48

and it is in keeping with a congregational understand­

ing of ordination, in which it is the church, not some ordained elite, that acts to ordain.

Second, if ordination is primarily a way to affirm that one has

the gifts, character, and calling requisite for a particular ministry, and if all believers are called to ministry, then something similar to ordination ought to be widespread in the church. Since ordination has legal implications and could cause some misunderstanding if widely practiced because it is associ­ ated largely with pastoral or diaconal ministry, perhaps on these additional occasions it should not be called ordination. Commissioning, or blessing, or affirming would all serve the same purpose-to give corporate affirmation of individual calling. It would also reinforce the idea that all believers are called to some form of ministry. A second positive result of a careful practice of ordination would be that it would allow for appropriate recognition of the church's leaders. Such recognition seems presupposed by scriptural commands regarding leaders, who must be recognized if they are to be respected and highly regarded ( 1 Thess. 5: 1 2 - 1 3 ), obeyed (Heb. 1 3 : 17), or called to pray for the sick (James 5:14).

R e c o g n i t i o nof leaders

fits with the

decently and in order ( 1 Cor. 14:40).

49

admonition

to

do

all things

It is also fitting to recognize them and

set them apart, not because they are somehow part of an elite class, above the laity, but because they perform an important ministry in and for the church, a ministry that merits the support and prayers of the body. A third positive result of a careful practice of ordination could be the protection of churches from ill-prepared, unqualified, or heretical pastors. This could be the result, but the current practice of ordination in many Baptist churches is so casual that it affords little protection. One proof of this casual attitude is the fact that no one, at least in my experience, has ever been denied ordination. Ordination councils are commonly called to examine a candidate and may question him concerning his call to minis­ try, his character, and doctrine, but the outcome of such a council is never in doubt. Indeed, often the ordination service is already scheduled to take place an hour or so after the council meets, presupposing that the ordina-

48.

See Culpepper, "The Biblical Basis for Ordination;' 4 8 1 : "The laying on of hands by the church was primarily a blessing and an expression of prayer for the one being appointed to minister in that congregation:'

49.

Suggestions for the elements to be included in an orderly ordination service can be found in Bill Leonard, "The Ordination Service in Baptist Churches;' Review and Expositor 78, no. 4 ( 1 9 8 1 ) : 549-61. For an example of an ordination sermon, see John S. Hammett, "Ordination Sermon;' Proclaim! 32, no. 3 (2002): 39-40.

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

24 1

tion will proceed. Of course, the responsibility cannot be placed finally upon the ordination council. After all, they only make a recommendation to the church. The church is the ordaining body, and thus it is the church that should make a genuine evaluation of a candidate's character and gifts. Only then

can

their affirmation be

genuine.

But most

churches

seem

grateful or even proud that they have those in their midst who have been "called to the ministry," and would sooner casually approve their applica­ tion for ordination than question their calling, character, or doctrine. Here the topics of parts 2 and 3 of this book come together. Only a congregation of regenerate members would be able to properly evaluate a prospective leader; only a congregation that accepts its responsibility as the governing body of the church would be willing to evaluate prospective leaders. Under congregational government, churches have little right to complain about their leaders, for it is the churches that certify their calling, character, gifts, and doctrine when they ordain them. If they practice ordi­ nation wisely, they will have little cause to complain of their leaders, for they will have protected themselves from leaders who merit complaints. Finally, a very pragmatic reason for continuing the practice of ordina­ tion in the United States has to do with the country's legal system. The US tax code was developed in a time when ordained ministers were seen as assets to their communities, contributing to the general welfare. Thus, there are considerable tax advantages made available to ordained ministers. Also, in some states ordination is required for performing legally valid marriages. Such pragmatic, legal reasons perhaps would not be sufficient to justify ordi­ nation in and of themselves, but neither are they unimportant or unworthy of consideration. Thus, the advantages of ordination clearly outweigh the dangers, as long as its meaning is clearly and carefully explained.

CONCLUSION These

issues

surrounding

church

government

have

required

four

lengthy chapters, and the main points may have gotten lost in the details. Thus, by way of summary and conclusion, I want to briefly describe what a church governed in the manner described in these chapters would look like. It is an idealized description, but it incorporates ideas and practices that have roots in Scripture and Baptist heritage-ideas and practices that are being utilized in some Baptist churches today. A congregationally governed church begins with a congregation of regenerate members. These members all sign a covenant commitment to

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the church each year, pledging themselves to live, pray, and work for the welfare of the church. They feel a sense of ownership of the church and attend business meetings in a prayerful spirit, seeking to play their part in discerning Gods guidance for their body. They are actively involved, using their gifts to serve the body and affirming others in their ministries. This church is led by a group of elders, selected by the congregation after careful reflection on the biblical qualifications for that office. One ( or more) of the elders is paid a salary by the church and thus is able to devote his full time to pastoral ministry. He is called the pastor, but sees himself as one of the elders, responsible along with the other elders for the overall leader­ ship of the church. However, because he is particularly gifted and trained, he does most of the public preaching and teaching and handles most of the day-to-day pastoral and administrative duties. He is grateful, however, that he has other elders who have been longtime members of the congrega­ tion, are men of character, and are also gifted in the areas of leadership and teaching. They deliberate with him over the decisions facing the church, and share with him in shepherding the congregation, with each elder taking leadership in areas where he feels he has the most to contribute. Some may share some of the teaching responsibilities; some may focus on pastoral ministry with the sick and hurting; others may give attention to the financial health of the church, or the youth or children's ministries, or evangelism. As a body, they are entrusted by the church with the authority to make most of the day-to-day decisions regarding individual situations, and they take that responsibility seriously, devoting time in each of their regular meetings to prayer over these matters. However, they value the congregations input and bring matters affecting the congregation at large to the regular church busi­ ness meetings. Such matters would include things like the church's budget, the addition of paid staff, the selection of elders and deacons, and matters of church membership and discipline. The leadership of the elders is respected and generally followed, but there is also a genuine belief that the Lord leads his church through his people, and so the feedback and contributions of members are often incorporated in final decisions. Along with the elders who give overall leadership, the church has a number of deacons who assist the elders. They make sure the church buildings and grounds are properly maintained, coordinate many of the church's ministries, and serve where the church's needs and their gifts dictate. They are chosen as the church recognizes the need for them and discerns qualified individuals among their members. Their wives serve

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

243

alongside them, and indeed, a wife of godly character is one of the qualifi­ cations for selection as a deacon. These wives serve especially in minister­ ing to the women of the congregation, in accordance with their gifts. Some are especially gifted in counseling; others keep in close contact with shut­ in members of the congregation; still others make sure moms are happy with the nursery and children's ministries. Ministry is by no means limited to elders and deacons. All members are challenged to recognize that they are called to minister, and they are urged to discover and develop their gifts. The church leaders take the initiative to recognize and affirm publicly those who are using their gifts through commissioning services for those going on short- term mission trips, public recognition and prayer for those who work in the nursery or with the youth, and encouragement of those with the appropriate gifts and character to seek ordination. A church that operates in a fashion similar to this is consistent with Scripture and offers many advantages. It is not the only possible healthy model. Many Baptist churches will operate with one pastor/elder and a traditional board of deacons, and such churches can still be healthy, vital bodies. In other churches the staff may be the elders; still others may go beyond the model suggested above to elder rule; some may have deacon­ esses who serve along with deacons. Indeed, there are healthy and vital Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Methodist, and Lutheran churches with virtu­ ally none of the elements of the model above.

God can bless and use

imperfect instruments, for that is all we find on earth. More important than the model of government is the character of the leaders. Still, some models are less imperfect than others. The model outlined above incorpo­ rates four principles that reflect faithfulness to biblical teaching, and offer safeguards to a church's health, especially over the long term. The first and most important of these principles is congregational government. Baptist pastors may be attracted to elder rule because it seems far easier to deal with a group of elders than with a stubborn congregation, and some verses seem to support a strong authoritative role for the elders. But elder rule misreads Scripture and is at best shortsighted, for one of the pastor's goals must be for the members of his congregation to mature spir­ itually. In the end, they are the ones who must give financially to support the ministry he envisions; they must act if the church is to love and reach and disciple people as he desires. They are far likelier to give and act on plans they have had a part in developing. And, if the members are matur-

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ing spiritually, why would a church or its pastors want to cut themselves off from the wisdom they may contribute? By far the most important goal of a pastor, and the goal that will contribute most to the long-range health of a church, is the development of a congregation that is able and willing to govern itself. In most churches, the development of such a congregation may be a multiyear project, but wise leaders will nurture such congrega­ tions and lead them to practice congregational government. A second key principle

is

a plurality of leadership.

This

is

recom­

mended by the scriptural examples of elders (plural), by the doctrine of depravity ( which warns against the concentration of power in any one individual), and by the realities of ministry (no one pastor has the wisdom and gifts sufficient for leading an entire congregation).

This plurality is

best exercised in a body of elders, but where recognition of elders could divide a congregation, a wise pastor could still develop plural leadership informally, taking a number of godly men into his confidence, seeking to

involve

them

in

ministering

among

the

congregation,

and

utilizing

their counsel in making decisions and recommendations to the church. In some churches, the staff or the deacons virtually serve as elders. Such a model may work, but too often, the individuals involved are not qualified for elder-type responsibilities. And if the deacons are serving as elders, the responsibilities that properly belong to deacons may be neglected. That leads to the third principle. There need to be two categories oflead­ ers in a church. Some give overall leadership, provide pastoral ministry and teaching, and set an example of Christian conduct. Another category oflead­ ers also help set an example, but serve in a support ministry, enabling those charged with overall leadership to focus on overall concerns and not become enmeshed in specific detailed concerns. Among these support leaders, there need to be men and women, for more than half of the churchs members are women and they have some needs best met by other women. Some women serve in such a capacity, without any title, motivated simply by their love for Christ and their desire to minister in his name. But the Bible makes specific provision for women to lead in this way, as the wives of deacons. Some churches may want to call such women deaconesses, other churches may choose to not recognize them formally at all. Regardless, the point is that every church needs women who will minister in such a way to other women. The

final principle

involved in healthy church

government

is

not

a

specific organizational point but the cultivation of an atmosphere that will affect every aspect of the churchs organization. That atmosphere to be culti-

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

245

vated is one of challenge, encouragement, and affirmation in the area of every member ministry. For the church to be and do all it is called to do and be, every member needs to be involved in ministry. A healthy church will be one where individuals hear the challenge to minister, receive the encourage­ ment and equipping they need to minister, and are affirmed in their ministry. This includes a careful practice of ordination to pastoral ministry, but goes far beyond just pastoral ministry, just as the churchs ministry extends far beyond just pastoral ministry. Exactly how far a church's ministry extends and what it should include is the topic of the next chapter.

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR PART

3

1 . What are the arguments, pro and con, for episcopal, presbyterian,

and congregational church government? 2.

Do you agree with Mark Dever's assertion, "The congregation will have their say"! Do congregations really want to govern themselves? How important is it to you to have a voice in your church's direction?

3. What

are

some

of the

privileges

and

responsibilities

of church

membership? Will how you look upon and live out church member­ ship be affected by your reading of chapter 7? 4. What would be some of the benefits in having a plurality of elders in a local church? What difficulties might it involve? 5. Write a job description for the office of pastor or elder, drawing upon

the relevant New Testament texts and the discussion in chapter 7. 6. Which of the qualifications for the office of elder do you see as most important? Do you think churches take these qualifications seriously when looking for a pastor? Are there members in your congregation who meet these qualifications and thus could be elders? 7. What roles have you seen deacons exercise in churches? What roles do you think they should exercise? 8. Does 1 Timothy 3 : 1 1 give a basis for the office of deaconess? Give your understanding of this verse and its relevance to the office of deacon. 9. Who actually ordains someone to ministry-the ordination council, those who lay hands on him, or the whole church? What does ordi­ nation mean or signify? 10.

How important are all these organizational matters? Do they really affect a church's health? Would you have any problem joining a church that practiced presbyterian or episcopal polity? Why or why not?

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CHAPTER9

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Brand, Chad Owen, and R. Stanton Norman, eds. Perspectives on Church Government:

Five

Views

of Church

Polity.

Nashville:

Broadman

&

Holman, 2004. The three major forms of polity are presented here, along with three congregational models. The chapters on the single elder-led church by Daniel Akin and the congregation-led church by James Leo Garrett Jr. are particularly good. Unfortunately, the Presby­ terian and Episcopalian contributors do not make the best cases for their positions. Cowan,

Steven

B.,

ed.

Who

Runs

the

Church? Four

Views

on

Church

Government. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004. This book is another

in the popular Counterpoint Series, this one giving four approaches to church government, advocated and critiqued by four able schol­ ars. Peter Toon presents Episcopalianism; L. Roy Taylor, Presbyteri­ anism; Paige Patterson, single-elder congregationalism; and Samuel Waldron, plural-elder congregationalism. Dever, Mark, ed. Polity: Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church

Life. Washington, DC: Center for Church Reform, 2 0 0 1 . Though cited previously, this book deserves mention here too, for its ten histori­ cal reprints give examples of historic Baptist teaching on the topics of this chapter, and the introductory essay by Greg Wills gives a helpful overview. Dever,

Mark and Jonathan

Leeman,

eds.

Baptist Foundations:

Church

Government for an Anti-Institutional Age. Nashville: B & H Academic,

2 0 1 5 . Probably the most complete book on the topics of Part Three, with chapters on congregationalism, church membership, and elders and deacons. Hammett,

John and Benjamin Merkle,

eds.

Those

Who Must

Give an

Account: A Study of Church Membership and Church Discipline. Nash­

ville: B & H Academic, 2 0 1 2 . Church membership is given consid­ eration from a variety of perspectives (biblical, historical, practical and missional), along with church discipline, through which a former member may be regarded as outside a church's membership. Both are considered from the perspective of pastors, as members are those for who they must give an account. Leeman, Jonathan. Don't Fire Your Church Members: The Case for Congre­ gationalism. Nashville: B & H Academic, 2 0 1 6 . The title may be a bit

THE O F F I C E OF DEACON

247

misleading, for not only does Leeman give the most comprehensive discussion of congregationalism and related issues that I know of, he also discusses elder leadership and its relationship to congregational governance. Merkle, Benjamin. 40 Questions about Elders and Deacons. Grand Rapids: Kregel,

2008.

Merkle

has

written

or contributed to

several books

about elders and church leadership. In this book, he focuses mainly on elders, but includes some helpful chapters on deacons too. The forty­ question format of the book is especially beneficial, as it allows read­ ers to go directly to the questions they are interested in. Newton, Phil and Matt Schmucker. Elders in the Life of the Church: Redis­ covering

the

Biblical Model for

Church

Leadership.

Grand

Rapids:

Kregel, 2 0 1 4 . This book argues for a plural-elder leadership model, and more importantly, offers suggestions for how to take a church through a transition from a traditional single pastor with deacons model to a plurality-of-elder model, from those who have done so. "Ordination for Christian Ministry" Review and Expositor,

Fall

1981. I

hesitate to list this resource because it will only be available to those with access to theological libraries, but seven articles in this journal are devoted to the issue of ordination, treating biblical, theological, and practical issues. I do not agree with the perspectives of all the articles, but on the whole, they give helpful information on a topic rarely treated elsewhere in any depth. Strauch, Alexander. Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership. 3rd ed. Littleton, CO: Lewis & Roth,

1 9 9 5 . This

book has been one of the most influential arguments for a plural elder­ ship. It consists mainly of an exposition of all the relevant passages on elders in the New Testament.

PART

4

WHAT D O E S THE CHURCH D O ?

C H A P T E R

1 0

THE MINISTRIES O F THE CHURCH Five Crucial Concerns

IN

THIS CHAPTER, WE LOOK AT THE

church in terms of its visible activities.

Theologians differ in the number and names they give for these activities.

1

Millard Erickson sees four functions as "essential to the spiritual health and well-being" of the church: evangelism (both local and global), edifi­ cation (which includes fellowship and teaching as means of edification), worship, and social concem. of the

church:

worship,

church as community.

3

2

Stanley Grenz speaks of a threefold mandate

edification,

and

outreach,

all

manifesting the

Edmund Clowney describes the church's activities

in terms of service: "The church is called to serve God in three ways: to

1.

The term used here, ministries, should be distinguished from the term "mission" and phrase "mission of the church:' While related, ministries refers to more specific and visible activities a church undertakes to fulfill its mission. For a discussion of the mission of the church, see Kevin De Young and Greg Gilbert, What Is the Mission of the Church? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2 0 1 1 ) ; Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God's People (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2 0 1 0 ) ; and Jason Sexton, gen. ed., Four Views on the Church's Mission (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017)

2.

Erickson, Christian Theology, 972-79.

3.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 638.

251

C H A P T E R 10

252

serve him directly in worship; to serve the saints in nurture; and to serve 4

the world in witness."

John Newport approaches this topic by considering

the purpose of the church ( to express Christ's lordship in the church and world) and then enumerating nine ways in which the church carries out that twofold purpose, including worship, service, fellowship, discipline, organization, edification and education, and proclamation and testimo­ ny.

5

In his very popular book, The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren

encourages churches to allow their activities, programs, and structure to be driven by five purposes: worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship.

6

Gregg Allison uses the same terminology as I do, the minis­

tries of the church," but breaks them down in slightly different categories: "worship, proclamation, missional endeavors, discipleship . . . member care" and "the responsibility to engage the world at large;' which he sees as having "particular application in helping the poor and marginalized." The approach taken in this chapter has extensive overlap and many similarities with the approaches of others listed above. fellowship, worship,

service,

I call teaching,

and evangelism the five ministries of the

church, all serving the overall purpose of glorifying God. I think there are two distinctive aspects of my approach. The first is how I link the ministries of the church to the nature of the church. As I will argue below, I think one mark that distinguishes churches from parachurch ministries is having all these ministries. In other words, having these ministries is constituent of a church's being. These five activi­ ties may not exhaust all that a church does, though I think they are fairly comprehensive categories, but they are all activities that every church must do. Every church will do some better than others, but I think all five are biblically mandated. The second distinctive aspect of my approach is that I think these five are biblically mandated, not just in New Testament teaching on the church in general, but are pointed to specifically in one key text on the church, Acts 2:42-47. While the book of Acts is a narrative, in which everything described is not necessarily prescribed, there are features in Acts 2:42-47

4.

Edmund

Clowney,

The

Church,

Contours

of

Christian

Theology

(Downers

Grove,

IL:

InterVarsity, 1995), 1 1 7 (emphasis in original). 5.

John Newport, "The Purpose of the Church:' in

The People of God: Essays on

the Believers'

Church, eds. Paul Basden and David Dockery (Nashville: Broadman, 1 9 9 1 ) , 23-38.

6.

Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 103-6.

7.

The title of chapter 12 of Allison's book, Sojourners and Strangers, is "Ministries of the Church'' (413).

8.

Ibid., 459.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

253

that justify seeing it as deliberately paradigmatic, or as one commenta­ tor puts it, Acts 2:42-47 is "a thesis paragraph on the state of the early

church." (See Figure 1 0 . 1 for the phrases from this passage that show the presence of these ministries in the life of the early church.) By using the term ministries, it should not be thought that these activi­ ties belong in some special way to the officers or leaders of the church. As mentioned in an earlier chapter, all the members of the church are minis­ ters, and these are ministries of the church.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching:'

The Ministry of Teaching

"They devoted themselves . . . to fellowship . . . . All

The Ministry of Fellowship

the believers were together and had everything in common . . . . They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts:' "They devoted themselves . . . to the breaking of bread

The Ministry of Worship

and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe . . . . Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts . . . praising God:' "They sold property and possessions to give to anyone

The Ministry of Service

who had need . . . enjoying the favor of all the people:' "And the Lord added to their number daily those

The Ministry of Evangelism

who were being saved:'

Figure 1 0 . 1 : The Ministries of the Church in Acts 2:42-47

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH AS A MARK OF THE CHURCH In chapter 2, we discussed the classical marks of the church ( the church is "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic") and the Reformation marks of the church ( a true church is marked by the right administration of the sacraments and the pure preaching of the gospel). Those marks, properly understood, still have some value today, especially the mark of the preaching of the gospel. In fact, as Millard Erickson asserts, the gospel lies at the heart of the ministry of the church." A church that loses the gospel ceases to be a church. But while those marks may have sufficiently distinguished true churches from their rivals in the past, the five ministries of the church serve as a

9. 10.

Longenecker, "The Acts of the Apostles;' 9:288. Erickson, Christian Theology, 980-86.

C H A P T E R 10

254

helpful mark to distinguish churches from parachurch groups today. Para­ church groups number in the thousands and form one of the most pervasive features of American Christianity in the post- World War II period. Groups such as Focus on the Family, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and World Vision International have staffs numbering in the thousands, with budgets in the millions of dollars, and are well known to millions of American church members. And while not rivals of churches, parachurch groups have existed in some tension with churches." On the side of the churches, the tensions are often associated with the perception that parachurch organizations take money and workers away from churches; on the side of the parachurch groups, the charge is sometimes made that churches are dead and that there would be no need for parachurch groups if churches did their ministries as they should.

12

A recognition of the ministries of the church as a mark of the

church could be a helpful first step in lessening these tensions. Basically, the distinction between the church and the parachurch orga­ nization is that of generalist and specialist. The church has an assignment from God to provide teaching, fellowship, worship, service, and evangelism to people of all ages, sexes, and races. They cannot just do teaching, or just do missions, or just work with prisoners, or just work with college students. A distinguishing mark of the church is its calling to minister in a holistic way to all types of people. They are generalists. The parachurch has the luxury of specializing in a particular type of ministry to a selected group of people. As Rick Warren observes, "most of the parachurch movements begun in the past forty years tend to specialize in one of the purposes of the church . . . . I believe it is valid, and even helpful to the church, for para­ church organizations to focus on a single purpose. It allows their emphasis

11.

See, for example, the title of the study of this topic by Jerry White, Church and Parachurch: An

Uneasy Marriage (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press,

1983). For a more detailed treatment

of the relationship of church and parachurch, see John Hammett, "Selected Parachurch Groups and Southern Baptists: An Ecclesiological Debate" (Ph.D. diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1 9 9 1 ) . For two varying assessments of the relationship of church and parachurch, see Philip Jensen and Tony Payne, "Church/Campus Connections: Model I" and Mark Gauthier, "Church/Campus Connections: Model

2;·

in Telling the Truth: Evangelizing Postmoderns, ed.

D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 1 9 9 - 2 1 3 . Jensen and Payne think parachurch groups are churches if they gather to proclaim God's Word to a group of God's people; Gauthier advocates a partnership between churches and parachurch groups. 12.

See the discussions in Wesley Willmer, J. David Schmidt with Martyn Smith, The Prospering Parachurch: Enlarging the Boundaries of God's Kingdom (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998),

170-80;

and

International

Commission

on Evangelical

Cooperation,

Cooperating in

World Evangelization: A Handbook on Church/Para-church Relationships, Lausanne Occasional

Paper no. 24 (Wheaton, IL: Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, 1982).

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

255

to have greater impact on the church ?" The church should not envy the parachurch's ability to specialize nor feel inferior if they cannot do a minis­ try as well as the parachurch group. Specialization does allow a higher degree of proficiency, but requires a narrower breadth of ministry. A medi­ cal general practitioner is not threatened by the heart specialist. On the contrary, she is happy to be able to refer a patient with a heart problem to him. The heart specialist, on the other hand, should not look down on the general practitioner nor think that he is able to care for all the needs of the patient. Rather, he should send the patient back to the general practitioner for ongoing care. Both cooperate for the health of the patient. This supplies a helpful metaphor for the relationship of church and parachurch. A pastor need not feel threatened if his men get more excited about going to a Promise Keepers conference than going to the men's prayer breakfast; the parachurch group has the benefit of specialization. But neither should the college students in InterVarsity conclude that their church is dead and that their InterVarsity meeting is where real spiritual life is found. If that is so, why are there no senior adults or families with preschoolers there? No, InterVarsity has the luxury of catering to college students. Churches are called upon to minister to all types of people with all types of needs. Where possible, churches should freely take advantage of the specialized services offered by parachurch groups, and even seek to recognize church members who work for such groups as extensions of their church's ministry. At the same time, the church cannot abdicate any ministry to a parachurch group, for Christ has entrusted it to the church. For their part, parachurch groups should "understand the primacy of the church in the day-to-day spiritual lives of most Christians"

14

and thus seek to operate as genuine arms of the

church. John Stott has said we may grade parachurch groups on this basis: "independence of the church is bad, cooperation with the church is better, service as an arm of the church is best?" The ideal would be for parachurch groups to operate consciously in a servant partnership with churches.

16

The most important point is that churches must provide these minis­ tries. It is a part of their calling. A church that has no teaching minis-

13.

Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 126.

14.

Willmer et al., The Prospering Parachurch, 178.

15.

John Stott, "Theological Preamble;' to Cooperating in World Evangelization, 1 3 .

16.

For more detail on what such a model would involve, see Hammett,

"Selected Parachurch

Groups;' 235-40, or John S. Hammett,"How Church and Parachurch Should Relate: Arguments for a Servant-Partnership Model;' Missiology: An International Review 28, no. 2 (2000): 199-207.

CHAPTER IO

256

try, or that has no evangelistic impact, or whose members never experi­ ence fellowship, is an unhealthy church, one whose well-being is severely damaged and whose very being as a church is called into question. Elmer Towns and Ed Stetzer say, "a church is no longer a true church when it abandons the functions of a church?" Moreover, churches are called to provide such ministries to all types of people. The only qualifications a church can make for membership is regener­ ation and a life lived in conformity with a profession of faith in Christ. Beyond that, churches are called to welcome all types of people. Students of church growth tell us that churches grow most rapidly when they attract people who are like those who are already members. That may well be so, but if it is, it is a mark of our fallenness, for in Christ, there "is neither Jew nor Greek . . . slave nor free . . . male nor female" (Gal. 3:28). A distinguishing mark of the church in the world today must be its openness to all types of believers and its provi­

sion of all the types of ministries it is charged to provide.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH AND THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH The challenge to provide teaching, fellowship, worship, service, and evangelism to all types of people is a daunting one, but one that is not in the least capricious or beyond the ability of churches to meet. In particu­ lar, this section shows how the ministries of the church are inherent in the nature of the church. For example, take the ministry of teaching. It is certainly important to the church. It is required of all elders that they be "able to teach" ( 1 Tim. 3 : 2 ) , and in the one place where the noun pastor is used for a church offi­ cer, it is joined to teacher (Eph. 4 : 1 1 : "pastors and teachers"). Even the early name for Christians, disciples, means learners or students, and all Christians are called "to teach and admonish one another" (Col. 3 : 1 6 ) . How is the ministry of teaching inherently connected to the nature of the church? It is inherent in the nature of the God to whom the church is related. The church is the people of God, and that God is the God of truth. The church is the body of Christ, who is himself "the way, the truth and the life" (John 1 4 : 6 ) . The church is the temple of the Spirit, who is the Spirit of truth, given to guide us into all truth ( 1 6 : 1 3 ) . But truth is not self-evident.

17.

Towns and Stetzer, Perimeters of Light, 70. They specifically mention preaching and observing the ordinances as mandatory biblical functions of the church.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

257

Because of the fall, our minds are darkened. The fallen world hates the truth, and the evil one is the father of lies. Therefore, the church must provide a ministry of teaching. It is called to be "the pillar and foundation of the truth" ( 1 Tim. 3 : 1 5 ) . Furthermore, the church must have a teaching ministry because the church is called into being by the gospel. This gospel is a message, not an opinion. It has content and provides an outlook on life, a worldview. Therefore, believers must be taught the message, for that message is "the power of God that brings salvation' (Rom. 1 : 1 6 ) . A

similar

argument

can

be

made

for

fellowship.

The

word

church

(ekklesia) is used most often in the New Testament, not for an invisible ideal but for actual gatherings of believers, who meet with each other and sense that they belong together because God has called them together. The images for the church underscore the connectedness of the members with one another. The church is a family, with all the commitment siblings have to one another.

18

The church is the people of God, not his individuals. The

church is the body of Christ, not separated parts. Most of all, the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit and it is the Spirit who is especially associated with fellowship. The implication seems to be that fellowship, the Spirit, and the church belong together, for part of the very nature of the church is that it is indwelt by the Spirit, whose presence creates fellowship. That is why the apostolic benediction of 2 Corinthians 1 3 : 14 specifically ascribes fellowship to the Spirit: "May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all:' Moreover, the "living stones" that make up the church ( 1 Peter 2:5) are only living stones because they have been given new life by the Spirit (John 3:5-8; 6:63). The building composed by these living stones is indwelt by God's Spirit (Eph. 2:20) and is held together by the Spirit, for he is the Spirit of unity (Eph. 4:3). For the diverse members of the church to experience fellowship, all that is necessary is that they live in accordance with their nature as a Spirit-indwelt, Spirit­ 19

energized, and Spirit-unified body.

18.

According to Joseph Hellerman, in the New Testament world, "the closest same-generation family relationship was not the one between husband and wife. It was the bond between siblings" (Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family, 36). To be clear, Hellerman is not saying that this is a New Testament teaching. The New Testament commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25). Rather, he is illuminating the significance behind the choice of the New Testament writers to refer to fellow Christians as "brother" and "sister:'

19.

For more

on fellowship,

see

Bruce

Milne,

We Belong

Together:

The Meaning of Fellowship

(Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 1978); Jerry Bridges, True Fellowship: The Practice of Koinonia (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1985); and Tod Bolsinger, It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian:

CHAPTER IO

258

Worship is also integrally related to the nature of the church. The most characteristic thing most churches do is gather for worship. They do so because they are primarily a divine institution, not a human creation. Their first allegiance and orientation is to God, and the natural response to God is worship. Elements and styles of worship have varied widely over the years and across cultures. The early church continued worshiping in the temple for a short time, but soon moved to worship on the first day of the week with distinctively Christian elements, especially the Lord's Supper. Over the centuries, the Roman Mass developed into the centerpiece of worship, but as practiced in the late medieval period, the people became spectators of the priest more than worshipers of the Lord. Dissatisfaction with worship was one of the fuels of the Reformation, which led to a renewed emphasis on the preaching of the Word in worship. The Reformation marks of the church simply point to the two major aspects of worship: the administra­ tion of the sacraments and the preaching of the Word. The Reformers were saying a true church is marked by true worship. Today churches around the world worship in a myriad of ways, but the diversity of practice should not blind us to the significant fact that all churches worship. It is their nature as God's people to respond to him in worship. The close relationship of the church's ministry of service to its nature is implied in the image of the body of Christ. Because they are followers of Christ, who "did not come to be served, but to serve" (Mark 10:45), his people must serve. The first epistle of Iohn sees serving in practical, material ways as the test of Christian genuineness: "If anyone has material posses­ sions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?" ( 1 John 3 : 1 7 ) . This was immediately and radically true in the New Testament, so much so that many have thought the early church practiced something like communism. But there was no economic system or plan; there was just Christian compassion, expressed in service. And through the centuries, Christians have been disproportion­ ately represented among those who heal the sick, feed the hungry, and serve the world. They do so because they are moved by Christ's compassion and because they are Christ's body, his means for serving the world today.

How the Community of God Transforms Lives (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004). For a more technical

study of the impact of fellowship, see James Samra, Being Conformed to Christ in Community: A Study of Maturity, Maturation, and the Local Church in the Undisputed Pauline Letters, Library of

New Testament Studies 320 (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2006).

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

Finally,

the

ministry

259

of evangelism

is

intrinsically

related

to

the

church's nature. There is of course the Great Commission, which mandates the making of disciples in all nations (Matt. 2 8 : 1 9 - 2 0 ) and thus indicates that the ministry of evangelism must extend to all cultures. But there is an even more foundational reason why the church cannot avoid involve­ ment in evangelism. It is that all the other ministries of the church involve to some degree a proclamation of the gospel. The ministry of teaching involves

an

explanation

and

defense

of the gospel.

Genuine

Christian

fellowship portrays the power of the gospel in human relationships and has long been one of the most effective means of drawing people to faith in Christ. The gospel is central in Christian worship. The Lord's Supper proclaims Christ's death until he comes. Baptism is a confession of faith in the gospel and illustrates death to sin and resurrection to newness of life involved in a response to the gospel. Service makes the love of God described in the gospel manifest in human life. The gospel is constitutive of the life of the church. By simply living its life, the church proclaims the gospel. That is reflected in Acts 2:42-47, where the church is described as teaching, enjoying fellowship, worshiping, and serving. There is no explicit mention of the church evangelizing, but the passage concludes: "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved» (v. 47). Sadly, there have been periods when the light of the gospel has been dimmed by corruption

and

the

mandate

for

international

evangelism

ignored, but the darkness has never finally conquered the light. Particu­ larly in the past two hundred years, the church has taken the gospel around the world and Christianity has become the first and only truly worldwide religion. In fact, the spread of the gospel into other cultures has raised the question of to what degree ecclesiology has been shaped by Western culture and to what degree it preserves biblical imperatives, a question to which we will return in a coming chapter, when we look at the church in other, non-Western cultures. For now, we simply note the inevitability of evangelism whenever the church lives out its nature.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH IN LOCAL CHURCH LIFE Thus far, we have discussed the ministries of the church as they relate to the nature of the church and as they constitute a mark that distinguishes churches from parachurch groups. This next section aims to examine each one of these ministries in terms of its importance in the life of a local

260

CHAPTER IO

church, with some practical suggestions for implementing, developing, or enhancing these ministries in a local church context.

The Ministry of Teaching Acts 2:42 records the devotion of the early church to «the apostles' teaching:' Though the apostles are gone, their teaching remains for us in the form of the New Testament. And since the apostles also accepted the Old Testament, we may place it alongside the New Testament as the material for the ministry of teaching. Thus, the teaching ministry of the church is the ministry of the Word of God, or the Bible teaching ministry of the church. The importance of this ministry is evident in Scripture. As we noted above, the early name for a follower of Christ, disciple, means «learner:' One of the disciples' favorite titles for Christ was Rabbi, or teacher, and teaching was one of his characteristic activities, along with preaching and healing ( see Matt. 9:35, for example). He commissioned his followers to make disciples, which involves «teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:20). The early church continued the emphasis on teaching, from the devotion to the apostolic teaching noted in Acts 2:42, to the requirement that church leaders be those «able to teach" ( 1 Tim. 3 : 2 ) , to the title given to their leaders of'pastors and teachers" (Eph. 4 : 1 1 ) , to the command given to all believers «to teach and admonish one another" (Col. 3 : 1 6 ) . In

Baptist

life,

the

ministry

Baptist worship centered around several hours.

20

of the

Word

has

Bible exposition,

been

central.

Early

often extending over

As time has gone by, the length of services has decreased,

but preaching and biblical exposition have always been central. Recently, however, with the advent of seeker-sensitive services, some have advocated adapting preaching to speak more clearly to nonbelievers. Rick Warren urges preachers to adapt their style to their audience. In weekend services, designed for seekers, Warren begins with a point of common ground, some­ thing all people share, often what are called felt needs, and then moves to how those needs are addressed in Scripture. He calls this topical exposition, and believes it works best for evangelism, while he practices a traditional verse-by-verse exposition in preaching to believers, as the best method for edifying believers.

20.

According

to

21

He sees both of these methods as biblical exposition.

Robert

Westminster Press,

Stein,

1978),

l,

The

Method

and

Message

of Jesus'

Teaching

(Philadelphia:

Jesus is called "Teacher" forty-five times in the Gospels and

"Rabbi" fourteen times. 21.

For a fascinating description of Baptist worship dating from 1609, involving prayer, the reading

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

261

Mark Dever sees a problem with this perspective. While he advocates being sensitive to the presence of non-Christians in worship

services,

speaking in language they can understand, and even crafting titles and introductions

to

sermons

that

are

attractive

to

nonbelievers,

still

he

insists, "the main weekly Lord's Day gathering of a church is primarily for Christians, not non-Christians;' and therefore the main goal of preaching should be the edification of believers. Both

Warren

and

Dever

can

22

make

a

good

case

for

their

views.

Warren's research convinced him that if nonbelievers were ever going to visit a church, it would be on Sunday morning. Therefore, he designed that service for seekers and placed services for believers at a midweek meeting.

23

But Sunday morning is also the most likely time that church

members will attend, and at even the most seeker-oriented churches, the overwhelming majority of those present on Sunday mornings will be believers. Since Sunday morning is a time when the church gathers, Dever argues, evangelism can be a part of that meeting, but the main point is glorifying God through feeding his flock.

24

Any pastor that wants to teach

his church will have the greatest chance of doing so through his Sunday sermons. Therefore, pastors should be accommodating and sensitive to the presence of nonbelievers in their congregations, but address them­ selves primarily to the purpose of teaching the flock in Sunday services. Such teaching will also indirectly address the purpose of evangelism, for it will equip church members to live "seeker-sensitive lives" that will result in effective evangelism outside the walls of the church.

25

Certainly, the ministry of teaching begins with the preaching of the pastor. His messages should lead his flock into Bible study that results not only in increased Bible knowledge but also heart and life transformation. But there is also a need for smaller, more specialized classes. In fact, every church should develop as part of its teaching ministry a series of classes specifically designed to teach believers what they need to grow into mature disciples.

of Scripture, and exposition of a text by as many as four or five speakers, see McBeth, Baptist

Heritage, 9 1 - 9 2 . 22.

Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 294.

23.

Mark Dever, "Evangelistic Expository Preaching;' in Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming

Worship, eds. Philip Graham Ryken, Derek W. H. Thomas, and J. Ligon Duncan III (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2003), 1 3 1 - 3 3 . 24.

Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 245-46.

25.

Dever, "Evangelistic Expository Preaching;' 1 3 1 .

262

CHAPTER IO

In the twentieth century, the Southern Baptist Sunday School Board

aggressively promoted Sunday Bible study classes for all ages as a central part of the Bible teaching ministry of churches. They were so successful that more than 95 percent of Southern Baptist churches adopted Sunday school classes. But while such classes take students systematically through the Bible, they do not follow a conscious design to bring believers to mature discipleship. One helpful exception is the process developed by Rick Warren at Saddle­ back Community Church in California. They use a diagram of a baseball diamond, with first, second, third, and home bases. Church membership is going to first base, and involves completion of a new members, class and commitment to a membership covenant. But they make it clear that reaching first base is not the goal. Second base, in their process, involves a class that focuses on the development of four habits important to the life of a disciple: Bible study, prayer, tithing, and fellowship. As new members grow toward maturity, they can take the next step, which involves commitment to a minis­ try. At this level (third base), there is another class that helps members iden­ tify areas of giftedness and possible ministry. The final step in their process is enlisting members in evangelism, providing training to teach them how to share the message of Christ at home and on mission trips.

26

Another helpful example comes from Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. On Sunday mornings, they offer five tracks of what they call core seminars. The first track, called Basics, includes their member­ ship class, basic disciplines of the Christian life, how to share the gospel, and a brief course on doctrine. Altogether, it lasts six months. The second track gives an overview of the Old and New Testaments over a six-month time frame. The third track gives attendees a six-month introduction to church history and systematic theology. The fourth track is a year-long sequence of studies on spiritual disciplines, courtship, dating, marriage, and parenting. The fifth track is also a year in length and covers evange­ lism,

discipling,

apologetics,

worldviews,

and

missions.

Each

track

is

continually offered. Students move through at their own pace, in accor­ dance with the own needs and interests, but as they progress through the various tracks, they are systematically acquainted with the major issues involved in growing to maturity as a Christian.

26.

27

For a more detailed description of Class 1 0 1 , 2 0 1 , 301 and 401, see "Class" under the Saddleback website (saddleback.com).

27.

More information on these core seminars is available at http://www.capitolhillbaptist.org.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

Committed to Maturity

Committed to Missions

Figure 1 0 . 2 : The Life Development Process

100 Level Classes To lead people to Christ and church membership

200 Level Classes To grow people to spiritual maturity

300 Level Classes To equip people with the skills they need for ministry

400 Level Classes To enlist people in the worldwide mission of sharing Christ

Figure 1 0 . 3 : An Overview of"The Life Development Institute"

263

264

CHAPTER IO

Neither example is perfect nor suited to every church, but they repre­ sent

two

attempts

to

provide

a

comprehensive,

thoughtful

sequence

of teaching on issues that lead to Christian maturity. Beginning such a process will require a large commitment of time from pastors and church leaders. Decisions will have to be made concerning what sequence of classes can best provide the necessary ingredients for growing members into disciples. Materials for the classes will have to be developed. Pastors and elders will either have to teach these classes or train others to teach them. But such a commitment must be made if churches are to provide the type of teaching ministry that produces disciples. The alternative is to continue with a haphazard assortment of Sunday school and other classes that may or may not provide what members need to grow. This is not to suggest that Sunday school classes should be abolished. They provide ongoing avenues for teaching, fellowship, service, and evangelism. But they should be supplemented by a thoughtful sequence of more specifi­ cally focused, short-term classes, designed for discipleship. But even small group classes should not exhaust the teaching ministry of the church. There will be some who need individual mentoring and there should always be informal teaching going on, as believers teach one another. On this level, every member of the church should be involved in the teaching ministry of the church, both as learners and as teachers. On the whole, churches in America do not seem to be doing a very good job of teaching. Polls consistently reflect a shocking degree of biblical illiteracy among church members;

28

Baptists seem to have more members

who drop out than move toward maturity.

The very idea of teaching,

which involves the notions of truth and error, runs counter to the relativ­ istic culture of our day. We tend to gravitate more toward the experiential than the mental, and some suggest that our very ability to think has been corrupted by the pervasive influence of the image-oriented medium of television. Pastors who seek to be good teachers struggle to find the time to study amidst their myriad responsibilities. Yet, despite these obstacles, the church cannot abdicate its calling to be "the pillar and foundation of

28.

Among the dismaying findings from a 2014 survey is that 59 percent of evangelicals believe the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being. More directly connected to the topic of this book, more than half of those in the survey say worshiping alone or with one's family is as good as going to church ( 5 2 % ) . See Bob Smietana, ''Americans Believe in Heaven, Hell, and a Little Bit of Heresy;'

http://lifewayresearch.com/2014/ 10/28/ americans-believe-in-heaven-and-a-little-bit­

of-heresy, accessed 6/30/2017.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

265

the truth" ( 1 Tim. 3 : 1 5 ) . The nature of the church, its commission to make disciples, and its allegiance to the God of truth, compel churches today to give renewed attention to the ministry of teaching.

The Ministry of Fellowship Fellowship is a common word among Baptist churches. Many even have buildings called "fellowship halls:' They are often the site of a favorite Baptist activity, a meal called a fellowship supper. But, beyond food, what does the church's ministry of fellowship involve? Is it just another term for Christian socializing? We may begin by noting several interesting implications arising from the word for fellowship in the New Testament, koinonia. The first is that there is no counterpart for this word in the Old Testament and there is no occurrence of the word in the New Testament prior to Acts 2 : 4 2 . So genuine fellowship seems to have been an impossibility prior

to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Further, John 7 : 3 9 indicates that the Spirit was not given until Jesus was glorified. The

implication is that any genuine experience of fellowship on the human level must be preceded by fellowship with God, who embodies fellow­ ship in his triune nature, created humans for fellowship, and bestows fellowship on his people. Fellowship with God was made possible when Jesus was glorified ( i . e . , crucified, buried, raised, and ascended). Those who experience fellowship with Jesus become indwelt by his Spirit. The Spirit then joins believers together and grants them fellowship with one another. A second implication arises from the root meaning of fellowship as participating or sharing something in common with another. It seems that one way the Spirit grants believers fellowship with one another is by revealing to them all they share in common in Christ. This explains how otherwise diverse believers can experience oneness in Christ; what they have in common outweighs their differences. Their oneness is then expressed in a corporate life of love and service to one another. To summarize, we may say that the fellowship that is a ministry of the church is a gift of God, based on fellowship with him. It mirrors the divine fellowship that occurs eternally in the relationship that the members of the Trinity enjoy with one another, and fellowship is a need implanted by God in humans, as a consequence of their creation in his image. Fellowship consists in a common sharing or participation in the blessings of salva-

266

CHAPTER IO

tion, a commonality we perceive due to the action of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who thus creates fellowship. Fellowship is expressed in the common life and intimate relationships believers share in the church. This is what fellowship is. We now press on to two further questions. How important is the ministry of fellowship to a local church? How may local churches faithfully cultivate the ministry of fellowship among their members? To understand the importance of fellowship, we need to recall the radical nature of Christ's call. It takes precedence over all human ties. Responding to such a call can be difficult, for humans are social creatures, and conversion in some contexts will involve a loss of previous relation ships. Made in the image of a God who is a triune community, human beings are created for community. So in calling us, God calls us corpo­ rately, to be not isolated believers, but part of his people indeed, members of his family. N. T. Wright sees the only explanation for the commands of Jesus requiring absolute loyalty to him to lie in the fact that he saw himself «as creating an alternative family'?" Drawing upon what is described as the «strong-group cultural orientation of first-century Palestine;' Joseph Hell­ erman explains, «In a social setting where each and every person found his identity in the group to which he belonged, a call to leave one's primary group-the family-in order to follow an individual [Jesus] would make sense only

iffollowing

30

that individual meant joining his group:'

The fellowship we experience as part of his people is not just an enjoy­ able optional luxury; it is part of God's essential provision for us, from which we draw strength and vitality. One has called fellowship «the blood that flows through the veins of the church giving it health and vibrancy?" It may justly be regarded as a means of sustaining and sanctifying grace.

32

In fact, the centrality of fellowship in the life of the church is reflected in the dozens of «one another" commands in the New Testament.

33

It is

only in obeying these commands that the church can fulfill its purpose.

29.

N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996), 401.

30.

Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family, 7 1 . Italics in original.

31.

I am

indebted to

my student Jeremy Oddy for this comparison

in

an

unpublished paper,

"Christian Fellowship: A Study of Koinonia in the Church:' 32.

This should not be confused with saving grace, which is received by faith alone. Fellowship is a means of sustaining or sanctifying grace in that it is one of many activities by which God strengthens believers. See the discussion in Grudem, Systematic Theology 9 5 0 - 5 1 .

33.

I have counted at least thirty-one different commands. "Love one another" is found at least seventeen times; "encourage one another" four times; "forgive one another" four times; "serve one another" three times. Most of the others are found once or twice.

267

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

For example, consider the classical marks of the church: one, holy, catho­ lic, and apostolic. For the church to experience oneness, members must "[ljive in harmony with one another" (Rom. 1 2 : 1 6 ) . Holiness is developed as members "build each other up" ( 1 Thess. 5: 1 1 ) and "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Heb. 1 0 : 2 4 ) . The catholicity or universal nature of the church is expressed when members "[ajccept one another" (Rom. 1 5 : 7 ) , regardless of race, age, sex, or class. The apostolicity of the church is ensured as members of the body "teach and admonish one another" (Col. 3 : 1 6 ) . Its importance is further seen in its intimate relationship to the other ministries of the church. We have already mentioned how fellowship is expressed in the teaching ministry of the church, as members teach and admonish one another. Fellowship also provides the motivation for the ministry of service. In fact, the most frequent usage of koiruinia in the New Testament is for the sharing of material needs (Rom. 1 2 : 1 3 ; 1 5 : 2 6 - 2 7 ; 2 Cor. 9 : 1 3 ; 1 Tim. 6 : 1 8 ; Heb. 1 3 : 1 6 ) . Serving one another in terms of the

practical, material needs of life is itself an expression of fellowship. The ministry of worshiping God is hollow if fellowship with others is broken. First John repeatedly relates fellowship with God and proper fellowship with others ( 1 : 5 - 7 ; 2 : 9 ;

3:10,

14;

4:7-8,

11-12,

19-21).

Love for God,

expressed in worship, and love for God's people, expressed in fellowship, cannot be separated. Bruce Milne boldly says, "No man can be reconciled to God without being reconciled to the people of God within whom his experience of God's grace sets him.?" Even the ministry of evangelism is enhanced or undermined by the quality of fellowship manifested in the lives of church members. Church planters are finding that often a conversion to community takes place in a nonbeliever's

life before a conversion to Christ. Espe­

cially among postmoderns, they are finding that these young nonbelievers want to belong before they believe. It is as if they are only interested in a message that produces true community.

35

And not only in recent times,

this correlation goes back to the book of Acts. Benjamin Wilson observes that statements of striking growth in the book of Acts "occur consistently in contexts which highlight the quality of the community life and visible

34.

35.

Milne, We Belong Together, 19. See Ed Stetzer and David Putnam, Breaking the Missional Code: Missionary in Your Community (Nashville: B & H, 2006), 1 2 3 - 3 3 .

Your Church Can Become a

268

CHAPTER IO

actions of Christian congregations (cf. Acts 2:47; 6:7; 9 : 3 1 ; 1 1 : 2 4 ; 19:20):'

36

This is supported by Michael Green, who says of the early Christians in his study Evangelism in the Early Church: "Their community life, though far from perfect . . . was nevertheless sufficiently different and impressive to attract notice, to invite curiosity, and to inspire discipleship . . . . Paganism saw in early Christianity a quality ofliving, and supremely of dying, which could not be found elsewhere'?" By contrast, Howard Snyder suspects that the reason many churches are not effective in evangelism today is because "their communal experience of the gospel is too weak and taste­ less to be worth sharing . . . . But where Christian fellowship demonstrates the gospel, believers come alive and sinners get curious and want to know what the secret is. So true Christian community (koiniinia) becomes both the basis and goal of evangelism'?" Fellowship is essential to fulfilling the ministries of the church because fellowship is the church acting corporately to fulfill its corporate mandate. Kenneth Boa sees seven characteristics of the church's corporate ministry: corporate love and compassion, corporate identity and purpose, corpo­ rate nurture and service, corporate discernment, corporate forgiveness and reconciliation, corporate authority and submission, worship and prayer.

39

and corporate

Fellowship addresses all of these purposes, directly

or indirectly. Finally,

on

a practical level,

sociologists

Rodney Stark

and

Roger

Finke note the importance of fellowship for both the initial impetus to join a church and the continuing involvement of new church members. On the basis of more than twenty-five studies, they claim that it has been fairly well established that those who join a new group are generally "those whose interpersonal attachments to members overbalanced their attach­ ments to nonmembers."? Moreover, one's commitment level after joining is strongly affected by the commitment level of those closest to her. That is,

36.

Benjamin R. Wilson, "The Depiction of Church Growth in Acts;' Journal of the Evangelical

37.

Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, 274-75.

38.

Howard Snyder, Community of the King (1977; reprint, Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity, 1978),

39.

Kenneth Boa, Conformed to His Image: Biblical and Practical Approaches to Spiritual Formation

40.

Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion (Berkeley:

Theological Society 60, no. 2 (June 2 0 1 7 ) : 3 3 1 .

124-25.

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 426.

University of California Press, 2000), 1 1 7 .

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

269

if her closest friends are not committed to the church, neither will she be.

41

If those joining a church do not develop a significant number of fellowship relationships fairly soon after they enter the church, they become excel­ lent candidates for dropping out. Many people may join a church because of the pastor, but those who become active in the church will normally not leave when the pastor leaves because they develop friendships with others in the church. By contrast, church dropouts leave because they lack meaningful relationships. For a church to be a New Testament church at all, it must offer the ministry of fellowship to its members. For it to be a healthy church, its ministry of fellowship must be healthy. It is indispens­ ably important to every aspect of the church. Unfortunately, much of American culture presents obstacles to the development of fellowship. America is widely recognized as having one of the most individualistic cultures in the world. We honor the person who goes his own way, and value the virtue of self-reliance. But such atti­ tudes are antithetical to the development of fellowship. America is also a very mobile society, and fellowship requires time for relationships to develop. Sometimes families have to move for a variety of reasons, but the value of the fellowship the family experiences in the church should be a factor that may question the wisdom of some moves. More recently, the influence of the consumer society has adversely affected how Ameri­ cans approach church membership. Many American Christians see them­ selves, consciously or unconsciously, as consumers of religious goods and services provided by churches. They «pay" for the goods and services by their presence, participation, and giving, but they always retain the right to go elsewhere if they find a producer ( church) that offers better goods and services. They justify leaving their church because «it isn't meeting our needs.?? How different is the perspective of the New Testament! The church is like a family, and one cannot retain the right to transfer families; the church is like a body, and one amputates a part of the body only under extreme circumstances. Joining a church is an expression of a commit­ ment to the fellowship, not a commitment to having one's needs met. What,

then,

can

churches

do

to

cultivate

this

important

minis­

try? One simple but often overlooked imperative is the necessity of the preceding ministry of teaching the truths of the gospel. Bruce Milne says,

41.

Ibid., 147.

42.

For more on the impact of consumerism, see Shelley and Shelley, Consumer Church.

270

CHAPTER IO

«Only the truths of apostolic Christianity, embraced and whole-heartedly adhered to, effectively break up the sinful isolation of the human heart and create the possibility of true relationship at depth with others.?" As we said above, fellowship with God, created through embracing the gospel, is prerequisite to fellowship with members of the body. First John 1 : 7 says it is only as «we walk in the light, as he is in the light, [that] we have fellow­ ship with one another:' Embracing

the

gospel

creates

the

possibility

of

fellowship,

but

churches can do more to move members from the possibility of fellow­ ship to its reality. Rick Warren encourages churches to develop a plan to assimilate members and connect them to fellowship, thinking through the questions prospective new members have: Do I fit here? Does anybody want to know me? Am I needed? What is the advantage of joining? What is required of members?

44

The first place such questions can be addressed

and the first step in bringing a new member into full fellowship is a new member's class. Happily, such classes are becoming increasingly common in Baptist churches. We discussed earlier the importance of such a class for the development and maintenance of regenerate church membership. It is also crucial in the development of a healthy ministry of fellowship. Such a class should elicit from new members a commitment to fellowship, embodied in signing the church covenant. The new members' class is also their first involvement in what is perhaps the central necessity for fellowship; that is, a context for developing relation­ ships. Most people's first level of involvement is in the large-group worship service of the church. But that service is not primarily designed for fellow­ ship; it is vertically oriented to worship of God, not fellowship with others. Therefore, churches need to create other contexts in which fellowship can develop, where people can talk and share their lives. From his study of Paul's letters, James Samra has concluded that a major factor in Christians growing to maturity in the New Testament was their involvement in such contexts where Christians gathered and built each other up (Eph. 4 : 1 6 ) . He says, «When believers assemble together their 'being-in-Christ' is uniquely actu­ alized and maturation is made 'uniquely possible'?" Good things happen when there are contexts where Christians can assemble.

43.

Milne, We Belong Together, 94.

44.

Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 3 1 2 .

45.

Samra, Being Conformed to Christ in Community, 1 3 5 .

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

271

Often, fellowship develops when people work on something together. Choirs, mission teams, even some committees develop fellowship as they work together. But most often fellowship is nurtured in small groups. Sunday school classes can be one type

of small group for developing

fellowship, but in most cases, time constraints and the proper emphasis on teaching limit the depth of fellowship in such classes. My own experience of fellowship has been richest in home-based small groups. Such small groups can be built around common interests, a common struggle, or a common geographical location, but the goal will be to share a common life in Christ. According to Rick Warren, "Small groups are the most effec­ 46

tive way of closing the back door ofyour church."

Constant creation of new

small groups is the single most important step a church can take to stimu­ late the ministry of fellowship in their midst. This is especially true in a growing church, for as the church grows larger, relationships and fellow­ ship suffer, unless they are sustained in small groups.

47

One final step in cultivating ongoing fellowship is proper celebration of the communion meal, the Lord's Supper. But since that meal relates to the ministries of worship and teaching as well as fellowship, and since the understanding of the Lord's Supper has been a dividing point for many denominations, we will give it, along with baptism, separate consideration in the following chapter.

The Ministry of Worship The ministry of worship is rooted in both the nature and historical background of the church. The church is God's people, called to declare the praises of the one who called them out of darkness and into his wonderful light ( 1 Peter 2 : 9 - 1 0 ) . As the temple of the Holy Spirit, the church is to do that for which temples are erected, namely, worship God. Furthermore, the historical background in which the church was born assured that it would be a worshiping community. They continued, at least initially, to meet in the temple and continued to offer the prayers that were a part of temple worship (Acts 2:42, 46). However, as Robert Saucy notes, there is no record of the early disciples offering up sacrifices, which was the main act of worship in the temple; they saw the sacrificial system as fulfilled in

46.

Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 327 (emphasis in original).

47.

See the discussion in Stark and Finke, Acts of Faith, 157-60.

272

C H A P T E R 10

Christ.

48

Instead, their worship would soon include a commemoration of

his one sacrifice. They also had in their background worship in the syna­ gogue, which included three main elements: corporate praise, prayers, and the reading and instruction in the Law and Prophets ( as reflected in Luke 4:16-21

and Acts 1 3 : 1 5 - 4 2 ) .

49

It was this pattern that is reflected most

strongly in early Christian worship. Will Willimon says, "By the end of the first century, Christians were to have a liturgy directly derived from syna­ gogue worship'?" While the pattern was drawn from their background in Judaism, the content was revised by their experience of Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the Christian message. David Peterson argues that New Testament worship is distinctively different from that of the Old Testament in that worship is no longer associated with a particular place, such as the tabernacle or temple, nor with a particular time, such as Passover, but worship is all of life, as Paul describes it in Romans 1 2 : 1 .

51

Still, the early church did observe specific

times of worship. Justin Martyr gives a fascinating description of Chris­ tian worship in the middle of the second century:

And on the day called Sunday there is a meeting in one place of those who live in the cities or the country, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writ­ ings of the prophets are read as long as time permits. When the reader has finished, the president in a discourse urges and invites [us] to the imitation of these noble things. Then we all stand together and offer prayers.

He then describes their celebration of the Lord's Supper, noting that the deacons are assigned to take the elements to those absent, and that they also take up an offering.

52

There is no definition of worship in Scripture, but the origin of the word provides a clue. Worship comes from the Anglo-Saxon word weorth­ scipe, which became worthship and then worship. To worship God is to

ascribe worth to him. Psalm 29:2 says, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness:' The most

48.

Saucy, The Church in God's Program, 177.

49.

Ralph P. Martin, Worship in the Early Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 24-26.

50.

William H. Willimon, Word, Water, Wine and Bread: How Worship Has Changed Over the Years

51.

David Peterson, Engaging with God (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 284-88.

(Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1980), 16.

52.

Justin Martyr, "The First Apology of Justin, the Martyr;' 67, in Early Christian Fathers, Library of Christian Classics, 287.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

common biblical words for worship

273

(siilpih

in the Old Testament and

proskuneii in the New Testament) associate worship with bowing down,

humble prostration, and awe-filled reverence before God. This indicates the profoundly God-centered nature of true worship. But the New Testa­ ment also describes other characteristics of true worship. Perhaps the most often quoted text concerning worship comes from John 4:24, where Jesus says that those who worship God must do so «in the Spirit [pneuma]

and in truth [aletheia]." This implies further char­

acteristics of true worship. True worship is Spirit-empowered. And since the Spirit comes to exalt Christ (John 1 6 : 1 4 ) , true worship will be Christ­ focused. The reference to truth implies that true worship is bounded and shaped by truth, truth as embodied in Christ and as preserved in Scripture. Thus, true worship will be biblically grounded. The concern for truth or doctrine, while necessary to honor God rightly, also points to secondary purposes for worship on the human side. The primary purpose of worship is to honor God, but as worship is portrayed in the New Testament, it also serves the purpose of edifying believers and evangelizing nonbeliev­ ers. First Corinthians 14:26, speaking specifically of the occasions when believers come together, insists that everything «must be done so that the church may be built up:' David Peterson goes further and says that in the New Testament, worship is all of life, while the focal purpose of the time when the church gathers and sings, prays, and hears the Word is edifi­ cation.

53

But this may be separating worship and edification too neatly.

Worship should be seen as multifaceted.

Certainly the focus should be on

glorifying God. But since knowing and believing the truth glorifies God, worship should have an element of teaching, especially in the preaching of the word, but also singing songs filled with truth teaches us. Celebrating the Lord's Supper serves the function both of evangelism, as we proclaim the Lord's death and its meaning, and the ministry of fellowship, as one aspect of the Lord's Supper is communion with one another. These different dimensions help to explain some of the elements of worship. For example, prayer in worship expresses our adoration of God but also allows us to seek God's help in edifying believers and winning nonbelievers. Hearing the preaching of God's Word honors God but is also a major means of edifying the church. Even the music we sing to praise God can serve to teach or remind us of the truth about God.

53.

Peterson, Engaging with God, 287.

274

C H A P T E R 10

The following may serve as a summary of the chief characteristics of true worship.

True worship is:

•

God-centered-that is, God is the supreme object of our worship, his glory is our supreme concern in worship, he is the audience to whom our praise is directed.

•

Spirit-empowered-that is, the Spirit is the one who initiates, enables, and prompts us to worship.

•

Christ-focused-that is,

Christian worship is directed to the God

who revealed himself to us in Christ, the same Christ to whom the Spirit bears witness, the Christ who is the truth. •

Biblically grounded and shaped-that is, all that we do in worship

•

Multifaceted-that is,

must be in harmony with these biblical characteristics of true worship. while

the purpose

and

focus

of worship

is

honoring God, some aspects of worship also inevitably edify believ­ ers and proclaim the gospel to nonbelievers.

53

Figure 10.4: A Definition ofTrue Worship

Unfortunately, the worship of the church has not always exempli­ fied these

characteristics.

the Lord's

Supper became

In

the

medieval

increasingly the

church,

the

celebration

center of worship,

to

of

the

neglect of other elements. Further, the role of the priest's mediation was emphasized so as to make the congregation virtually spectators rather than participants. The Reformation's change in theology also produced a change in worship. The preaching of the Word became a central part of worship, a fact that was reflected in church architecture, which placed the pulpit in a central location.

55

Early Baptist worship was often several hours long and featured exten­ sive exposition of Scripture along with prayers and a contribution taken for

54.

This diagram bears some resemblance to the definition offered by D. A. Carson, "Worship Under the Word;' in Worship by the Book, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 26, but he focuses on the doxological element of worship.

55.

In a work surveying Reformation theologians, Carter Lindberg notes that "each and every one of them focused on ministry;' and that the refrain throughout their work "is the recovery of biblical preaching and pastoral theology:' See Carter Lindberg, "Trajectories of Reformation Theology;' in The Reformation Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Modern Period, ed. Carter Lindberg (Oxford, UK and Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 380.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

275

the poor. Baptism was a part of worship, as was the Lord's Supper. Some celebrated the Lord's Supper every week, but most eventually adopted the pattern of Zwingli and the church in Zurich of quarterly observance. The most important contribution of Baptists to Protestant worship in the seven­ teenth century involved the singing of hymns. The key figure was Benjamin Keach, who argued for the appropriateness of hymn-singing in a 1 6 9 1 work called The Breach Repaired in God's Worship, or Singing ofPsalms, Hymns and

Spiritual Songs proved to be an Holy Ordinance of Jesus Christ.

56

By the end

of the seventeenth century, hymn-singing began to catch on among English Baptists. In America, Keach's son, Elias, was a key figure in the Philadelphia Baptist Association, whose confession of faith specifically endorsed hymn­ singing, and singing has become a central element of Baptist worship. By and large Baptist churches have been non-liturgical in the sense that there have been few written prayers, confessions, or responses. Baptist hymnals

have

printed

selections

of Scripture

for

responsive

reading

in

worship services, but few churches use them. This is an area where most Baptist

churches

could

improve.

Paul

commanded

Timothy

to

devote

himself"to the public reading of Scripture" ( 1 Tim. 4 : 1 3 ) , but aside from the sermon text, Scripture is seldom read in many Baptist churches. Terry John­ son and Ligon Duncan III comment: "Not reading the Scriptures is on the same order as not having a sermon or omitting congregational singing?" A careful, thoughtful reading of Scripture serves both to honor God and to edify believers by exposing them to the whole counsel of God. But to do so requires careful planning to choose texts that range throughout Scripture and to choose readers who can read Scripture with understanding and feeling.

58

Baptist worship has typically followed the Reformation emphasis on the preaching of God's Word, though the time expended on reading and expounding it has dropped from several hours in the early days of Baptist life to perhaps thirty minutes in today's worship. It is another example of the multidimensional nature of worship. We honor God in hearing his Word preached, because God's Word recounts the wondrous deeds and nature of God. Also, in preaching the Word the pastor teaches the whole

56.

For more on Keach, see J. Barry Vaughn, "Benjamin Keach;' in Baptist Theologians, ed. Timothy George and David Dockery (Nashville: Broadman, 1990), 49-76.

57.

Terry L.

Johnson

and

J.

Ligon

Duncan

III,

"Reading

and

Praying

the

Bible

in

Corporate

Worship;' in Give Praise to God, 143. Johnson and Duncan also include eleven pieces of counsel concerning the public reading of Scripture. 58.

R.

Kent

Hughes,

"Free

Church Worship;' in

suggestions on public reading of Scripture.

Worship

by the Book,

176, gives

some helpful

276

C H A P T E R 10

congregation, and they are thus edified. And, since Baptist pastors often include the gospel message in their preaching, it can serve an evangelistic function. However, since the New Testament emphasis is on congrega­ tional edification in worship (see 1 Cor. 1 4 : 2 6 ) , evangelism should not be the primary aim.

1.

Over the years, I have given pastors, church leaders, and students an assignment to help them improve the worship services at their churches. It is very simple. Have someone take a stopwatch and time every element in an average worship service: how much time is spent in

prayer,

reading

Scripture,

singing,

the

preaching

of Scripture,

taking an offering, etc.

2.

Most who do the assignment above are surprised at the lack of time devoted to two elements of worship. They form the next two sugges­ tions for improving worship. First, devote more time and thought to the reading of Scripture in public worship. It is an element of public worship that is commanded ( 1

Tim. 4 : 1 3 ) , but is not given much

attention or time in most worship services that I have attended.

3.

Second, most are also surprised at how little time is spent in public worship in prayer. This is another area where time, attention, and preparation are needed.

4.

I think most Baptist churches could do a much better job in how they celebrate baptism and the Lord's Supper, but I will defer specifics on those until the following chapter.

Figure 1 0 . 5 : Four Suggestions for Improving Worship Services

59

Prayer has also been a consistent feature of Baptist worship, in obedi­ ence to the commands in 1 Timothy 2 and elsewhere that place prayer in the context of public worship. As mentioned above, we have almost universally eschewed written prayer in favor of spontaneous prayer. Still, careful planning could improve the element of prayer in Baptist worship. Baptist pastors and worship leaders spend hours preparing sermons and

59.

Though they may go too far on some points, I commend consideration of some of the suggestions of Iohnson and Duncan, "Reading and Praying the Bible in Corporate Worship;' in Give Praise to God, 140-69.

277

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

rehearsing music, but seem to feel that it is somehow wrong to think through what they should include in public prayer. Prayer is our direct address to God, and a thoughtful prayer should lead worshipers to adore, confess, intercede, and thank God. Preparation doesn't make sermons or music less heartfelt; neither should it have any effect on prayer but to make it a more helpful and positive aspect of worship.

60

Guiding Baptists in their choice of the elements of worship, at least to some degree in the past, has been what is called the regulative prin­ ciple. This principle has held that worship should only include those elements that Scripture explicitly or implicitly endorses. It is contrasted with the normative principle, which advocated the view that whatever is not prohibited is permissible in worship. A Baptist preference for the regulative principle would be expected in view of their desire to be bibli­ cal in all they do, and support for the regulative principle is explicit in the Second London Confession (or, as it was known in America, the Phila­ delphia Confession), which states: "the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures,"?' However, as Jerry Marcellino notes, this principle alone is not altogether helpful, for no evangelical would say that he desires to worship in a way contrary to the Word of God; the difficulty is in the application of the princi­ ple.

62

There are so many questions concerning the specifics of worship

left unaddressed by Scripture and so few commands given concerning it, especially in the New Testament, that my sense is that few are guided in their worship planning today by consideration of the regulative prin­ ciple. Even those most zealously seeking to be biblical must be guided, on many matters, by pastoral wisdom.

60.

Ibid., 175. Hughes also gives helpful resources and suggestions for planning to lead congregational prayer, as do Johnson and Duncan, "Reading and Praying the Bible in Corporate Worship;' 165-66.

61.

For more discussion of the regulative principle, see J. Ligon Duncan III, "Does God Care How We Worship?" in Give Praise to God, 17-50; and Derek W. H. Thomas, "The Regulative Principle: Responding to Recent Criticism:' in Give Praise to God, 74-93. See also Ernest C. Reisinger and D. Matthew Allen, Worship: The Regulative Principle and the Biblical Practice of Accommodation (Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2 0 0 1 ) .

62.

Jerry

Marcellino,

"Leading

the

Reforming Pastoral Ministry, 142.

Church

in

God-Centered

Worship:

The

Pastoral

Role;'

in

278

C H A P T E R 10

One element where pastoral wisdom is especially needed is in the area of congregational singing. Though I believe it to be subsiding today, many churches in recent years have experienced what some have called «the worship wars:' This «war" is between contemporary and traditional styles of worship, and is marked most noticeably by differing musical styles. Contemporary music replaces organ and piano with guitar and drums, replaces hymns with praise choruses, and replaces choirs with praise

teams.

63

Often

such

churches

adopt

casual

dress,

and

seek

in

other ways to present fewer obstacles and more attractiveness to those they call «seekers:' K. H. Sargeant says, «Seeker church leaders design new, contemporary forms of worship to mirror the musical and cultural preferences of contemporary society.v' Rick Warren says frankly, «You must match your music to the kind of people God wants your church to reach.?" He sees no theological obstacle involved in musical style, as long as the lyrics are Christian. Others are not so sure. Marva Dawn says, «Style is not the issue . . . . The question is whether our worship services immerse us in God's splendor. . . . The value of the liturgies established by the Church over time (in new settings and old) is that they do not depend on any leader's personality; instead they keep the focus on the God who is the Subject of our worship.t'" As well, she sees much of contemporary music as «filled with stuff that trivializes God and forms narcissistic people;' while hymnals contain music that has been sorted over time so that most of traditional music «is quite good theologi­ cally and musically?" Others offer more reserved cautions. Jerry Marcellino acknowledges that we cannot say that all styles other than traditional are wrong; he believes that to do so would involve «cultural bigotry?" Elmer Towns and Ed Stetzer make the same point from history: "Any Christian who reads 69

history would know there is no one right waY:'

63.

But both are concerned

A survey of more than seven hundred Southern Baptist churches conducted in 2000 found that more than half of those categorized as contemporary in worship style had experienced conflict over worship. See Philip B. Jones, "Research Report;' 4.

64.

Kirnon Howland Sargeant, Seeker Churches: Promoting Traditional Religion in a Nontraditional

65.

Warren, Purpose Driven Church, 280.

66.

Marva Dawn, A Royal "Waste" of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the

67.

Ibid., 150.

Way (New Brunswick, NJ/London, UK: Rutgers University Press, 2000), 55.

World (Grand Rapids/Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans, 1999), 158.

68.

Marcellino, "Leading the Church in God-Centered Worship;' 143.

69.

Towns and Stetzer, Perimeters of Light, 98.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

279

that we exercise some caution in the use of contemporary music. Marcel­ lino recommends that we ask ourselves questions such as: Is the music "essentially free of strong worldly associations"? Does it conform to the criteria of Philippians 4:8 (true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excel­ lent, praiseworthy)!" Towns and Stetzer expand the question we should ask in this fashion: "What impact does this music have on the culture via association, memory, emotions, understanding, and music? These are not easy questions-but they are essential,"?' A final issue related to worship has been raised by seeker churches, with Willow Creek and Saddleback the most prominent examples. Though the seeker church movement may have crested, it has left a definite impression. It has sensitized most churches to the need to be at least aware that there may be those in their worship services that they call "seekers:' They are not yet believers and may need some help with the language and customs of churches. So explanations of Christian jargon and why we do what we do may be needed to help such seekers understand the Christian message. But some seeker churches go much further and design their entire Sunday services to appeal to these seekers, with music, drama, multimedia and "talks" (rather than sermons) all designed to appeal to seekers." But if we think that God is the primary audience in worship, can a seeker service really be called a worship service? Many in

the

seeker

church

movement would

say no,

that

seeker

services are for evangelism, not worship, and they provide times for believ­ ers to worship and be edified through midweek services and/or small groups. Rick Warren says frankly that he preaches differently at the two different types of services,

73

and one study of the churches affiliated with

the Willow Creek Association states that seeker churches are increasingly recognizing the need for separate services for believers, where worship of God and edification of believers is central. Still, that same study found that as of 2000, more than 60 percent of the churches affiliated with the Willow Creek Association had no such separate believers' service.

74

70.

Marcellino, "Leading the Church in God-Centered Worship:' 143.

71.

Towns and Stetzer, Primeters of Light, 107-8.

72.

For an example, see Warren, The Purpose- Driven Church, 2 5 1 - 77, a chapter entitled, "Designing

73.

Ibid., 294.

74.

Sargeant, Seeker Churches, 25.

a Seeker-Sensitive Service:'

C H A P T E R 10

280

There is some reason for concern that in their zeal to connect with seekers and win them, some churches may be losing their focus in their worship services and that services designed for seekers may not be accom­ plishing all that worship should for believers. In their remarkable self­ study, Reveal:

75

Where Are You?,

troubling findings.

Willow Creek honestly reported some

From thousands

of responses,

and more than

one

hundred interviews from Willow Creek and six other American churches, they reported that they are doing well in meeting the needs of the least mature of their attenders, those self-described as "exploring Christianity" or younger believers who are "growing in Christ:' But among the more mature attenders, those "close to Christ" or "Christ-centered," there was considerable dissatisfaction. About one-fourth described themselves as "stalled" or "dissatisfied with the church;' so much so that many in this group were considering leaving the church.

76

I have a great deal of respect for many in the seeker church move­ ment. Research shows that they are overwhelmingly conservative in their theological orientation, Jesus.

77

and passionate

about winning lost people to

In particular, I find much to applaud in Rick Warren's approach.

Yet in their zeal to reach the lost, might it be that they are contribut­ ing to a loss of focus in worship services that is not sustaining to the growth of believers? There is no straight line from the seeker services Willow Creek employs to the findings in their self-study, but there is enough plausibility in a connection between the two to raise a question about how far churches should go in terms of a seeker orientation in their worship services. The description of the worship of the early church in Acts 2 gives more helpful guidance on worship. First, it is worth noting that a God-centered worship service need not be antithetical to evangelism. The early church's worship manifested God's presence among them and was noted by the surrounding world (Acts 2:43, 47; 5 : 1 2 - 1 4 ; 1 Cor. 14:24-25). Yet evange­ lism was a byproduct of worship, not the design of worship.

75.

Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson, Reveal: Where Are You? (South Barrington, IL: Willow Creek Association, 2007).

76.

"What

Reveal

Reveals;'

Christianity

Today,

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/

march/11.27.html, accessed 7/3/2017. 77.

Sargeant found that 98 percent of the seeker church pastors surveyed identified themselves as "evangelicals;' and 99 percent agreed that "the Bible is the inspired word of God, true in all its teachings:' Sargeant, Seeker Churches, 2 0 - 2 1 .

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

281

Second, whatever the style of worship, it should elicit the same twofold response we see in Acts 2. On the one hand, the early worshipers felt a sense of awe (Acts 2:43) as they saw God at work among them. Thus, worship should be so God-centered that it will produce not necessarily comfort, but reverence, awe, and submission. In worship we should encounter the One before whose greatness we feel our smallness. Contemporary worship does not always do this well. Some of its music does exalt God's greatness in marvelous ways, but the casual atmosphere of most contemporary worship can lead to a casual attitude toward God rather than an attitude of awe. But alongside the sense of awe, there was a joyful sense of praise in early Christian worship (Acts 2:47). Praise comes as we recognize that the great God, before whom we bow in awe, has, in his great mercy and amazing love, provided forgiveness and life in Jesus Christ. He has called us his children and bids us stand, give him praise, and rejoice in his love for us. And it is on this count that much of traditional worship can be faulted. An excessive emphasis on reverence can dull any exuberant expression of praise, while advocates of contemporary worship believe worship should be joyful, excit­ ing, and enthusiastic. These two keynotes can be compared in this way:

Reverence and "Praise"

Characterized by reverent awe.

Characterized by joyful praise.

Honors God for his holiness.

Rejoices in God's love.

God is transcendent and above us.

God is immanent and with us.

"Be still and know that I am God:'

"Shout for joy to the Lord, the King:'

Figure 10.6: The Two Keynotes of Worship

The key is balancing these two keynotes of worship. Contemporary worshipers may need to take care that they not obscure God's holiness. One of the earliest studies of Willow Creek found that 70 percent of the sermons emphasized God's love, while only 7 percent dealt with God's holiness.

78.

78

Admittedly, this survey was of the seeker service, not the believ-

Gregory Pritchard, "The Strategy of Willow Creek" 1994), 769.

(Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University,

C H A P T E R 10

282

ers' service, and comes from the early 1990s, but it represents the danger contemporary worship can face. Traditionalists need to guard against the opposite danger: joyless worship that does not actively engage worshipers in praise, but leaves them to sit in silence. One final element of worship, central to worship for much of the church's history, we have not yet considered. That is the role of the sacra­ ments, or as they are more commonly called among Baptists, the ordi­ nances of baptism and the Lord's Supper. They are vital acts of worship, but are often underappreciated and poorly understood and celebrated among Baptists.

Their importance requires

a thoroughness of consid­

eration that would unduly lengthen this chapter. Therefore, they will be treated at length in the following chapter.

The Ministry of Service Acts

2:45

records

the

radical

way the

early believers

served

one

another. To meet the financial needs of one another, they sold possessions and even parcels of land. But it seems likely their service extended beyond the boundaries of their own congregation. The love of Christ, as well as his command, would prompt them to serve their neighbor, whether church member or stranger. Paul commanded the early churches in Galatia to do good to all, though he did underscore a special place for «those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal. 6 : 1 0 ) . Perhaps the service they rendered to all helps explain why Acts 2:47 says the early church was «enjoying the favor of all the people:' Service is also a necessary ministry of the church. The New Testament is replete with texts describing how the love of Christ impels Christians to serve others, following the example of their Lord, who did not come to be served, but to serve (see Rom. 1 3 : 8 ; Gal. 5 : 1 3 ; 1 John 3 : 1 6 - 1 8 ) . As the body of Christ, motivated by his love, the church from the earliest days has provided service. Caring for the needs of members of the body is implicit in the very idea of the church as Christ's body (see

1

Cor.

1 2 : 2 6 ) , but

because the church is the body of the Christ who came for all the world, the service of the church extends to all the world. The idea of service is also implicit in the image Christ applied to his followers, who are to be «the salt of the earth" and «the light of the world" (Matt. 5 : 1 3 - 1 4 ) . The salt and light exist to serve that which is in some sense opposed to them. Even the ministry of worship is incomplete without the accompanying action of service. Miroslav Volf says, «There is something profoundly hypocritical

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

283

about praising God for God's mighty deeds of salvation and cooperating at the same time with the demons of destruction, whether by neglecting to do good or actively doing evil'?" The specific task of pastor-teachers is to "prepare God's people for works of service" (Eph. 4 : 1 2 ) . While that word

service is broad enough to cover all that the church does in ministry, it certainly includes the church's ministry to basic human needs, or what is sometimes called social action. Caring for the poor has a long heritage in the church. Paul testifies that he was eager to do so ( Gal. 2: 1 0 ) . The patristic church was known for its willingness to serve. An anonymous second-century letter describes Christians in these terms: "They marry and have children just like every­ one else; but they do not kill unwanted babies. They offer a shared table, but not a shared bed."? In the sixth century, Pope Gregory I earned the title "Gregory the Great" in part because of the extensive provision he led the church to make for the poor.

One of the main motivations for the

various monastic movements throughout the medieval period was Iesus's command to the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor (Matt.

1 9 : 2 1 ) , a command several rich Christians obeyed literally,

including Francis of Assisi. By the time of the Reformation, the care of the poor and sick was seen as a standard ministry of the church, typically entrusted to deacons. The earliest description of Baptist worship includes "an exhortation to contrib­ ute to the poore, wch collection being made is also concluded wth prayer?" Up until the 1 9 3 0 s , churches provided the major portion of social welfare in the United States. Schools, hospitals, soup kitchens, and other care of the poor and sick were all seen as a sphere of ministry of the church. Perhaps the most extreme example of the commitment to service is seen in the development of the so-called social gospel, whose foremost advo­ cate was a Baptist named Walter Rauschenbusch.

82

Moved by the appalling

poverty that he saw in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York, Rauschenbusch

79.

Miroslav Volf, "Reflections on a Christian Way of Being-in-the-World;' in Worship: Adoration and Action, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993), 2 1 1 .

80.

From the anonymous Letter to Diognetus, cited in Tim Dowley, ed., Introduction to the History

81.

This reference is from 1609 and is cited in McBeth, Baptist Heritage, 9 1 . McBeth, in turn, is citing

of Christianity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), 67.

Champlin Burrage, The Early English Dissenters in Light of Recent Research (New York: Russell and Russell, 1967), 2:176-77. 82.

For

more

on

Rauschenbusch,

Theologians, 366-83.

see

Stephen

Brachlow,

"Walter

Rauschenbusch,"

in

Baptist

C H A P T E R 10

284

called for a radical commitment to the gospel, which for him involved a commitment to social action on behalf of the poor. Because his theology was suborthodox on many points (he denied the inerrancy of Scripture and the deity of Christ, for example) and because he was firmly opposed to American capitalism, Rauschenbusch did not gain a wide following. In fact, many conservatives of his day criticized him as a communist, and the term

social gospel was associated with liberal theology. Perhaps, in overreaction to Rauschenbusch, evangelical Christians backed away from some aspects of service to society. George Marsden describes what he calls the "Great Reversal:' which took place from around 1900 to 1930, "when all progres­ sive social concern, whether political or private, became suspect amongst revivalist evangelicals and was relegated to a very minor role.?" The poverty of the Great Depression overwhelmed the resources of the churches. The government stepped in with the creation of the modern welfare state, and increasingly has taken over the role formerly held by the church in the areas of caring for the poor and sick. Still, anyone who has served on the staff of a church knows that poor people still look to churches for help, and most churches are involved in some way in minis­ tries providing assistance to those in need.

One survey estimates that

Southern Baptist congregations alone minister to three million persons per month through food and clothes closets, not to mention those who volunteer as tutors in after-school programs and in providing meals and transportation for the elderly.

84

Earlier this century,

two University of

Pennsylvania sociologists conducted a study of all the churches they could contact in the city of Philadelphia, seeking to find out all the social minis­ tries being carried on by all these churches. After carefully evaluating and trying to quantify the financial value of all that these churches were doing, they concluded, "Conservatively, the financial replacement value of all congregational social services in Philadelphia is $246,901,440 annually?" Such service is motivated by the love of Christ. While there is still a lot of room for improvement in this area, it seems that the "Great Reversal" described by Marsden has at least seen some movement back toward engagement with social ministries in recent

83.

George Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture, new ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 86.

84.

Jones, "Research Report;' 3-4.

85.

Ram A.

Cnaan and

Stephanie C.

Boddie,

"Philadelphia Census of Congregations and Their

Involvement in Social Service Delivery;' Social Service Review 75, no. 4 (December 2001): 559-580.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

285

years, especially among younger evangelicals.

86

Even more traditional

evangelicals affirm the importance of what Tim Keller has called «mercy ministries.?" Few today would emphasize evangelism to the exclusion of social action, or even legitimate only as a means to evangelism. While the result of service may be an openness to the gospel,

88

and while we

may and should give the highest priority to giving the greatest gift ( the gospel), still service is legitimate in its own right, as an expression of Christ's love, and should be offered unconditionally. Pastor Andy Davis says, «every healthy congregation must be involved in mercy ministry, both inside and outside the church.?" At the same time, I would want to note that the ministry of service must be sustained by ministry to and for those who are serving, ministries like teaching, fellowship and worship." Finally, a point of special importance for resource-rich North American churches is learning how to serve others, locally and globally, in ways that truly help, without merely treating symptoms or creating unhealthy financial dependence.

91

One helpful strategy for encouraging acts of service is through small, purpose-oriented groups. We have mentioned small groups as important contexts for the ministries of teaching and fellowship, but service can be a helpful way to prevent small groups from just being inward-looking holy huddles. Groups together can tackle projects and ministries that could be overwhelming to an individual, and one catalyst for forming a small group can be a shared desire on the part of several to serve in a specific area of need.

86.

An October 20, 2 0 1 5 article by Deborah Jian Lee reports on research by the Public Religion Research Institute, showing that a growing minority of millennial evangelicals are supportive of a variety of progressive, social justice issues. See Deborah Jian Lee, "Why the Young Religious Right is Leaning Left;' http://time.com/ 4078909/ evangelical-millennials, accessed 7I5/2017.

87.

Keller has written two influential books on the topic: Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 1997 and Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just (New

York: Dutton, 2010). 88.

For one example of how bridges of service can lead unbelievers into the church, see Robert Lewis with Rob Wilkins, The Church of Irresistible Influence (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001).

89.

Davis, "Practical Issues in Deacon Ministry;' in Baptist Foundations, 328.

90.

Jedd

Medefind,

"The

Activist

Soul:

Why

the

Fight

for

Social

Justice

Must

Start

Within;'

Christianity Today (July/August 2 0 1 7 ) , 7 1 - 7 3 , notes a common story line among those who

become involved in justice ministries: waking, working, weary, withered. He concludes that the love expressed in service needs to be sustained by a vital inner life, in which communal practices are "immensely valuable" (73). 91.

See the provocative, challenging, and helpful book, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert,

When

Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself ( Chicago:

Moody, 2009).

286

CHAPTER IO

The Ministry of Evangelism The last ministry we find in the description of the church in Acts 2 is not really described as a ministry of the church but as the activity of God. As the church devoted itself to teaching its members, developing fellow­ ship, enjoying worship, and serving the community, the text says that "the Lord added to their number" (v. 47). Richard Longenecker notes in his commentary on Acts that the title the Lord (ho kurios) appears first in the sentence, emphasizing its importance.

92

Nor is this an unusual empha­

sis. While evangelism is everywhere present in almost every chapter of the book of Acts, human actors are overshadowed by divine activity. In Acts 6:7, "the word of God spread:' In Acts 9 : 3 1 , the church "increased in numbers" as it was "encouraged by the Holy Spirit:' When Gentiles came to believe, the church saw it as God granting to them "repentance that leads to life" ( 1 1 : 1 8 ) . When Barnabas went to Antioch, he saw the converts there as "what the grace of God had done" ( v. 2 3 ) . As Paul and Barnabas preached, "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region" ( 1 3 : 4 9 ) . When they returned from their missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas reported that God "had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" ( 1 4 : 2 7 ) . Verses like these do not deny human involvement, but they underscore the divine initiative. Moreover, while there is obvious human involvement in sharing the gospel message, there is almost a total absence of commands concerning evangelistic involvement in the New Testament. Most books on evange­ lism give obedience to Christ's command as one of the chief motives for evangelism, and give the Great Commission, Matthew 2 8 : 1 9 - 2 0 , as bibli­ cal support. But what is not often noted is that the command in the Great Commission is to make disciples, which includes but is not exhausted by evangelism, and that the command is one of a very small handful regard­ ing evangelism.

93

Texts like Romans 1 2 : 9 - 2 1 and 1 Thessalonians 5 : 1 2 - 2 2

contain dozens of commands, but none that say anything like "share the gospel with others" or "be zealous in evangelizing:' Likewise, the qualifi­ cations for elders in 1 Timothy 3: 1 - 7 and Titus 1 :6-9 show concern for character and abilities to lead and teach, but there is no mention of gifted­ ness in evangelism. Yet this is not to say that evangelism is absent from the

92.

Longenecker, "The Acts of the Apostles;' 9 : 2 9 1 .

93.

See John Hammett, "The Great Commission and Evangelism in the New Testament;' Journal of the American Society for Church Growth 10 (Fall 1999): 3 - 1 4 for elaboration of this point.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

287

pages of the New Testament. On the contrary, evangelism is everywhere evidenced in the New Testament, but it is hardly ever commanded.

94

Of course, it is possible that the New Testament writers assumed that the early Christians knew and would obey Christ's command in the Great Commission, but the evidence seems otherwise. Michael Green says in his classic study, Evangelism in the Early Church, that the three motives energizing the evangelistic activity of the early believers were a sense of love and gratitude to God, a sense of responsibility and stewardship before God the Judge, and a sense of the dangerous condition of the lost. Green adds, "It is important to stress this prior motive of loving gratitude to God because it is not infrequently assumed that the direct command of Christ to evangelize was the main driving force behind the Christian mission:' but in fact Christ's command is quoted very rarely in Christian literature of the second century and is referred to only once in the New Testament writings themselves (Acts 10:42).

95

My point in noting the way the New Testament speaks of evangelism is not to minimize the importance of obedience and intentionality in evangelism. A recent survey of a thousand churches having a successful ministry of evangelism found that a common factor in these churches was "intentionality in evangelism.?" Rather, the implication we are to draw from the New Testament is that evangelism should be a natural product of a healthy church. In fact, if one thinks of God as the head of the heavenly adoption agency, looking into families seeking to adopt new spiritual chil­ dren, why would he place them in dysfunctional families where they will

94.

This was noticed long ago by Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St.

Paul's or Oursi,

2nd

ed.

(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962), 93, who writes of the letters of Paul, "There is one sentence of approval,

'From you sounded out the word of the

Lord;

[1

Thess.

1:8]

but there

is

no

insistence upon the command of Christ to preach the gospel:' Allen argues that new believers felt compelled to share the new joy they had found and needed no command. Robert Plummer believes that Paul assumed the congregations he had planted were sharing their faith; at a few places Paul approves of or enjoins the "missionary activity of ordinary Christians:' But the most powerful reason why ordinary Christians should preach the gospel is not command, but because "they have been swept up into the triumphant advance of God's saving word" or "fallen into the advance of the gospel's flooding advance:' Robert Plummer, "Paul's Gospel;' in Paul's Missionary Methods: In His Time and Ours, eds. Robert Plummer and John Mark Terry (Downers Grove,

IL: IVP Academic, 2012), 52. See also Robert Plummer, Paul's Understanding of the Church's Mission: Did the Apostle Paul Expect the Early Christian Communities to Evangelize? Paternoster

Biblical Monographs (Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 2008). 95. 96.

Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, 236-55, 239. Thom Rainer,

"The Great Commission to Reach

Journal of Theology 1 (Winter 1997): 40-50.

a New Generation;'

The Southern

Baptist

288

CHAPTER IO

not receive proper teaching, fellowship, worship, and service? But when churches are healthy, evangelism seems to pop out irrepressibly, even in the absence of the latest methodologies. Rick Warren says, "What really attracts large numbers of unchurched to a church is changed lives-a lot of changed lives. People want to go where lives are being changed, where hurts are being healed, and where hope is being restored?" Mark Dever, from a very different style of church, makes much the same observation: "If you can get a reputation in the community as a church in which people's lives are actually changed, you will begin to see some amazing things?" Though hindered in their early years by persecution, and stunted at times by hyper-Calvinistic theology, for most of their history Baptists in America have been an evangelistic people. From 1 7 40 to 1848, Baptists grew from less than one hundred churches to more than eleven thousand churches, with more than 800,000 members. Such growth was not just the result of a growing population in the United States; in fact, Baptists were growing more than three times as fast as the population.

99

By and large,

these Baptists were serious about their church membership, for if they took it too lightly, churches regularly practiced church discipline. However, as we discussed earlier, in the twentieth century, church discipline nearly disappeared, standards for baptism and church member­ ship were relaxed, and the continuing growth in numbers did not neces­ sarily reflect effective evangelistic ministry. A significant portion of new members eventually became inactive, and many active new members were not new converts but transfers from other churches, a process sometimes called "the circulation of the saints:' In recent years, some Baptist denomi­ nations have been in decline,

including the largest Baptist denomina­

tion, the Southern Baptist Convention, despite a strong denominational emphasis on evangelism. If the understanding of the New Testament teaching on evangelism sketched out above is correct, perhaps the reason for the lack of evange­ listic effectiveness lies in weaknesses in other ministries. And if this is so, then the solution is not simply a stronger emphasis on evangelism, though in all honesty that is also desperately needed. Rather, the solution will also

97.

Warren, The Purpose Driven Church, 247. Emphasis in original.

98.

Dever, "Pastoral Success in Evangelistic Ministry;' 255.

99.

These numbers are from Noll, America's God, 162, 166, 1 8 1 . Noll cites Robert Baird, Religion in the United States (Glasgow: n.p., 1844); and John Winebrenner, History of All the Religious Denominations (Harrisburg, PA: n.p., 1848) as his sources.

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

289

require the development of healthier churches with stronger ministries of teaching, fellowship, worship, and service that, in turn, produce changed lives. It is with such changed lives that intentional emphases on evange­ lism and practical training in evangelism produce results. But even healthy Christians with changed lives will need to reckon with the necessity of strong relationships

for evangelistic effectiveness

in today's context.l'" While there may be some who respond to Christ through some bold stranger knocking on their door and presenting the claims of Christ, most will only become even interested enough to consider the gospel in the context of relationships with Christians. Ed Stetzer says, "With

few

exceptions

people

come

to

Christ

after

they've journeyed

with other Christians, examining them and considering their claims."?' Tim Keller concurs: "most people in the West need to be welcomed into community long enough for them to hear multiple expressions of the gospel-both formal and informal-from individuals and teachers:' They are "welcomed into community" and attracted enough to enter through interactions with believers who have "relational integrity;' which Keller defines as being "like those around us yet profoundly unlike them at the 102

same time, all the while remaining very visible and engaged:'

Too often

the problem is that Christians are too like the nonbelievers around them, and relationally distant, rather than engaged. For the Lord to add new believers to churches today, believers will need to be healthy enough to be unlike their non-believing neighbors and coworkers, but intentional about loving them and relating to them not as evangelistic projects, but as people genuinely valued as image-bearers of God. One final aspect of evangelism merits special mention. It is the exten­ sion

of evangelism to the ends of the earth,

or what is usually called

international missions. This, too, has been a ministry very close to the hearts of many Baptists. The man usually regarded as the father of the modern missionary movement, William Carey, was a Baptist, and Baptists in America formed their first national organization primarily to support missions. Today, one exploding means of involvement for many thou-

100.

Thom

Rainer and Jess

Rainer,

The

Millennials:

Connecting

to America's

Largest

Generation

(Nashville: B & H, 2 0 1 1 ) , 1 0 3 - 1 0 7 . On the basis of their research, this father-son team conclude that relationships are the dominant motivation for Millennials in every area of life 101.

Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2006), 188.

102.

Tim

Keller,

Center Church:

Doing Balanced,

Gospel-Centered Ministry

Rapids: Zondervan, 2 0 1 2 ) , 2 8 1 - 8 2 . Italics in original.

in

Your

City

(Grand

CHAPTER IO

290

sands of people is a short-term mission trip. The number of those going on such trips has multiplied from 120, 000 in 1 9 8 9 to 2,200,000 in 2006.

103

And while I have no more recent numbers, I have no reason to think the number has significantly shrunk, though the rate of increase may well have dropped. These are not always evangelistic trips. Some go to build buildings, or dig wells, or offer various types of medical services. Such trips would fall under the ministry of service, as just discussed. But many do include a significant evangelistic component. There is much to commend about this development. Many people are exposed for the first time to the true needs of another part of the world and begin to give sacrificially. Others are deeply moved and begin to consider that obedience to the Great Commission might mean for them not simply sending, praying for, and supporting others, but actually going. And this is not to mention the significant good that such short-term teams can do. Wells are dug; buildings are built; the sick do receive care; many lost people hear the gospel-all things that may not have happened without the short­ term team. But there is a stewardship issue that needs consideration. Airplane tickets are costly; providing food, lodging and translators for foreigners is costly. Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert observe that in many parts of the world, "The money spent on a single STM [short-term mission] team for a one to two-week experience would be sufficient to support more than a dozen far more effective indigenous workers for an entire year'"?' And in areas where there are no indigenous workers, such

funds may support a full-time missionary who could stay on the field, learn the language, develop relationships and plant a church that could then plant other churches. This is not to call for a moratorium on short-term mission trips. Send­ ing money to support indigenous workers can also create unhealthy finan­ cial dependence, and some would say that the money spent on short-term mission trips would not be given to missions at all otherwise. The latter may be true; some people may be willing to give for a plane ticket for themselves or a loved one who would never give to a missions organiza­ tion, but if true, it is sad and simply not good stewardship. The result that should come from involvement in short-term trips is a deeper connec­ tion to, more passionate praying for, and increased giving to long- term

103.

Corbett and Fikkert, When Helping Hurts, 1 5 1 .

104.

Ibid., 1 6 1 .

THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH

291

missionaries. If that is not the result of short-term trips, perhaps there are ways they could be improved.

105

Over the past two centuries, the missionary enterprise supported by Baptists and many others around the world has borne fruit and made Christianity the first and only truly worldwide religion. There are still many unreached peoples and areas that have been resistant to Christi­ anity, but the accomplishments of the missionary movement have been remarkable yet largely unreported. Some seem to think that the influence of Christianity is waning and that America is becoming a post-Christian nation. That may or may not be true of America, but it is definitely not the case worldwide. As Philip Jenkins has shown, the center of Christian­ ity may be moving from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere, but demographic evidence suggests that Christianity will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.!" We will look at the implications of the globaliza­ tion of the church in more detail in chapter 1 3 . In conclusion, these are the five mandated ministries of the church. They are God's assignment to churches,

inherent in the nature of the

church. This holistic assignment also distinguishes the church from para­ church groups that serve more specialized functions. By contrast, churches are called to provide all five of these ministries to all types of peoples. That is their challenge and their glory. Only as they keep all five in balance can they be as healthy and fruitful as God intends them to be.

105.

See "Suggestions for Improving the Impact of STMS:' in Corbett and Fikkert, Hurts, 163-67.

106.

See the fascinating analysis in Jenkins, The Next Christendom.

When Helping

C H A P T E R

1 1

M O RE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS Baptism and the Lord's Supper

WE

TURN NOW TO TWO

important acts that have occasioned much discus­

sion, controversy, and division among churches in the course of history, particularly following the Reformation. The first, baptism, provided the name for Baptists, due to their distinctive practice of it. The second, the Lord's Supper, remains the central act of worship in Catholic churches and to a lesser degree in some other denominations.

1

Yet for all their importance, there seems to be a lack of interest in, and even a sense of embarrassment concerning, these corporate acts of commitment among Baptists. To some degree, this may be due to the fact that Baptists have regarded these acts as symbolic and thus intrin­ sically less important than the realities they symbolize. Americans, on the whole, seem less appreciative of ritual and symbolism than those of many other cultures. Some in Baptist life have expressed regret at the divisions caused by different perspectives on these acts and seem ready

1.

For an extensive discussion of the views of Baptists and others on baptism and the Lord's Supper, see John S. Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2015).

293

CHAPTER 1 1

294

to revise traditional Baptist views to be more inclusive of others.

2

The

minimizing of these rites is also reflected in the often sloppy, haphaz­ ard, dry celebration of them in Baptist churches. Rarely are they high times of worship in Baptist life; rather, they are performed as part of the tradition (in the case of communion, as infrequently as possible) with little expectancy or joy. There is, thus, considerable need to rethink Baptist views of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and considerable room for improvement in Baptists, celebration of them.

INTRODUCTORY ISSUES

The Proper Terminology We face an initial problem of terminology in discussing baptism and the Lord's Supper: what should we call them? Books variously refer to them as rites, rituals, ceremonies, and acts, but the word most often used throughout Christian history has been sacrament. Sacramentum was the word chosen in the Latin translation of the New Testament for the Greek word mysterion, which, ironically, was never used in the New Testament in connection with either baptism or the Lord's Supper. As a secular term, a sacramentum was an oath of loyalty made by a Roman soldier to his commander and thus was not totally alien to the meaning of baptism or the Lord's Supper. However, as the Catholic Church developed its theol­ ogy and began to apply the word to certain practices, especially the Lord's Supper, the meaning attributed to sacrament began to evolve.

2.

The

traditional

Baptist

insistence

on

believer's

baptism

by

immersion

as

a condition

for

membership in Baptist churches is being dropped by many Baptist churches in England (see David Bebbington, Baptists through the Centuries: History of a Global People [Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, Practice in

2010],

191;

and

Anthony Cross,

Twentieth-Century Britain,

Baptism

and

the

Baptists:

Theology

and

Studies in Baptist History and Thought (Carlisle, UK

and Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 334-41) and by a much smaller number among Baptists in North America (G. Todd Wilson, "Why Baptists Should Not Rebaptize Christians from Other Denominations;' in Proclaiming the Baptist Vision: Baptism and the Lord's Supper, ed. Walter Shurden [Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 1 9 9 9 ] , 5:41-48; and John Piper, "Response to Grudem on Baptism and Church Membership;' at http://desiringgod.org/blog/Posts/response­ to-grudem-on-baptism-abd-church-membership/print

[ accessed

7/6/ 17] ).

The

traditional

Baptist insistence on believer's baptism as a condition for participation in the Lord's Supper has been even more widely abandoned, with only 35 percent of Southern Baptist pastors surveyed saying their church limits participation to those baptized as a believer (see Carol Pipes, "Lifeway Surveys Lord's Supper Practices of SBC Churches;' at http://www.lifeway.com/ Article/research­ survey-lords-supper-practices-sbc-churches [ accessed 6/ 1 5 / 2 0 1 7 ] ) .

295

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

Perhaps the most well-known definition of sacrament is that given by Augustine: a visible sign of an invisible grace.

3

More problematic was the

growing assertion that the sacraments conveyed God's grace to the recipient. By the time of the Reformation, the sacraments were thought to communi­ cate grace in an almost mechanical way. The phrase used to refer to this view is ex opere operato, «from the work done:' The meaning is that the sacrament conveys grace by the mere fact that is it properly done, apart from faith on the part of the recipient. For example, the Council of Trent, meeting in 154 7, promulgated this decree: «If anyone says that by the sacraments of the new law grace is not conferred ex opere operato, but that faith alone in the divine promise is sufficient to obtain grace, let him be anathema." This, of course, was written to counter the claim of Luther and the Reformers as a whole that we receive grace by faith. Even today, a prominent Catholic theology text defines sacrament as «a sign through which the Church manifests and celebrates its faith and communicates the saving grace of God," Today, most Protestants use the word sacraments for these acts and can even describe the sacraments as «means of grace;' but without the idea that they are salvific or convey grace apart from faith.

6

Early Baptists

used the terms sacraments and ordinances interchangeably, but in the eighteenth and especially in the nineteenth century, opposition developed among Baptists to the use of the term «sacrament;' due to concern that the term connoted the transmission of saving grace to recipients apart from

faith,

and thus threatened the

doctrine

of justification by faith.

7

Opposition to the term «sacrament" continues for many Baptists today, but is weakening some. Gregg Allison may reflect a growing trend among Baptists in stating, «Out of deference to evangelicals who use both terms,

3.

See Augustine, "On the Catechising of the Uninstructed;' in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, ed. Philip Schaff (New York: Christian Publishing,

1887; reprint, Peabody, MA:

Hendrickson, 1994), 3 : 3 1 3 (ch. 26.50). 4.

Canon 8 from the "Canons on the Sacraments in General;' in Janz, ed., A Reformation Reader, 359.

5.

McBrien, Catholicism, 1250.

6.

Wayne Grudem defines the means of grace as "any activities within the fellowship that God uses to give more grace to

Christians;' and specifically includes what he calls "the two sacraments"

within those means of grace. See Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester, UK: Inter-Varsity/Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 950. Emphasis in original. 7.

David Bebbington (Baptists through the Centuries, 177-95) and Stanley Fowler (More 1han A Symbol:

1he British Baptist Recovery of Baptismal Sacramentalism, Studies in Baptist History

and Thought, vol. 2 [Carlisle, UK and Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2002], 10-88) trace these developments, with Bebbington offering five possible reasons for the change and Fowler six, but both see anti-Catholicism as an important aspect.

CHAPTER 1 1

296

I will refer to these rites as both sacraments and ordinances, though I personally prefer the latter term." Neither term can claim biblical warrant; indeed, there is no specific biblical term used for these rites. Thus, one can use rite, ritual, ceremony, act, celebration, sacrament, or ordinance; what matters is the meaning one attaches. Most Baptists, at least in the North American context, still attach troubling associations to the term sacrament and prefer ordinance, and I will use that term most often in this chapter and book. But I would want to challenge one understanding of ordinance. Leonard Vander Zee sees these terms as reflecting what he calls the "great divide" in interpretations of baptism and the Lord's Supper: "On the one side are those for whom the sacramental signs merely point to God and invite our faith in him but do not involve any action on God's part. On the other side, God uses the signs to point us to Christ and bind us to him:' He associates the former with the term "ordinances" and the latter with "sacraments." Vander Zee may be accurate; probably many use the term ordinance to avoid any implica­ tion that God acts salvifically in baptism or the Lord's Supper. But I do not think that using the term ordinance means that one cannot see God as acting in other non-saving ways in baptism and the Lord's Supper. Later in this chapter I will suggest what some such ways may be.

The Proper Number Baptism and the Lord's Supper have been almost universally recognized as ordinances given to the church by Christ; among the churches growing out of the Reformation, they have been regarded as the only true sacra­ ments.

10

Among Catholics, while these two have been strongly affirmed,

they have not been the only sacraments. Augustine used the word sacra­

mentum for the Lord's Prayer and the Creed, another medieval theologian specified as many as thirty sacraments,

11

and contemporary Catholic theo­

logian Richard McBrien says that one of the essential aspects of Catholicism is its "sacramental vision" in which virtually anything can become a "carrier of the divine presence?" The traditional formulation, which dates from at

8.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 322.

9.

Leonard Vander Zee,

Christ,

Baptism

and

the Lord's

Supper:

Recovering the

Sacraments for

Evangelical Worship (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2004), 30.

10. 11.

The only exceptions are the Quakers and the Salvation Army, which observe no sacraments. F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, eds., "Sacrament;' in Cross and Livingstone, eds., Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 1 2 1 8 .

12.

McBrien, Catholicism, 10.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

least the twelfth century,

297

sees seven sacraments: baptism,

confirmation,

the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper, penance, matrimony, holy orders, and extreme unction ( also called last rites or anointing of the sick).

13

The East­

ern Orthodox Church also recognizes seven sacraments, but uses slightly different terminology for the five other than baptism and the Lord's Supper ( chrismation, repentance, ordination, marriage, and holy unction).

14

The criteria by which the Reformers ( and Baptists) have limited the number of ordinances to two have been: ( 1 ) they must have been directly instituted by Christ, and (2) they must be directly related to the gospel; that is, they must "depict in a symbolic manner the central story of Jesus and our union with him?" On these grounds, they have maintained that only baptism and the Lord's Supper qualify. The Council of Trent claimed that Christ instituted all seven of the Catholic sacraments, but attempts to find such occasions in the New Testament have led to disagreements among Catholic theologians themselves.

16

Robert Saucy is more blunt,

claiming that it is impossible to find a biblical basis for any ordinances other than baptism and the Lord's Supper," Some Baptists have argued for foot washing as an ordinance. It was instituted by Christ, but has been seen as relating more to how Christians should serve one another than to the gospel, and thus has never been widely accepted as an ordinance.

The Proper Administrator The question of the proper administrator of the sacraments is raised mainly by the idea that ordination gives to the one ordained special rights or powers. For example, in Roman Catholicism, it is only when a properly ordained priest says the words, "This is my body;' that God performs the miracle of transubstantiation, whereby the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ. As officers of the church, the priests are

13.

For more on the development and definition of the list of seven sacraments in Catholicism, in which Peter Lombard was a key figure, see Alister McGrath, Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought (Oxford, UK and Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998), 120, 139-43;

and Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 25-32. 14.

See John Karmiris, "Concerning the Sacraments;' in Eastern Orthodox Theology: A Contemporary Reader, ed. Daniel Clendenin ( Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995), 22: and The Living God: A Catechism for the Christian Faith, trans. Ola Dunlop (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1989), 2:xx-xxi.

15.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 676.

16.

Cross and Livingstone, "Sacrament;' 1 2 1 8 .

17.

Saucy, The Church in God's Program, 192.

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298

the ones that manage the grace conveyed through the sacraments. There­ fore, they are the ones who must perform the sacraments. The Reformers, and Luther in particular, championed the principle of the priesthood of all believers. Yet they maintained the propriety of only pastors administering the sacraments for the sake of order. Luther says, "what would happen if everyone wanted to speak or administer, and no one wanted to give way to the other? It must be entrusted to one person, and he alone should be allowed to preach, to baptize, to absolve, and to administer the sacraments,":" More recently, Louis Berkhof has gone beyond the proper administrator simply being a matter of order, reason­ ing from the idea that baptism and the Lord's Supper are among the offi­ cial means of grace given by God to the church: "As the official means of grace placed at the disposal of the Church, both the Word and the sacra­ ments can only be administered by the lawful and properly qualified officers of the Church?" But it seems equally possible to take Berkhof s premise

( that the ordinances are given to the church as official means of grace) to lead to a different conclusion: therefore, they may be administered by anyone the church designates. In most cases, the obvious persons for the church to designate are its leaders. But there is no reason why someone must be ordained to admin­ ister baptism or the Lord's Supper. It may be wise to give some instruction to those baptizing or administering the Lord's Supper for the first time, but all that would seem necessary from a Baptist or congregational perspec­ tive would be congregational approval. Thus, in many Baptist churches it is not uncommon to see a father baptizing his own son, and I would see no theological problem with a mother baptizing her daughter, or in other cases, having the person most instrumental in a person's conversion to administer the baptism. I think it would be wise to have some pasto­ ral instruction and supervision, and important to have congregational approval, but any limitation of administrators to ordained persons seems to go beyond Scripture and contrary to the principle of the priesthood of all believers and congregationalism. But this argument rests on the prem­ ise that the ordinances are given in a special sense to local churches, which leads to the next question.

18.

Martin Luther, "On the Councils and the Church;' in Luther, Basic Theological Writings, 5 5 1 .

19.

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1939), 6 1 0 . Emphasis in original.

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299

The Proper Setting There is widespread agreement that the administration of the ordi­ nances belongs to local churches. This agreement is based on a number of factors. First, the command to baptize (Matt. 2 8 : 1 9 - 2 0 ) was given to the apostles not as independent individuals, but as the authorized leaders of the early church. New Testament descriptions of baptism and the Lord's Supper seem to assume that these activities normally take place in the context of a church, or in the case of some baptisms, at the beginning stage of a church's establishment (as in Acts 2 : 4 1 ; 8 : 1 2 ; 1 6 : 1 5 ) .

20

More important, as will be argued below, the meanings of baptism and the Lord's Supper link both to the church. Stanley Grenz says, "the mean­ ing of the sacred practices lies in their use as acts of commitment within the context of the community of Jesus' disciples"; they are the means by which "we initially affirm and repeatedly reaffirm our inclusion in the community'?' Millard Erickson notes that virtually all Christians agree that baptism is connected "with one's initiation into the universal, invis­ ible church as well as the local, visible church.?" In the case of the Lord's Supper, the connection is even clearer. The key text on the Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 1 1 : 17-34, speaks of the church meeting or coming together (sunerkomai) for this purpose five times in this brief passage. Clearly, it is

an act "to be celebrated by the assembled church" rather than "a solitary observance on the part of individuals.?" In

addition

to

biblical

and

theological

reasons,

there

are

practical

reasons why most parachurch groups and interdenominational groups leave the ordinances to local churches. In such gatherings, there will normally be a variety of understandings of these acts. Observing them would promote confusion rather than worship. Also, most parachurch groups seek to minis­ ter alongside (para) churches rather than in competition with them. The ordinances are normally seen as belonging to the church. This does not mean that there can be no ordinances observed except in a church building. Outdoor baptisms are practiced by many churches in lakes and provide a wonderful opportunity for public testimony. But the

20.

The only clear example of a baptism that does not seem connected in any way to an established or beginning church is that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:36-39, but there are a number of elements in this account that mark it as an exception, rather than the rule.

21.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 673.

22.

Erickson, Christian Theology, 1 0 1 7 .

23.

Strong, Systematic Theology, 961.

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300

ordinances involve commitment to a body of believers (in baptism) and renewal of that commitment (in the Lord's Supper) and thus cannot be properly observed in a context unrelated to a church. They are not appro­ priate for loosely related groups like those found, for example, on a youth retreat, or a small portion of the church, like a home Bible study.

24

Perhaps

the most common non-church setting is a wedding, in which a couple want to have their first act as a married couple to be partaking of the Lord's Supper. It is not that such celebrations of the Lord's Supper or baptism are sinful. They simply cannot, by their nature, embody the full meaning of baptism and the Lord's Supper, for that meaning is tied to the church. However, in situations where a church member is unable to attend public worship, the Lord's Supper may be carried to such a one by representatives of the church and would in fact be an important way for such a one to affirm that, though separated physically from the body of believers, she or he remains committed and one with them in spirit. But the normal setting for observation of the ordinances is the gatherings of the church.

The Proper Perspective The final issue in this preliminary overview is that of perspective. Before we turn to the individual ordinances and the meaning of each, we should notice an interesting dualism of perspectives that colors one's interpretation of the ordinances. We alluded to this dualism earlier under the discussion of the proper terminology, what Leonard Vander Zee calls «the great divide;' between those who see baptism and the Lord's Supper as «means of expressing faith to God;' and those who see them as «a means of receiving grace from God:'

25

Another way of putting it is asking, who acts

when we observe baptism and the Lord's Supper? Is it just humans who testify to faith, who do this in remembrance of Christ, who proclaim the Lord's death until he comes, or is God also at work in these observances? Vander Zee associates the term "ordinances" with those who focus on the human actor, and "sacraments" with those who see some divine action, and while there may be some historical correlation, such differentiation of meaning is not inherent in the terms themselves.

24.

There

seems

to

be

increasing

online

discussions

of this

issue

with

some

large

churches

encouraging celebration of the Lord's Supper in small groups, and others affirming that the setting of a baptism does not matter. See Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 42-44.

25.

Vander Zee, Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 30.

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301

Some see the ordinances as places where God acts. He ministers help and encouragement; he seals and confirms. He is there in blessing, and the ordinances can be means of grace- not the grace that saves, but that which strengthens and upholds a believer. If not carefully qualified, this position can veer toward an ex opere operato view and thus we must maintain that the ordinances do not automatically dispense grace but must be met with faith. On the other hand, Baptists typically emphasize the human actions involved in the ordinances. At baptism, we emphasize that those who are coming are coming to testify of their faith in Christ. They are the actors. They are buried; they are raised. Likewise in the Lord's Supper, we remem­ ber Christ's body broken and his blood spilled for us. We proclaim Christ's death. The focus is on what we do. But there is no reason to exclude God acting in the ordinances as well. The danger here is missing a blessing God may have for us, because we never look for it. Both perspectives have a part in the ordinances. In addition to the traditional Baptist emphasis on human action, this chapter also points out how God is active around us in the ordinances and how we may seek to receive his blessing.

BAPTISM: THE ORDINANCE OF CONVERSION/INITIATION In some ways it is ironic, yet understandable, that the opponents of Baptists chose to identify them by the term Baptists. It is ironic because the more fundamental idea prompting the origin of Baptists was their idea of the church as a pure body composed of believers only. It is understandable because their practice of baptism was the most obvious and visible expres­ sion of their idea of the church. Baptists differed most visibly in the subjects and mode of baptism. That is, they baptized no infants, but only those of an age to make a credible decision of faith, and they baptized them by immer­ sion, not sprinkling. But underlying these visible differences was their view of the meaning of baptism. It is to that topic that we turn our attention first.

The Meaning of Baptism Millard Erickson rightly says,

"It is almost universally agreed that

baptism is in some way connected with the beginning of the Christian life" He himself calls it "the initiatory rite of the church?" But baptism

26.

Erickson, Christian Theology, 1 0 1 6 - 1 7 .

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302

links

initiation

and

conversion,

for baptism

is

linked

to

all

the

other

components involved in the process of becoming a Christian. Robert Stein sees baptism as one of five "integrally related components" found in the accounts of conversion in the book of Acts: "repentance, faith, confession, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, and baptisrn.?" Leonard Vander Zee goes further, bluntly claiming that baptism "is used almost interchange­ 28

ably with conversion, regeneration, and salvation itself:'

G. R. Beasley­

Murray, in one of the most important studies of baptism, insists that "in

the New Testament precisely the same gifts of grace are associated with faith as with baptism"?' But what is it about baptism that makes it appropri­ ate to associate with initiation/ conversion? There seem three aspects of its meaning that justify this association. The

first

way that

baptism

came

to

be

conversion is the idea of cleansing, which

associated

with

initiation/

is one of the major uses

of

water. As Beasley-Murray observes, "Cleansing is the primary meaning of baptism in all religious groups that have practiced it:'

30

Of course, it

is not the washing of dirt from the body that is in view in baptism ( see 1 Petere3:21), but cleansing from sin. Thus, Ananias commands Paul, "Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name" (Acts 2 2 : 1 6 ) . The second way that baptism is associated with initiation/ conversion is that it signifies identification with Christ and union with Christ. This is seen in the baptismal formula, being baptized "in ( or 'into') the name of Jesus

Christ?" Such a formula implies a transfer of ownership, as when money is deposited in a bank "in the name of" a certain person. The one baptized confesses the name as an expression of trust and allegiance; the name is invoked over the one baptized, in recognition of Christ's authority. Paul, in his teaching on baptism in Romans 6 : 3 - 1 0 , sees baptism as involving union with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. Similarly, in Galatians 3:27, being baptized "into Christ" is explained as having "clothed yourselves with

27.

Robert

Stein,

"Baptism

in

Luke-Acts;'

in

Believer's

Baptism:

Sign

of the

New

Covenant

in

Christ, eds. Thomas Schreiner and Shawn Wright, NAC Studies in Bible and Theology, ed. Ray

Clendenen (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2006), 52. 28. 29.

Vander Zee, Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 85. G. R. Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

1962), 272.

Emphasis on original. 30.

Ibid., 104.

31.

The wording of the formula varies slightly, from "in the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 2:38, 10:48) to "into Christ" (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27) to the fuller formula, "in the name of the Father and

of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ( only in Matt. 28: 1 9 ) . For the meaning, see Lars Hartman, 'Into the Name of the Lord Jesus': Baptism in the Early Church (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1997), 44-50.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

303

Christ:' which, F. F. Bruce says, is "another way of expressing incorporation into him?" Baptism means that we are identified with and united to Christ. A third aspect of the meaning of baptism comes as a consequence of the second. One cannot be identified with Jesus without also being iden­ tified with his people. Joseph Hellerman calls salvation "a community­ creating event" and argues that conversion involves "both our justification and our familification?" This is seen in the order of events in Acts 2 : 4 1 , where those who believed the message "were baptized" and "were added" to the body of believers. Admittedly, this is not always obvious in all the examples in the book of Acts, for in many cases, those being baptized were the founding members of the church in their area. There was no already­ existing church for them to be added to.

1 Corinthians 1 2 : 1 3 explicitly

links baptism and incorporation into the body of Christ, but there is some disagreement about whether the baptism referred to is Spirit baptism or 34

water baptism. The latter is the majority view,

but simply the insepa­

rable connection of Christ to his body has been enough to lead almost all Christian groups down through history to see baptism into Christ as also involving initiation into his body, the church.

35

While some add further elements to the meaning of baptism beyond these three,

36

these three seem most clearly to express the meaning of

baptism. What has not been as clear has been the precise relationship of baptism to purification, identification with Christ, and incorporation into his body. Typically, Baptists have seen baptism as symbolic; that is, baptism does not itself effect or accomplish purification, identification or incorporation, but symbolizes that they have been accomplished by faith. Faith is the reality; baptism is the symbol of faith, testifying to what faith has accomplished. But in the latter half of the twentieth century a number

32.

F.

F.

Bruce,

The Epistle

to

the

Galatians,

New International Greek Testament Commentary

Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 186. 33.

Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family, 143.

34.

Beasley-Murray argues for water baptism, the majority view (Baptism 167-71); James Dunn advocates the opposing view (Baptism

in

in

the New Testament,

the Holy Spirit

[Philadelphia:

Westminster, 1970], 129). For a survey of more recent scholarship on this text, see A. C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 997-1001.

35.

For affirmations of this understanding by Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Baptists, see Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 120. For an argument that baptism is required for church membership, see Bobby Jamieson, Going Public: Why Baptism Is Required for Church Membership (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2015).

36.

Vander Zee sees seven "main themes" in New Testament teaching on baptism ( Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 85); Allison distinguishes five aspects of baptism's meaning (Sojourners and Strangers, 357).

CHAPTER 1 1

304

of British Baptists have argued for a more

"sacramental" understanding

of baptism; that is, a view that sees baptism as that which "mediates the experience of salvific union with Christ:' In other words, "one submits to baptism as a penitent sinner in order to experience the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, rather than as a confirmed disciple in order to bear witness to a past experience of union with Christ?" Beasley-Murray is seen by many as the pioneer of this position. He does not deny that baptism is a symbol, but it is "a symbol with power, that is, a sacrament'?" He does not say that baptism is necessary, for it is Christ who saves, not baptism. But he does say, "It behooves us accordingly to make much of baptism. It is given as the trysting place of the sinner with 39

the Saviour; he who has met Him there will not despise if'

I do not find this position fully convincing. I think any overall read­ ing of the New Testament shows the priority of faith in salvation. Even in the texts that most closely associate baptism and salvation (Acts 2 : 3 8 and 1 Peter 3 : 2 1 ) , "faith is either imputed or explicitly stated along with baptism.':" and there are many texts where conversion occurs and baptism is not mentioned. But I think these fellow Baptists may be alerting us to the possibility of seeing baptism, not just as something we do, but some­ thing in which God is active. It may be given to us, not to effect salvation, but "to confirm the realities of salvation.?" Wayne Grudem lists baptism among the "means of grace" by which God may deepen our assurance of salvation and increase our realization of the power of Christ's life in us.

42

Though John Calvin would differ from Baptists in his understanding of baptism, I find his definition of sacrament consonant with the New Testa­ ment evidence. He says, a sacrament "is an outward sign by which the Lord seals on our consciences the promises of his good will toward us in order to sustain the weakness of our faith; and we in turn attest our piety toward him in the presence of the Lord and of his angels and before men?"

37.

Stanley Fowler, More Than a Symbol: The British Baptist Recovery of Baptismal Sacramentalism, Studies in Baptist History and Thought (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster, 2002), 2:6. Fowler has been the most persistent defender of this position.

This is his most complete presentation and

defense of it. 38.

Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the New Testament, 263.

39.

Ibid., 305.

40.

Saucy, Church in God's Program, 197.

41.

Ibid., 198.

42.

Grudem, Systematic Theology, 953-54.

43.

Calvin, Institutes, 2 1 : 1 2 7 7 ( 4 . 1 4 . 1 ) .

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

305

I would state the last part more strongly to include the idea of testifying to faith, but I think the first part states what God may do in baptism well. I am not convinced that God bestows the same blessing in every case of baptism, but I want us to be open and expectant that since God has ordained baptism for our blessing, when we act in believing obedience to what he has ordained, we can expect him to act toward us in bless­ ing.

It may be in confirmation or assurance or empowering, but God

has ordained baptism for a reason, and we may expect him to act in and through it. I use the verb "ordain" here because I think such an under­ standing can fit as well with baptism as an ordinance as a sacrament. I think God uses tangible, physical symbols like water because we are physical, sense-bound creatures. The decision to trust Christ for salva­ tion is something that happens on a spiritual level, in the heart (Rom. 1 0 : 1 0 ) , but we need some way to make that internal decision external

and concrete. That is why we often ask people to respond to the gospel in an external way. It may be "walking down the aisle" or "saying the sinner's prayer:' We warn people that such acts don't save, but they make the invisible decision of faith visible and concrete. I do not oppose either of these practices, but I do think baptism is the appointed sign by which we make our faith visible, and I think God is pleased when we use the means he has ordained. A lovely analogy is provided by marriage. Faith may be compared to the love that binds two people together. It develops internally and leads two people to make a commitment to each other. The wedding is the occa­ sion where that love is publicly celebrated, confessed, and confirmed. It does not create the love, but it expresses and seals it in a beautiful and solemn way. Likewise, baptism does not create faith or union with Christ, 44

but it confesses, celebrates, and confirms it.

It is the occasion when one,

almost literally, takes the plunge. In

summary, baptism

is

the

ordinance

of conversion/initiation.

It

reflects and symbolizes purification from sin, union and identification with Christ, and initiation and incorporation into the church. As God's ordained means of testifying to faith, we may expect God to act in blessing when we believingly obey his command.

44.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 685, also notes the usefulness of marriage as an analogy.

CHAPTER 1 1

306

Who May Be Baptized? The proper subjects for baptism is the topic that has most dominated discussions of baptism in the past five hundred years. By the time of the Reformation, infant baptism had been practiced for more than a thousand years. It was one of the ways in which church and state were united; every citizen of the state was made a member of the church via infant baptism. The union of church and state was seen as essential to societal order and cohesion, and so infant baptism had theological, political, and social ramifications. Reformation theology had challenged the sacramental theology that saw the Lord's Supper as channeling grace to the recipients in an automatic

(ex opere operato) manner, insisting that God's grace is given to those who come to God by faith. Apart from faith, the sacraments have no value. Such a view raised natural questions about the validity of infant baptism, for it is difficult to demonstrate that infants are believers when baptized. It 45

is true that Luther argued that infants can and do have faith,

but few have

found his argument convincing. More common ways to link faith and the baptism of infants have been to see their baptism as looking to future faith, or to see their baptism as justified by the faith of others ( either the parents or the church) exercised on their behalf. In the first case, the difficulty is that this makes the value of their baptism conditional and raises the ques­ tions, what of the baptism of those infants who do not come to faith? Was it, after all, a mistake to baptize them? What did God do when they were baptized? In the second case, the idea that someone may have faith on behalf of another seems contrary to one of the core beliefs of evangelical Christians: that Christianity involves a personal relationship with Christ, 46

not a relationship via proxy.

Moreover, the Reformation concern to base all of theology on Scrip­ ture alone also raised questions about infant baptism. The earliest Anabap­ tists and later Baptists challenged infant baptism because they could not find it in Scripture. Indeed, one of the most common reasons for conver­ sion to Baptist views down through history has been the perceived biblical support for the Baptist position on baptism. With such theological and

45.

Martin Luther, "Concerning Rebaptism," in LW 40, 254-57. Yet Luther says that even if infants don't have faith, infant baptism is still valid, for faith can come later. Baptists have responded that since we don't know which will or will not come to faith, we should wait until faith becomes evident to baptize them.

46.

Jewett says that the idea that a sponsor can have faith for a child "is wholly without warrant in the Scripture and repugnant to the fundamental truth that no one can receive and rest upon Christ for salvation by proxy" (Jewett, Infant Baptism, 184).

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

307

biblical questions, how had infant baptism become dominant? What argu­ ments can be adduced in its favor? There are hints at a developing practice of infant baptism by the end of the second century, with Origen claiming apostolic warrant for it in an oral tradition.

47

However, other churches still required a period of instruction

( the catechumenate) prior to baptism, and thus were practicing something close to believer's baptism. As on many other issues, the influence of Augus­ tine was decisive on this issue. Around 400, he gave the classic justifica­ tion for infant baptism, as that which washes away the stain of original sin. Moreover, Augustine taught that infants who die without receiving infant baptism are forever barred from heaven. Thereafter, infant baptism became the norm.

48

By the time of the Reformation, infant baptism was deeply

ingrained in society and was the unquestioned assumption of the church. In fact, Luther, who on other issues challenged tradition in the name of Scrip­ ture, used tradition to argue for infant baptism against the Anabaptists. He said that if infant baptism was not valid, "it would follow that for more than a thousand years there was no baptism or any Christendom, which is impossible?" As mentioned above, Luther also postulated the existence of infant faith, but the major arguments for infant baptism have come from Zwingli, Calvin, and the Reformed branch of Christendom. One often-mentioned support for the idea of infant baptism is the household

baptisms

mentioned

in

Acts

10:44-48;

16:33-34;

18:8;

and

1 Corinthians 1 : 1 6 . Since the whole household was baptized in each case,

advocates of infant baptism

(or paedobaptists)

argue that it is probable

that at least some of the households included infants." But G. R. Beasley­ Murray has shown that a close examination of the texts in question raises doubts about the presence of infants, for the members of the households are described as hearing the message of the gospel, receiving the Spirit, speak-

47.

Two classic works which trace the historical evidence for the emergence of infant baptism are Joachim Jeremias, Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries, trans. David Cairns (London: SCM Press, 1960) and Kurt Aland, Did the Early Church Baptize Infants? trans. G. R. Beasley-Murray (London: SCM Press, 1963). See the review of their debate in David Wright, Infant Baptism in Historical Perspective: Collected Studies, Studies in Christian History and Thought (Milton

Keynes, UK and Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2007), 4-20. For a summary of the evidence, see Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 1 3 1 - 3 4 . 48.

David Wright says, "More than any other factor, Augustine's anti- Pelagian theology universalized infant baptism in the West" (Infant Baptism, xxvii).

49. 50.

Luther, "Concerning Rebaptisrn," 256. See Jonathan Watt, "The Oikos Formula:' in The Case for Covenantal Infant Baptism, ed. Gregg Strawbridge (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2003), 84.

CHAPTER 1 1

308

ing in tongues, praising God, and most important of all, as believing. the

51

If

infants believed, then they were certainly appropriate candidates for

baptism, but the context strongly implies that infants were not present. Another

argument

is

sometimes

made

from

the

account

in

the

Gospels of children being brought to Jesus (Matt. 1 9 : 1 3 - 1 5 ; Mark 1 0 : 1 3 -

1 6 ; Luke 1 8 : 1 5 - 1 7 ) . But here, too, careful attention to the text shows that the parents brought their children to be blessed by Jesus, and to have him touch them and pray for them, but not to be baptized. However,

the

most

important

and

distinctive

52

argument

for

baptism comes from Reformed teaching on the covenant of grace. paedobaptists

will

acknowledge

that

there

is

no

clear

infant

53

example

Some of the

baptism of infants in the New Testament. They think that this is due to the pioneer missionary situation in the New Testament. Once churches had been established and Christian families began to have children, they think infant baptism was appropriate and defend the practice with what is called the covenantal case for infant baptism. While different Reformed theolo­ gians develop the argument in slightly different ways, the central ideas are clear and command wide agreement among Reformed theologians.

54

The

argument is from continuity in the covenants through which God deals with his people down through

history. As children were brought into the

Abrahamic covenant community through the sign of circumcision, given to infants, so the children of believing parents today are brought into the new covenant community through the covenant sign of baptism, which

51. 52.

Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the New Testament, 3 1 2 - 1 6 . Paul Jewett notes that the words of Jesus in this text concerning not hindering the children from coming to him "have been quoted or summarized in virtually every order of worship for the giving of baptism to infants ever prepared under Lutheran, Anglican, Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational or Methodist auspices" (Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace, 56). But recognizing the weakness of this argument, contemporary paedobaptists have backed off from using it. See Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 134-35.

53.

Interestingly, in developing this argument Zwingli acknowledged that he was taking "a different path from that taken either by ancient or more modern writers or by our own contemporaries" (Ulrich Zwingli, "Of Baptism;' in Zwingli and Bullinger, trans. and ed. G. W Bromiley, LCC [Philadelphia: Westminster,

1953,

130]).

I thank Gregg Allison for calling my attention

to

Zwingli's comments (Sojourners and Strangers, 3 5 1 - 5 2 , n. 140). In view of the criticism made against the Anabaptists for advocating a baptism contrary to that practiced universally for a thousand years, it is interesting that Reformed paedobaptists argued for their practice with an argument unprecedented in church history. 54.

In this presentation, I am summarizing the case as given by standard Reformed sources, such as Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 4th and enlarged ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982) and more recent expositions, such as Randy Booth, Children of the Promise: The Biblical Case for Infant Baptism; and Strawbridge, ed., The Covenantal Case for Infant Baptism.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

309

may accordingly be given to infants. As Calvin puts it, "the children of believers are baptized not in order that they who were previously strang­ ers to the church may then for the first time become children of God, but rather that, because by the blessing of the promise they already belonged to the body of Christ, they are received into the church with this solemn sign:'

55

Or as Warfield says more bluntly, "God established his church in

the days of Abraham and put children into it. They must remain there until He puts them out. He has nowhere put them out. They are still then members of His church and as such entitled to its ordinances:'

56

As the most important argument of paedobaptists, this covenantal argument

has

received

believer's baptism.

57

considerable

attention

from

the

defenders

of

While Baptists differ among themselves as to their

position on covenant theology as a whole,

58

they are united in seeing the

covenantal argument for infant baptism as lacking persuasive power for a number of reasons. First, it greatly overstates continuity to the exclusion of discontinu­ ity. The new covenant is new and different, and one of the key points of discontinuity is the composition of the covenant community. Jeremiah 3 1 : 3 1 - 3 4 promises that the new covenant community will be composed of

believers only. New Testament teaching overwhelmingly confirms that the church is to be composed of regenerate persons only, which is the presup­ position for the conviction that baptism is for believers alone. The sign of circumcision could be applied to infants under the old covenant, for the covenant community of which it was the sign was a mixed body. But the church is not to be a mixed body, and thus the sign of that community should not be given to those not yet members of that community. In the

55.

Calvin, Institutes, 2 1 : 1 3 4 3 (4.15.22).

56.

B. B. Warfield, Studies in Theology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1932; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1 9 8 1 ) , 9:408.

57.

See the full book-length response by Jewett, Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace; the lengthy analysis by Stephen Wellum, "Baptism and the Relationships between the Covenants;' in Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, 9 7 - 1 6 1 ; and the shorter but still significant

responses by Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 336-51; and Beasley-Murray, Baptism in the New Testament, 334-44. 58.

Jewett

(Infant Baptism

and

the

Covenant of Grace,

233)

Disciples Alone: A Covenantal Argument for Credo baptism

and Fred Malone

(The Baptism

Versus Paedobaptism

of

[ Cape Coral,

FL: Founders Press, 2003], xxxii) argue that covenantal theology, understood rightly, leads to believer's baptism. Stephen Wellum critiques the covenantal argument for infant baptism as a progressive covenantalist (see Stephen Wellum and Brent Parker, eds., Progressive Covenantalism [Nashville:

B

& H Academic,

(Sojourners and Strangers, 88).

2016],

and

Gregg

Allison

as

a progressive

dispensationalist

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310

only place where Paul compares baptism and circumcision, he actually contrasts them ( Col. 2: 1 1 - 1 2 ) . The only way Paul could describe baptism as a circumcision was as one "not performed by human hands;' but done "by Christ;' which would seem to be what is called elsewhere "circumci­ sion of the heart" (Rom. 2 : 2 9 ) . Thus the purported parallel of Old Testa­ ment infant circumcision to

New Testament baptism breaks

down.

It

overlooks the discontinuity between the covenants, and in fact, asks us to go backward in redemptive history.

59

But even more decisively contradicting infant baptism is the very meaning of baptism. Infant baptism cannot symbolize the purification of those yet to be purified; it cannot be the visual testimony of one identify­ ing with Christ if infants are not in fact capable of doing so, and it cannot be their initiation into the church, if they lack the central requirement for church membership, that of regeneration. But all these fit well with the practice of believer's baptism. Baptists believe the case for believer's baptism is strong and sufficient to justify their limitation of baptism to believers only. In addition to the positive case for believer's baptism and the weakness of arguments for infant baptism, there is also the possible dangers infant baptism could have of confusing children of their need for personal repentance and faith, and blurring the line between the church and the world. Though they have no desire to seem arrogant or "disrespectful of the faith of others'?" to accept the validity of infant baptism seems to them to involve devaluing of Christ's command to be baptized and accepting a practice that altogether misses the meaning of baptism.

The Timing ofBaptism Advocates

of believer's baptism commonly face

a difficulty in the

timing of baptism, particularly in the baptism of children. The church should baptize those making a credible profession of faith, with empha-

59.

Though no source I have seen discusses it at any length, another obvious point of discontinuity is that circumcision was only done to male infants, while in the New Testament males and females are baptized.

60.

This is what Leonard Vander Zee sees as the message communicated by Baptist churches who insist on the rebaptism of those baptized as infants as a requirement to join a Baptist church. He is glad to hear of British Baptist churches much more accepting of infant baptism. But when he says that Christians should not let baptism, "of all things, divide them;' I think he unduly minimizes the importance of baptism (Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 1 3 3 ) .

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

3 1 1

sis on "credible"?' I would not want to limit when God can act to save a child,

62

and in the case of Christian parents who take seriously their

responsibility to raise their children "in the training and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4), children will commonly make professions of faith at a tender age. But at least until relatively recently, Baptist churches thought it wise to delay baptism until time revealed the credibility of childhood professions of faith.

63

Reasons are not hard to see. Children of a tender age

are often desirous of pleasing their parents and may not know themselves whether the motivation to respond to the preaching of the gospel is truly a response to the work of the Spirit of God or comes from their deep trust in their parents. It is not at all that such children are lying; they simply may not yet know their own hearts. We know that in other areas, we do not take a child's decisions very seriously. The girl who says she wants to be a doctor or marry the boy next door may be very sincere, but we know that such decisions are often modified over time. Moreover, the gospel is a message that involves cognitive informa­ tion

and

spiritual

awareness.

When

is

a child

capable

of responsibly,

credibly processing all that is involved in the gospel? Of course, the ques­ tion is unanswerable in any definitive sense. There is no magic number in the Bible, and different children mature at different rates. But William Hendricks and Dale Moody both assert that children must be lost before they can be saved, and Hendricks doubts that children younger than nine 64

can experience the radical separation from God that lostness involves.

Others argue that there is some New Testament support for twelve as the age of accountability, based on Paul's statement in Romans 7:9, which implies that he was not lost until "the commandment came;' a phrase quite possibly referring to his bar mitzvah, that occasion when a young

61.

See the discussion of this question and the importance of a credible profession of faith in Mark Dever, "The Church;' in A Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel Akin, rev. ed. (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2014), 619-20; his fuller discussion in Dever, "Baptism in the Context of the Local Church;' in Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, 344-50; Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 360-62; and Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 165-70.

62.

Mark Driscoll mentions one of his sons who was baptized at the age of four (Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Death by Love: Letters from the Cross [Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008],

163);

Wayne Grudem thinks all three of his children had genuine faith in Christ before the age of seven (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 982, n. 28). 63.

Dever gives a lengthy list of Baptist leaders in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who were raised in Christian homes but were not baptized until their late teens or twenties ("The Church;' 662-63, n. 1 7 1 ) .

64.

Hendricks, A

Theology for Children,

Eerdmans, 1 9 8 1 ) , 462-63.

249;

Dale Moody,

The

Word of Truth

(Grand Rapids:

312

CHAPTER 1 1

boy became a "son of the commandment" and took on adult responsi­ bilities. David Alan Black sees Paul's statement, along with the account of Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve (Luke 2 : 4 1 - 5 0 ) , the common practice of confirmation at the age of twelve among groups which practice infant baptism, and the findings of secular developmental psychologists of important cognitive advances around the age of twelve as all pointing to twelve as an age of transition toward adulthood and its responsibilities.

65

Historically, Baptists were slow to see childhood decisions as credible professions warranting baptism. Things began to change in the twentieth century. By 1966, baptisms of those eight years of age and younger amounted to ten percent of all baptisms in Southern Baptist churches, and baptisms of those six and younger increased by 250 percent in the years between 1977 and 1997.

66

I have both theological and pastoral concerns over these trends.

As indicated above, I am not at all sure that all of these very young children have reached the age of accountability, or if they have the abil­ ity to experience genuine repentance and faith. If taught well, they may be able to articulate sound answers to a pastor's or parent's questions, but have they the spiritual awareness to experience the realities to which those answers point? Even if God should work supernaturally in their hearts, is it wise for Baptist churches to certify their faith as credible by baptizing them? The problems of widespread nominal membership, in which many baptized church members lead lives indistinguishable from that of non­ believers-and the widespread practice of what are called "rebaptisms''? in which many formerly baptized in Baptist churches ask to be rebaptized due to their conviction that they were not truly regenerate when first baptized-suggest that it is time to reconsider the wisdom of affirming the credibility of childhood professions through the administration of believer's baptism to them. Some recommend nine years as a minimum age for baptism; others twelve, or the teen years.

68

But there are two objections to such policies.

65.

Black, The Myth of Adolescence, 59-67.

66.

See the data compiled by Tony Hemphill, "The Practice of Infantile Baptism in Southern Baptist Churches and Subsequent Impact on Regenerate Church Membership;' Faith & Mission 18, no. 3 (Summer 2001), 74-87.

67.

The term "rebaptisrn" is actually a misnomer. If faith was not present, biblical baptism did not occur. What such persons are receiving is not a rebaptism, but their first true baptism. By its nature, baptism is nonrepeatable. But since the term is widely used, it will be used here.

68.

See Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 168-69, for suggestions ranging from eight to eighteen.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

313

The first is the assertion that the biblical pattern, especially in the book of Acts, is immediate baptism.

69

The second is that, by its nature, baptism

is an initiatory rite and a command of the Lord. Thus, many see it as a believer's first act of obedience." Why stand in the way of a believer seek­ ing to obey his Lord? I think there are two despite the

claims

factors that weaken these objections.

of a strong

New Testament pattern

First,

of immediate

baptism, the pattern is not nearly as strong as claimed. By my count, there are six accounts in Acts where baptism does seem to be immediate ( 2 : 4 8 ; 8 : 1 2 ; 8 : 3 6 - 3 8 ; 1 0 : 4 7 - 4 8 ; 1 6 : 3 3 ; 1 9 : 4 - 5 ) ; two additional instances where

the timing is not specified ( 1 6 : 1 4 - 1 5 ; 1 8 : 8 ) , and one instance where it seems to have been after three days, depending on when one thinks Paul was converted ( 9 : 9 , 1 8 ) . But there are sixteen places in Acts, where the gospel is proclaimed and people believe, and there is no mention of baptism (4:4; 5 : 1 4 ; 6 : 7 ; 8 : 2 5 ; 9 : 3 5 ; 1 1 : 2 0 - 2 1 ; 1 1 : 2 4 ; 1 3 : 1 2 ; 1 3 : 4 8 ; 1 4 : 2 1 ; 14:25;

16:5;

17:4;

17:12;

1 7 : 3 4 ; and 2 8 : 2 4 ) . Admittedly, this is an argu­

ment from silence, but I think the silence is significant. If immediate baptism is important, why is it not consistently reflected? And, in view of Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 1 : 1 4 - 1 7 , it seems quite likely that there were a number of instances in which Paul preached the gospel, people responded in faith, but these new converts were not immedi­ ately baptized. Second, there is no command to be baptized immediately; therefore, it is not disobedience to delay baptism, especially when the reason is to take care that the one baptized is a believer, whose profes­ sion has been seen to be credible. While these precautions would be most important and needed in the case of childhood professions, even the baptism of adult converts could be enhanced by a shorter time of preparation and teaching to insure that they understand the significance of their baptism and such that the congrega­ tion has had time to see something of their lives and thus be able to affirm

69.

Robert Saucy says, "It is significant that every baptism in Acts took place almost immediately following the confession of faith" (Church

in

God's Program,

195). Robert Stein affirms that

baptism is one of five facets of the conversion experience in Acts, all of which happened "at the same time, usually on the same day," the others being repentance, faith, confession, and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (Stein, "Baptism in Luke-Acts:' in Believer's Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, 52).

70.

This is a phrase I have heard used to refer to baptism among Baptists. It is taken by Larry Dyer as the title of his short book on baptism, Baptism: The Believer's First Obedience ( Grand Rapids; Kregel, 2000).

CHAPTER 1 1

314

their profession of faith as credible. This could be handled through a new members' class that would be mandatory for all new members, but would be especially important for those coming as new converts.

71

Finally, the

actual baptismal service should be as memorable, serious, and joyous as a wedding service, for it is the time when one who has come to love the Lord takes vows in a time of public commitment."

The Mode ofBaptism By mode, we mean the manner in which baptism is administered. Is it by pouring or sprinkling water on the head, or by total immersion in water? Immersion was common in the early church, as is witnessed by large baptisteries still visible at many sites. But in addition to the prac­ tice of the New Testament church and early church,

73

J. L. Garrett argues

that "the continuance of the practice of immersion until the late medi­ eval era in the West and in Eastern Orthodoxy up to the present suggests that immersion has had a long history of observance;' with Thomas Aqui­ nas referring to immersion as "more common" even in his day.

74

Over

the years, immersion was gradually replaced by pouring and sprinkling. Calvin acknowledged that the biblical word baptize means to immerse, but thought the mode of baptism was "of no importance, but ought to be optional to churches according to the diversity of countries.?" John Smyth and the General Baptists practiced baptism by pouring for the first three decades of Baptist life, until Particular Baptists in 1639 moved to restore

71.

Such classes are in some ways a revival of the early church's practice of the catechumenate, with at least one difference being the much greater length of the catechumenate, sometimes up to three years between profession and baptism. See Clinton Arnold, "Early Church Catechesis and New Christians' Classes in Contemporary Evangelicalism;' Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 47, no. 1. For more on new members classes, see the suggestions in chapter 5 of this book

and Dever, "Baptism in the Context of the Local Church:' 334. 72.

See suggestions for baptismal services in Cross, Baptism

and

the Baptists,

395-405;

Dever,

"Baptism in the Context of the Local Church;' 338; and Charles Deweese, A Community of Believers; Making Church Membership More Meaningful (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1978),

appendix C, 1 1 4 - 1 1 6 . 73.

I. H. Marshall acknowledges that immersion was the general practice in New Testament times, and Calvin says immersion was observed "in the ancient church:' See Marshall, "The Meaning of the Verb 'Baptize:" in Dimensions of Baptism: Biblical and Theological Studies, eds. Stanley Porter and Anthony Cross, JSNTSup 234 (London and New York: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), 23; and Calvin, Institutes, 2 1 : 1 3 2 0 ( 4 . 1 5 . 1 9 ) .

74.

James

Leo

Garrett,

Jr.,

Systematic

Theology:

Biblical,

Historical,

Evangelical,

2 vols.

(Grand

Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 2:579-80; Thomas Aquinas, "Baptism and Confirmation:' in Summa

Theologiae, 5 7 : 3 1 . 75.

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 1 : 1 3 2 0 ( 4 . 1 5 . 1 9 ) .

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

315

immersion as the proper mode.

76

Immersion was endorsed by the 1644

London Confession and all major Baptist confessions thereafter. It soon became the standard mode for baptism among virtually all Baptists. The reasons for supporting immersion are basically three.

77

One is

that, as widely recognized today, immersion is the meaning of the Greek word baptize." Second is that immersion fits the New Testament descrip­ tions of baptism, where individuals are described as «coming up out of the water" (Mark 1 : 1 0 ) .

79

Third is that immersion best communicates the

meaning of baptism, especially as described in Romans 6:3-4 and Colos­ sians 2 : 1 2 . Our union with Christ is described as being "buried with him through baptism" (Rom. 6:4) or «buried with him in baptism" (Col. 2 : 1 2 ) . Despite the objections of some, Thomas Schreiner argues that this symbol­ ism relating to our union with Christ is better pictured by immersion than other modes: «Death and burial are portrayed when the new believer is submerged under the water. The emersion from the water points to the new life that believers enjoy even now by virtue of Christ's resurrection . . . . Pouring and sprinkling simply do not have the same effect?" Nineteenth-century

Baptists

insisted

on

immersion

as

the

acceptable mode for baptism and offered detailed defenses of it.

81

only

Today,

while Baptists continue to defend immersion as the mode that best suits the meaning of the word baptize and the meaning of baptism as identifi-

76.

Dale Moody, "Baptism in Theology and Practice;' in Basden and Dockery, eds., The People of

God, 48, says it was Romans 6:3-4 that convinced the Particular Baptists to adopt immersion as the proper mode of baptism. 77.

A fourth argument is really more a counter to a common argument made for allowing a variety of modes, an argument from history that various modes have been practiced and none have been pronounced as essential. Some would want to challenge or at least qualify that argument with evidence that immersion has had a long history of observance (see Hammett, 40 Questions

about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 157-58), but this historical argument does not typically play a large place in the writings of advocates of immersion. 78.

Though he argues that it is not the only possible meaning, I. H. Marshall acknowledges that immerse is "the normal meaning of baptize" ("The Meaning of the Verb 'Baptize;" 17).

79.

Gregg Allison notes that the description of the baptism of the eunuch in Acts 8:38 supports immersion. The eunuch got down out of his chariot to be baptized: "Surely, sufficient water for a different mode of baptism was available on board the chariot or with the eunuch's entourage"

(Sojourners and Strangers, 353). 80.

Thomas

Schreiner,

"Baptism

in

the

Epistles:

An

Initiation

Rite

for

Believers:'

in

Believer's

Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, 8 1 - 8 2 . The ethical implications of union with Christ for the meaning of baptism are brought out well by Daniel L. Akin, "The Meaning of Baptism:' in Restoring Integrity in Baptist Churches, eds. Thomas White, Jason Duesing, and Malcolm Yarnell III (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2008), 67-79. 81.

Perhaps the best representative is Dagg, Manual of Theology, 21-68, where Dagg gives a forty­ eight-page defense of immersion.

CHAPTER 1 1

316

cation with Christ (in his death, burial, and resurrection), it is not a topic of intense debate. In certain exceptional circumstances pouring or sprin kling may be acceptable,

82

but immersion is biblically, theologically, and

symbolically preferable.

The Importance of Baptism in Contemporary Church Life Baptism is one aspect of church life that many think about along these lines: «Is it really important? Does it really matter? After all, no evangelical claims that it is absolutely necessary for salvation. It's just a symbol:' Admit­ tedly, baptism is not a «first-order doctrine" involving an essential Christian belief, but a denominational doctrine, one that has separated denominations over the years. Today we live in a postdenominational era, when denomi­ national distinctives are worth fussing over.

83

regarded as unfortunate,

irrelevant,

and hardly

Ifs reflected in the lack of care we give to baptism.

For example, sermons on the importance of obeying Christ's command to be baptized are rare to nonexistent. Our baptismal services rarely show thoughtfulness or serve as occasions for articulate confession and joyful commitment to Christ and his church. Furthermore, some Baptists seem to doubt the value or validity of maintaining believer's baptism. Todd Wilson, while seeing believer's baptism as the ideal, maintains that Baptists «corrupt the symbol" when they require Christians baptized as infants to be rebap­ tized for membership in a Baptist church, because «baptizing a believer who has already been walking with God is a contradiction of the New Testament meaning of baptism?" But if believer's baptism is a matter of obedience, Wilson seems to prefer no obedience to the incomplete, imperfect delayed obedience of a later baptism. Baptist pastors and church members need to take baptism more seriously as an act of obedience, commitment, and worship. There are a number of way ways in which they can do so. In terms of obedience, we simply need to note that baptism is in fact commanded. Many Christians eagerly talk of fulfilling the Great Commis­ sion, given by Christ in Matthew 2 8 : 1 9 - 2 0 , but rarely note that baptiz­ ing is one of the activities that is to characterize the making of disciples.

82.

85

For example, I once had a student whose church voted to allow him to baptize a man who was terminally ill by sprinkling. I would make similar exceptions for someone who was pathologically afraid of water or individuals so ill that immersion would be dangerous to their health.

83.

See the discussion in Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper,

173-79,

under the heading, "Should Baptismal Beliefs Be a Cause of Division?" 84.

Wilson, "Why Baptists Should Not Rebaptize Christians from Other Denominations:' 5:45, 43.

85.

See the discussion in D. A. Carson, "Matthew:' in

The Expositor's Bible Commentary,

8:597.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

317

We must obey Christ in baptizing to fulfill the Great Commission. The sermon that marked the birth of the church concluded with the command, "Repent and be baptized" (Acts 2 : 3 8 ) , a command the church obeyed as the gospel went forth. Ephesians 4 : 5 assumes that all Christians share in the "one baptism'?" The New Testament has no conception of an unbap­ tized Christian. It is assumed to be a natural act of obedience, showing one's allegiance to Christ. It should also be an act of obedience required by the church, as the ordained way that a new member is incorporated into the local body. What Christ ordained and commanded should not be despised by his followers today. The fact that we cannot agree on how baptism should be understood does not negate Christ's command. Perhaps we would take baptism more seriously as an act of obedi­ ence if it was being done as a genuine symbol of commitment. Seeing young children nod assent to a pastor's question may be very precious or cute to parents, but it is not an adequate symbol of commitment. Churches must make a good faith effort to ensure they baptize only those

who

can

make

a credible

profession

of faith.

Such

baptismal

candidates should be able to bear witness to the congregation that they are requesting baptism in order to testify obediently to their commit­ ment to Christ. Then, while standing in the baptismal pool, candidates should be asked to make a profession of faith, not just answering a simple question, but stating their commitment. If practiced in such a way, baptism could be a powerful means of worship. The very act pictures the transforming power of the gospel to put to death an old life and grant a new life, and may communicate the message in a more vivid way than words alone. For the one being baptized, it should be as memorable a day as a wedding, the day of public commit­ ment to a life oflove and union with the Lord. For the baptizing commu­ nity, it should be an occasion as joyous as the birth of a new child into a family, with solemn dedication to the task of caring for this new member

Carson says that baptizing should not be seen as the means of making disciples but as having a modal and imperatival force as one of the activities that characterize disciple-making. 86.

Some may wonder if the "one baptism" is water baptism or Spirit baptism. In the context of Ephesians 4, water baptism seems most likely in view, as it is "a comprehensive, practical, public, binding, joyful confession of that 'one faith' in the 'one Lord:" See Markus Barth, "Ephesians:' in The Anchor Bible, eds. W. F. Albright and D. N. Freedman (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974),

34A:469-70. However, it is also possible to see Spirit baptism and water baptism as two forms or aspects of the one baptism: The former marks one's entrance into the invisible church ( 1 Cor. 1 2 : 1 3 ) ; the latter marks one's incorporation into a local church (Acts 2 : 4 1 ) .

CHAPTER 1 1

318

of the family. It should also be a time of renewal of the vows of allegiance and commitment taken by each member of the church at the time of her or his baptism. For all, it should be a high and joyous time of worship.

THE LORD'S SUPPER: THE ORDINANCE OF RENEWAL Baptism

is

a one-time

initiatory rite,

symbolizing

and

sealing

our

commitment to Christ and his church. The Lord's Supper is a continu­ ing rite that churches observe repeatedly. In many denominations it is the central act of worship. While it is a multifaceted event, it may best be seen as a time of renewal. To carry further the analogy developed earlier in this chapter, if baptism is the wedding ceremony in which a believer publicly declares his or her commitment to Christ, the Lord's Supper is similar to an anniversary celebration in which the wedding vows are renewed. In fact, some Baptist churches in earlier times would recite their church covenant prior to observing the Lord's Supper, verbally renewing their commitment to the Lord and one another. Significantly, it is the only act of worship for which we are given specific instructions in the New Testament, and an act that almost all Christians have observed down through history. When we partake of the bread and drink of the cup, we join a band of untold millions. It is an act that deserves more attention than Baptists usually give it.

An Act with Many Names There are a variety of terms used for this ordinance, most with some biblical support. It is called communion in 1 Corinthians 1 0 : 16

87

and the

Lord's Table in 1 Corinthians 1 0 : 2 1 . The phrase "the breaking of bread" in Acts 2:42 and 20:7 probably refers to this rite as well. The term Eucharist is preferred by many, especially those in liturgical traditions. It is derived from the Greek word for thanksgiving, eucharistia, which is associated with this rite in 1 Corinthians 1 1 :24 and in each of the Synoptic Gospel accounts (Matt. 26:26-27; Mark 1 4 : 2 2 - 2 3 ; Luke 2 2 : 1 7 - 1 9 ) . Perhaps the most common term among Baptists is the Lord's Supper ( 1 Cor.

11:20),

reminding us that originally this rite involved an actual meal. One term not derived from Scripture is the older Catholic term, the

Mass. It came from the Latin term missa, which meant dismissal, and was

87.

This is the translation in the King James Version of koinonia in this verse; most modern versions translate it as "participation" or "sharing:'

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

319

originally used as the closing blessing of any time of worship. Eventually it was applied only to the Lord's Supper.

88

It was the traditional term among

Catholics for centuries, but many Catholics since Vatican II have been returning to the biblical term Eucharist.

89

The Debate over ((This Is My Body" The Gospels record Christ instituting what we call the Lord's Supper during an observance of Passover with his disciples (Matt. 26: 17-30; Mark 1 4 : 1 2 - 2 6 ; Luke 22:7-30). As such, it was a celebration of God's redemp­

tion of Israel from slavery in Egypt. Part of that redemption involved the plague of the death of the firstborn of all the households of Egypt. Only those protected by the blood of a lamb were spared. The Lord's Supper was to signify the death of Christ, called by Paul "our Passover lamb" ( 1 Cor. 5 : 7 ) . Interestingly, there is no record of the disciples celebrating Passover after the death of Christ. Passover celebrated the establishment of God's covenant with Israel. But in this observance with his disciples, Jesus described the cup as "the new covenant;' established by his blood (Luke 22:20).

90

Historically, the greatest controversy over the Lord's Supper has been over the words spoken by Jesus, called "the words of institution:' Those words are "This is my body" There are four major interpretations of these words.

91

The traditional Catholic view is called transubstantiation. This

view developed gradually and was not officially adopted until

1 2 1 5 , at

the Fourth Lateran Council. Prior to then, there had been some who had made a careful distinction between the elements (the sign) and Christ's body and blood (the thing signified). There were some who used language that could imply the doctrine of real presence, but it could also have been simply figurative language. The issue was first debated explicitly in the

88.

McBrien, Catholicism, 823.

89.

While acknowledging that a variety of names may be used for it, the most recent edition of the Catholic Catechism primarily uses Eucharist ( Catechism of the Catholic Church [Rome, Italy and New Hope, KY: Urbi et Orbi, 1994], 334). For more on this question, see Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 183-87.

90.

There

are

many

intriguing

aspects

of the traditional

Passover

celebration

that

foreshadow

Christian truths. These are explained in a presentation popularized by a number of messianic Jewish organizations called "Christ in the Passover" and published in book form by Moishe Rosen, Christ in the Passover: Why Is This Night Different? (Chicago: Moody, 1978). 91.

For all four views, see John Armstrong, ed.,

Understanding Four Views on

the Lord's Supper

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007). For the four major views plus a Pentecostal view, see Gordon Smith, ed., The Lord's Supper: Five Views (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008). Both offer presentations of the various views by advocates of them in a point-counterpoint fashion, in which the contributors gives their own view and a critique of the other views.

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320

ninth century between two otherwise obscure monks.

92

Radbertus (785-

860), "hankering for the mysterious and supernatural that characterized his time, taught that a miracle takes place at the words of institution in the supper: the elements are changed into the actual body and blood of Christ?" He was opposed by another monk, named Ratramnus (d. 868), who taught "the Augustinian position that Christ's presence in the supper is spiritual?" Official Catholic teaching came to follow Radbertus and affirm that when a properly ordained priest lifts the host (from the Latin word hostia, or "sacrificial victim;' the term used to refer to the physical elements of bread and wine) and pronounces the words of institution (Hoc

est corpus meum) a miracle occurs. The outward appearance, or accidents, of the bread and wine remain the same, but the inner reality, or substance, is changed (transubstantiated) into the actual physical body and blood of Christ. His body and blood are really, physically present in every wafer, every drop of wine.

95

Thus the celebration of the Mass involves a recruci­

fixion of Christ (an unbloody sacrifice), and grants to those who partake forgiveness of venial sins, an increase of grace, strength for preservation from mortal sin, and hope of ultimate salvation.

96

All the Reformers objected to the idea that the priest had some power to deliver a miracle, to the idea of a recrucifixion of Christ, and to the idea that partaking provides grace and forgiveness of sins. But Luther did not object to the idea of Christ's physical presence. His view is called consubstantiation. It affirms that Christ's physical body is present in the Supper, not because of the words of a priest, but because Christ prom­ ised to be there. For Luther, the words, "This is my body;' settle the ques-

92.

For more on this debate, see David Hogg, "Carolingian Conflict: Two Monks on the Mass;' in

The Lord's Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ until He Comes, ed. Thomas Schreiner and Matthew Crawford, NAC Studies in Bible & Theology (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2 0 1 0 ) , 127-50.

93.

M. E. Osterhaven, "Lord's Supper, Views of;' in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 705.

94.

Ibid.

95.

Some contend that the common phrase used by magicians, hocus pocus, is a corruption of the words used in the Latin mass, Hoc est corpus meum, as transubstantiation may have seemed to be something like magic to the common people. Perhaps it was first suggested in a sermon by John Tillotson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, written sometime before 1694: "In all probability those common juggling words of hocus pocus are nothing else but a corruption of hoc est corpus, by way of ridiculous imitation of the priests of the Church of Rome in their trick of Transubstantiation:' But Tillotson provides no evidence for his charge, and it is doubtful that he is providing an accurate

etymology

here.

See

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/hocus_

pocus, accessed 7I 1 1 / 2 0 1 7 . The site gives Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, as its source. 96.

For more detail, see the discussion in McBrien, Catholicism, 820-33.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

321

tion. He would not join forces with fellow Reformer Huldrych Zwingli because Zwingli argued that the word is means'signifies," Despite the fact that Zwingli could show several places in Scripture where is clearly means "signifies" Luther refused to consider Zwingli's view and regarded it as un-Christian. He said, "I have pressed them to show conclusive grounds why these words 'This is my body; just as they are read, are false'"" For Luther, the words had to be literal if they were true. It is hard to understand why Luther was so adamant on this point, since he recognized figurative language elsewhere in Scripture. There are some hints of mysticism in his thinking, and he grew up among German peasants,

whose

religion

often

contained

virtual

superstition.

Others

think this was one aspect of his Catholic background he could not surren­ der, but in view of his attacks on the Catholic doctrine of the Mass, that seems unlikely. Whatever his reasons, he prized the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper, and would not surrender the real and physical nature of that presence. By

contrast,

Zwingli's

name

is

associated

with

what

is

called

the

memorial view. Zwingli did not deny that Christ was spiritually present with believers when they gather in his name, but in his debate with Luther he emphasized that the word is in "This is my body" means "signifies;' and was so concerned to deny physical presence that he said little about the idea of spiritual presence.

98

The Lord's Supper is primarily done "in

remembrance;' as a memorial of what Christ did. Calvin presents something of a mediating position. he affirms

99

With Luther,

Christ's presence in the Lord's Supper, but with Zwingli he

denies that it can be a physical presence, since Christ's body ascended into heaven. He speaks of the Lord's Supper as a mystery whose purpose is "to nourish, refresh, strengthen, and gladden:' In it, we receive Christ, but we do so by faith and by means of signs, which should neither be disdained

97. 98.

Martin Luther, "Confession Concerning Christ's Supper:' in Luther, Basic Theological Writings, 376. Bruce Ware points to a growing consensus among scholars that Zwingli held to a spiritual presence view alongside his memorial interpretation. See Ware, "The Meaning of the Lord's Supper in the Theology of Ulrich Zwingli [ 1 4 8 4 - 1 5 3 1 ] ;• in The Lord's Supper: Remembering and

Proclaiming Christ until He Comes, 240-43. 99.

Calvin's view is complex. Though he and the Reformed position as a whole is usually seen as the spiritual presence view, Keith Mathison has argued that Calvin's view was actually closer to real presence, and that the majority view in most Reformed churches today is actually the view of Zwingli. See Keith Mathison, Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin's Doctrine of the Lord's Supper (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 2002), xv-xvi.

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322

nor «immoderately" extolled.l'" Calvin also helpfully brings in the work of the Spirit in the Lord's Supper. Christ's flesh is not dragged down out of heaven into the bread; rather, we are lifted to him, through «the secret working of the Spirit:' He confesses, «if anyone should ask me how this takes place, I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And, to speak more plainly, I rather experience than understand it:'

101

This view of the spiritual presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper has been the most widely held position among Protestants and especially among Reformed groups since the Reformation, and has been affirmed by Baptists in at least one important confession. While Baptists are most commonly associated with the Zwinglian, memorial view, London

Confession

of Baptists

incorporates

the

the

Second

following paragraph,

taken almost verbatim from the Westminster Confession:

Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible Elements in this Ordi­ nance, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally, and corporally, but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified and all the benefits of his death: the Body and Blood of Christ, being then not corporally or carnally but spiritually, present to the faith of Believers, in that ordinance, as the Elements themselves are to their outward senses.

However, this view is somewhat unusual in Baptist life. The view found most often with reference to the Lord's Supper is memorial.

The Meaning of the Lord's Supper In a sense, the debate over the nature of Christ's presence in the Lord's Supper is unfortunate, for at least two reasons.

Some, especially some

Baptists, have been so concerned to deny the physical presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper that they are guilty of teaching a doctrine of the real absence of Christ, ignoring Christ's promise to always be with his people when they gather in his name (Matt. 1 8 : 2 0 ) . Why would that be some­ how less true when we gather to obey his commands in an observance of the Lord's Supper? We may have good reason to deny the physical pres-

100.

Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 1 : 1 3 6 3 - 6 5 ( 4 . 1 7 . 3 , 5).

101.

Ibid., 2 1 : 1 4 0 3 ( 4 . 1 7 . 3 1 , 3 2 )

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

323

ence, but we should always expect to experience the Lord's presence, by his Spirit, when we gather in his name.

102

A second reason why the focus on the question of the presence of Christ is unfortunate is that many miss the more important question of the meaning of the Lord's Supper, which goes far beyond the issue of real pres­ ence. Indeed, a good grasp of the meaning of the Lord's Supper is crucial for guidance in addressing other related questions, such as who may prop­ erly partake of the Supper (the question of open versus closed commu­ nion), and whether the Supper may be observed outside the bounds of a gathered church (for example, at a wedding). I want to suggest there are five aspects to the meaning of the Lord's Supper. I think all five are found or implied in the most complete teach­ ing we are given on the Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 1 1 : 17-34, with some additional help

given

in

1

Corinthians

10: 1 6 - 1 7 .

I think they can be

conveniently describes as five «looks:' First, the Lord's Supper calls us to look back in remembrance. This is the most obvious aspect, as Jesus explicitly commands us to eat and drink «in remembrance of me" ( 1 Cor. 1 1 : 2 4 - 2 5 ) . The word anamnesis, remem­ brance, is far richer than a merely mental recollection of certain facts. This is remembrance that leads to renewal of faith, hope, love, and assurance. We are given physical signs to see, taste, smell, touch, and even taste, to recall the reality of Christ in a vivid and fresh way. We are to remember his body and blood given «for you" ( 1 Cor. 1 1 : 2 4 ) . The elements recall most clearly for us Christ's death, but the call is to remember him, not just his death. The Lord's Supper should also be an occasion for pondering the wonder of the incarnation, the amazing life Jesus led, and the victory of resurrection. That leads us to the second aspect of the meaning of the Lord's Supper. Second, we look ahead in anticipation. The Lord's Supper has an expira­ tion date. We only do it «until he comes"

( 1 Cor. 1 1 : 2 6 ) . The Lord's Supper

is in some sense a rehearsal for another meal to come, the wedding banquet of the Lamb (Rev. 1 9 : 6 - 9 ) . Thus, celebrations of the Lord's Supper should be marked by hope and joy. Russell Moore calls for a recovery of the sense of joy

102.

Curtis Freeman traces

some of the

factors

in what he calls

"this

curious doctrine of 'real

absence'" in Baptist life. He does note that it was more common among the common people than Baptist theologians, was never universal, and was even a minority opinion in some eras. See Curtis Freeman, "To Feed Upon by Faith': Nourishment from the Lord's Table:' in Baptist Sacramentalism,

eds.

Anthony Cross

and

Philip

Thompson,

Studies in Baptist History and

Thought, vol. 5 (Carlisle, UK and Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2003), 203, n. 25.

CHAPTER 1 1

324

and triumph that should come from this anticipation. He urges that congre­ gations be taught to view the Lord's Supper as "a victory lap-announcing the triumph of Christ over the powers of sin, death and Satan."?' even if our celebration is in anticipation. One often unnoticed implication of this aspect of the meaning of the Lord's Supper is its application to the question of the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper. If Christ is actually, physically present, would that not mean the expiration date for the Lord's Supper had arrived? We only do it until he comes. Ifhe is physically present, would it not mean that he had come? Perhaps the advocates of real presence could find some way to affirm physical presence apart from his coming, but the fact that the Lord's Supper calls us to anticipation includes with it the recogni­ tion that in some sense, he has not come yet. A third aspect

calls

on

us

to

look

within

in

self-examination.

The

command to do so is given in 1 Corinthians 1 1 :28, and failing to do so can lead to "sinning against the body and blood of the Lord" (v. 27), and not

"discerning the body of Christ"

consequences (v.

30).

(v.

29)

can bring possibly deadly

Gordon Fee and Gregg Allison are among those

who think this call to self-examination has been widely misunderstood.

104

They fear that some may judge themselves as unworthy participants and refrain. But the reality is that all we will ever have to present to God will be unworthiness. The problem is not unworthy participants, but unwor­ thy participation. What type of participation is worthy? Certainly one in which we bring a recognition of our unworthiness, but also one in which we come in faith and love. I have found very helpful the guide to self­ examination in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. It counsels self­ examination in three areas: repentance, faith and Iove.!" All three seem fitting and in keeping with the meaning of the Lord's Supper. We come as needy sinners, but not arrogant sinners. We cannot partake worthily if we come to receive the tokens of what Christ did to provide forgiveness, while intending to live contrary to all Christ stands for. So we come, renewing

103.

Russell Moore, "Baptist View;' in Understanding Four Views on the Lord's Supper, 33.

104.

Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Commentary on the New Testament, ed. F. F. Bruce (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

1987), 560-61; Allison, Sojourners and

Strangers, 406-07.

105.

The 1549 version of the service for communion includes these words: "repent you truly for your sins past; have an earnest and lively faith in Christ our Saviour; be in perfect charity with all men; so shall ye be meet partakers of those holy Mysteries:' See Book of Common Prayer (London: Everyman's Library, 1999), 575. The pagination is from the 1662 version, but it includes the 1549 version of the service for communion.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

325

our repentance. We also come renewing our faith. Calvin says "the worthi­ ness, which is commanded by God, consists chiefly in faith,"!" This too seems consonant with the meaning of the Lord's Supper. Our looking back and looking ahead are both acts of faith; faith is the proper way to receive all of God's gifts (Eph. 2 : 8 - 9 ) ; and without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 1 1 : 6 ) . I would specify that the love we come to renew in our self-examination is love for all the members of the body. But this leads us to a separate and fourth aspect of meaning. We are to look around in fellowship. I think this horizontal aspect is the most neglected aspect of meaning, and yet one that is obvious both in the text and in the very manner in which we partake of the Lord's Supper. No one takes the Lord's Supper at home, alone, and yet we rarely ponder the significance of partaking with others. There are three clues in the text of Scripture, alerting us to the importance of this aspect. The first is in 1 Corinthians 1 0 : 1 6 - 1 7 , where the Lord's Supper seems to be a way for a local church to proclaim its oneness, or its unity. That was the problem in the way the Corinthian church was observing the Lord's Supper, and the occa­ sion for Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 1 1 : 1 7 - 3 4 . They were observing it individualistically (v. 2 1 ) . Second, there is the fivefold use of the verb syner­ chomai, "come together:' in this passage ( 1 Cor. 1 1 : 1 7 , 1 8 , 20, 33, 34). The

clear implication is that they were coming together expressly to celebrate the Lord's Supper, as something intrinsically corporate. The third clue is in verse 29. They are warned of the danger of partaking "without discerning the body of Christ:' It does not say "the body and blood;' as elsewhere in the passage (v. 27). The body they were called upon to discern in this verse is not the broken body and shed blood of Christ, but the gathered body of Christ in the church of the Corinthians.

107

The call to self-examination in terms

of renewing love for the body of believers is necessary to partake rightly, because in our participation we say, "We are one body; we are brothers and sisters:' with all the rich meaning those words had in that culture. Even one of the terms we use for this observance, communion, speaks to this real­ ity. We experience communion, or fellowship, with God; but also with the members of the body. As we partake, we ought to literally look around, to discern the body of Christ God has providentially placed us in, and renew our love for our brothers and sisters and experience fellowship with them.

106.

Calvin, Institutes, 2 1 : 1 4 2 0 (4.17.42).

107.

Fee, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 563-64.

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326

The fifth and final aspect of meaning is one that is not explicitly in the text of 1 Corinthians 1 1 : 1 7 - 3 4 , but I think is implicit in the whole of New Testament teaching. When we partake of the Lord's Supper in the manner outlined above, seeking to act in believing obedience, I think we may look up in expectation. God may, and I think will, show up to bless his people

as they act in faith and obedience. While we may believe we have good reason to deny the physical presence of Christ, we should not forget the promise of Christ to be with his people when they gather in his name. But should we expect some special sense of his presence when we gather in his name around the Lord's Supper? Here is where I think Baptists may need to recover something of a sacramental understanding of the Lords Supper. Not for a moment should we believe that the Lord's Supper is necessary for salvation, or that partaking automatically transfers grace. But seeing God as totally inactive in the Lord's Supper, and seeing it as involving only our actions, is not necessary or in keeping with larger biblical teaching. Does not God always bless believing obedience? Why did God ordain this observance, if not for our blessing? Thus a growing number of Baptists are open to referring to the Lord's Supper as a means of grace, defined as "any activity within the fellowship of the church that God uses to give more grace to Christians,"!" Others are even more emphatic, describing both baptism and the Lord's Supper as "means of grace in so far as they are events where we experience God's presence and Christian fellowship in a way that we do nowhere else,"!" I am not sure that we can or need to specify how God will bless the believ­ ing obedience of his people in the Lord's Supper. The fact that the Lords Supper consists of a common food and drink has led most traditions to see the Lord's Supper as one of the avenues by which God spiritually nour­ ishes his people.

110

The ideas of unity and right discernment of the body

in 1 Corinthians 1 0 : 1 7 and 1 1 :29 suggest that God might be active corpo-

108.

This is the definition of Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 950. He specifically includes the Lord's Supper as one of these means of grace. Russell Moore also uses the language of means of grace in reference to the Lord's Supper ("Baptist View;' in Understanding Four Views on the Lord's

Supper, 35). 109.

Michael Bird, "Re-Thinking a Sacramental View of Baptism and the Lord's Supper for the Post­ Christendom Baptist Church;' Thompson,

in Baptist Sacramentalism

Studies in Baptist History and Thought, vol.

2, eds. Anthony Cross and Philip 25

(Milton

Keynes,

UK/Colorado

Springs/Hyderabad, India: Paternoster, 2008), 76. 110.

This is evident in the paragraph the Second London Confession and Philadelphia Confession take

verbatim

from

the

Westminster

Confession,

spiritually feed upon Christ in the Lord's Supper.

cited

earlier,

describing

how

believers

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

327

rately in a body, strengthening their unity and deepening their commu­ nion. But there might be other ways God would want to bless believing obedience. But unless we are looking up with expectant hearts, we may miss what God wishes to do among us.

Who May Partake? Open versus Closed Communion One issue of special importance to Baptists has been the question of who may properly partake of the Lord's Supper. With a very few excep­ tions, both sides in this controversy believe the Lord's Supper should be limited to believers. i n They differ in what additional limitations there should be.

The view

called

open

communion

affirms

that

the

Lord's

Supper should be open to all believers. The opposing view, called variously strict communion, close communion, closed communion, or restricted communion, believes that there is an additional limitation. Communion should be limited to baptized believers.

112

There is a third position that is

really a subcategory of closed communion. It limits participation in the Lord's Supper to the members in good standing of that one local church where the Supper is being observed. Some call this "closed communion;' and call the previous position "close communion:' Others call it locked communion, but the most descriptive term seems to be local-church-only. This discussion will use the term "closed communion'' for the position that the Lord's Supper is closed to Christians who have not received baptism (as Baptists understand baptism), as it is the most common term histori­ cally, and local-church-only for that position which limits participation to members in good standing of one local church.

111.

113

There are a few in church history, most notably Solomon Stoddard and John Wesley, who have argued for the Lord's Supper as "a converting ordinance" and offered it to nonbelievers, and a few contemporary churches who offer the Lord's Supper to all and leave it up to each individual's conscience. In a 2012 survey, that was the position of 5 percent of Southern Baptist churches. See Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 259-60; and Carol Pipes, "Life Way Surveys Lord's Supper Practices of SBC Churches;' l, http://www.lifeway.com/Article/research­ survey-lords-supper-practices-sbcchurches, accessed 6/15/2017.

112.

Strong, Systematic Theology, 9 7 1 - 7 3 , adds two further prerequisites: church membership and "an orderly walk:' However, since baptism is linked to church membership and most advocates of open communion would support the requirement of an orderly walk, requiring baptism prior to communion remains the key difference.

113.

For examples of the variety of terms used, see Allison (Sojourners and Strangers, 400-06), who uses the terms close and closed; and Emir Caner ("Fencing the Table;' in Restoring Integrity in

Baptist Churches, 174), who uses the terms of cracked, closed, and locked. Historian Greg Wills says Baptists prior to 1900 used close, strict, or restricted for their practice, and since 1900 closed has become common usage. In each case, the meaning was that communion was limited to

CHAPTER 1 1

328

Most denominations have seen a biblical-theological logic in requiring baptism prior to participation in the Lord's Supper.

114

Gregg Allison says

restricting participation to baptized believers is "the historical position of the

church"!" The problem is that Baptists do not see infant baptism as baptism at all. J. L. Dagg says the advocates of open and closed communion agree on the underlying principle, but not on how to apply it: "With them [ advocates of open communion] we have no controversy as to the principle by which approach to the Lord's table should be regulated. We differ from them in practice, because we account nothing Christian baptism, but immersion on profession of faith, and we, therefore, exclude very many who they admit"!" Paedobaptists of course differ with Baptists on the propriety of baptiz­ ing infants, and could welcome those baptized as infants or believers to the Lord's Supper. For them, communion would not be denied to someone due to infant baptism, but historically, Catholics and Lutherans have limited communion to members of their denomination, because only such persons share their view of the meaning of the Lord's Supper. cates

117

Furthermore, advo­

of open communion think it is harsh, unloving,

and offensive to

exclude any true believers from the Lord's Table.!" They may also point out that baptism is a secondary doctrine, not required for salvation, and that it has been widely disputed in the course of church history. They think it of insufficient importance to make the lack of it a barrier to the Lord's Supper. Those who support closed communion offer three reasons for their position. First, it is a logical outgrowth of the Baptist view of the church.!" If the Lord's Supper is for the church, and the church is entered via believ-

baptized members of Baptist churches. Greg Wills, "Sounds from Baptist History;' in The Lord's

Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ until He Comes, 285, n. 1 . 114.

For statements from Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Catholics on this, see Hammett, 40 Questions

about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 261. 115.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 400.

116.

Dagg, Manual of Theology, 214.

117.

Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 262-63.

118.

Ibid.,

214-25.

Dagg

enumerates

ten

objections

open

communionists

make

against

strict

communion, but these two seem the most substantive. More recently, Leonard Vander Zee has seen the refusal of Baptists to recognize the infant baptism of those who are clearly believers, as "disrespectful of the faith of others" (Vander Zee, Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 1 3 3 ). But the same could be said of those who ask fellow believers to go against what they conscientiously believe to be the teaching of the Bible and the historic position of their denomination for most of its history. 119.

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (VIL Baptism and the Lord's Supper) makes this connection clear.

Speaking

of baptism,

it

says,

"Being

a

church

ordinance,

it

[believer's

baptism]

is

prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and the Lord's Supper:' Similarly, the Lord's Supper is described as an act for "members of the church:'

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

329

er's baptism, only baptized believers should come to the Lord's Table. The first part of this syllogism, that the Lord's Supper is for the church, is widely supported. First Corinthians 1 1 distinguishes between meals the members eat in their homes ( 1 Cor. 1 1 :22) and the special occasion when they come together as a church to celebrate the Lord's Supper (v. 2 0 ) . The text seems to regard it as a special observance just for the church. Therefore, it would be limited to the church's members, who, according to the overwhelming majority of Baptists, must receive believer's baptism to be members. Second, those who support closed communion argue that it is required by the horizontal aspect of the meaning of the Lord's Supper-that is, that it calls us to look around in fellowship. We noted that 1 Corinthians 1 0 : 1 7 and 1 1 : 1 7 - 2 2 link the celebration of the Lord's Supper to the unity of the body, not just unity among Christians in general but the unity of a local body. This would seem to point toward local-church-only communion, and I would argue that the members of the local congregation would expe­ rience the horizontal aspect much more deeply than visitors, even Chris­ tian visitors. But most of those who practice closed communion have been willing to extend communion to those visiting from a church "of like faith and order;' meaning a church that practices believer's baptism, even if such visitors cannot fully experience the depth of fellowship that the members of that local church can. But those visiting from a church that practices infant baptism would not only miss the horizontal aspect of fellowship; their participation in the Lord's Supper would also be seen as inappropriate due to the third reason for closed communion. A third reason for supporting closed communion is that open commu­ nion denigrates baptism and the importance of obeying Christ's command to be baptized. As Marc Cortez puts it, "Open communion at least raises questions about how important the initiatory rite of baptism can possibly be if a person can participate fully in the ongoing rite of Communion.'!" even in the absence of what Baptists have historically seen as legitimate baptism. Dagg asks "why should baptism be trodden under foot, to open the way of access to the eucharist?"

121

In fact, Mark Dever says the command to be

baptized is so serious that if someone was admitted to church member­ ship, but refused to obey such a clear command of Christ, such a person

120.

Marc Cortez, "Who Invited the Baptist?" in Come, Let Us Eat Together, eds. George Kalantis and Marc Cortez (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2 0 1 8 ) , 217.

121.

Dagg, Manual of Theology, 225.

330

CHAPTER 1 1

122

would have to be disciplined immediately.

Such discipline would involve

exclusion from the Lord's Supper, for a member under discipline couldn't affirm a genuine unity with the body. Timothy George, discussing a number of historical advocates of open communion in Baptist life, acknowledges that they "emphasized Christian unity and charity at the expense of rele­ gating both baptism and the Lord's Supper to the status of non-essential ceremonials"!"

Closed

communion

seems

to

preserve

a

more

proper

respect for Christ's command for believers to be baptized. Until fairly recently, most Baptists have historically favored closed communion. There have been notable exceptions, such as John Bunyan, Robert Hall, and C. H. Spurgeon, have

always

confessions

advocated of

faith,

open

124

and historically the Free Will Baptists

communion.

especially

125

American

But

most

Baptist

major

Baptist

confessions,

have

supported closed communion, as have their major theologians, such as J. L. Dagg and A. H. Strong. For example, the Principles of Faith of the Sandy Creek Association states, "the church has no right to admit any but regular baptized church members to communion at the Lord's table.'!" The New Hampshire Confession of Faith and all three versions of the Baptist Faith and Message have seen baptism as "prerequisite to the privileges of church

membership and to the Lord's Supper:' In

the

twentieth

century,

there

was

movement

away from

closed

communion toward open communion. By 1 9 1 1 , Northern Baptists had sufficiently relaxed their standards that they were able to merge with the historically open communion Free Will Baptists of the North, and, accord­ ing to Leon McBeth, since the middle of the twentieth century, "one rarely hears of closed communion.'!" But while McBeth may accurately reflect a trend in Baptist churches, there are still defenders of closed communion. Stanley Grenz says, "baptism properly precedes participation in the Lord's

122.

Dever, A Display of God's Glory, 52-53.

123.

Timothy George, "Controversy and Communion: The Limits of Baptist Fellowship from Bunyan to Spurgeon;' in The Gospel in the World: International Baptist Studies, ed. David Bebbington, Studies in Baptist History and Thought, vol. 1 ( Carlisle, UK and Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster, 2002), 54.

124. 125.

Ibid., 38-58. Lumpkin, Baptist Confessions of Faith, 369-76, gives the 1953 version of their A Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the Original Free Will Baptists, which states: "It is the privilege and duty of

all who have spiritual union with Christ to commemorate His death, and no man has a right to forbid these tokens to the least of his disciples:' 126.

Ibid., 358.

127.

McBeth, Baptist Heritage, 697.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

331

Supper. . . . The reaffirmation of our personal loyalty to Christ inherent in the Lord's Supper presupposes our initial declaration of loyalty made in baptism"!" Timothy George says that the defenders of closed communion

who opposed Bunyan, Hall, and Spurgeon "were right to take seriously the covenantal and disciplinary dimensions of Baptist ecclesiology. The Lord's Supper, no less than baptism, is a mark of the true church, not a trivial ceremony or matter of indifference within the covenanted community" However, he also adds, "the open communionists were right to extend eucharistic hospitality in the spirit and love of Jesus"!" Whatever

the

reason,

open

communion

has become

the

majority

practice of Southern Baptists. Greg Wills sees the transition in Southern Baptist life as beginning around 1 9 5 0 , when open communion began to be tolerated, though the great majority of churches at that time (89 percent) still practiced closed communion. But a 1 9 9 0 poll of SBC pastors found a massive change: 45 percent invited all professing believers to partake and 3 1

percent left the Lord's Supper open to any individual "who felt

invited.v"

A more

recent poll

shows

a sharp

drop

in

the

number

of

churches who allow anyone who wants to participate ( only 5 percent), but a majority do practice traditional open communion, in which any believer is invited to partake (52 percent). A little more than one-third ( 3 5 percent) still limit participation to baptized believers.!" I regard this as a difficult decision. Open communion certainly seems to be a more hospitable policy. Many Baptists have found that differences concerning baptism have not hampered their fellowship with non- Baptists in

parachurch

gatherings

such

as

Promise

Keepers

or

college

groups

like InterVarsity or Cru. And Baptists themselves insist that baptism is secondary, not essential to salvation. It seems reasonable to welcome all of the Lord's people to the Lord's Table. And some would argue that open communion is more missionally effective.l"

128.

Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 702. Marc Cortez, too, sees Baptist convictions as leading to closed

communion, though also acknowledging such a conclusion as a theological

"knot" he "will not even attempt to untie" (Cortez, "Who Invited the Baptist?': 2 1 8 ) . 129.

George, "Controversy and Communion:' 58.

130.

Wills, "Sounds from Baptist History:' in The Lord's Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ

131.

Carol Pipes, "Lifeway Survey Lord's Supper Practices of SBC Churches:' 1 .

until He Comes, 3 0 9 - 3 1 1 .

132.

Wills says new practices, like open communion, were adopted, in spite of the fact that they were contrary to Baptist ecclesiology, because "they promised to increase spiritual vitality and missional effectiveness:' Wills, "Sounds from Baptist History:' 3 1 2 .

CHAPTER 1 1

332

But on balance, the case for closed communion seems stronger. Here, recalling the meaning of the Lord's Supper gives guidance. Certainly, any believer can look back and remember, look ahead and anticipate, and perhaps look within in self-examination, though I am not sure how she could renew her love for the body of believers if she has no connection to it. But how could someone with no connection to that local church, some­ one not even a member of a church of like faith and order, meaningfully look around in fellowship? It is true that all believers are fellow members of the universal body of Christ, but that is not the point in the teaching in 1 Corinthians 1 0 : 1 7 and 1 1 : 1 7 - 3 4 . It would seem to me that the members

of that local church who partake of the Lord's Supper would most fully experience the meaning of the Lord's Supper; those visiting from a church of like faith and order could experience the meaning of the Lord's Supper in a true but lesser sense; and those from a church that did not practice believer's baptism may experience the meaning of the Lord's Supper in a true but much lesser sense. Moreover, such persons also bump up against the second and traditional defense of closed communion: the connection between church membership, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Almost all accept that baptism is the rite of entry into the church and that the Lord's Supper is for the church, the Lord's people. Virtually all accept that the proper order is baptism first, then the Lord's Supper. Baptists differ from defenders of open communion only in what they regard as valid baptism. Without intending any disrespect to the genuine faith which Baptists see and applaud in many paedobaptist brothers and sisters, we cannot regard baptism as something similar to the issue of the millennium, about which Baptists cheerfully disagree. A particular posi­ tion on it or similar eschatological issues would never be a test for fellow­ ship or a condition for participation in the Lord's Supper. But baptism is a command of Jesus. Despite the lengthy practice of infant baptism, we think the case for it is lacking and the case for believer's baptism compel­ ling. To accept the validity of infant baptism would, for conscientious Baptists, constitute a betrayal of conscience. This does not mean that closed communion would necessitate a harsh, unloving practice. All churches that limit the Lord's Supper to believers only have to make some restriction. Such restrictions can be explained as necessitated by the nature and meaning of the ordinance. Those asked not to partake because they are non-believers can be invited to observe and ponder what these Christians are doing and why. Those asked not to

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

333

participate because they are not what Baptists regard as baptized can be invited to pray for the unity and strengthening of the church they are visit­ ing. Some churches may want to celebrate the Lord's Supper, not in public worship services but in members-only meetings. All these can be done without being harsh or hateful. There are many contexts in which believers can enjoy fellowship across denominational lines; must the Lord's Supper be one of them, or does its meaning require some further limitation? This rationale for closed communion will make little sense, however, if Baptist church membership involves no genuine commitment to the body and if the Lord's Supper involves no genuine renewal of that commitment. Therefore, the recovery of meaningful church membership must proceed if the practice of closed communion is to be well grounded and credible.

Frequency of Celebration How often should a church observe the Lord's Supper? There is no command in Scripture, though there is at least a hint of weekly observance in Acts 20:7. A 2 0 1 2 survey found that 57 percent of Southern Baptist churches observe the Lord's Supper quarterly,

1 5 percent do so slightly

more often ( 5 - 1 0 times a year), 1 8 percent monthly, only 1 percent weekly, and a surprising 8 percent less than once a quarter (0-3 times per year).

133

My sense is that there is some, but still small, movement toward more frequent participation, perhaps as Baptists recover a more meaningful practice of the Lord's Supper.

134

There are two reasons why most Baptists seem satisfied with quar­ terly observance. The first is the fear that a too-frequent observance would make

the

ordinance

less

special

or

significant

and

more

routine

and

meaningless. However, it is worth noting that no Baptist pastor I know objects to weekly offerings and sermons.

The second objection, while

rarely articulated, is the concern that the time devoted to the preaching of the Word would be curtailed and that the preaching of the Word should have primacy. Perhaps a third reason would be that many Baptists do not find the Lord's Supper very meaningful, and four times a year seems more than enough to them.

133.

Pipes, "Life Way Surveys Lord's Supper Practices of SBC Churches;' 1-2.

134.

If the Lord's Supper exists solely for us to remember Christ and proclaim his death, perhaps quarterly would be sufficient. But if God ordained the Lord's Supper as a means of sustaining Christians as they obey in faith, then it would seem to warrant more frequent observance. For more on this topic, see Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 289-94.

CHAPTER 1 1

334

In the absence of a scriptural command, it seems difficult to insist upon one pattern, though quarterly seems too infrequent to me, for it means that if one happens to be sick or out of town on the Sunday when communion is observed, six months could pass between times of participation. I do agree that weekly observance could involve some difficulties,

and

so

I

recommend

monthly

observance,

alternating

between morning and evening services, for churches that have services at both times. But this is a matter that can be left to the preference of individual churches.

The Proper Elements Occasionally

there

is

some

discussion

concerning

how

closely

churches today should seek to replicate the exact elements of the Lord's Supper.

For example,

some younger Baptists

question why we

drink

grape juice when the early church drank wine. The answer to that ques­ tion

has

to

do

with

Baptist

support

for

the

late

nineteenth-century

temperance movement. Inspired by that movement, Thomas Bramwell Welch developed a process for producing unfermented grape juice, and by the end of the nineteenth century most Baptists in America adopted it.

135

The use of a common cup has also been advocated by some as better

symbolizing the unity of the body and fitting the circumstances of the original

institution

of the ordinance by Jesus.

136

But health

concerns

have led most Baptists to use the individual cups and trays invented by a rural preacher in Ohio in 1 8 9 3 .

137

All these questions seem to miss the point. Jesus was simply using the most common food and drink of his day. Grape juice and bread cannot be mandatory, for the church exists in cultures where there are no grapes and wheat is not grown. The symbolism of nourishment should be expressed in the elements, and for that reason I prefer loaves of real bread to the prefabricated pellets that are distasteful in every sense of the word. Real loaves also fit the symbolism of a body being broken much better than tiny pellets or wafers.

135.

Welch's unfermented communion wine became widely popular later as Welch's grape juice. See G. Thomas Halbrooks, "Communion;' in A Baptist's Theology, ed. R. Wayne Stacy (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 1999), 184.

136.

Millard Erickson, "The Lord's Supper;' in Basden and Dockery, eds., The People of God, 57.

137.

Moody, The Word of Truth, 472.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

But

all

these

are

335

issues

to

be

left

to

the

discretion

of individual

churches. Using real wine would cause more problems than it would be worth; individual cups are safer than a common cup; and loaves of bread are better symbolically and aesthetically than wafers, but all these are matters of taste and wisdom, not doctrine.!"

The Proper Atmosphere I raise this issue because the observance of the Lord's Supper may be one of the next areas where differing conceptions of worship collide. Millard Erickson discusses whether the tone of the Lord's Supper service should be solemn or joyous and sees the answer to that question as shaped by underlying assumptions about the nature of worship. Particularly, he contrasts the traditional idea of worship, which he sees as focusing on the objective fact of what is being observed, to the more contemporary idea of worship, which he sees as more subjective and feeling oriented.

139

I am not at all sure that Erickson treats contemporary worship fairly, but he does raise an important issue. For many people, the Lord's Supper is one of the most solemn occasions of the church's life. Yet both Erickson and A. H. Strong note that it should be a festive occasion. Strong's words are particularly interesting, since they were written about a century ago, long before contemporary worship was ever imagined: "Gloom and sadness are foreign to the spirit of the Lord's Supper. The wine is the symbol of the death of Christ, but of that death by which we live. It reminds us that he drank the cup of suffering in order that we might drink the wine of joY:'

140

In truth, the atmosphere in which we celebrate the Lord's Supper should be the same as that which marks all genuine Christian worship, one of both awe and praise. It is an awesome, unimaginable thing that Christ the eternal Son should give his body and blood for us, and only our familiarity with it blinds us to its awesomeness. Yet it was for us, and as we receive his blessing anew in the celebration of this ordinance, the only appropriate response is one of joyful praise.

138.

For more discussion of the elements, including those who argue the Lord's Supper should be an actual meal, see Hammett, 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 297-99. Continued interest in this question is reflected in the short article I was asked to write on this topic for The

Gospel Coalition website.

Unleavened

Bread in the

See John S.

Lord's

Supper?':

Hammett,

"TGC Asks:

Gospel Coalition,

Does Scripture Demand

March

14,

2016,

https://www.

thegospelcoalition.org/ article/ does-scripture-demand- unleavened-bread- in - the-lords-supper. 139.

Erickson, "The Lord's Supper;' 59-60.

140.

Strong, Systematic Theology, 960; also Erickson, "The Lord's Supper:' 59.

CHAPTER 1 1

336

CONCLUSION For most of Christian history, the Eucharist or Lord's Supper has been the central act of Christian worship. Baptism, especially the baptism of infants, has been a major family occasion. Baptists saw, correctly I think, that both these ordinances had become distorted and proposed major reforms. They denied sacramentally transmitted grace and the necessity of the sacraments for salvation, and placed the preaching of the Word in the center of worship. But in the process we may have overreacted and lost some of the meaning these events are made to have for worship. There

are

several practical suggestions that I think could help

us

recover from our overreaction and restore a more meaningful practice of the ordinances in Baptist life. The first would be simply to teach on them with more depth and intentionality, perhaps as an important and integral part of any new members' class. As something we do fairly often in the life of the church, we commonly observe them, perhaps thinking they need no explanation. But that is not the case. With baptism, teach the biblical basis for believer's baptism and then institute processes to implement it, assuring that as far as humanly possi­ ble, those presented as candidates for baptism are those who have given a credible profession of faith. Explain especially the connection between baptism and church membership, and have the church be involved, in voting its approval of the recommendation that someone be baptized, and approving those authorized to Supper.

141

administer baptism and the Lord's

Then in the baptism itself, let the one being baptized give a

genuine profession of faith, beyond simply answering a yes-or-no ques­ tion. Then the baptism can be administered, on the basis of their profes­ sion of faith. I also personally like the practice of my church, of giving joyful applause upon the emergence of each candidate from the waters, but that may be a matter of personality. For the Lord's Supper, I think there should be periodic teaching on all five aspects of the meaning of the Lord's Supper. Then in the actual celebration, prepare to kindly and respectfully articulate your church's understanding of who should and should not participate. Include a time for self-examination, leading those preparing to partake in renewing their

141.

In many churches, the bylaws would authorize pastors as the appropriate agents to administer baptism and the Lord's Supper, but in cases where a father or other person wants to administer baptism, I think it would be wise to ask the church to approve, to remind the church that it is the baptizing body. The same is the rationale for voting to approve the baptism of those requesting it.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

337

repentance, renewing their faith in Christ, and renewing their love for the body. Then, as the gathered and prepared body moves toward believing obedience in what God has ordained, encourage an attitude of expec­ tancy. I prefer always using the words of institution from 1 Corinthians 1 1 : 2 3 - 2 6 (novelty is not always necessary). I see the manner of distribu­ tion and partaking (passing of the elements versus coming to the front, eating and drinking in unison or as each arrives at the front, eating the elements separately or intinction

142)

as indifferent, as long as things are

done decently and in order. In terms of the elements, I do prefer actual bread, to better connote the idea of the Lord's Supper as a place where we may find spiritual nutrition. Most of all, recognize that God has given us these observances, not as burdens but as occasions for blessing. If we take the time to rightly understand what God has given us, and practice them as acts of worship in believing obedience, I believe God will be pleased with our worship, and will respond, as he does to all believing obedience, with blessing.

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR PART

1.

4

In what ways are the five ministries mentioned in chapter 1 0 provided in your church? Are some ministries more foundational or impor­ tant than others? Why or why not?

2. Does your church have a process or plan designed to help someone move from visitor to member to mature believer? What would need to be some of the elements of such a plan or process? 3. Are you familiar with contemporary worship? What are some of the objections raised to contemporary worship? To what degree are they valid? What criticisms can be made of traditional worship, and to what degree are they valid? 4. Is evangelism the natural result of a healthy Christian life or the result of intentional efforts? What produces a church that ministers effectively to its community? 5. Why do most Baptists call baptism and the Lord's Supper ordinances rather than sacraments? Is the difference more than merely semantic? 6. Is baptism just a symbol of what happens in conversion, or is more involved? What, if anything, does God do in baptism?

142.

Intinction is the practice of dipping the bread in the cup and partaking of both together.

CHAPTER 1 1

338

7. Give the case for infant baptism as persuasively as possible, and then

tell how you would respond to it from a Baptist perspective. 8. How old do you think someone must be to be baptized or participate in the Lord's Supper? Should it be immediately after conversion? 9. What do you think are the most important steps churches could take to improve their practice in the areas of baptism and the Lord's Supper?

BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY

Allison,

Gregg.

Sojourners and Strangers:

The Doctrine of the

Church.

Foundations of Evangelical Theology. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2 0 1 2 . While a comprehensive textbook of ecclesiology, this work has an especially strong section on the ordinances and a helpful section on the ministries of the church, though with a slightly different approach than this book. Beasley-Murray, G. R. Baptism in the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerd­ mans, 1962. This is one of the classic books on baptism from a British Baptist, providing a detailed exegesis of virtually every New Testa­ ment text related to baptism. Carson, D. A., ed. Worship by the Book. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002. This book consists of a wonderful essay by D. A. Carson, and reflec­ tions on worship from Anglican, Free Church, and Reformed perspec­ tives. All three include sample orders of service and practical sugges­ tions for worship planning, along with helpful overviews of the large literature on worship, including the contemporary worship wars. Dagg, J. L. Manual of Theology; Second Part: A Treatise on Church Order. Philadelphia:

American

Baptist

Publication

Society,

1858;

reprint,

Harrisonburg, VA: Gano Books, 1 9 8 2 . This book shows the intense interest and debate over the ordinances in the nineteenth century, and gives responses to arguments for infant baptism and open commu­ nion still used today. Hammett, John S. 40 Questions about Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2 0 1 5 . Almost every topic addressed in the chapter on the ordinances is addressed at greater length in this book, along with many additional topics, especially the views of other denominations. The forty-question format is very user-friendly.

MORE THAN SIMPLE SYMBOLS

Hellerman, Joseph.

339

When the Church

Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus'

Vision for Authentic Christian Community. Nashville: B & H Academic, 2009.

Though primarily a book on the meaning of the church as

family, it also engages the ministry of fellowship in very helpful terms, both theologically and practically. Jewett, Paul K. Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,

1978.

Jewett gives a devastating treatment of the most

common Presbyterian argument for infant baptism: namely, that as infants in Israel received the covenant sign of circumcision, so the children

of Christian parents

should receive the

covenant sign

of

baptism. He shows that a proper understanding of covenant theology leads to believer's baptism. Ryken, Philip Graham, Derek W. H. Thomas, and J. Ligon Duncan III, eds.

Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship. Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2003. This anthology contains a number of essays giving guidance on issues like prayer and readings of Scripture in worship, and defending a more traditional view of worship. Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Church: Growth without Compromising

Your Mission and Message. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1 9 9 5 . From one of the leading advocates of seeker-sensitive services, Warren's book is already something of a classic. It covers the five ministries of the church under the rubric of purposes, but does so drawing extensively on the methods Warren has used in building Saddleback Community Church into one of the largest and most vital churches in America. A very practical and valuable book.

PART

5

WHERE IS THE CHURCH G O I N G ?

C H A P T E R

1 2

AGAINST THE GRAIN New Responses to a Changed Landscape

IN

THIS LAST PART OF THE BOOK,

we ask a question looking to the future:

Where is the church going? Chapter

12 answers this question from the

North American context. For the foreseeable future, the church in North America in most cases will have to go against the grain of a culture that has become, in the years since the first edition of this book was published, much more decidedly post-Christian. We will sketch two major trends revealing the context in which the church must minister, and look at six important responses churches are making to that culture. Chapter 1 3 will broaden the focus to look at the church globally. This book has dealt primarily with issues most relevant to North America, especially Baptists in North America, but in today's global village, important trends and developments in the rest of the world will impact and be impacted by Baptists and Baptist churches.

THE CHANGED LANDSCAPE In the first edition of this book, I spoke of the changing landscape in North America, fueled by the forces of secularism and postmodemism. In the 1980s and 1990s, the forces for change encountered resistance from

343

CHAPTER 1 2

344

those seeking to maintain traditional values, resulting in what was called the culture wars.

1

Today, while there is still more Christian influence in

North America than in most other parts of the world, and while there are still some skirmishes in the culture wars, those wars seem to be abat­ ing, with most of the momentum on the side of secularism and postmod­ ernism. Russell Moore writes of "the collapse of the Bible belt," and "the increasing marginalization of Christiani ti, He does not see this as a cause for despair, but as an "opportunity to bear witness in a culture that often does not even pretend to share our 'values."

2

Ed Stetzer sees the shift to

a more clearly and obviously post-Christian culture as marking the loss of "the Christians home court advantage." Another way to put it, in this changed landscape churches will have to bear witness against the grain.

The Changed Landscape and Human Sexuality Perhaps the clearest evidence of this changed landscape is in the area of human sexuality. A 2 0 1 7 Gallup poll reports that "record percentages of U.S. adults" approve of sexual acts outside of marriage ( 69% ), of same-sex sexual acts (63 percent), and of having a baby outside of marriage (62 percent). A significant minority (36 percent) even see viewing pornography as "morally acceptable." These changes are not happening only among nonbelieving Americans. While a majority of evangelicals still oppose same-sex marriage, that majority is only 59 percent. And among young white evangelicals ( those born after 1964), support of same-sex marriage, as of Iune 2 0 1 7 , was up to 47 percent, compared to only 29 percent in March 2 0 1 6 .

5

Moreover, while homosexuality generates the most headlines, changes in how we view heterosexual activity outside of marriage is even more striking. The traditional Christian view, that "sexual activity belongs exclusively within marriage,' is a small minority view among single evangelicals: "A recent study

1.

For two accounts of the culture wars, see Robert Wuthnow,

The Struggle for America's Soul:

Evangelicals, Liberals & Secularism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989) and James Davison Hunter, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America (New York: BasicBooks, 1 9 9 1 ) .

2.

Russell Moore, Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel (Nashville: B & H, 2 0 1 5 ) , 2, 5, 9.

3.

Ed Stetzer,

"How We

Lead in Times of Cultural Shift;'

Christianity

Today,

1, https://www.

christianitytoday.com/ edstetzer/2017 /july/ shifting-leadership-trends.html, accessed 8/7/2017. 4.

David

Roach,

"Gallup

Poll

Records

'Humbling'

Moral

Decline;'

http://www.baptistpress.

com/48878/gallup-poll-records-humbling-moral-decline, accessed 5/16/2017. 5.

Diana Chandler, "Pew: Gay Marriage Gains Favor of Younger White Evangelicals;' http://www. bpnews.net/ 4 9 1 5 1 / pew-gay- marriage-gains-favor-of-younger-white-evangelicals, 6/29/2017.

accessed

AGAINST THE GRAIN

345

reveals that 88 percent of unmarried young adults are having sex . . . . Of those surveyed who self-identify as 'evangelical; 80 percent say they have had sex'" Researcher Gina Dalfonzo reports the experiences she and many other single Christians have had of "large numbers of people on dating sites who call themselves 'Christian' but are all in favor of premarital sex'? In such a context, churches can no longer assume that their moral views are obvious or even make sense to nonbelievers (and even many believers). We must articulate what in another age could be assumed.

8

And we must

give reasons for our views, "with gentleness and respect" ( 1

Peter 3 : 1 5 ) .

Otherwise, our motives will be misunderstood and our ministries hindered. In 2 0 1 6 , Lifeway Research asked one thousand Americans to answer this question: "In general, what do you think motivates sincere religious believ­ ers who oppose sexual freedom?" Just under half (49 percent) saw faith as the main motivation. Twenty percent gave "hate" as the motivation of "sincere religious believers:' apparently thinking there could be no other sensible motivation for opposing sexual freedom. Among those who listed "none"

as their religious preference,

more than

thought such Christians were motivated by hate.

6.

Gina

Dalfanzo,

One By

One:

Welcoming the Singles In

one-third

(34 percent)

9

Your

Church

(Grand Rapids:

Baker,

2 0 1 7 ) , 5 0 - 5 1 . The study cited was conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and can be found at http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/national-data/ default.aspx. 7.

Ibid., 5 1 . Joel Willitts, a professor at North Park University, agrees. He says that after a few years of teaching Christian college students and reading their papers, he has a good sense of what Christian college students are thinking about sex, and "only a small minority of students think Are

sex

should be

Saying

saved

about Sex

.

.

.

for It

marriage"

(Joel

May Surprise

Willitts,

You;'

"What

Patheos,

Christian

College

Students

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/

euangelion/2015/04/what-christian-college-students-are-saying-about-sex- it-may-surprise­ you, accessed 7/27/2017. 8.

Among the resources to help Christians think through these issues, see Todd Wilson, Mere Sexuality: Rediscovering the Christian

Vision

of Sexuality (Grand Rapids:

Gerald Hiestand and Todd Wilson, eds., Beauty,

Order,

and Mystery: A

Zondervan, 2017); Christian

Vision

of

Human Sexuality (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2017); R. Albert Mohler, Jr., We Cannot Be Silent: Speaking Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage, and the Very Meaning of Right and

Wrong

(Nashville:

Thomas

Homosexuality Is Not Just an

Nelson,

Issue

2015);

Preston

Sprinkle,

People

to

Be

Loved:

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2 0 1 5 ) ; Wesley Hill,

Why

Washed

and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness & Homosexuality, updated and expanded ed.

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016); Mark Yarhouse, Understanding Gender Dysphoria: Navigating Transgender Issues in a Changing Culture (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2015); Andrew T.

Walker, God and the Transgender Debate (Epsom, Surrey, UK.: The Good Book Company, 2017); and material by Sam Allberry and others at www.livingout.org. 9.

Bob Smietana, "American Views on Sex, Religion Studied;' 2, at http://www.bpnews.net/49130/ americans-views-on-sex-religion-studied, accessed 6/27/2017.

CHAPTER 1 2

346

Human sexuality is just one of the many issues on which the Christian faith and contemporary culture clash. The existence of absolute truth, the uniqueness of Jesus as the only source of salvation, and the reality of human fallenness are other areas in which churches will be called to go against the

grain." But in truth, this is nothing new. Since the New Testament, churches have been believing what seemed to their world to be foolishness. But it is important to recognize that since we are now, more than in the past genera­ tion, going against the grain, we must shape our ministries accordingly.

The Changed Landscape and Religious Decline Another related reality in the contemporary context is that of decline, especially among those 1981

to

in the

millennial generation

( those born

from

1996). The 2 0 1 5 Religious Landscape Survey, a survey of more

than 35,000 Americans conducted by the Pew Research Center, gave as its number one finding, "Christians are declining, both as a share of the U.S. population and in total number:' They found that drop corresponded with "the continued rise in the share of Americans with no religious affiliation (religious 'nones');' which rose from 8 percent of the adult population in 1990 to 1 6 . 1 percent in 2008 to 22.8 percent in 2 0 1 5 . 1 1 Sadly,

1 8 percent

of US adults who were raised as Christians or members of some religious group, are now among the "nones:' And while the rise of the "nones" was especially noticeable among the

millennials,

"the major trends

seen in

American religion since 2007 -the decline of Christians and the rise of the 'nones' -have occurred in some form across many demographic groups.?" Ed Stetzer cautions us not to draw too dire a conclusion from these findings. He says, "Christianity is not dying; nominal Christianity is:' or "Christianity is being refined:' Looking carefully at the data, he notes that the drop among Christians and the rise among the "nones" is due to the fact that "Americans whose Christianity was nominal-in name only-are cast­ ing aside that name. They are now aligning publicly with what they've actu-

10.

In a 2014 survey of three thousand adults commissioned by Ligonier Ministries, Lifeway Research found that close to half those surveyed ( 45 percent) believe the Bible was written for each person to interpret as they choose; 45 percent also believe that there are many ways to heaven; and two-thirds (67 percent) say most people are basically good. Bob Smietana, "Americans Believe in

Heaven,

Hell

and

a Little

Bit

of Heresy;' 1- 7,

at

http://lifewayresearch.com/2014/10/28/

americans-believe-in-heaven-hell-and-a-little-bitof-heresy, accessed 6/29/2017. 11. 12.

Stetzer, "None of the Above;' 2. Michael Lipka, "5 Key Findings About the Changing U.S. Religious Landscape;' 1-3, at http://www. pewresearch.org!facat-tanl/2015/05/12.5-key-findings-u-s-religious-landscape/, accessed 7/18/2017.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

347

ally not believed all along:' By contrast, "convictional Christianity is rather

steady?" In fact, while the percentage of millennials identifying as "none:' is quite high and increasing (35 percent), the percentage of millennials who identify as evangelical was the same in 2 0 1 5 as it was in 2007: 2 1 percent. But in at least one major evangelical denomination, decline has been real, has been sustained for more than a decade now, and is a cause for serious concern. In fact, I have recently had to face the fact that for the first time in my life, I am a member of a declining denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. From a total membership of 16,306,246 in 2006 to 1 5 , 2 1 6 , 9 7 8 in 2 0 1 6 , Southern Baptists have experienced eleven years of

decline, in which they have lost more than 1 million members, or more than 7 percent of their total membership.

14

At least part of that decline

could be due to purely nominal members no longer being nominal, or churches

becoming

more

serious

about

meaningful

membership

and

removing many purely nominal members via church discipline. In fact, I was not concerned for the first few years of membership decline, because average weekly worship attendance was increasing. But since 2009, weekly attendance too has been decreasing, from 6,207,488 in 2009 to 5 , 2 0 0 , 7 1 6 in 2 0 1 6 , a loss of more than 1 million in church attendance. That too can be partly explained by the fact that members attend with less frequency than in the past. Thom Rainer gives the example of a church with attendance of 200. If one-half of those attenders miss one of four weeks, average attendance drops to 1 7 5 , even though no members left the church and everyone remained relatively active. Rainer believes this is the number one reason for the decline in church attendance.

15

Yet when all

possible allowances have been made, the reality of decline remains. Also of concern to Baptists and others with strong denominational convictions is the finding that those who are continuing their affiliation with a church are increasingly nondenominational. A Gallup poll found that whereas prior to 2000, "half of all Americans belonged to a specific Protestant denomination'' today that number is down to 30 percent, while

13.

Ed Stetzer, "Nominals to Nones: 3 Key Takeaways from Pew's Religious Landscape Survey;' Christianity Today, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ edstetzer/2015/may/nominals-to-nones-

3-key-findings-from-pewsreligious-lands.html, accessed 7I 17/2017. 14.

These

changes

can

be

tracked via

the

Annual

Church

Profile

Statistical

Summary,

which

Southern Baptists publish annually. 15.

Thom

Rainer,

"#1

Reason

for

the

Decline

in

Church

Attendance:'

at

http://thomrainer.

com/2013 /08/ thenumber-one- reason -for- the-decline- in -church-attendance-and-five-ways- to­ address- it, accessed 7 I 17/2017.

CHAPTER 1 2

348

the "proportion of Protestants in the United States who don't identify with a specific denomination doubled between 2000 and 2 0 1 6 ; ' such that today, one in six Americans are nondenominational Christians. The conclusion drawn from the poll is, "Churches that adhere to specific and historical denominational affiliations appear to face the biggest challenge in Ameri­ can Protestantism today?" This is another aspect of the "against the grain' context churches

(especially conscientiously denominational churches)

face, and to which they must respond. These may not be the only changes churches will need to address in the years to come. The growing role of technology in our culture has led to a growing role for technology in our churches (from reading our Bibles on a tablet or phone to hearing our pastor via DVD or closed circuit transmis­ sion to giving our offering via autodraft to completely online churches). We may need to assess what responses such changes call for. Rather than simply following the culture blindly, we may need to step back and analyze what we are gaining and what we are losing.

17

But I think those changes are

still in process and their impact may not yet be apparent. But the changes in values and perceptions that make many aspects of the Christian faith implausible, foolish or offensive and the change to living with a down­ ward trend in Christian affiliation in North America are two areas that are apparent and call for response.

MAJOR RESPONSES How then may or should churches respond to our current context? There are many very specific responses being recommended. Ed Stetzer says the response to decline is "more focus on sharing the Gospel, plant­ ing churches, engaging the culture, and joining Jesus on mission?" Thom Rainer has five possible approaches to the problem of declining atten­ dance, focusing on developing meaningful membership.

16.

19

But rather than

Kate Shellnutt, "The Rise of the Nons: Protestants Keep Ditching Denominations;' Christianity Today,

1-2,

at

http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017 /july/ rise-of-nons-protestants­

denominations-nondenominational.html, accessed 8/23/2017. 17.

Media expert Marshall McLuhan developed four laws of media, the first two calling on us to reflect on what the particular technology being considered enhances, intensifies, makes possible or accelerates, and what the new technology pushes aside or makes obsolescent. In other words, what do we gain and what do we lose? See Marshall McLuhan and Eric McLuhan, Laws of Media:

The New Science (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1988), 98-99. 18.

Ed

Stetzer,

"Baptists:

Reflections

of

the

Stats

GuY:'

3,

at

baptistsreflections-of-the-stats-guy, accessed 7 I 1 8 / 2 0 1 7 . 19.

Rainer, "#1 Reason for the Decline in Church Attendance;' 2-3.

http://www.bpnews.net/47015/

AGAINST THE GRAIN

349

consider a multitude of specific responses, I want to point to six major categories of responses. To some degree they overlap, but all are what I would call major categories of response.

Contextualizing In the first edition of this book, extensive consideration was given to the seeker church movement, an important response to the changing land­ scape of fifteen or more years ago. My sense is that the seeker movement has crested, but has left behind a major legacy: the crucial importance of contex­ tualization. The leaders of that movement urged us to get inside the minds of those we are trying to reach and understand what it takes to communicate with them. They may have gone too far in allowing the message to be unduly shaped by the needs and desires of seekers, going beyond contextualization to compromise,

20

but contextualization takes on an even greater importance

in our changed context, where our message makes little sense to many. Tim Keller gives a helpful definition of contextualization:

it is giving people

the Bible's answers, which they may not at all want to

hear, to questions about life that people in their particular time and place are

asking,

in language and forms they can comprehend, and through appeals

and arguments with force they can feel, even if they reject them.

This

approach maintains the priority on the

Bible;

21

it supplies the

answers. But it pays attention to the context, to know the questions people are asking, to learn the language and forms they find comprehensible and to develop cogent arguments. This is a major response to the first change we noted, that which sees the Christian message as foolish if not offensive. This is what international missionaries have been doing for decades, if not centuries.

22

It leads us into the disputed question of how the Christian

(and churches) relate to culture. Of his definition of contextualization, Keller says a contextualized presentation of the gospel «adapts and connects to the

20.

See the analyses of Greg Pritchard, Willow Creek Seeker Services: Evaluating a New Way of Doing Church (Grand Rapids: Baker, Traditional

Religion

in

a

1996); Kirnon Howland Sargeant, Seeker Churches: Promoting

Nontraditional

University Press, 2000); and Alan Wolfe,

Way

(New

Brunswick,

NJ

and

London:

Rutgers

The Transformation of American Religion: How

We

Actually Live Out Our Faith (New York: Free Press, 2003).

21.

Keller, Center Church, 89. Emphasis in original.

22.

A.

Scott Moreau surveys dozens of approaches to contextualization in

Contextualization

World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2 0 1 2 ) .

in

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350

23

culture, yet at the same time challenges and confronts it:'

Most discussions

of the Christ-and-culture question begin with the classic book by H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture, and his famous five ways of relating Christ to culture: Christ against culture, Christ of culture, Christ above culture, Christ 24

and culture in paradox, and Christ transforming culture.

While his five

approaches have been subject to critique, the question of how to relate to the changed culture in which they exist is a question churches will do well to think through carefully, and at least four of Niebuhr's models are being utilized as responses.

25

Indeed, my own conviction is that our response to

culture should not consist of just one of these models, because culture is not monolithic. There are some aspects of culture we can applaud and incorpo­ rate, some that may be genuinely neutral, and much today that must be reso­ lutely resisted. One approach will not be appropriate for every situation. But the changed cultural landscape of today calls for churches to become students of their culture and skilled in contextualization. Though his urban context makes some aspects of his view distinctive, I think Tim Keller offers very valuable pastoral advice on how to understand culture and thus contextualize 26

well,

and Kevin Vanhoozer gives a detailed model for reading cultural texts

along with examples of how his students have used his method to interpret various cultural texts and trends, from the checkout line at a grocery store, to 27

the movie Gladiator, to the blogosphere.

I believe contextualization based

on thoughtful engagement with the culture will be increasingly necessary for churches as they sail into a cultural wind that will often be against them.

Going Missional A very closely related but slightly different response is denoted by the term missional. Those in the missional church camp agree on the need for contextualization, but they see the term missional as a new term and a new strategy for cultural engagement. Such churches may adopt a "Christ against culture"

or "Christ transforming culture" or other approach to

23.

Ibid.

24.

H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (New York: Harper & Row, 1 9 5 1 ) .

25.

D. A. Carson has sharply criticized the "Christ of culture'' view, and suggests that we should "perhaps envisage a fourfold rather than a fivefold scheme'' ( Christ and Culture Revisited [ Grand Rapids and Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans, 2008], 36).

26.

Keller devotes two large segments of Center Church to contextualization (89-134 and 1 8 1 - 2 4 3 . The chart on 231 especially deserves careful pondering.

27.

See Kevin Vanhoozer, Charles Anderson and Michael Sleasman, eds., Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007).

AGAINST THE GRAIN

351

culture, but they will be used in service to a missional approach to the world.

The

term

"missional church', was first

highlighted by the

1998

publication of Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church

in North America.

28

This book came out of discussions within ecumenical

circles, particularly a group called The Gospel and Our Culture Network. Soon the term was adopted by a wide variety of churches, though not with a uniform understanding of what it means for a church to be missional.2

9

As Alan Roxburgh quipped, the term missional has gone "from obscurity to banality in eight short years and people still don't know what it means":" In this book, missional will be used to describe the posture of a church in relationship to the world around it. As Ed Stetzer describes it, "Missional means adopting the posture of a missionary, learning and adapting to the culture around you while remaining biblically sound,"!' It requires contex­ tualization, but by using the term "missional," we are adding another layer. We are called not only to consider culture, but also to consider the church's mission in and to that culture. The question of the mission of the church has also been the subject of some controversy.

32

Kevin De Young and Greg Gilbert seek to give a

very precise and focused answer to that question.

The

mission of the

church, they say, is not every good thing a Christian may do, nor every thing a Christian does in obedience to Christ. Rather,

cc [

t]he mission of

the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship the Lord and obey his commands now and in eternity to the glory of God:,33 But most within the missional church movement see the mission of the church in broader terms, as linked to the mission of God. Christopher Wright defines the mission of the church

28.

Darrell Guder, ed., Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America

29.

See a brief summary of the development of the term in Nathan Finn and Keith Whitfield, "The

(Grand Rapids and Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans, 1998).

Missional Church and Spiritual Formation;' in Spirituality for the Sent: Casting a New Vision for the Missional Church, eds. Nathan Finn and Keith Whitfield (Downers Grove, IL:

IVP

Academic, 1 4 - 1 6 . 30.

Alan Roxburgh, "The Missional Church;' Theology Matters 10, no. 4 (September/October 2004): 2.

31.

Ed Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2006), 1 9 .

32.

For a discussion of this controversy in the larger missiological community, see Craig Ott, ed., The Mission of the Church: Five Views in Conversation (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016). For

views within the evangelical community, see Jason Sexton, gen. ed., Four Views on the Church's Mission (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2 0 1 7 ) .

33.

Kevin De Young and Greg Gilbert, What Is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2 0 1 1 ) , 62. Emphasis in original.

CHAPTER 1 2

352

as "our committed participation as God's people, at God's invitation and

command, in God's own mission within the history of God's world for the redemption of God's creationi?' Or as Nathan Finn and Keith Whitfield put it, "Being missional means being directed by the mission of God;' and "living

sent on the mission of God:'

35

This latter view of the mission of the church is broader than the first, including matters like creation care and social justice, but without unduly diminishing the importance of evangelism. If missional means being sent into the world, we need to remember that the church is sent into the world "with an evangelistic calling,"?" That is not the whole of the church's call­ ing, but it is an important aspect, arguably the most important aspect, for it is one with eternal consequences. In my opinion, the most important aspect of the missional response for churches today is the sense that the church is not to wait for the world to come to the church; rather the church is sent into the world. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch see the missional posture as calling the church to move from an attractional model, in which a church plants itself in a neighborhood, offers programs, and expects nonbelievers to come, to an incarnational approach, in which the church seeks to "leave its own reli­ gious zones" to seep "into the host culture like salt and light;' and "to be an infiltrating, transformational community?" But the church sent into the world must nonetheless maintain its distinctiveness as a contrast commu­ nity, for it is by its very difference that it attracts nonbelievers. Michael Goheen argues, "Only when the church is a faithful embodiment of the kingdom as part of the surrounding culture yet over against its idolatry will its life and words bear compelling and appealing testimony to the good news that in Jesus Christ a new world has come and is corning?" In the contemporary context, in which the church is declining, it will not do for churches to sit back and simply wait for the world to come. A missional posture in which churches see themselves as sent into the world to serve the world, yet without losing their distinctive identity, will be increas-

34.

Christopher Wright, The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Great Narrative (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006), 23. Emphasis in original.

35.

Finn and Whitfield, "The Missional Church and Spiritual Formation:' 27-28. Emphasis in original.

36.

Ibid., 28.

37.

Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 1

21' -Century Church (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003), 30.

38.

Michael Goheen, A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic: 2 0 1 1 ) , 5.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

353

ingly important in the days ahead. And, as Ed Stetzer emphasizes, missional churches must be both culturally relevant and biblically faithful.

39

Going Large As noted above, declining church affiliation is one of the key recent changes in the North American landscape. But that decline has not been uniform. It has been more pronounced among mainline churches and Cath­ olics than evangelicals:" it has been more pronounced among millennials than boomers; and it has been more pronounced among smaller churches than megachurches. Now most churches cannot simply choose to be larger as a response to the changed landscape; if they could, many would. But it may be helpful to see why it is that megachurches are growing when most are declining. It may be that larger churches simply have more resources, but there may also be some factors in the growth of large churches that smaller churches could adopt, even those with modest resources. First, it is worth noting that at least through 2 0 1 4 , research indicates that churches that have reached megachurch status are continuing to grow. The 2 0 1 5 Megachurch Survey by Hartford Institute for Religion Research and Leadership Network found the median growth rate for megachurches ( defined as those with two thousand or more present at weekly worship gatherings)

was 26 percent over the five-year period 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 4 .

41

Not

only are the individual megachurches growing, the total number of mega­ churches is increasing (from around six hundred megachurches in 2000 to at least 1,642 by the latest count).

42

What is it about megachurches that has enabled them to buck the tide of declining church affiliation in the US? While it is impossible to pinpoint one factor, or to prove cause and effect, the Megachurches 2 0 1 5 Report did find a number of areas in which megachurches are significantly different from other congregations. These areas are not dependent on the larger resources of megachurches and so may be points for consideration by other churches.

39.

Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches, 20-21. See the caption on the cover: "Planting a Church That's Biblically Sound and Reaching People in Culture:'

40. 41.

Lipka, "5 Key Findings;' 2. Scott Thumma and Warren Bird, Megachurches

2015

Report;'

2,

"Recent Shifts in America's Largest Protestant

Churches:

hirr.hartsem.edu/megachurch/2015_Megachurches_Report.

pdf, accessed 7/22/2017. 42.

Aaron Earls, "Where Are All the Megachurches?" https://factsandtrends.net/2017 /06/09/where­ areall-the-rnegachurches, accessed 7 / 1 7 / 2 0 1 7 . Earls gives the megachurch database from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research as the source for his data.

CHAPTER 1 2

354

A number of factors cluster around "clarity of mission and purpose?" Members of megachurches and members of other congregations were asked if they "strongly agree" that the following phrases describe their church:

•

Has a clear mission and purpose (79% megachurch members; 4 1 % other church members)

• •

Is spiritually vital and alive ( 5 1 % compared to 29%) Is quite different from other congregations in our community ( 4 1 % to 2 1 %)

•

Is willing to change to meet new challenges ( 3 7% to 1 7 % )

This last factor deserves further consideration. While the data indi­ cate that "innovation and willingness to change are strongly correlated to growth and health."? and while such willingness is much more prevalent among megachurches than other congregations, it is a challenge to main­ tain, even for megachurches. In 2 0 1 0 , 54 percent of megachurch members reported strong agreement with the phrase "willing to change to meet new challenges;" that percentage dropped to 37 percent in the 2 0 1 5 survey. Another factor involved in megachurch growth seems to be small groups: "Megachurches continue to have a very high level of intentional use of small groups':" As megachurches, they may be better able to offer a wide variety of types of small groups (including but not limited to Sunday school), but most churches should be able to offer some type of small group experience. And there is a strong correlation between intentionality about small groups and perception of spiritual vitality in these megachurches. Megachurches are doing better at attracting young people than other congregations, with 64 percent reporting an increase in young adults ( ages 18-34) from 2 0 1 1 to 2 0 1 4 . Not surprisingly, megachurches that view minis­

try to young adults as a top priority have a larger percentage of young adults in their churches. What may be surprising is that the programs for young adults are largely designed for premarital and married young adults rather than single young adults, while two-thirds in the 18-34 age group are single, and are waiting longer to marry. Megachurches and other churches are not doing as well in attracting young singles-perhaps due to some conflict

43.

All the data in this section is from Thumma and Bird, "Recent Shifts:' and is derived from the 2015 Megachurch Survey.

44.

Thumma and Bird, "Recent Shifts:' 1 1 .

45.

Ibid., 4.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

355

between evangelical teaching on sexual morality and the changing views on sexuality among young adults, perhaps due to an overemphasis on young families and a lack of emphasis on ministry to single adults. In view of the growing number of young adult singles, churches need to prepare them­ selves to engage the changing views on sexuality with understanding of those changing views and better preparation in presenting the case for their view, and then give ministry to singles the high priority it deserves.

46

Multiplying Sites There multisite

is

a large

and

growing

overlap

churches."

The

very existence

between

megachurches

of multiple

sites

affords

and such

churches opportunities to contextualize specifically to local communities and be missional, and thus many multisite churches could be considered as examples of contextualized and missional churches. Yet there are aspects of multisite churches that are distinct from contextualized, missional, and megachurches. Thus, multisite churches warrant separate consideration. They will be discussed here as a fourth major response to the changed landscape in which churches must operate today. Few would dispute the claim that multisite churches have experienced an explosion of growth in the twenty-first century. From more than 1,500 in 2006 to eight thousand in 2 0 1 4 , the growth of multisite churches, especially

in the midst of overall declining church affiliation, has been and continues 48

to be impressive.

But beyond the fact of their amazing growth in popular­

ity and the basic definition ("one church meeting in two or more locations 49)

under one overall leadership and budget"

it is difficult to say very much

about multisite churches as a whole. In his 2 0 1 1 doctoral dissertation, Brian Frye distinguished sixteen different varieties of multisite churches." what is

46.

For more

specific ideas on ministering to young single adults,

see

Dalfonzo,

One

by One,

especially 149-227. 47.

As of 2 0 1 5 , 63 percent of megachurches meet at multiple sites, and another 10% are considering it. This is up from 46 percent in 2010 (Thumma and Bird, "Recent Shifts;' 4).

48.

For the number as of 2006, see Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird, Church

Revolution

(Grand Rapids:

Zondervan,

2006), 9;

The Multi-Site

for the 2014 number,

see Warren

Bird, "Now More Than 8,000 Multisite Churches:' at http://leadnet.org/now-more-than-8000multisite-churches/, accessed 7/26/2017. I hav 49.

This is the definition given by Bird, "Now More Than 8,000 Multisite Churches:' It is a shortened form of the fuller definition given in Surratt, Ligon, and Bird, Multi-Site Church Revolution, 18: ''A

multi-site church is one church meeting in multiple locations-different rooms on the same

campus, different locations in the same region, or in some instances, different cities, states, or nations. A multi-site church shares a common vision, budget, leadership, and board:' 50.

Brian Frye, "The Multi-Site Phenomenon in North America: 1950-2010" (PhD diss., Southern

CHAPTER 1 2

356

a strength ( or weakness) in one variety may not be true of all. In the discus­ sion here, we will try to speak mainly to issues that are true of all or the great majority of multisite churches. When we speak of matters true of only some multisite churches, we will try to make that clear. The first and most obvious question is, why have they become so popular? Why are they growing in a context of decline? The answers to these two ques­ tions may be different. To address the second question first, one reason why multisite churches are growing is that there may be a self-selecting process going on. To put it in other words, I suspect that few declining churches are considering going multisite. It is usually not a strategy for reversing decline. More often, it is a strategy for churches who are struggling with what to do with existing growth, or a strategy of healthy churches desiring to broaden their impact. Thus, it may not be surprising that multisite churches are grow­ ing. It seems likely that many of them were growing before they went multi­ site. But I would not deny that becoming multisite may have sparked addi­ tional growth in many churches, and in some cases going multisite may have been a catalyst for a stalled church to resume growth. For example, in the most prominent preaching model among multi­ sites, simulcast preaching, the preaching of one man is extended to all the sites.

51

Such men are often unusually gifted and their preaching tends to

attract many people. Moreover, as mentioned above, the fact that multisite churches have multiple sites allows them to get more deeply into a commu­ nity, allowing them to better contextualize the gospel. Having a site in a specific neighborhood enables the church to better know the needs of that neighborhood, and thus do a better job being missional in their context. Thus, there seem to be many reasons why multisite churches are growing. The question of why they have become so popular is a bit different. Brian Frye sees the emergence of multisite churches as linked to "three cata­ lytic factors:' First, economic advancement sparked the development of a consumer society that accustomed people to demand options and appreciate

Baptist Theological Seminary, 2 0 1 1 ) , 179. Frye distinguishes the different models based on three key characteristics: proximity of sites to one another (four varieties), preaching methodology (five options), or process of multisiting (seven approaches).

Frye lists Internet campus and

multiple services as additional possible varieties. While I think there are key differences between multisite and multiservice, Internet campuses are becoming recognized as one option within the multisite framework. 51.

Simulcast preaching is used in nearly fifty percent of all multisite churches. See Warren Bird, "Leadership Network/Generis Multisite Church Scorecard, " Leadership Network (2014), available via http://leadnet.org.

18,

AGAINST THE GRAIN

357

franchises and brand names. Second, accelerated mobility allows multisite churches to bring their pastoral teams together (even those whose congrega­ tions never gather in one place), and for multisites who use the roving pastor model, mobility allows a pastor to travel from campus to campus. Third, and most important, have been the technological innovations that have allowed people to experience connection apart from face to face interaction. And for the large number of churches that use simulcast preaching, technological innovations have both made such preaching possible and accustomed people to accept it.

52

But while such developments may have been the necessary

prerequisites, they do not fully explain why they have become so popular. There is little reflection on "why multisite?" in the literature produced thus far. The earliest book, The Multi-Site Church Revolution, is much more a how-to than a why-to book. When reasons are mentioned, they seem to be largely pragmatic. Surratt, Ligon, and Bird say, "multi-site extensions of trusted- name churches are something that connect well with today's times;" multisiting allows churches to keep growing without the enormous expense of building ever bigger buildings and parking lots; multisites allow the church to be closer to where people are and allow the church to do a better job ofloving people well, especially different types of people; multisite churches are simply working well in reaching people, fulfilling the Great Commission and Great Commandment. They summarize: "The reasons for choosing to become a multi-site are as varied as the multi-site expressions that have evolved, but the vast majority of multi-site congregations are find­ ing the experience to be a solid win for their mission as a church.?" Granted

that they have become

popular and

that most multisite

churches are growing, is this a good thing? Do multisite churches have biblical

and theological warrant?

Is

this

a movement that

should be

applauded or a distortion of the biblical model for a church? Multisite churches have been

criticized

for

many reasons.

54

Some

critique

the

franchising and branding of churches as something that is contrary to the New Testament vision of the church. ecclesiology

undergirding

multisite

55

Others have examined the

churches

and

have

concluded

it

52.

Frye, "Multi-Site Church Phenomenon;' 63-93.

53.

Surratt, Ligon, and Bird, Multi-Site Church Revolution, 10, 12, 18, 25.

54.

Perhaps the most complete list is from Jonathan Leeman, "Twenty-two Problems with Multi-site Churches:'

at https://www.9marks.org/ article/twenty-two-problems-with-multi-site-churches,

accessed 8/14/2017. 55.

See Thomas White and John M. Yeats, Franchising McChurch: Feeding Our Obsession with Easy Christianity (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2009).

CHAPTER 1 2

358

"fails crucial tests of biblical prescription or precedent;' and is espe­ cially problematic for Baptists and their practice of congregationalism. Thabiti

Anyabwile

has

blogged,

"Multi-Site

Churches

Are

from

56

the

Devil;' accusing them of fostering idolatry of a superstar pastor, compe­ tition and pride. He argues that multisites remove the "local" from "local church;' and he questions the impact of technology. He thinks they give too much weight to pragmatism and are in danger of cultural captiv­ ity.

57

Perhaps the most common criticism has been that a church, by

its nature, is an assembly. "Assembly" is even a valid translation for the Greek term ekklesia. But how can a body of people be an assembly if they never assemble in one place at one time?

58

What are we to make of these criticisms? There seem to be several rebut­ tals those in the multisite church movement could offer. First, remember the great variety of models within the multisite movement. Some actually do assemble all together periodically, just not on every Sunday. Some have a preaching pastor at every campus, alleviating the charges of fostering idolatry of a pastor and uncritical use of technology. A second response might be that some of the dangers seen in multisite churches are endemic to the human heart (idolatry, pride, competition, cultural captivity). No church is totally immune from them, and multisite are no more (or less) susceptible than any other church form. A third response is to ask for a better alternative. If more people are coming than the building can hold, what are the options? To build a bigger building and parking lot may not be good stewardship; to turn people away is unchristian; to plant churches brings in other difficulties. Multisite may be least worst option in some cases. But a fourth response is to give a positive case of biblical and theo­ logical support for multisite churches. Here we have the work of Gregg Allison to draw upon. He accepts that many of the critiques of multisites

56.

See Patrick Willis, "Multi-Site Churches and Their Undergirding Ecclesiology: Questioning Its Baptist Identity and Biblical Validity" (PhD diss., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2014), 3.

57.

Thabiti Anyabwile, "Multi-Site Churches Are from the Devil;' https://blogs.thegospelcoalition. org/thabitianyabwile/2011/09/27 /multi-site-churches-are-from-the-devil, accessed 6/29/2017.

58.

The 2009 9Marks efournal devoted the entire May-June 2009 issue to multisite churches. In that issue, Thomas White, Jonathan Leeman, Bobby Jamieson, and Grant Gaines all critiqued multisite

churches

his dissertation

for

never assembling;

Gaines

("One Church in One Location:

extended

the

same

criticism

at length in

Questioning the Biblical, Theological, and

Historical Claims of the Multi-Site Church Movement" [ PhD diss., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2 0 1 2 ] ) . The same point has been used to critique multiple service churches by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander, The Deliberate Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005), 87.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

359

have some validity, especially for some forms of multisites. But he believes that there is biblical support and theological warrant for the form of multi­ site churches he advocates.

59

Biblically, Allison looks to New Testament references to "the church that meets in the house» of a certain person (Rom. 1 6 : 5 ; Col. 4 : 1 5 ; Philem. 2 ) . Considering the number that could fit in a house, and the number of

Christians in a city like Corinth, it seems likely that smaller house church gatherings met as a subset of the whole church.

60

That pattern

seems

almost certain in view of the size of the church in Jerusalem. The church may have met as a whole in the temple, but the house meetings (Acts 2:46) would have had to be subsets. In my own thinking, it seems significant that Paul always refers to the church within a city in the singular, "church:' Luke does the same in Acts. But the one church in Jerusalem was far too large to fit in one house. It seems likely that the same would be true of most other large cities. Thus it seems largely that the one church in Jerusalem (and other cities) was not regarded as one church because it assembled together; in fact, it operated as a network of house churches, and yet was regarded as one church.

61

I think the unity of these early urban churches should be seen as rela­ tional unity, such as that indicated by Acts 2:44. All the three-thousand­ plus believers "were together;' not by all assembling in the same place at the same time, but by caring for each other, sharing meals with smaller groupings, and living in covenant relationship with each other. I think this is why Paul may have always used the plural for the church scattered over a region. They couldn't live in relational unity as one church because geographical distance precluded it; they were churches. With reference to multisite churches, this seems to give a stronger biblical support to local­ ized multisites over those extended over whole states and regions.

59.

62

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 3 1 1 - 1 2 . See Allison's update on the multisite movement in Brad House & Gregg Allison, Multichurch: Exploring the Future of Multisite ( Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2 0 1 7 ) .

60.

Ibid., 3 1 2 - 1 3 . For references to "the whole church;' see Romans 16:23 and 1 Corinthians 14:23.

61.

This

is

the

conclusion

of Roger

Gehring,

House

Church

and

Mission:

The

Importance

of

Household Structures in Early Christianity (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004). He thinks it is

"almost certain that a plurality of house churches existed in Rome'' and that "we can be certain that a plurality of house churches existed alongside the whole local church in Corinth" (296). 62.

For a fuller exposition of this argument, see John S. Hammett, "What Makes a Multi-Site Church One Church?" in Marking the Church: Essays in Ecclesiology, eds. Greg Peters and Matt Jenson (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2016), 3 - 1 6 .

CHAPTER 1 2

360

Allison

also

sees

theological

support

for

multisite 63

"the church's missional characteristic and its unitY:'

churches

from

Multiple sites allow

a church to reach deeply into a local community. It doesn't take people out of their "missional/relational networks" by asking them to leave their neighborhood to go to church. Moreover, one of the hoped for results of multisite churches is growth, and going multisite allows churches to accommodate growth without incurring enormous debts from building new buildings and without planting new churches that may lack mature members and leaders.

64

As to church unity, Allison thinks the "common­

alities" shared by multisite churches (such as "mission, vision, finances, leadership")

allows them to embody "biblical virtues" like cooperation

and interdependence in "concrete ways:'

65

I have good friends on both sides of this debate and see strengths and weaknesses in the arguments for both sides. I don't think the lack of assembling all its members in one place every week automatically invali­ dates multisite churches, though I wonder how any genuine congregation­ alism, especially church discipline, can take place if all the members never assemble. But somehow the church in Jerusalem managed to act congre­ gationally, even to the point of having congregationally elected deacons, yet did so as a church scattered across multiple house gatherings. I have not found any arguments against multisite churches that have convinced me

that

all

forms

of multisites

are

biblically or

theologically invalid,

though some are much more defensible than others. For example, I think it would be very difficult for any multisite church extended across multiple states to practice the type of relational unity we see in Acts 2:44-45, and I wonder if it is really good for people to have a campus pastor who does not regularly preach the word to them.

66

But I think multisite advocates

could say the difficulty of practicing relational unity is also true of many large traditional churches, where most members do not really know most

63.

Allison, Sojourners and Strangers, 314.

64.

Allison also argues that "traditional church planting efforts are generally thirty percent more costly than multisite growing;' and the multisite approach "generates more opportunities for people to serve at the various sites:' Ibid., 3 1 5 , n. 50.

65.

Ibid., 3 1 5 .

66.

Thus I share some of the "misgivings" over some forms of multisite churches that Jonathan Leeman lists, though I would not share all of the twenty-two he gives, and my misgivings over multisite churches are probably not as deep as his. See Jonathan Leeman, "Twenty-two Problems with Multi-Site Churches: at https://www.9marks.org/article/twenty-two-problems-with-multi­ site-churches, accessed 8/ 14/2017.

AGAINST THE GRAIN

361

of the other members, and they may have a point. My preference would be for multisite churches to be consciously in the process of continually evaluating when it would be proper to release a site to become an autono­ mous local church.

67

I think that would be the wisest way to resolve all the

potential problems of multisites without necessarily giving up some of the missional and unity advantages Allison cites, which I think could also be achieved by a number of traditional autonomous local churches, commit­ ted to working together.

Going Back Another response that overlaps with some of the other responses is what I call "Going Back:' It represents, especially within Baptist life, those who think churches may best respond to contemporary challenges by going back to some principles and practices that characterized Baptist churches in the past. Chief among those advocating for such practices have been those associated with an organization called 9Marks. Taking its name from Mark Dever's book, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church,

68

9Marks is a multi­

faceted ministry, but with a central focus on ecclesiology. Its website describes it as follows:

At 9Marks, we write books, articles, and book reviews. We host conferences, record interviews, and consult with church leaders. In short, we do every­ thing we can to help pastors, future pastors, and church members see what a biblical church looks like, and to take practical steps for becoming one.

69

It was begun in 1998 as the Center for Church Reform. Mark Dever, who has served as Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church since 1994, has been President of 9Marks since its founding. Dever was its sole public voice in the

67.

There is a talk of a trend among some multi-site churches of doing exactly that, releasing campuses to become local autonomous churches. The Dallas-area Village Church transitioned one campus in 2 0 1 5 , and plans to do the same with the remaining five campuses by 2022. Multisite churches in Nashville and Kansas City are following a similar strategy. See David Roach, "Multisite: TX church's decision sparks talk of trends;' 1, http://www.bpnews.net/49679/multisite-tx-churchs­ decision-sparkstalk-of-trends, accessed 10/ 10/2017.

68.

Now in its third edition, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013) has sold more than 100,000 copies in English and has been translated into twelve languages, with three more in process.

69.

"What Does 9Marks Do?" at https://www.9marks.org/about/what-does-9marks-do/, accessed 8/14/2017.

CHAPTER 1 2

362

early years, but in the last decade there have been a growing number of writ­ ers contributing books published with the IX Marks logo on them:" Thabiti Anyabwile,

What Is a Healthy Church Member?; Jeramie Rinne,

Church

Elders: How to Shepherd God's People Like Jesus; Bobby Jamieson, Going Public:

Why Baptism Is Required for Church Membership; and especially

Jonathan Leeman, who has written or edited eleven books, including multi­ ple books on church membership ( The Church and the Surprising Offense

of God's Love; Church Membership: How the World Knows Who Represents Jesus; and Don't Fire Your Church Members), and now serves as editorial director of 9Marks. They sell a total of sixty-one different books in twenty­ four languages through their online bookstore, with some titles selling more than 100,000 copies." Last year, eight thousand people attended their confer­ ences, and tens of thousands receive the 9Marks Journal, which is published quarterly online, though hard copies of many issues are also available." Dever's nine marks go beyond strictly ecclesiological issues. In fact, the first five marks ( expositional preaching, biblical theology, the gospel, a biblical

understanding of conversion

and

a biblical

understanding

of

evangelism) are arguably essential to a healthy church, but are not typically addressed under the rubric of ecclesiology ( though perhaps they should be). But it is in marks six, seven, and nine ( a biblical understanding of church membership,

biblical

church

discipline,

and biblical

church

leadership)

that we deal with central ecclesiological issues. And while Dever uses the adjective "biblical:' these marks are also historically Baptist. In fact, the very first book published by the then Center for Church Reform is one edited 73

by Mark Dever, and with the simple title, Polity.

The two subtitles explain

the book more fully: A Collection of Historic Baptist Documents, and Bibli­

cal Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life. The book consists largely of ten reprints of "Historic Baptist Documents:' published between 1697 and 1874. Some of the major themes in those ten historic Baptist documents

70.

Most of the books with the IX Marks logo are published by Crossway Books of Wheaton, Illinois, though some are published by B & H o f Nashville. All have the IX Marks logo on the cover.

71.

A trilogy of books by Greg Gilbert ( What Is the Gospel?; Who Is Jesus?; and Why Trust the Bible?) are among their best sellers, with nearly 300,000 copies of the first sold alone, and translations of it in Arabic, Chinese, and Russian. Sales through their online bookstore totaled $350,000 in the past twelve months.

72.

Much of the information in the previous paragraph was supplied in response to questions from the author by the helpful staff at 9Marks. My thanks to Jonathan Leeman, Alex Duke, Daniel Gardner, and Mary Beth Freeman.

73.

Mark Dever, ed., Polity: Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life (Washington, DC: Center for Church Reform, 2001).

AGAINST THE GRAIN

363

are requirements for church membership, guidance on how, when, why and for what church discipline should be administered, and what type of struc­ ture and function church leadership should take.

74

On these issues, Dever is

arguing that we can build healthy churches today by going back and recov­ ering understandings and practices of earlier Baptists, though the earlier Baptists (and those at 9Marks) would insist that the ultimate source of these understandings and practices is Scripture. Others

have

noted

the

importance

of

recapturing

these

historic

practices as well. Of membership, Thom Rainer says, «Until we get our churches back to the committed membership the Apostle Paul mandates in

1

Corinthians

1 2 , we will continue to see declining attendance. But

when membership becomes truly meaningful, our churches will become an unstoppable force for the Kingdom and glory of God:,

75

In terms of

practical ways to go back to the type of meaningful membership found in 1 Corinthians 1 2 (and the rest of the New Testament), churches today will

find considerable help in historic Baptist understandings and practices.

76

Rick Warren couples meaningful membership practices (such as requir­ ing the signing of a church covenant) with the practice of church discipline: "Saddleback practices church discipline-something rarely heard of today. If you do not fulfill the membership covenant, you are dropped from our membership. We remove hundreds of names from our roll every year?" Warren is right in saying that church discipline is rarely heard of today. But pastors can find extensive discussion and reflection on almost every imagin­ able aspect of church discipline by going back into historic Baptist thinking. As to church leadership, there has been considerable buzz in contem­ porary conversations about calling Baptist church leaders "elders"

and

having a plurality of elders in a local church. Since writing Elders in Congre-

74.

Of the ten documents, all comment extensively on church discipline (though often under the rubric of "church censure"), nine of the ten include discussions concerning church leadership (several extensively), and eight have significant material on the duties of church members; all include implicit teaching on church membership in their teaching on church discipline and church government. It is fair to say that church membership, discipline, and leadership are central themes of these ten documents, and of historic Baptist ecclesiology as a whole.

75.

Thom

Rainer,

"#1

Reason

for

the

Decline

in

Church

Attendance;'

3,

http://thomrainer.

com/2013/08/the- number-one- reason -for- the-decline- in -ch urch-attendance-and-fiveways- to­ address- it/, accessed 07 I 17/2017. 76.

For more specifics on these historic Baptist understandings and practices, see chapter 4 of this book on "Regenerate Church Membership;' which I think may accurately be called "The Baptist Mark of the Church:'

77.

Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 54.

364

CHAPTER 1 2

8

gational Life,7

Phil Newton testifies that he and Matt Schmucker "have

fielded countless phone calls, emails, and visits" from pastors concerning the topic of elders and plurality. He states: "Three primary elements moved me into the direction of a plurality of elders: Scripture, Baptist history, and practical issues of church life?" In these and other areas, pastors and church leaders are finding that in the changed landscape of today's culture, many of the methods and prac­ tices of twentieth century Baptists are no longer effective. Even if effec­ tive by numerical standards, it may be questioned if they were ever bibli­ cal and effective in building churches with long-term health. But in any case, many are finding help for today's changed landscape in going back to practices that characterized and sustained Baptists in earlier years, when, like today, they were a minority.

Revitalizing A final response specifically addresses the reality of decline that is part of the changed landscape churches face today. Such decline is reflected in the fact that somewhere between eight thousand and ten thousand churches in the US close their doors every year." Among those that are surviving, multiple studies show that even among evangelical churches, 70 to 80 percent are plateaued or declining.

81

And while numerical growth is

not the only indicator of church health, it is clear to many observers that many formerly stalwart and healthy churches are in the process of dying. One

response

has been

and

continues

to

be

the planting of new

churches. That continues to be an important response, especially in the growing urban centers of our nation. But alongside the planting of new churches, there is a new and growing concern to not simply let dying churches die, but to revitalize them, and there is a small but growing body of literature to guide those attempting such efforts.

78. 79.

82

Phil A. Newton, Elders in Congregational Life (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2005). Phil A. Newton and Matt Schmucker, Elders in the Life of the Church: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for Church Leadership (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014), 19.

80.

These

are

the

numbers

from

Thom

Rainer,

"13

Issues

for Churches

in

2013;' http://www.

churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/ 164 787-thom-rainer-13-issues-churches-2013.html, accessed 9/04/2017. 81.

Jeff Christopherson, "Foreword;' in Mark Clifton, Reclaiming Glory: Revitalizing Dying Churches

82.

See Mark Clifton, Reclaiming Glory; Andrew M. Davis, Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping

(Nashville: B & H, 2 0 1 6 ) , xv.

Your Church

Come Alive Again

(Grand Rapids: Baker, 2 0 1 7 ) ; Brian Croft, Biblical Church

Revitalization: Solutions for Dying and Divided Churches (Christian Focus: Fearns, Scotland,

AGAINST THE GRAIN

365

There is considerable overlap with the responses given earlier in this chapter. For example, one reason many churches are dying is that they no longer speak the language of their community. In many cases, the demo­ graphics of the neighborhood surrounding the church has changed and no longer matches the demographics of the remaining church members. As well, many of the remaining members may have moved and no longer live in the church's neighborhood. To revitalize, the church will need to do some hard work in the area of contextualization. They must come to know the members of their community, to understand their hurts and needs and thus be able to speak the gospel meaningfully into their lives. Mark Clifton describes this process as exegeting the community.

83

Andrew Davis applies

it specifically to the matter of worship style: "the church that refuses to stay connected with surrounding culture musically will usually cease to be appealing to younger believers and will tend to age upward:' He calls on churches

to "make clear distinctions between what is timeless in church

life . . . and what is temporary'?" This is the work of contextualization. Another

aspect

of

revitalizing

involves

the

response

of

becom­

ing missional. Not only must revitalizing churches come to know their communities, they must actively serve them. In the past, such churches may have grown and been healthy simply by being there and offering programs for people; because people came. But in today's context, the church will not be revitalized by relying on attractional methods. Rather than focusing on how to get people into the church building, Clifton urges churches to focus on getting church members "into the lives of the people in the community on a consistent basis:' To make it clear, he says, "You don't redefine your church for your community by changing your name, updating your sanctuary, or changing your music. You redefine the church for your community by how you serve if' Clifton's experience has been that as the church has done so, "people have taken notice?" Another part of revitalization relates to the major response just previ­ ously discussed, that of going back to earlier practices, especially in matters of leadership structure and membership. Brian Croft notes that in revitaliz-

2 0 1 6 ) ; Thom Rainer, Autopsy of a Diseased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive (Nashville: B & H, 2014). Clifton uses the language ofreplanting as a synonym for revitalizing; some see a distinction between replanting and revitalizing, but as both are responses to the reality of dying churches, both will be included in this discussion. 83.

Clifton, Reclaiming the Glory, 63-66.

84.

Davis, Revitalize, 26.

85.

Clifton, Reclaiming Glory, 65.

CHAPTER 1 2

366

ing projects, matters ofleadership structure often are among the last matters to be addressed, yet can be crucial to the church's growth and health.

86

Davis

urges a return to the practice of a plurality of elders, as "immeasurably help­ ful and a major step in the right direction, in revitalization.

87

In terms of

membership, Croft again echoes practices from the past in noting the impor­ tance of maintaining healthy membership. In relationship to the practice of congregational government, when membership is healthy, "congregational­ ism is beautiful and life-giving, but a 'train wreck, when it goes wrong.?" But many of the "lessons" Andrew Davis passes on, or the "impera­ tives" Mark Clifton underscores, are simply matters commanded in Scrip­ ture: "pray without ceasing": love the people; preach the Word; make disci­ ples." Moreover, in keeping with 1 Timothy 3 : 1 - 7 and Titus 1 : 5 - 9 , Davis emphasizes the importance of character in pastors who would undertake church revitalization. Such a pastor must be holy, relying on God and not himself, be humble and yet courageous, patient and discerning. He must expect and overcome discouragement and spiritual attack." Despite these difficulties, there are success stories in church revitaliza­ tion. Davis and Clifton both recount those they have been involved in, and Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson give a much larger sample.

91

Yet the overall

message of this chapter may be somewhat discouraging. With the changed landscape making the progress of the gospel more difficult, and with the reality of changed sexual morality and religious decline defining our era, churches in North America face undeniable challenges. By contrast, when we tum to the prospect for churches around the world, we encounter a much brighter and positive story. To that story we tum in the final chapter.

86.

Croft, as reported in Andrew Smith, "Endure Trials in Church Revitalization, Pastors Say:' 2, http://www.baptistpress.com/ 49391/ endure- trials- in-church- revitalization-pastors-say,

accessed

8/22/2017. 87.

Davis, Revitalization, 26.

88.

Croft, as reported in Smith, "Endure Trials:' 2.

89.

Davis and Clifton both highlight the importance of prayer and making disciples; Clifton includes a specific emphasis on loving the

remaining members of the dying church,

and

Davis strongly emphasizes the importance of preaching the Word. For the full list of Davis's "fourteen lessons:' see Davis, Revitalization, 22-27; for Clifton's "six replanting imperatives:' see Clifton, Reclaiming Glory, 53-76. 90.

Davis, Revitalize, 23-25. As Clifton said to a prospective church replanter, "You can expect

91.

Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours

significant spiritual attack and deep, dark depression'' (Clifton, Reclaiming Glory, 144).

Can Too (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2007).

C H A P T E R

1 3

INTO ALL THE WORLD The Future of the Global Church

WHILE THIS

BOOK

IS PRIMARILY addressed to churches in North Amer­

ica, the question attended to in this part of the book ("Where is the church going!") cannot be answered without broadening the focus to include a global view. As technology shrinks the world and we become more and more a global village,

important trends and developments

in the church around the world have the potential to affect churches in America. Moreover, since all Christians share in the one universal body of Christ and thus in the communion of saints, it is only right that they care about the health and welfare of the larger body. Further, since all Christians also share in the mandate to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 2 8 : 1 9 - 2 0 ) , it is appropriate that they evaluate their prog­ ress in terms of their corporate obedience to that mandate. Finally, since the church has received Christ's promise that he will build his church, despite all the opposition of the forces of evil (Matt. 1 6 : 1 8 ) , it is edify­ ing to survey the progress of the church around the world and marvel at what Christ has built.

367

CHAPTER 13

368

THE AMAZING STORY Although little recognized by secular historians, the progress of the church around the world, especially in the past two-and-a-half centuries, is an amazing story. Andrew Walls compares how a visitor from Mars would have seen Christianity in 1 7 8 9 and then two hundred years later. In 1 7 8 9 , «he might well have assumed Christianity to be the tribal religion of the white peoples:' while two centuries later «he would find Christianity a world religion . . . firmly established in every continent, among people of the most diverse and disparate origins and cultures:' and «receding only among the Caucasians-to whom 200 years before it seemed confined." Justo Gonzalez states categorically, «there is little doubt that, from the point of view of the history of Christianity, the most important event of the nineteenth century was the founding of a truly universal church, in which peoples of all races and nations had a part." Philip Jenkins chides fellow historians who

ignore the

importance

of the

religious

changes

that have taken place in the past century, calling such neglect «comically myopic, on a par with a review of the eighteenth century that managed to miss the French Revolution." One person who has recognized and sought to document the wide­ ranging impact of the missionary movement has been Robert Wood­ berry, himself the son of missionary, professor, and Islamic scholar J. Dudley Woodberry. From fourteen years of research as a social scien­ tist, Woodberry reported his findings in the journal American Politi­ cal Science Review, arguing that specifically "conversionary Protestant"

missionaries spread

were

a «crucial

of religious

liberty,

catalyst

mass

pers, voluntary organizations,

initiating

education,

the

mass

development printing,

and

newspa­

and colonial reforms, thereby creating

the conditions that made stable democracy more likely"? In a follow up report in Christianity Today, Woodberry added the impact of missionar­ ies on economic development, healthcare, infant mortality, and educa­ tion, especially of women.

5

1.

A. F. Walls, "Outposts of Empire;' in Introduction to the History of Christianity, ed. Tim Dowley

2.

Justo Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity (Peabody, MA: Prince Press, 2001), 2:303.

3.

Jenkins, The Next Christendom, 1.

(Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), 557.

4.

Robert Woodberry, "The Missionary Roots of Liberal Democracy;' American Political Science Review 106, no. 2 (May 2 0 1 2 ) : 244-74.

5.

Andrea

Palpant

Dilley,

February 2014): 34-41.

"The

World

the

Missionaries

Made;'

Christianity

Today

(January­

INTO ALL THE WORLD

369

This book is not a history of missions; that task has been more than ably accomplished by others.

6

But we cannot discern where the church is

going if we do not know from whence it has come, and thus a brief review of history is in order. While

there

were

certainly many heroic

missionaries

involved

in

the spread of Christianity across Europe in the first millennium of the church's history, and others who took the gospel to the lands colonized by European nations in the post- Reformation era, the modern missionary movement is usually seen as beginning in the late eighteenth century and exploding in the nineteenth century. One who is often called the father of that movement is the Baptist William Carey, whose

1792 work, "An Enquiry into the Obligations of

Christians, to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens;' is a land­ mark in the history of missions.

7

Carey argued, contrary to the interpre­

tation common since the Reformation, that Christ's command to make disciples of all nations (Matt. 2 8 : 1 9 - 2 0 ) was not limited to the apostles, but was binding on all Christians. Christians were thus obligated to use "means" to obey Christ's command. The specific means Carey proposed was the formation of a society composed of all those willing to support the sending of missionaries to seek the conversion of the heathen. At Carey's prompting, a small group of Baptists in England formed such a society in 1792 and sent Carey to India as their first missionary. Almost imme­ diately, other denominations in England and North America followed suit. In the nineteenth century, called the "great century" of missions by the foremost historian of missions, Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christian­ ity became the first and only truly worldwide religion, as thousands of missionaries fanned out into every continent. Many died, especially in Central Africa, but when one fell, another would step forward. It is truly an amazing story of courage and love, one that changed the face of the world in ways far more profound than those accomplished by the more well-known political leaders of the era.

6.

The classic history of missions is the seven-volume work by Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of

the Expansion of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1937-1945). Neill, History of Christian Missions, is a more succinct account. Ruth Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: A Biographical History of Christian Missions ( Grand Rapids: Academie Books, 1983) is a fascinating approach to the same topic, as she gives a history in the form of ninety-nine short biographies. 7.

The full text of Carey's work, along with a biography of Carey's life, is found in Timothy George,

Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey (Birmingham, AL: New Hope, 1 9 9 1 ) .

CHAPTER 13

370

The advance continued in the twentieth century, though interrupted by two World Wars. Yet even that stimulated more progress, as some of those who saw the world in the course of World War II came back to the United States only to find that they could not stay home. They had seen firsthand the needs of the world and felt compelled to respond. The post-World War II era saw the emergence of a new wave of missionary activity, primarily from evangelical North American churches, leading Ralph Winter to write of this period as The Twenty-five Unbelievable Years, 1945 to 1969.

8

Winter is also largely responsible for reshaping how mission leaders began to see the task of missions. He noted that the Great Commission tells us to make disciples of all nations, or ethne. He called for Christians not just to seek to reach every person with the gospel, but to focus their efforts especially on reaching unreached peoples. Those who already had Christians within their own ethno-linguistic grouping should be reached by those Christians; missionaries should focus their attention on genuinely unreached people groups, those who had no Christians in their ethnic group or no Christian who spoke their language.

9

Thus, a motto adopted

by some in the missions community was no longer just "The Gospel for Every Person;' but also "A Church for Every People;' a motto that shows the centrality of churches in the ongoing task of missions.

THE GLOBAL FUTURE OF THE CHURCH This brief review of the history of missions leads us to our central concern in this chapter. What lies ahead for the church globally? The first statement we can make about the future of the church is that it seems clear the church will continue to be planted globally, espe­ cially among unreached peoples. Indeed, church planting seems to be the priority task for many missionaries. In that task, they are assisted by a team of researchers called the Joshua Project. From sources around the world, they compile a list of unreached and least-reached people groups.

8.

10

The purpose of this list, which they provide free to the global

Ralph D. Winter,

The

Twenty-five

Unbelievable

Years,

1945

to

1969 (Pasadena, CA: William

Carey Library, 1970). 9.

Winter's important address on this topic was initially given at the 1974 Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. See Ralph Winter, "The New Macedonia: A Revolutionary New Era in Mission Begins;' in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, eds. Ralph Winter and Steven Hawthorne (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1 9 8 1 ) , 2 9 3 - 3 1 1 .

10.

Their criteria for "unreached" is less than 2% evangelical Christian and less than 5 percent professing Christian within a people group. See https://joshuaproject.net/about/details, 2, accessed 9/11/2017.

INTO ALL THE WORLD

371

church, is "to provide a clear goal of pioneer church-planting among the largest unreached p e o p l e s " ! ' As of 2 0 1 7 , their list includes 1 6 , 8 6 2 people groups 42.2%

in the world. of population)

They identify 6,996 peoples

(41.5%

of peoples;

as "unreached;' with other groups described as

"significantly reached;'

( 1 9 . 4 % ) , "partially reached;'

( 2 2 . 5 % ) , "superfi­

cially reached;' ( 1 0 . 1 % ) , and "minimally reached" ( 6 . 5 % ) . 1 2 The impor­ tance

of churches

as

the

agent

of missions,

and

planting

churches

among unreached peoples as one of the goals of missions, is seen in the mission statement of the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention: "IMB partners with churches to empower limitless missionary teams who are evangelizing, discipling, planting and multi­ plying healthy churches, and training leaders among unreached peoples and places for the glory of God:'

13

This emphasis on church planting reflects the New Testament teach­ ing that God's Spirit works through the church to accomplish his merciful purposes on the earth. Howard Snyder says that the church is uniquely empowered to be "God's healing force throughout the earth;' and thus, "church planting is the number one priority of gospel globallzation.t" However, Snyder also adds, "it is not enough merely to plant churches. It makes all the difference in the world-all the difference for the kingdom­ what kind of church is planted?" The kind of churches likely to be planted globally in the next generation seem likely to be influenced by three major global trends, all likely to have ecclesiological impact.

The Growth of Pentecostal/ Charismatic Churches The first trend that began in the past but will continue in the future is the incredible vitality of the Pentecostal/ charismatic branch of Chris­ tianity.

Pentecostalism

is

usually

seen

as

originating

out

of the

holi­

ness churches of the late nineteenth century. Holiness churches saw the

11. 12.

Ibid. See https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/statistics, l, accessed 9 / 1 1 / 2 0 1 7 . However, out of all these thousands of unreached people groups, researcher Jason Mandryk says only about 650 have "significant population" that are both unreached and unengaged by missionary activity. He sees this as "incredible progress globally!" See "State of the World 2 0 1 6 : A Younger Leaders Gathering Presentation by Operation World:' https://www.lausanne.org/content/state-world­ jason-mandryk-molly-wall-ylg2016, accessed 9/13/2017.

13.

See "About the IMB:' https://www.imb.org/vision-and-mission, 2, accessed 9/11/2017.

14.

Howard Snyder with Daniel V. Runyon, Decoding the Church: Mapping the DNA of Christ's Body

15.

Ibid.

(Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 1 6 1 .

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baptism of the Spirit as a second work of grace, subsequent to salvation, and essential to a deeper Christian life. Pentecostalism was distinguished from the holiness churches by its stress on speaking in tongues as the normative manifestation of one's reception of the baptism of the Spirit. Thus, all Christians were to experience something like what happened on the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. The movement's origin is associ­ ated with tongue-speaking among the students of Charles Fox Parham at the Topeka Bible College in January 1 9 0 1 , but was popularized by the 1906 Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles.

16

A related but separate form of the movement began in a different context among a different audience in 1 9 6 0 , when Dennis Bennett, an Episcopalian rector in California, shared with his congregation the news that he had been experiencing the Holy Spirit in a new way in his life. This movement quickly spread across the United States and beyond. It has at times been called neo- Pentecostalism but more often the charismatic movement. It differed from the Pentecostal movement in that it found its adherents among the members of established mainline churches and did not issue in new charismatic denominations. Rather, these charismatics sought to renew their own churches and denominations, though that pattern seems to be changing, as more and more independent charis­ matic churches are being born. In common with the Pentecostals, they have emphasized the ministry of the Holy Spirit, including the baptism and gifts of the Spirit. Along

with

denominations, within

this

classical there

is

movement

Pentecostals a third,

called

even

and

charismatics

larger

and

neo-charismatics

more

or

within

other

recent

group

neo-pentecostals.

Sometimes called the "third wave" of the Pentecostal movement, neo­ charismatics are something of a catch-all category, including African Indigenous

Churches

(AIC),

large

house

church

networks

in

China

and Latin America, and a total of 1 8 , 8 1 0 independent, neo-charismatic denominations and networks.

Altogether, the number of neo-charis­

matic believers worldwide is estimated at 295 million. By comparison, there are 7 40 Pentecostal denominations with 65 million adherents, and 6,530 "non-pentecostal, mainline denominations with large, organized

16.

For more on the origins and historical development of Pentecostalism, see Walter J. Hollenweger, Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1998).

INTO ALL THE WORLD

373

Charismatic movements:' totalling around 1 7 5 million members.

17

So of

the more than half-billion persons in this movement, more than half are from the neo-charismatic or neo-pentecostal churches.

18

In terms of ecclesiology, there is little written about this area of Pentecostal doctrine.

Indeed, with the numbers of charismatics in a

huge variety of denominations, and the variegated nature of the neo­ charismatics, it may be hard to say anything that is true ecclesiologically of all within this movement. As Veli-Matti Karkkainen has observed, "Pentecostal ecclesiology has an ad hoc character;

it is

often practi­

cal rather than systematic in nature. Pentecostals exhibit all forms of church structure, from congregational to episcopal,"!" Most discussion has focused on their distinctive doctrines concerning the Holy Spirit. Yet their emphasis on the Spirit seems to be shaping their ecclesiology as it develops. One of the earliest formulations of a Pentecostal view of the church describes the church as a fellowship involving a common experience of the Spirit and mutual edification. Without excluding the importance of preaching or the sacraments, they emphasize the impor­ tance of the mutual ministry of members of the church, as instruments of the Spirit, employing the charismata

(spiritual gifts)

given by the

Spirit in service to the members of the body. One summary describes the essence of Pentecostal ecclesiology in these words: "The dynamic of the fellowship is concretely lived out through the charismata?" In general, charismatic ecclesiology agrees with the Pentecostal empha­ sis on fellowship, but, in keeping with their origin within established denominations, they seek to link their experience of the Spirit with the faith handed down in their churches, and see the Spirit working through tradition and sacrament.

17.

21

These numbers and descriptions are taken from Stanley M. Burgess, ed., The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, rev. and expanded ed.

( Grand Rapids:

Zondervan, 2002), xvii-xx, 284-85. Burgess states that his statistics are based on the 2001 edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia, edited by David Barrett, et al. 18.

Ibid., 284-85. These numbers are from a 2002 source, and are at best an approximation. The

19.

Veli-Matti Karkkainen, "Ecclesiology;' in Global Dictionary of Theology, eds. William Dyrness

movement is estimated to grow by another 9 million every year.

and Veli-Matti Karkkainen (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic/Nottingham, UK: Inter-Varsity, 2008), 256. 20.

Karkkainen, Introduction to Ecclesiology, 75. Karkkainen draws upon an unpublished paper by Peter Kuzmic and Miroslav Volf, "Communio Sanctorum: Toward a Theology of the Church as a Fellowship of Persons" (Riano, Italy: International Roman Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue, 1985).

21.

Ibid., 76-77.

CHAPTER 13

374

Several

of

the

emphases

of

Pentecostal

ecclesiology

seem

well

founded in Scripture. Baptists agree with Pentecostals in seeing the New Testament as portraying the importance of participation by the whole assembly in the life of the church and a belief in the importance of the local church. In recent years, their emphasis on the importance on the

charismata for equipping believers has been adopted by many Baptists and most evangelicals, though there are still differences on the so-called miraculous gifts.

22

Beyond these emphases, the greatest contribution of

the Pentecostal-charismatic movement ecclesiologically speaking may be "the pervasive

influence

of their spirituality and theology on the

rest of the Christian churches in terms of worship and liturgy, ministry patterns and so on:,

23

The Growth of Southern Hemisphere Churches The second major trend affecting the global future of the church is the ongoing movement of the weight of the church from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. This shift is the theme of Philip Jenkins's important work, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. He notes that while some in the West have seen the growth of secularization as indicating that Christianity is on its death bed, the story is quite different outside of Europe and the Northern Hemisphere. He says, "Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America:' Moreover, he adds, "This trend will continue apace in coming years . . . . Christianity should enjoy a worldwide boom in the new century, but the vast majority of believers will be neither white nor European, nor Euro-American,"?" To attach some specific numbers to this shift, consider the following. "In 1960, 29% of all evangelical Christians were from Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Today it is around 78%, and by 2020, this figure is expected to be 80%. This shift is observable across all major Christian traditions and blocs, not just evangelicals':"

22.

For a fuller listing of their emphases, ecclesiology

by

Sacramentality,

Michael Its

Harper,

Worship

and

"The

see the list of seven "salient features" of Pentecostal Holy

Spirit

Sacraments:'

One

Acts

in

in

the

Christ

Church,

12

(1976):

Its

Structures,

323,

as

cited

Its in

Karkkainen, Introduction to Ecclesiology, 77- 78, n. 44. For the differing views on the miraculous gifts, see Wayne Grudem, ed., Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? ( Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999). 23.

Karkkainen, "Ecclesiology;' 259-60.

24.

Jenkins, The Next Christendom, 2.

25.

"State of the World 2016:'

INTO ALL THE WORLD

375

Jenkins notes that some important differences between the newer and older churches are already becoming apparent. For example, it is clear that the newer churches, even those that are associated with older, traditional moral

denominations,

and theological

are

overwhelmingly conservative

orientation.

In the

1998

Lambeth

in

their

Conference

of the world's Anglican bishops, a liberal statement concerning homo­ sexuality was defeated, due to the votes of Asian and African bishops.

26

Even more recently, the decision of American Episcopalians to ordain a practicing homosexual as a bishop has threatened to rend the world­ wide Anglican communion, as Anglican bishops in Africa have consid­ ered withdrawing. If they do so, it will have enormous consequences, for of the 70 million Anglicans worldwide, more than twenty million live in Nigeria alone. By 2050, while there may be 1 5 0 million Anglicans worldwide, "only a tiny minority will be White Europeans":" If Southern Hemisphere Christians are able to exercise influence in keeping with their numbers, the positions of several mainline denominations may change radically, for the leading churches in Africa are Catholic, Angli­ can, Methodist, and other traditional denominations.

28

The ecclesiological impact of this shift to the Global South may also be seen as churches from the Global South "increasingly provide leader­ ship to-and set the agenda for-the global Christian family"?" As Jason Mandryk observes, "The Pope is Argentinian, the head of the WEA is a Filipino, the head of IFES is from Chad, of OMF from Hong Kong, of SIM from Nigeria, ofinterserve from India, of the Navigators from Kenya, and of OFM from Singapore'?" Moreover, some of the most important new forms that the church is taking are seen most prominently in the Global South. Karkkainen sees the base ecclesial communities of South Amer­ ica, the "highly contextual, somewhat syncretistic" churches exploding in Africa (the AIC, African Indigenous or African Initiated Churches), and the house church movement in China as among the "new ways of being

26.

Jenkins, The Next Christendom, 7, 1 2 1 .

27.

Ibid., 59.

28.

Ibid.,

57-58.

Despite all the attention given to the growth of Pentecostal and independent

churches, Jenkins notes the continuing presence in even greater number of Roman Catholics in Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia. 29.

Ibid.

30.

Ibid. The acronyms are of prominent evangelical organizations and missions agencies that would have been headed by those from the United States or England in the past.

CHAPTER 13

376

the church" that we are seeing in the contemporary global context;

31

all are

from the Global South.

Theological Education for Global Churches These first two major trends-the explosive growth of the Pentecos­ tal and charismatic movement, and the shift of Christianity to the Global South-present great opportunities for the global church but also a great challenge. One of the perennial needs of these multiplying churches is a sufficient number of well-trained leaders to guide these new churches in the years to come. This leads to a third major global trend: advances in global theological education. The problem is that traditional approaches to theological education have been heavily Western and "heavily Enlight­ enment-laden:' As a result, such theological education has posed ques­ tions

and

given

answers

irrelevant

to

the

context

of

Global

South

churches, and has failed to address the "biblically urgent questions" with which these churches are confronted.

32

Not just the content, but the whole

approach to theological education in the West is seen as in need of radical change: "theological education that is not animated by and oriented to the missional nature of the church endangers the church.l" The failure of traditional Western models of theological education to meet the needs of Global South churches has sparked considerable discus­ sion. There is a growing recognition among evangelical theology in the Global North that we need the help of theologians from the Global South to help us "address our Western blind spots in biblical interpretation and theological formulation'?" This is seen in books like Misreading Scripture

with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible and Theology in the Context of World Christianity, with the latter described as, "how the global church is influencing the way we think about and discuss theology?"

31.

Karkkainen, "Ecclesiology;' 257-59.

32.

Ralph E. Enlow, "Global Christianity and the Role of Theological Education: Wrapping Up and Going

Forward;'

2,

http://icete-edu.org/pdf/C-06%20Enlow%20Global%20Christianity.pdf.,

accessed 9 / 1 5 / 2 0 1 7 . 33. 34.

Ibid., 6. Jeffrey Freeman, "Learning and Teaching Global Theologies;' in Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective: Exploring the Contextual Nature of Theology and Mission, eds. Jeffrey P. Greenman

and Gene L. Green (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2 0 1 2 ) , 245. 35.

E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O'Brien, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders

to Better

Understand the Bible (Downers Grove, IL:

IVP Books, 2012), and

Timothy Tennent, Theology in the Context of World Christianity ( Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007).

INTO ALL THE WORLD

377

What are the implications of these shifts for the interest of this book, ecclesiology?

In

terms

of models

for

theological

education,

there

are

proposals to more closely attach theological education to churches, as opposed to institutions such as seminaries," and approaches to develop theological church.

37

education

in

accordance with

the

missional nature

of the

These may lead to expanded understandings of the mission of

the church, in terms of the extent of its teaching ministry, and perhaps new emphases on the roles of pastors, in terms of training new pastors, and a new view of the type of education needed for pastors (more contex­ tual and practical, as opposed to theoretical). Veli-Matti Karkkainen asks the question in terms of the content of ecclesiology: "What are the defining theological issues in the doctrine of the church in light of the globalizing . . . theological community?" He sees the question of what makes the church church as one foundational debate. Missional ecclesiology is another important approach to understanding the church. He adds the themes of charismatic structure and the ministry of the whole people of God as emphases in contemporary ecclesiology, perhaps due, at least in part, to the influence of the Pentecostal-charis­ matic movement. Finally, he thinks there is "an emerging consensus" on the "principle of equality and justice among church members.":" He may be right here, but the sources he cites in developing these themes still seem to me too Western. The full impact of the "Pentecostalization" of the church and the shift of weight to the Global South on theological educa­ tion and ecclesiology may still remain to be seen.

39

QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE CHURCH IN OTHER CULTURES For most of its history, the church has enjoyed a relatively homoge­ neous cultural background. Initially, that background was Greco- Roman,

36.

Of course, moving theological education out of seminaries has been going on for decades, as Theological Education by Extension (TEE) has become increasingly popular. But the new model is more intentionally church-based (see Jeff Reed, "Church-Based Theological Education: Creating a New Paradigm;' http://www.bild.org/philosophy/ParadigmPapers.html, accessed 9/15/2017).

37.

Robert Banks, Reenvisioning Theological Education: Exploring a Missional Alternative to Current

Models (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999). 38.

Karkkainen, "Ecclesiology;' 260-61.

39.

Technology is having a profound impact on the delivery of theological education in North America, with online classes and distance education increasing rapidly. One suspects it will not be long before it will similarly impact global theological education, but it is not recognized as a major trend in discussions of global theological education as of now.

CHAPTER 13

378

which was the foundation for much of Western or European culture. But the movement of the church into all the world has brought the church into a variety of new cultures, raising a number of important questions. This section examines the questions raised by the presence and planting of the church in other cultures. The need for a proper adaptation to culture has always been a chal­ lenge to missionaries planting the church in other cultures. Churches in some contexts met in buildings and sang songs that were alien to the culture. As a result, Christianity was rejected in some cases as a foreign, Western religion. In addition, the Bible itself was written within a culture that is not always easily transferable to another culture. This involves a variety of challenges. For example, the New Testament requirements for an elder include that he be the husband of but one wife and a good manager of his household ( 1 Tim. 3:2, 4 - 5 ) . But in some cultures, those two requirements seem contradictory. For the Higi of Nigeria or the Kru of Liberia, a man could be judged an effective manager of his household only if that house­ hold included at least two wives. According to Charles Kraft, the Kru say, "You cannot trust a man with only one wife.?" Churches in Islamic contexts have struggled with how far a believer in Christ can retain his or her Muslim identity. Can he or she still attend the mosque or say Muslim prayers? Or for churches originating in Muslim cultures, is it acceptable to worship on Thursday evenings? Is there any reason why women cannot sit on one side and men on the other side of a room during a worship service? Can Christians adopt lying prostrate as a normal posture for prayer?

41

All these are examples of contextualization. We mentioned it as one of the responses churches in North America need to adopt to address the changed cultural situation in which they minister, but it has always been an issue for missionaries. Recently, with increasing interaction in intensely Muslim and Hindu contexts, missionaries have raised the ques­ tion of how far one can go in contextualization without crossing a line into

40.

Charles H. Kraft, Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic 1heologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979), 324-25.

41.

Don Newman,

"Keys to

Perspectives on

the

Unlocking Muslim

Strongholds:'

in Winter

and Hawthorne,

eds.,

World Christian Movement, D - 1 5 2 . Newman advocates the formation of

"messianic mosques:' in which "followers of Jesus do not leave their culture but continue to appear as Muslims while worshipping Jesus:' For more suggestions, see Phil Parshall, Beyond the Mosque (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985).

INTO ALL THE WORLD

379

syncretism. A standard reference point for discussing contextualization, initially developed for contextualization in a Muslim context, but useful for other contexts as well, is the C - 1 to C-6 spectrum.

42

The C h e r e stands

for «Christ-centered communities" ( which is another way to describe a church) and the numbers indicate the degree of contextualization. C - 1 is a traditional church using a language other than that used by the target population. C-2 goes a bit further. It uses a national language but is in all other respects a traditional (Western) church.

43

C - 3 is used for churches

«using insider language and religiously neutral cultural forms?" C-4 is very similar, except that «cultural and religious forms are adopted as long as they are not explicitly forbidden in Scripture.?" C - 5 has aroused the most controversy. This refers to followers of Jesus who reject features of Muslim theology that contradict the Bible, but remain «fully embedded in the Islamic community?" C - 6 is seen as a level of contextualization in contexts where confession of faith in Christ would probably lead to imprisonment

or

martyrdom.

Believers

in

these

contexts

form

secret

underground groups. Most missionaries,

especially in Islamic contexts, practice contextu­

alization through C-4 with little controversy. excessive to

many,

as

However, C-5 has seemed

it leaves Muslim background believers remaining

within their Muslim context. Thus, this is called the insider controversy, as Muslim converts remain inside their Muslim culture ( though not their Muslim religion)." Timothy Tennent evaluates the arguments from both sides of this controversy. He cites Phil Parshalls research of leaders among C-5 Muslim background believers, which found that almost all (97%) affirm «Jesus is the only Savior, but that a majority (66%) still place the Qur'an above the Law, Prophets and the Gospel (Old and New Testament) and 45% do not affirm the Trinity. Parshall questions whether Muslim believers can

42.

John Travis, "The Cl to C6 Spectrum;' Evangelical Missions Quarterly 34, no. 4 ( 1 9 9 8 ) : 407-08. John Travis is a pseudonym.

43.

In his 1998 article, Travis argued that the majority of churches in the Islamic world are either C - 1 or C-2 (Travis, "The C l to C6 Spectrum;' 407). I suspect that there may have been some change in that number since 1998, but have no hard evidence.

44.

I am using the descriptions of these categories from the work of Timothy Tennent, Theology in

45.

Ibid., 196.

46.

Ibid., 197.

the Context of World Christianity, 196-97.

47.

For a thorough evaluation of the Insider Movement, see Doug Coleman, "A Theological Analysis of the Insider Movement Paradigm from Four Perspectives: Theology of Religions, Revelation, Soteriology, and Ecclesiology" (Ph.D. diss., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2 0 1 1 ) .

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380

flourish as the church of Jesus Christ while retaining their Muslim identi­

ty." But Tennent also recognizes the claims of Joshua Massey, who argues that we should celebrate the personal faith experience of these believers, rather than imposing what Massey calls "Greco- Roman Gentile categories of orthodoxy?" Tennent carefully examines the claims from those on both sides of this controversy, but concludes that one of the problems of those supporting the insider movement is an inadequate ecclesiology, one that keeps "the doctrines of soteriology and ecclesiology at arms length:' In the end, "To encourage Muslim believers to retain their self-identity as Muslims reveals a view of the church that is clearly sub-Christian'?" Thus,

the

presence

of the

church

in

other

cultures

raises

numer­

ous questions of ecclesiology and calls for renewed study of the issues considered in part 1 of this book- those relating to the nature, marks, and essence of the church. Missiologist Darrell Guder states, "It is widely acknowledged that the planting of new churches in previously unevange­ lized cultures was undertaken with a very inadequate ecclesiology?" This inadequacy in the area of ecclesiology remains today. In a recent inter­ view, mission leader C. Douglas McConnell was asked to name the great­ est challenge facing the global evangelical missions movement today. He responded, "There is a critical need for frontier mission types to develop an ecclesiology. We are church planters but in some cases we do not under­ stand what a church is either theologically and even to a lesser extent in practice."?

The

complexity of questions

surrounding contextualization

argues strongly for providing missionaries with the theological training that will give them the tools to analyze the issues adequately and develop a contextual, but biblical, ecclesiology.

48.

Tennent is reporting the research in Phil Parshall, "Danger! New Directions in Contextualization;' Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 34, no. 4 (October 1998): 404-10.

49.

Joshua Massey, "Misunderstanding C-5: His Ways are Not Our Orthodoxy;' Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 40, no. 3 (July 2004): 296-304. Tennent notes with some concern that in his article,

Massey "distances himself from historic Christian views of Christology;' favoring an Arian Christo logy rather than Chalcedonian, and denying the eternal preexistence of Christ (Tennent, Theology in the Context of World Christianity, 2 1 1 , n. 5 1 ) .

50.

Tennent, Theology in the Context of World Christianity, 2 1 5 . Tennent further notes the "inherent contradiction in the fact that all of the 'Cs' in the C - 1 to C-6 scale stand for 'Christ-centered community; and yet as long as the believer retains one's self-identity as a Muslim, he or she remain in an Allah-centered community" (Ibid., n. 62).

51.

Darrell L.

Guder,

"The Church as Missional Community;' in

The Community of the

Word:

Toward an Evangelical Ecclesiology, eds. Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier (Downers Grove,

IL: InterVarsity/Leicester, UK: Apollos, 2005), 123. 52.

"Looking Back . . . Looking Forward;' Mission Frontiers 22, no. 3 (January 2000): 9 - 1 0 .

INTO ALL THE WORLD

381

But there is one final, more positive, hopeful and even eschatologi­ cal question raised by the presence of the church in other cultures. It arises from Christ's statement in Matthew 24: 1 4 : «And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come:' As the church is planted around the world, and the gospel is preached in more and more of the ethne, or nations, the end seems to be drawing near. Could we be the generation that sees the fulfillment of this promise? Second Peter 3 : 1 1 - 1 2 tells us «to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming:' It seems then that part of living a holy and godly life is having a part in the spread of the gospel to all nations, for then the end will come. Our hearts echo Paul's cry, Maranatha, «Come, 0 Lord!" ( 1 Cor. 1 6 : 2 2 ) .

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR PART

5

1 . What do you see as the most important changes in American culture

affecting churches in the past twenty years? How have those changes affected churches you know? 2.

Do you agree that churches in North America must go «against

the

grain'' in the contemporary cultural context? What evidence do you see of a changed cultural landscape? 3. Have you seen the trend toward declining church affiliation in your community? How have you seen churches respond? What do you think is the best response? 4. This book has been intentionally denominational (Baptist). Do you

think American Protestantism is becoming increasingly nondenom­ inational? Why or why not? How important is denominational affili­ ation to you in your choice of church? 5.

Of the six major responses discussed in chapter 1 2 , which one (or ones) do you find most appealing? Why?

6. In terms of the amazing impact of the modern missionary move­ ment, what did you find most surprising or encouraging? What do you wish more people know about this amazing story? 7. Of the three major trends examined in chapter 1 3 (Pentecostal/char­ ismatic movement, the shift to the Global South, and advances in global theological education) which do you think will prove most important to the future of the church?

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B O O K S AND WEBSITES FOR FURTHER STUDY

Davis, Andrew M. Revitalize: Biblical Keys to Helping Your Church Come Alive Again. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2 0 1 7 . This is the most recent of a

number of books on a new trend, called revitalizing or replanting, addressing the need to give help to the 80 percent or more of churches that are plateaued or declining. Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. 3rd ed. Wheaton, IL: Cross­ way, 2 0 1 3 . Now in its third edition, this book has sold more than 100,000 copies and has been translated into twelve languages, with three more in progress. It has also provided the title and emphases for 9Marks Ministries, which Dever began in 1998 and of which he is still president. Some of the key ecclesiological marks that Dever advocates are regenerate church membership, redemptive church discipline, and plurality of leadership. Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford, UK/New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Jenkins gives a fascinating account of how the center of the world Christian move­ ment has shifted to the Southern Hemisphere and the implications that shift may have for the future. Keller. Tim. Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2 0 1 2 . In this book, Keller offers

a wealth of insights from his decades of pastoral ministry in New York City. Most notable is a superb section on contextualization. Stetzer, Ed. Planting Missional Churches: Planting a Church That's Biblically

Sound and Reaching People in Culture. Nashville: B & H Academic,

2006. This is a revision of Stetzer's earlier work, Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, and assumes that the type of churches we need

to plant in a postmodern age is missional churches. Stetzer addresses the issues from the dual perspectives of his research as a missiologist and his experience as a practitioner in church planting. Surratt, Geoff, Warren Bird, and Greg Ligon. The Multi-Site Church Revolu­ tion: Being One Church in Many Locations. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,

2006. Undeniably one of the most important new models of church, multisite churches may arguably be described as revolutionary. This book is devoted primarily to the questions of what multisite churches are, and how to become a multisite church (and do it well). Less atten-

INTO ALL THE WORLD

383

tion is discussed as to why churches should become multisite, and very little attention is paid to the critiques of the multisite churches. https://www.9marks.org. This website's home page gives a clear descrip­ tion of what it is about: "At 9Marks, we write books, articles, and book reviews. We host conferences, record interviews,

and consult with

church leaders. In short, we do everything we can to help pastors, future pastors, and church members see what a biblical church looks like, and to take practical steps for becoming one:' http://www.hirr.hartsem.edu. This Web site is operated by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and contains, among other things, two very interesting reports on megachurches. http://www.pewresearch.org. The Pew Research Center conducts some of the largest and most respected samples of religious opinions in their periodic Religious Landscape Study. The one conducted in 2 0 1 5 has generated numerous articles analyzing the shifts revealed in that survey.

C O N C L U S I O N

A CALL F O R FAITHFUL CHURCHES

I

LOVE PASTORS.

I

THINK PASTORAL MINISTRY

is a high calling, yet one that

is made increasingly difficult by the widespread assumption that the only criterion of success in pastoral ministry is numerical growth. But recent studies have documented the decline in religious affiliation across the board in North America, with the result that the great majority of churches are plateaued or declining. In many cases, pastors of such churches in such areas suffer agony of spirit, both because they desire to see people come to Christ and because they feel themselves a failure when years go by and the numbers decline, stay the same or grow very slowly. Even pastors in growing churches feel the pressure to continue to grow. Some pastors may know that they can gather a crowd but be uneasy about the means they use to draw people in. No doubt there are many cases where pastors should feel a sense of guilt over a lack of growth, because they have not sufficiently modeled or taught evangelism, or because the worship, teaching, and fellowship are so lackluster as to repel rather than attract prospective new members. But the reasons for lack of growth may lie outside the churches. We live in one of the most affiuent societies in history, and Jesus warned that wealth can be a hindrance to entering the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 1 9 : 2 3 - 2 4 ) .

385

CONCLUSION

386

Our claim that Jesus is the only Savior seems narrow minded and bigoted to many in our pluralistic context. Christ remains a stumbling block. We uphold a sexual morality that seems ridiculous to most Americans today, and even if we uphold it with a gracious, loving spirit, it may be offensive to many. None of this is to excuse the failings of churches, which are all imperfect. But in a society in which 80 percent of churches are plateaued or declining, it seems likely that not all the fault lies with the churches. Part of the reason for writing this book was to help pastors, especially Baptist pastors, who may be struggling with questions concerning success in pastoral ministry, for one of the implicit themes of this book is that a successful church and a successful pastoral ministry is one that pleases Christ by honoring God's Word and his design for the church. I cannot promise that adopting a church covenant,

renewing church discipline,

exercising care in baptism, and following all the other suggestions in this book will produce great growth. It is likely to produce some numerical growth in some cases, and spiritual growth in almost all cases, but that is not the point. If God has given us instruction in his Word concerning his people, he is honored and a church is successful to the degree that it follows his instruction. Thus, the successful church is the faithful church. Even the major metaphors for the church give hints that numerical growth is not the point. It may be desired, but churches in the New Testa­ ment are nowhere commanded to grow in numbers or chided because they haven't added more members lately. For example, the church is the people of God, but the people of God throughout the Old Testament were always a minority and often a remnant. They were not chosen because of their large numbers; on the contrary, Israel was among the "fewest of all peoples" (Deut. 7 : 7 ) . Similarly, the church is the body of Christ, but it need not follow the pattern of most Americans and grow in such a way that it becomes obese; the goal is health. As the temple of the Spirit, the chief treasure of the church is not the size of its temple but that which dwells within. Even the metaphor of the church as family reinforces this point. Is a family with eight kids necessarily healthier or more successful than a family with four kids? The criterion every pastor and every church member should adopt as defining success is faithfulness. If a church is faithful to be what Scripture calls it to be-to be God's people, showing forth his gospel in their corpo­ rate life; to be a temple energized by the Spirit's ministry among them; to be a building composed of living stones; to be a society governed as

A CALL FOR FAITHFUL CHURCHES

387

members of the body seek the direction of their Head, with the leadership of godly shepherds; to be Christ's body, ministering his love in the world and honoring his presence as they worship and observe his ordinances­ such a church is a faithful church and a successful church. Numerical growth is desirable, because we desire to see people come to Christ, but it is not the only manifestation of the blessing of God. In the end, the one we seek to please in our churches must not be the millennials, nor the traditionalists, nor the secularists, nor the members, but the Lord of the church, and we please him by honoring his design for the church. This book has presented how most Baptists have historically understood that design, from what the church is to be, to who composes it, to how it is governed, to what it is to do, to where it is headed. Much of what has been written is the common teaching of evangelical Chris­ tians, and I rejoice in the common ground we share. My special concern has been to present a Baptist perspective on these issues, not because I believe Baptists are infallible ( the evidence to the contrary is incontro­ vertible). Rather, I present this perspective for three reasons: first, because Baptists today seem to have lost their way on many of these issues and a larger historical perspective can be of great help; second, because there is no similar perspective available in print; third, because, in the end, I do think Baptists have gotten these matters of ecclesiology right. Otherwise, I would not be a Baptist. I invite readers to place the perspective in these pages alongside that of Scripture and compare for themselves. In the midst of the difficulties of day-to-day ministry in our churches, it is all too easy to lose sight of the glorious destiny of the church. What we see looks far less hopeful. But the whole Christian life is lived by faith, not sight. And so I call pastors, and all those concerned for the welfare of Christ's body, to see again the vision of what Christ's love will make of his body. He will "make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and . . . present her to himself as a radiant church, with­ out stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Eph. 5:26-27). Our joyful privilege is to be fellow workers with God in moving

his church toward that glorious destiny. I call upon pastors and leaders in all the local assemblies where that bride is being prepared to give them­ selves to the high calling of presenting to Christ a faithful bride.

SCRIPTURE INDEX

2:18 12:1-3

Luke

Zechariah

Genesis 202

4:6

85

13

2:41-50

133, 3 1 2

4 : 1 6 - 2 1 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 272

Matthew

6:12-13 4:4

Exodus 18:19-22 ···················· 2 1 1 19:5-6 28-29

39 236

5:48

35

7:3-5

180

9:35

260

10:42

8:10 27:18-23 28:41

239

63

13:24-30 16:18

1 8 : 1 5 - 1 7 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 308 22:7-30 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 3 1 9 22:17-19

318

22:20

319

John

63, 99

1:12

1 3 , 3 1 , 49,

1:14

54,80,367

236, 237 236

99, 100, 1 3 8

224

13

8:5-22 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 236

192

14:23 194

6:9

138

Numbers

12:42 83

Leviticus 27:30

237

192

4:19

35, 1 7 5 53

3:5-8

257 273

85, 159

4:24

18:15-17

159, 165

6:63

257

18:15-18

.40

7:39

84, 265

18:15-20

53, 1 3 5 , 1 5 8

16:19

Deuteronomy 4:20

39

7:6

39

10:11

191

31

10:11-3

192

18:18

85

13:34

128

18:20

179, 322

13:34-35

19:13-15

238, 308

14:6

18:17 7:7

386

2 Chronicles 7:15-16

53

.40 256

19:21

283

16:13

256

19:23

120

16:14

273

Nehemiah 8-9

127

9-10

127

9:38

127

22:37-39

.40

24:14 26:17-30

319 1

26:26-27 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 3 1 8 10:39

.59

Acts

10:28-29 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 127 10:30-39 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 127

17:20-21

381

28: 1 9

83

1:14

36

104, 176, 302

128 28:19-20

160

1:8

104, 259, 286, 1:21-22

67

299,316,367

Psalms

2 19:1

51

29:2

272

28:20

1 3 , 33, 38, 4 1 , 79,

260 83,84,281,286

96

5 1 : 3 - 1 4 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 282

96:9-12

51

148

51

105, 302, 3 1 7

1:10

315

3:14

237

2:41

3 1 , 76, 82, 94,

3:35

35

104, 1 3 1 , 176,

51

Isaiah 56:7

36

2:38

51

Mark

150:6

2:29

51

299,303,317

6:5

238

10:13-16

308

10:16

238

2:42, 46

271

10:41-45

151

2:42-47

1 8 , 1 7 8 , 252,

10:43-45

224

10:45

258

2:42

. 4 1 , 66, 187, 260,265,318

Jeremiah 7:11 31:31-34

51 253,259

309

Hosea

14:12-26 ···················· 3 1 9

2:43

281

2:43, 47

280

l:10

39

14:22-23

318

2:44

4 1 , 359

2:23

39

16:16

104

2:44-47

60, 1 6 8

388

SCRIPTURE INDEX

389

2:45

282

1 1 :30

2:46

359

12:1-2

2:47

83, 94, 259, 268, 281,282,286

2:48

313

4

38

4:4

3 1 , 82, 94, 1 3 1 , 132, 3 1 3

4:28-29 4:32

158 60, 79, 168

190, 208

1 2:5 12:17

83

32, 33

20:31

191

21

131

1 5 3 , 238

13:1-3

192

20:30

210

13

20:29-31

188

21:8

188

160, 179, 239

21:18

190, 208, 2 1 0

32

22:16

302

13:2 13:2-3

32, 1 5 8 , 1 6 5

13:3

237

13:12

28:8

238

28:24

131, 313

131, 313

Romans 5:1

237

13:15-42

272 1:6-7

5:11

33

13:48

131, 313

5:12

168

13:49

286

30, 205

1:7

5:12-14 5:14 6

280 131, 313

1 8 8 , 222, 223, 224,

14:21

222

6:1-4

234

6:1-6

160, 237

6:2

14:23

222

6:2-6

165, 168

2:29

310

94 4:16

26

4:19

138

6:3

302

6:3-4

315

6:3-10

302

3 1 , 32, 76, 1 6 1 , 187,208,216,237

14:25

131, 313

14:27 15

160, 286 1 5 3 , 154, 155, 6:4

315

7:9

133, 3 1 1

1 58, 160, 1 8 8

224

6:2-4

257

313

14:21-23

225,226,228,237 6:1-2

39

1:16

1 5 : 2 , 4, 6, 22-23

208

15:2,4,6, 22-23

190

8:9

53

8:29 6:3

15 8 , 223, 23 7

15:4, 12

6:5

78, 160

15:4, 22

6:6

237

6:7

82, 1 3 1 , 268,

15:13

210

286, 3 1 3

15:22

33, 78, 158,

194

160 9:3

36

31 11:29

7:28

237

8:1

237

1 5:6

32

16:5

8:3

32

16:14

105, 1 3 1 , 299, 3 1 3

8:17-18 8:25 8:36-38

238 131, 313 131, 313

12:1

5 1 , 272

12:4-5

44, 174

12:5

44, 45, 93

12:8

1 9 1 , 193

160, 1 6 8 16:4

8:2-4

8:12

205

188

190, 208 12:9-16

178

12:9-21

82, 286

3 1 , 82, 1 3 1 , 3 1 3

16:14-15 16:15 16:33 16:33-34

94 12:13

267

12:16

267

131, 313 299 13:8

282

15:7

1 3 8 , 267

131, 313 307 15:26-27

8:38

315

17:4

16:1... 9

267

131, 313

82

17:12

131, 313

131, 313

17:34

131, 313

32, 222, 230, 232,233,236

9:9, 1 8

16:5 9:12,17 9:31 9:35

238 3 1 , 82, 268, 286 131, 313

18:3-4 18:5 18:8

32, 359

206 16:16

32, 39

16:23

33, 359

207 1 3 1 , 307, 3 1 3

287

19:4-5

10:44-48

307

19:6

238

1:2

10:47-48

131, 313

19:20

268

1:13

302

19:32

29

1:13-17

132

78

1:14-17

313

1:16

307

10:48 11:18 11:20-21

286 131, 313

1 9 : 3 2 , 39, 41 20

131, 313

1 Corinthians

10:42

191

32, 39, 63, 94, 205 61

20:7

3 1 8 , 333

3:5

224

33, 78

20:17

1 9 1 , 208

3:7

80, 83

11:23

286

20:28

3 1 , 39, 190,

3:9

50, 80

11:24

1 3 1 , 268, 3 1 3

11:26

41

11:21

94

11:22

20:28-31

1 9 1 , 192

3:10-11

54

32, 1 9 1

3:11-15

50

SCRI PTURE INDEX

390

4:2

192

12:27

42

4:15

359

14:23

32, 33

4:32

178

14:24-25

5

94 135

14:33, 40

5:2

158

14:40

5:4

53, 179

15:9

5:7

319

16:1

5:9-12

174

16:1-4

5:9-13

160, 165

5:1-13

5:11

94

5:11-12

175

5:12-13

76, 145

5:13

40

6:11

53

6:19

50

10:16 10:16-17

318 .42, 1 1 3 , 1 1 4 , 323,325

10:17

43, 326, 329,332

10:21

318

10:32

39

11:1

170

11:3

202

11:16

39

1 1 : 1 7 , 1 8 , 20, 33, 34

325

280

14:26

273, 276 76 240 32, 39 32 158

16:1, 19

299, 323, 325,326,332

11:18

32, 33

11:20

3 1 8 , 329

11:20-26 11:21 11:22 11:23-26 11:24 11:24-25 11:26

158 325 39, 329 337 3 1 8 , 323 1 1 3 , 323 53, 323

11:27

324, 325

11:28

324

4:3 4:3-6 4:4 4:4-5 4:5 4:5-6 4:11...

33

16:2

138

16:22

381

1:1

39 1 5 8 , 160

2:6-8

165

6:16

50

8:1

33

8-9

158

9:13

267

13:14

4 1 , 257

1:8 1:8-9

170 84, 159, 165

1:13

32, 39

1:19

36, 2 1 0

2:10

283

2:12

210

3:26

66

3:27

302

3:28

54, 65

5:13

128, 282

6:1

135

6:2

128

6:10

1:1 1:15-17 l:18 1:20-23

40, 94 47 47

1 1 4 , 324, 325,326

11:30 12 12:7 12:7-21

324

1:22

138, 187 1 9 1 , 205 175, 1 8 9 , 283 46

4:15

46, 83

4:16

. 4 8 , 124, 1 7 9

4:29

138

5:21-33

.48

5:22-33

199 46

5:23-24

202

5:23-27

.32

5:23, 29-30

.46

5:23-33

.47

5:25 5:25-27

80 1 3 , 64, 125, 1 8 5

5:26-27 5:27 6:4

387 8 311

Philippians 1:1

3 1 , 94, 190, 208,222,232

l:18

84

1:27

138

2:1-2 2:3-4, 7 3:6

60 138 32

.47 32, 5 1

46

1:22-23 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 46, 47 2:8-9

93 3 1 , 32, 48,

.48

4:15 11:29

44 . 4 3 , 44, 3 1 7

4:13-16

35, 179, 282

Ephesians

176 59, 62

4:12, 16

5:23

Galatians

257

256,260 4:11-12

4:12 2:6

1 3 , 80 83, 3 1 7

1 8 8 , 1 9 1 , 208,

4:11-16

2 Corinthians

1 1 : 1 7 - 2 2 · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 329 11:17-34

3:21 4

325

Colossians 1:2

4 1 , 94

45, 363

2:10

47

1:18

175, 180

2:19

35

1 : 1 8 , 24

46 46

204

2:20

3 1 , 67, 1 8 8 , 257

1 : 2 3 , 25

224

43, 303, 3 1 7

310

2:21

50, 53, 54

2:11-12

12:14-20

.44

2:21-22

14, 50, 54

2:12

315

12:16-17

.42

2:22

84

2:19

46, 48, 124

54

12:13

3:10

13

3:13-16

12:25-26

45, 178

3:10, 21

32

3:16

12:26

79, 282

3:20-21

137

12:18

178 128, 1 9 1 , 256,260,267

SCRIPTURE INDEX

391

4:15

32, 359

4:16

32, 33, 68

3:15

35, 257, 265

1 Peter 1:22

138

4:13

32, 275, 276

2:2

192

4:14

238

2:4

5:16

32

4:6

224

1 Thessalonians

1:1

54

32, 94

1:1-2

138

1:8

287

5:17

1 5 3 , 154, 170,

2:4-5

175

2:5

35, 5 1 , 54, 80, 1 7 4 , 2 5 7

190, 1 9 1 , 193, 2:14

39

5:11

267

5:11-15

178

5:12

1 9 1 , 193, 209

5:12-13

175, 240

5:12-22

82, 286

206,215 5 : 1 7 , 19 5:19

2:9

208

2:9-10

1:4

39

3:14

68 135

5:22

238

3:15

345

6:18

267

3:21

302, 304

2 Timothy

4:10

1:6

238

4:5

188

194, 195, 196, 199,238

135

2:9-15

199

2:12

1:5

1 6 1 , 1 8 7 , 190, 216,237

230, 232, 233, 1:5-9

1 9 1 , 223, 366

1:6

195, 197, 223

194, 1 9 5 , 1 9 6 ,

1:6-9

194, 205, 286

199, 223, 224,

1:7

234,235 2:13

202

3

190, 192,

230,238 190

1:8

195

3:1-2

208

1:9

84, 1 9 1 , 197, 223

3:1-7

1 9 1 , 205,

Philemon 286,366 2

359

32, 154, 190, 1 9 1 , 195, 197, 2 1 1 , 223, 2 3 1 , 256,260

Hebrews 10:24

267

10:24-25

178

378

10:25

3:2, 5

233

11:6

325

3:2-7

194, 223

12:15

180

3:4-5 3:5

197 193 39, 1 5 3 , 1 9 3 , 198,223

3:5, 1 2

223

3:6

1 9 5 , 223

3:8

3 1 , 227, 232

3:8-13

35

5

191 190, 1 9 1 , 208

5:1-4 5:2

191 190, 1 9 1 , 192

5:2-4

194

5:3

1 5 1 , 194, 1 9 5

5:4

191

5:5

190

2 Peter 3:11-12

381

1 John

1:3

12, 1 3 8 , 175

267

2:9

267

2:9-10

13:7

64 1 9 1 , 194

1 3 : 7 , 17

40 37

3 : 1 0 , 14

40, 267

3:16-18

282

3:17

258

4:7-8, 1 1 - 1 2 , 1 9 - 2 1 .. 267 4:7-8, 19-20

12:22-23

41

1:5-7

3:1

3:2, 4-5

3:4

136 1 3 8 , 189, 205

208,211,223

3:1

3:2

190, 1 9 1

4:17

5:1

Titus 1

1 Timothy

1:20

39, 2 7 1

2:25

4:8 94

3:14-15

51 26, 189

135, 1 6 1

5:19-20

2 Thessalonians 1:2

2:5, 9

190

.40

2John 1

190, 208

191 3 John

1 3 : 7 , 17, 24

192, 209 1

13:15

190, 208

51

13:16

5 1 , 267

13:17

1 3 8 , 152, 170,

Jude 1:3

67

222, 223, 1 7 5 , 180, 192,

Revelation

226,228 193,240 3:9

1:6

223 13:20

3:10 3:11...

223, 230, 2 3 1 , 232,233,236,245

3:12

2-3

James 2:2

5 1 , 189

191

223, 227

5:9 30

193, 227,

5:14

190, 192, 208, 240

231,232

5:16

128

5:10 19:6-9 21:3

2 1 1 , 212 66 51 323 13

SUBJECT INDEX

9marks

.357, 360, 3 6 1 , 383

believer baptism

176

Bennett, Dennis

.372

A Berkouwer, G. C Abraham

68

26, 28, 29, 309 Bilezikian

accountability

199

1 3 3 , 175, 180, 209, bishop

20, 3 1 , 49, 58, 59, 65, 67, 85,

217, 3 1 1 , 3 1 2 98, 1 4 8 - 1 5 0 , 152, 1 5 5 , Adam

188, 201 159, 1 6 1 , 162, 169,

African church

12 189, 1 9 0 , 2 0 4 , 3 7 5

Akin, Daniel

68, 157, 182 Black, David Alan

Alexander, Paul

133, 3 1 2

78, 358 Boa, Kenneth

Allison, Gregg

268

2 1 , 27, 28, 76, 86, 1 1 3 , body of Christ

35, 42-46, 48, 49, 6 1 , 62,

146, 147, 156, 1 5 8 , 1 6 1 , 7 1 , 8 0 , 8 5 , 9 3 , 100, 157, 163, 165, 178, 197, 199,

174, 1 7 5 , 2 0 3 , 2 5 6 - 2 5 8 , 2 8 2 ,

208,222,226,231,252, 295,296,303,308,309, 3 1 1 , 3 1 5 , 324, 327,

303,309,324,325,332,367,386 Book of Common Prayer

.324

Brand, Chad

146, 147, 152,

328,338,358-361 American Baptists Anabaptists

154, 1 5 7 , 2 4 6

92, 1 1 9 , 17 6

2 1 , 63, 7 1 , 92, 95, 97, 1 0 1 , 134, 1 6 3 , 3 0 6 , 3 0 7 , 3 0 8

Anderson, Justice

92, 109

"angel of the church''

2 1 , 35, 185

Bridge, Donald

97

Bunyan, John

330, 3 3 1

by-laws

336

211

Anglican Church apostles

bride of Christ

102 3 1 , 38, 66-68, 94, 95, 149, 150, 1 5 8 , 160, 162, 1 8 7 , 188,212,224,226,237,

c called-out people

204, 205, 239, 240

Calvin, John

12, 70, 92, 95, 100, 190, 206,224,225,304,307,

238,253,260,272,299,369 apostolic authority

39, 62, 70

call to ministry

309,314,321,322,325

.23 7

Arminius, Jakob

103

Arnold, Clinton

.47, 130, 132, 3 1 4

atonement

103

authority of the church

126

Azusa Street Revival

Campbell, Colleen Carroll Carey, William

159 289, 369, 370

Carroll, B. H

235

Carson, D. A

150, 1 5 3 , 159, 194, 254, 274, 283, 3 1 6 ,

.3 72

317,338,350

B

catechism

Banks, Robert

1 5 , 36, 377

baptism of the Holy Spirit Baptist confessions

27

1 1 4 , 120, 140, 159,

Christ and the church

1 2 , 2 1 , 147

Baptist Faith and Message

Beasley-Murray, G. R

72, 7 3 , 8 3 , 2 6 7 Charleston Baptist Association

191,225,315,330

Bartchy, Scott

57, 59, 65, 66, 69,

104, 105, 109, 1 1 0 ,

Baptist distinctives

Barrett, David

96

catholicity

28, 107, 1 1 3 ,

Christ's headship

107 47, 49, 202

.47, 147, 1 6 1

church growth

82, 168, 169, 256

church membership

7, 1 7 , 39, 46, 63, 64,

1 1 4 , 156, 165,

92, 102, 1 0 9 - 1 1 8 , 120,

198,328,330

1 2 2 - 1 2 6 , 1 2 9 - 1 3 6 , 140,

85, 373

1 4 1 , 145, 159, 162, 166,

36, 38, 159, 188, 202

171-185,245,246,263,

302-304,

269,270,288,303,310,

307-309,338

327-333,336,362,363,382

392

SUBJECT INDEX

393

Church ofEngland Clark, Stephen

1 0 1 , 102, 103

deacon

3 1 , 157, 160, 165, 183, 189, 193,213,221-237,243,245

.40, 159, 179, 2 0 1 , 222,231,233,258,302

Clowney, Edmund

26, 27, 86, 2 5 1 , 252

deacon and elder

234

deaconess

165, 230-236, 245

coming of the Holy Spirit ..... 13, 14, 265, 272

Deacon Family Ministry Plan

commitment

death of Christ

12, 19, 20, 37, 38, 45, 46, 7 9 , 9 2 , 9 4 , 9 5 , 9 9 , 100, 104,

1 1 5 , 1 1 8 - 1 2 0 , 122, 123, 1 2 5 - 1 2 9 ,

228 3 1 9 , 335

democracy

8 1 , 157, 165, 368

denominations

19, 25, 42, 6 1 , 62, 85, 95, 120, 1 3 1 , 148, 149, 1 5 1 ,

1 3 1 , 133, 134, 1 3 6 , 164, 166, 169,

154, 164, 1 7 7 , 2 7 1 , 2 8 8 ,

170, 172, 173, 1 7 8 - 1 8 2 , 1 8 4 , 2 0 4 ,

293,316,318,328,338, 213,219,241,257,262,264, 348,369,372,373,375 268-270,283,284,293,299, Depression, U.S

284

300,305,314,316-318,333 Dever, Mark communion

2 1 , 26, 58, 60, 63-69, 78,

58, 59, 6 1 , 87, 107, 108, 86, 107, 1 1 0 , 1 1 1 , 1 1 5 , 1 2 3 - 1 2 � 1 1 2 , 1 1 3 , 123, 140, 185, 1 3 5 , 139, 140, 146, 1 5 3 , 1 5 8 , 160, 2 7 1 , 273, 294, 3 1 8 , 163, 164, 166, 169, 174, 178, 1 8 2 , 323-334,338,367,375

competence of the church complementarian

1 8 3 , 190, 1 9 4 , 2 0 8 - 2 1 0 , 2 1 3 , 2 3 5 ,

85

236,245,246,261,288,311,314,

199, 200, 201, 202, 203

congregational polity . . . . . 1 1 1 , 154, 1 5 5 , 159,

329,330,358,361-363,382 Deweese, Charles

.45, 104, 109, 1 1 0 ,

1 6 1 , 164, 168, 193 Constantine

1 7 , 58, 97, 98, 100, 140

constitution

126, 164, 2 1 3 , 2 1 8 , 229

consubstantiation conversion

.320 17, 38, 39, 97-99, 1 2 1 ,

120, 1 2 1 , 1 2 5 - 1 2 7 , 130, 1 4 1 , 1 6 9 , 2 3 5 , 3 1 4 diaconal ministry

252, 262, 264, 268

discipline

1 7 , 3 1 , 63, 64, 70, 79, 84, 94, 95, 108, 109, 1 1 2 , 1 1 5 ,

1 3 1 , 133, 196,204,266,

corpus permixtum covenant

267,298,302-306,313,

1 1 6 , 120, 1 2 2 - 1 2 7 , 1 3 4 - 1 4 1 ,

337,338,362,369

145, 146, 1 5 9 - 1 6 1 , 165, 174, 175,

62, 63, 97, 99, 108

180,209,242,246,252,288,330, 347,360,362,363,382,386

26-28, 45, 102, 104, 1 0 6 - 1 0 8 , 114, 1 2 3 , 1 2 6 - 1 2 9 , 135-137, 139, 1 7 8 - 1 8 0 , 182, 1 8 4 , 2 4 1 , 262,270,308,309,318, 319,339,359,363,386

covenant theology Cowan, Steven

228

discipleship

26, 309, 339 146, 150, 157,

dispensationalism

27

Donatists

62, 99

Duncan, J. Ligon III

2 6 1 , 275-277, 339

Durnbaugh, Donald

E edification

179, 2 5 1 , 252, 261,

194,212,246 Cowen, Gerald Criswell, W A

146, 204, 228 204

92, 97

273,276,279,373 egalitarianism elder

198, 202 5 1 , 1 1 2 , 147, 1 4 9 - 1 5 3 , 157,

Crosby, David

168, 169

1 6 1 , 165, 169, 1 7 0 - 1 7 2 ,

Culpepper, R. Alan

237, 240

189-198,202-219,223,

culture wars Cyprian Cyril of Jerusalem

226-234,238,242-247,378

344 12, 58, 150 65

elder and deacon elements of worship emerging church

D Dagg, John L...

Episcopal Church 1 3 5 , 146, 147, 176, 204,

episkopos

226,315,328-330,338 Dargan, E. C Davis, Andrew

Dawn, Marva

1 5 3 , 209 179, 208, 2 1 6 , 225, 228,

223 273, 276, 277 8 151 3 1 , 149, 150, 152, 189, 190, 1 9 2 , 2 2 4

equality Erickson, Millard

198, 199, 2 0 1 , 377 27, 69, 1 1 1 , 146,

229,285,364-366,382

1 6 1 , 162, 1 6 7 , 2 5 1 , 2 5 3 ,

278

299,301,334,335

SUBJECT I N D E X

394

eucharist evangelism

329 18, 82, 83, 109, 174, 203, 242,

Harper, Michael heaven

196, 3 50, 3 7 4

35, 68, 70, 85, 120, 124, 264,

251-256,259-264,267,268, 273,276,279,280,285-289, 337,352,362,385

evangelist

188

Eve

201

ex opere operato

307,321,322,346,385

hell

346

Hellerman, Joseph

36-38, 87, 175, 178, 180,257,266,303,339

Helwys, Thomas

20, 1 0 2 - 1 0 4 ,

295, 3 0 1 , 306

1 1 0 , 294, 334

Hendricks, William

133, 3 1 1

heresy

264, 346

F faithfulness

10, 67, 106, 180,

Heyrman, Christine Leigh

119

192,202,243,386

Hinson, E. Glenn Fee, Gordon

58, 238

. 4 3 , 50, 1 1 4 , 196, 324, 325

feminism

199, 200

foot-washing

297

forgiveness

99, 196, 268, 2 8 1 , 304,320,324

Freeman, J. D

92, 323, 362, 376

Furman, Richard

120

hirr.hartsem.edu

167, 35 3, 383

historical developments

92

holiness of God

.40

holiness of the church

62, 63, 64, 99

Hollenweger, Walter J

372

Holy Spirit

1 1 - 1 4 , 27-30, 37, 4 1 , 42, 49, 50,53-55,62, 79,84,85,93,

G

1 3 1 , 137-139, 158, 1 9 1 , 2 0 0 ,

Garrett, James Leo Jr

92, 107, 120, 1 2 5,

238,257,264-266,271,272,

136, 154, 157, 1 5 8 , 1 6 1 , 162, 164, 168, 170, 171,246,314

gathered church

92, 100, 323

George, Timothy

38, 52, 87, 100, 275, 284,330,331,369

Gonzalez, Justo

.368

grace

4 1 , 42, 70, 7 1 , 85, 1 1 3 , 139,

286,302-304,313,372-374

homosexuality

344, 375

Horton, Michael

113

house church

33, 359, 372, 375

Howell, R. B. C.

225, 234, 235

Hudson, Winthrop

155

Hughes, R. Kent

275, 277

hymns

275, 278

177,204,238,239,257,266, 267,286,295,298-308, 320,326,336,372

Graham, Billy

1 8 8 , 2 6 1 , 339

Graves, J. R

235

Great Commission

immersion

47 108, 176, 294, 3 0 1 , 314-316,328

290, 3 1 6 , 3 1 7 ,

individualism

351,357,370

infant baptism

167, 170, 2 5 1 , 297, 299,305,330,331 1 1 5 , 1 5 5 , 160 47, 1 5 7 , 199, 208, 266,

39, 122, 134, 156 84, 95, 96, 103, 109, 1 1 0 , 133, 1 7 6 , 2 3 4 , 3 0 6 - 3 1 2 , 328,329,332,338,339

.283

7 1 , 109, 1 1 1 , 1 6 1 , 162,

Grudem, Wayne

149

image of God

40, 47, 268, 287, 376

Gregory I (the Great)

Griffith, Benjamin

Ignatius of Antioch

1 7 5 , 259, 286, 287,

Green, Michael...

Grenz, Stanley

I

International Mission Board Internet invisible church Irenaeus Israel..

371 1 1 , 133

59, 63, 65, 106, 299, 3 1 7 67, 85, 150, 222

1 3 , 26, 27, 28, 39, 3 1 9 , 339, 386

294,295,304,311,326,374

J Guder, Darrell

3 5 1 , 380

Jamieson, Bobby

1 7 8 , 303, 3 58 , 362

Jenkins, Philip ..... 14, 2 9 1 , 368, 374-375, 382

H Haines, Stephen Hammett, John

122 4, 7, 60, 1 1 4 , 123, 1 4 1 ,

Jerusalem church Jerusalem Council

174-179, 183, 1 8 8 , 2 4 0 , 2 4 6 ,

Jewett, Paul

254,255,286,293,297,300,

Johnson, Terry

303,307-316,319,327,328,

Johnson, W. B

333,335,338,359

153 155 199, 306-309, 339 275-277 210

justification .... .37, 63, 100, 203, 295, 303, 394

SUBJECT INDEX

395

McBeth, Leon

K Karkkainen, Veli-Matti Keach, Benjamin

225, 275

Keller, Tim

95, 103, 140, 1 7 1 , 234, 235,261,283,330

154, 373-377

McBrien, Richard

49, 58, 150, 295, 296,319,320

2 85, 289, 349, 350, 382

keys of the kingdom

85, 159

Kimball, Dan

173

kingdom

McConnell, C. Douglas meaning of baptism

.380 176, 294, 300-303, 310, 315, 316

5 1 , 85, 120, 137, 1 59, 189,352,371,381,385

knowledge

48, 107, 137, 2 0 1 , 261

Kraft, Charles

378

Kung, Hans

means of grace

295, 298, 3 0 1 , 304, 326

megachurches

168, 353, 354, 355, 383

Merkle, Benjamin L . . . 7, 123, 1 4 1 , 146, 174, 176, 179, 18 3, 1 9 1 , 194,

68, 87

197, 1 9 9 , 2 0 8 - 2 1 0 , 2 1 6 ,

L 226-228,231,233,246,247

Landmark Baptists

71

metaphors for the church Latourette, Kenneth Scott

Milne, Bruce Lee, Jason

386

.369 257, 267, 269, 270

102, 285

Minear, Paul Leeman, Jonathan

34, 87

2 1 , 59, 60, 123, 128,

ministry of the Holy Spirit

37, 84, 372

1 3 5 , 1 36 , 1 4 1 , 146, 1 58 ,

missions

14, 156, 228, 254, 262, 289,

165, 1 73, 1 7 4 , 2 1 8 , 2 4 6 , 290,369-371,375,380 247,357,358,360,362

mode ofbaptism Leonard, Bill

84, 3 0 1 , 3 1 4 , 3 1 5

170, 240, 296,

Moody, Dale

7 1 , 98, 205, 222, 285,

300,302,310,328 3 1 1 , 3 1 5 , 3 1 9 , 334

Littell, Franklin

95

Morris, Leon liturgy

150, 1 6 1

272, 374

multisite church local church

8, 33, 60, 78,

16, 32-35, 42-46, 59-64, 355-361,382,383 69, 7 5 , 8 0 , 9 3 , 1 08, 1 1 4 , 123, 1 5 0 - 1 5 8 , 166, 1 75, 177, 184,

N

187-189,200,207,216,217,

nature of the church

17, 26, 32, 35, 37, 39, 4 1 , 42, 50, 55,

245,259,260,266,317,325,

5 7 , 5 8 , 6 1 - 6 6 , 7 1 , 72,

327,329,332,358-363,374

Longenecker, Richard

love

36, 7 1 , 1 59,

75, 7 6 , 8 6 , 9 1 , 100, 147,

188,237,253,286

155, 156,252,256-259, 265,267,291,376,377

13, 1 5 , 19, 20, 37, 40, 4 1 , 45, 49, 128, 129, 1 3 6 - 1 3 9 , 175, 179-182,

Neill, Stephen

192,243,244,257-259,265-268,

Nelson, David

281-285,287,305,314,317,323-325, 331,332,337,366,369,385,387

love of God

139, 257, 258, 259

Lumpkin, William L.

28, 45, 6 1 , 104-106,

98, 369 20

neo-charismatics new covenant

372, 373 27, 28, 308, 309, 3 1 9

New Hampshire Confession of Faith .... .330 Newton, Phil

6, 20, 126, 137, 146, 2 1 3 , 2 14 , 247, 364

234,238,330

Luther, Martin

52, 70, 86, 92, 93, 96, 97, 100, 1 0 1 , 2 0 4 , 2 0 5 , 295,298,306,307,320,321

Nicene Creed

57, 80

Noll, Mark

2 1 0 , 288

Norman, R. Stanton

20, 146, 147, 152-157,246

M North American Baptists MacArthur, John

92, 1 1 9 , 176

1 3 3 , 170

North American Mission Board Malone, Fred

14, 1 3 3

309

Northern (American) Marcellino, Jerry

277, 278, 279

Baptist tradition Maring, Norman

62

17, 26, 55, 57, 63, 72, 83, 86, 87, 91,253,258,267

Mass

2 9 1 , 330, 374

155

Novatians marks of the church

0 obedience

. 4 0 , 65, 8 1 , 83, 105, 106, 1 1 0 ,

7 1 , 72, 97, 258,

170, 1 9 7 , 2 0 6 , 2 1 1 , 2 7 6 , 2 8 6 - 2 9 0 ,

318,320,321

305,313-317,326,327,337,351,367

SUBJECT I N D E X

396

offerings

333

presbyter

"open" membership

110

presbyterian polity

ordinances

7, 18, 42, 45, 59, 7 1 , 103, 109, 1 1 4 , 1 3 7 , 139, 146, 1 7 9 , 2 2 5 , 2 5 6 , 2 8 2 ,

ordination

239

Pritchard, G. A

2 8 1 , 349

Promise Keepers prophet

204, 2 1 7 , 236, 237, 238, 239,

Puritans

240,241,243,245,247,297

152, 169

priesthood of believers

295-301,309,336-338,387

Origen

5 1 , 149, 190

19, 255, 3 3 1 18 8 37, 1 0 1 , 103, 163

purpose of worship

5 1 , 273

307

Q Orthodox Church

297 qualifications of deacons

223, 224

overseer. . . . . 3 1 , 169, 1 8 9 - 1 9 3 , 208, 2 1 1 , 223 qualifications of elders

198

p R papacy

3 1 , 50 racism

Parham, Charles Fox

19, 66

.3 72 Radbertus, Paschasius

Parshall, Phil...

.3 20

378, 379, 380 Rainer, Thom

Passover

167, 168, 287, 289,

272, 3 1 9 347,348,363-365

pastoral ministry

192, 204-209, 214, Ratramnus

320

215,225,228,240-245, Rauschenbusch, Walter

283, 284

382,385,386 reason pastoral oversight

13 , 18 , 19, 29, 54, 6 1 , 77, 78, 82,

215 1 0 8 - 1 1 0 , 124, 148, 156, 167, 1 8 1 ,

Patterson, Paige

29, 157, 194, 2 1 2 , 246 201,202,215,217,219,224,226,

Pendleton, J. M

20, 108 230,232,235,241,259,268,280,

Pentecost..

13, 14, 27-30, 78, 82,

people of God

2 6 - 3 1 , 34, 35, 39-42,

287,288,290,298,301,305,313, 84,94, 1 7 6 , 2 6 5 , 3 7 2 322,323,326,329,331,333,334, 347,356,363,365,378,386 6 1 , 6 6 , 7 1 , 8 4 , 9 3 , 109, Reformation

17, 20, 59, 65, 69-73, 87,

256,257,267,377,386 96, 100, 1 0 1 , 150, 163, 190, persecution

14, 62, 96-102, 150, 288 205,224,238,253,258,

Peterson, David

37, 272, 273 274,275,283,293,295,

Philadelphia Baptist Association . . . . . 238, 275

296,306,307,322,369 Phillips, Richard

58, 6 1 , 63, 65, 67, 69 Reformation theology

Phoebe of Cenchrea

.306

230, 232, 233, 236 regeneratechurch members

Piper, John

17, 1 1 5

146, 176, 196, 199, 209, 2 1 3 , regeneration

64, 95, 106, 109, 1 1 4 ,

215,218,225,226,235,294 1 1 5 , 120-124, 129, 133, planting churches

76, 348, 3 7 1 171, 174,256,302,310

pope

204 religious liberty

post-Christian

.368

8, 1 5 , 291, 343, 344 remembrance

postdenominationalism

18 repentance

power

1 1 3 , 300, 3 2 1 , 323 103, 105, 125, 1 3 1 , 286, 297,

14, 44, 47, 53, 55, 70, 83-85, 302,310-313,324,325,337 106, 1 1 2 , 1 1 5 , 137, 149, 1 5 5 , responsibilities of deacons

2 2 1 , 228

159, 1 6 0 , 2 0 9 , 2 1 7 , 2 2 6 , 2 2 8 , responsibilities of elders

191, 214

237,244,257,259,304, Reymond, Robert

152, 1 5 3 , 154

309,317,320,351 Robinson, John pragmatism

38, 8 1

14, 169, 358 Roman Catholic Church

prayer

64, 65, 72, 149

10, 32, 5 1 , 137, 226, 240, Ryken, Philip . . . . . 58, 63, 65, 67, 69, 2 6 1 , 339

242,243,253,255,260, 262,268,273,276,277, 283,305,339,366,378 preaching

s sacraments

17, 42, 70-73, 9 1 , 253, 258, 282, 295-300,

17, 19, 70-73, 83, 84, 9 1 , 95, 104, 1 1 5 , 132, 1 3 5 , 169, 1 8 8 , 190,

306,336,337,373

191,208,214,215,242,253,256,

Saddleback Community Church ... 262, 339

258,260,261,273-276,311,333,

saints

336,356-358,362,366,373

39, 63, 64, 67, 93, 95, 103, 112, 114, 1 8 7 , 2 5 2 , 2 8 8 , 3 6 7

397

SUBJECT INDEX

salvation

20, 38, 42, 59, 63, 66, 6 9 - 7 1 ,

Summary of Church Discipline . . . . 107, 1 1 5 ,

1 1 0 , 1 1 3 , 132, 137, 139, 146,

120, 125,

174-177,257,265,283, 302-306,316,320,326, 328,331,336,346,372 sanctification Sandy Creek Baptist Association Sargeant, Kirnon Saucy, Robert

155 Sunday school

200, 262, 264, 2 7 1 , 354

Sutton, Jerry

163

64

synagogue

272

189

syncretism

3 79

synod

151

278, 279, 280, 349 27, 222, 237, 2 7 1 , 272, 297, 304, 3 1 3

Schreiner, Thomas

1 3 1 , 146, 199, 233,302,315,320

Second London Confession .... 45, 106, 1 1 2 ,

T tabernacle

52, 53, 272

technology

348, 358, 367

temple

14, 30, 35, 49, 50-55, 6 1 , 67, 7 1 , 7 5 , 8 0 , 8 4 - 8 6 , 9 3 ,

1 5 5 , 238, 277,

127, 1 3 3 , 2 5 3 , 2 5 6 - 2 5 8 ,

322,326 sects

271,272,312,359,386

119

selection of elders

2 1 7 , 242

Septuagint

29, 50

session

151

Sexuality

344, 345

Shelley, Bruce

8 1 , 1 7 1 , 269

small groups

55, 109, 2 7 1 , 279,

Smyth, John

20, 102, 103, 1 1 0 ,

285,300,354

temple of the Holy Spirit... . .49, 50, 257, 2 7 1 Tertullian

40

Thomas, Derek W. H

2 6 1 , 277, 339

Thumma, Scott

353, 354, 355

Toon, Peter

150, 246

Towns, Elmer

7 1 , 256, 278, 279

tradition

20, 59, 67, 97, 200, 211,222,294,307,373

225,294,314,334

traditional church

360, 3 79

69, 268, 3 7 1

transubstantiation

297, 3 1 9 , 320

Snyder, Howard social gospel

283, 284

sola Scriptura

70

soul competence

52

Southern Baptist Convention

8, 1 1 7 ,

Trent, Council of... Trinity Troeltsch, Ernst truth

171, 192,256,257,264,265,

163, 164, 167,

347,371 speaking in tongues spiritual gifts spiritual maturity Sprinkle, Preston Spurgeon, C. H Stafford, Tim Stark, Rodney Stetzer, Ed

273,274,306,335,346 Tucker, Ruth

369

Tyler, John

110

307, 372 175, 180, 373 83, 198, 263

u union with Christ

12, 14

unity of the church universal church

v Van Gelder, Craig

58, 60, 6 1 , 64, 66,77,87

1 8 1 , 287, 290, 358 Vaughan, John

Strauch, Alexander

32, 34, 43, 46, 58,

80,93,94,368

7 1 , 1 1 8 , 1 8 5 , 256, 267,

353,366,382

Stott, John

.49, 59, 6 1 , 99, 1 3 6

60, 64, 68, 69, 78,

98-100, 1 1 9 , 268, 2 7 1

346-348, 3 5 1 ,

.43, 64, 302, 304, 305,315,330

345 182, 204, 239, 330, 3 3 1

278, 279, 289, 344,

stewardship

119

20, 26, 38, 7 1 , 8 1 , 83, 123, 129,

1 1 8 , 1 2 1 , 122,

2 1 0 , 227, 288,

295, 297 40, 154, 177, 265, 379

167, 168

255 visible church

59, 62, 63, 80, 9 1 ,

Volf, Miroslav

7 1 , 154, 282, 283, 373

194, 197, 199, 105, 107, 1 1 2 , 299 208,247

Strong, A. H

109, 146, 147, 168, 210, 2 1 1 , 299,327,330,335

styles of worship

258, 278

w Waldron, Samuel Walls, Andrew

157, 194, 246 .368

SUBJECT I N D E X

398

Warren, Rick

33, 124, 1 3 8 , 196,

Wilson, Jonathan

252-255,260-262,

Winter, Ralph

270,271,278-280,

witness

68 287, 370, 378 26, 83, 124, 1 3 5 , 136, 163,

288, 339, 353, 355, 356,363,382 Wells, David

290

Wheaton College

15, 2 1 , 27, 60, 76, 78, 86, 1 2 3 - 1 2 5 , 1 3 5 , 139,

252,274,304,317,344 Wolfe, Alan work of the church worship of God Wright, Stuart

82, 349 79 270, 279 1 3 1 , 266, 302,

1 4 1 , 1 5 8 , 173, 174, 179, 307,351,352 196, 1 9 9 , 2 5 4 , 3 1 1 , 3 3 8 ,

y

351,358,361,362,382 Yoder, John White, James

2 1 , 78, 123, 357, 358

Willow Creek Association Wills, Greg

97

209

White, Thomas

208,210,246,327,328,331 168, 267, 268, 294, 3 1 6

60, 203, 2 1 5 , 228, 242,243,300

279, 280

1 1 5 , 122, 124, 1 4 1 , 169, 190,

Wilson, G. Todd

youth

z Zwingli, Huldrych

70, 92, 100, 275, 307,308,321