Our pediatrician's office operates like a clinic: there are a number of doctors, and you can't always be sure which one you're going to wind up with. This is not proper way to conduct a medical practice, but there isn't any local alternative.
At one such visit, with one such pediatrician on staff, we mentioned on the way out the door that we home school. (We really dislike that term 'home school' because it accepts the 'school' construct as normative; but it is so generally used and the public psyche is so school oriented that it is rather difficult to avoid.) "Well," he said, with a look and a tone half composed of admiration for our undertaking, and half of wonder that we could conceive of something so idiotic, "that's good. But that's definitely a calling. Homeschooling isn't for everyone."
Are we called to homeschool?
Are you called to homeschool?
'Homeschooling' is definitely a calling, I agree. And those who haven't been called to do it should not attempt it. So how do you know if you are called?
One of my previous employers made the offhand comment that I am always trying to drag the Bible into the middle of everything. I replied that is because the Bible is in the middle of everything.
So let's look at the scriptures.
Psalm 127 says:
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
What does a warrior do with an arrow? He puts it to the string, draws the bow, and shoots it at a target. He purposefully selects a particular target (or, it may be, a particular target has selected him), and he does his best to strike that target with his arrow. It's not a game, it is a struggle, a fight, a battle. He isn't shooting to win a contest, or a trophy, or honor. It's deadly serious and it has a real outcome of some kind.
When that warrior goes into battle, however many arrows he happens to have, will he hand his arrows over to another warrior? Will he leave his arrows lying around and enter the field of battle unarmed and unsure of who will even use his arrows?
Folks, we are in a battle. It is just as real as any battle that ever took place on a field with arrows or muskets or whatever you wish. In fact, it's actually much more real because all of those battles are only eruptions boiling over out of the battle I am speaking of. And if you have children, God has given them to you for a reason. He has given them to you for you to point in the right direction and let them fly straight at the enemy, our enemy; the enemy of God, the enemy of all mankind.
And it ain't gonna happen at school.
OK, yes, it is hypothetically possible that maybe, just maybe, if you send your children to school there might just maybe be some warrior there who will pick up your arrows (your children) and use them more skillfully than you could've. Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while. But even if that happens you will have squandered your heritage, your reward, your chance to get into the fight and make a difference. You will have disobeyed the orders from your Commander.
And let's be realistic here: the chances of that happening are mighty slim. Much much slimmer than the pig that's grubbing around for the occasional acorn. You'd be better off wasting your family's resources playing the lottery.
You only have just so much chance on this and then it is gone forever.
Are you called to keep your children at home? Well, look around you. Do you hear the pitter patter of little feet? Have you heard it there around you? Do you have children? If you do, you are called to raise them yourself at home and not to shamefully leave them in the hands of strangers and hirelings to direct wherever they wish – if they even care enough to direct them at all. And if they do, they might even direct them straight at you...
Don't give away your heritage from the LORD. Don't leave your reward lying around for others to spend. Don't leave your arrows lying around where even the enemy can pick them up and use them...raise your own children at home.
For the Bible tells you so.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
...you shall surely die.
This past week our family was watching Nova on the topic of tornadoes. I must admit to having had a dread fascination with tornadoes since a young age. The area where my wife and I grew up in west Cobb County in the (now) Metro Atlanta area is a relatively tornado prone area, and some experience with tornadoes there is a pretty common thing. As a very young child Sheila rode out a tornado in her parent's mobile home which passed them over close enough for her to hear quite loudly. In our previous home in Cobb County she once saw the drooping multiple-trunks of dogwood tree in our front yard standing straight up, twirling around in the air. Hurricane Opal spawned a number of tornadoes in our area in the middle of the night, one of which traveled through the woods straight toward our house and dropped a large oak tree right on the roof. And somewhere in the Nineties a tornado came through Cobb County (never heard a rating for it but would guess an F4) which absolutely destroyed all of the mature woods on either side of a certain spot of Hwy 120 as far as you could see on both sides of the highway. I was astonished that such a thing was even possible; it looked like the site of an atomic blast, or the wreckage from Mt Saint Helens.
In the episode of Nova they interviewed a woman who had survived a notable tornado in La Plata, Maryland. She and her husband had been inspecting the construction progress on the home they were building when they walked out the front door. They didn't even know anything at all was going on. She said they just noticed a strange, utter silence with no birds or animals or any sound at all. Then she woke up amidst the twisted wreckage of their house, both arms broken, struggling to get to her feet. Searchers found her a few moments later before she passed out. When she woke up again she was in the hospital. They told her that her husband had been killed.
One moment they were inspecting their new home together; the next he was dead and she was shattered. They didn't even know anything was happening.
The next day after Nova, it turned out that a cousin of mine didn't show up for work that morning. They called his brother to check on him. He was found still in bed, having had a major heart attack, rushed to the hospital, and underwent multiple bypass surgery. It's a wonder he was even still alive.
Folks, you don't know when it's coming, but it is coming. The time of your death is drawing near and you don't know when it is. You might not even know it when it comes. It might be this very day, but it is coming. You have no idea how long you have, and when it comes your eternal destiny is sealed. Your fate will eternally be determined by what you chose about Jesus, and there will be no opportunity to change it. You won't be able to talk your way out of it.
What will it be if your time comes right this minute? If you have chosen to keep making your own decisions and to control your own life, Psalm 2 says, "He will break them with a rod of iron, He will dash them to pieces like a potters vessel." You will have no hope, no matter how 'good' you think you are, because you have failed to choose to give your life over to Him. Psalm 2 says that He will laugh at your foolish objections, and then He will distress you in His deep displeasure.
But you do have hope now. You can choose to relinquish control of your life and give it over to Him. He did exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that was needed to be worthy of you giving your life over to Him. The Psalm then says, "Now, be wise o Kings, and be instructed you judges of the earth; Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling; Kiss the Son, lest you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little; Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."
Now is the time! It is coming, and you don't know when. Now is the time to change allegiance, to vote out the incumbent (you) and vote in the One who will make a real change. Now is the time to let Jesus have the wheel before you hit the oak tree. Don't wait any longer, don't fool yourself any longer; it might be right behind you right now and you don't even hear it.
The scriptures teach us that every single person in who ever lived, including you, will bow down before Jesus and confess openly the He is Lord of all creation. Some will do it now in this life and have hope forever, and the rest will do it in abject terror as humiliated and defeated enemies of the King before they are thrown alive into the Fire.
Which will you be? Don't wait! Do it now!
Your time is coming!
In the episode of Nova they interviewed a woman who had survived a notable tornado in La Plata, Maryland. She and her husband had been inspecting the construction progress on the home they were building when they walked out the front door. They didn't even know anything at all was going on. She said they just noticed a strange, utter silence with no birds or animals or any sound at all. Then she woke up amidst the twisted wreckage of their house, both arms broken, struggling to get to her feet. Searchers found her a few moments later before she passed out. When she woke up again she was in the hospital. They told her that her husband had been killed.
One moment they were inspecting their new home together; the next he was dead and she was shattered. They didn't even know anything was happening.
The next day after Nova, it turned out that a cousin of mine didn't show up for work that morning. They called his brother to check on him. He was found still in bed, having had a major heart attack, rushed to the hospital, and underwent multiple bypass surgery. It's a wonder he was even still alive.
Folks, you don't know when it's coming, but it is coming. The time of your death is drawing near and you don't know when it is. You might not even know it when it comes. It might be this very day, but it is coming. You have no idea how long you have, and when it comes your eternal destiny is sealed. Your fate will eternally be determined by what you chose about Jesus, and there will be no opportunity to change it. You won't be able to talk your way out of it.
What will it be if your time comes right this minute? If you have chosen to keep making your own decisions and to control your own life, Psalm 2 says, "He will break them with a rod of iron, He will dash them to pieces like a potters vessel." You will have no hope, no matter how 'good' you think you are, because you have failed to choose to give your life over to Him. Psalm 2 says that He will laugh at your foolish objections, and then He will distress you in His deep displeasure.
But you do have hope now. You can choose to relinquish control of your life and give it over to Him. He did exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all that was needed to be worthy of you giving your life over to Him. The Psalm then says, "Now, be wise o Kings, and be instructed you judges of the earth; Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling; Kiss the Son, lest you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little; Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him."
Now is the time! It is coming, and you don't know when. Now is the time to change allegiance, to vote out the incumbent (you) and vote in the One who will make a real change. Now is the time to let Jesus have the wheel before you hit the oak tree. Don't wait any longer, don't fool yourself any longer; it might be right behind you right now and you don't even hear it.
The scriptures teach us that every single person in who ever lived, including you, will bow down before Jesus and confess openly the He is Lord of all creation. Some will do it now in this life and have hope forever, and the rest will do it in abject terror as humiliated and defeated enemies of the King before they are thrown alive into the Fire.
Which will you be? Don't wait! Do it now!
Your time is coming!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
No Endorsement
Now that I have sufficiently challenged a number of long held beliefs and traditions of almost the entire 'church' as being completely unbiblical and improper, I think it time to introduce to you this important Bible principle:
Just because God works through someone is no endorsement of that person, whatsoever.
We finite humans have a strong tendency to think otherwise. If we can see the hand of God working through a particular person or human structure, we associate that person or structure with godliness. Why would God work through someone that He did not endorse? God is working through this man or this woman or this ministry or this institution: shouldn't I listen to what they have to say? If He works through a person, 'church', or ministry which you say is unbiblical, doesn't that contradict what you are saying?
No. You should listen to the Bible. Or put another way, we judge our experience through the Word; we don't judge the Word through our experience. Otherwise we have nothing to stand on when some cat shows up out of the Arabian desert claiming that an angel from God gave him great revelation or some special golden tablets to translate while peering in his hat. But when we judge experience by the Word, we know that, "...even if we ourselves or an angel from God comes to you proclaiming a different Gospel from the one we have already proclaimed, let him be accursed."
The reason this principle is important is because there have been 'churches' and 'ministers' through whom God has definitely worked in our own lives – which naturally inclines one to give credence to that 'minister' or 'church' – but which have clearly unbiblical lives or structures or teachings. God can and does use people to further His kingdom who have unbiblical teachings, or unbiblical 'church' organization, or even immorality in their lives. We know this, because we have seen it with our own eyes. So don't accept teachings or behavior just because you see God working through someone.
Just because God works through someone is no endorsement of that person, whatsoever.
There are probably a host of good examples of this principle in the Bible, but let me give just two.
• 1Kings 15:25-16:13 In 1Kings 14, God spoke through Abijah the prophet against Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that He would utterly destroy him and his house because of his sin, and that he led all of the Northern Kingdom of Israel into idolatry and false religion. Beginning in 15:25 God uses Baasha the son of Ahijah to fulfill this prophecy and utterly destroy the house of Jeroboam. Yet, as you read on, Baasha himself is condemned by God and it comes to pass that the entire house of Baasha is also destroyed due to the sins of Baasha. So you see that God actively used Baasha to perform his will, but this in no way indicates any endorsement of Baasha.
• Numbers 22-24 My favorite example of this principle is the story of Balaam. Many people are familiar with the story of Balaam and the Talking Donkey, but the whole story is much more powerful than this one fantastic part. Whatever the deal was with Balaam, it is clear from the text that the man was a pagan, occultic, diviner who was also familiar with YHWH and heard from YHWH directly. YHWH spoke directly to him, and through him. YHWH delivered powerful blessings and prophecy through Balaam. And after He through Balaam had blessed Israel abundantly, He then delivered through Balaam a beautiful, poignant, early Messianic Prophecy:
"Then Balak’s anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times! Now therefore, flee to your place. I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the LORD has kept you back from honor.”
So Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD, to do good or bad of my own will. What the LORD says, that I must speak’? And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
So he took up his oracle and said:
“The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened;
The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
And has the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of tumult."
On the surface, Balaam might be a sincere, godly man giving sound counsel. He even prophecied the coming Messiah! But look at what the rest of the scriptures say about Balaam.
Numbers 31:8
They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
Numbers 31:16
Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 23:4
because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Deuteronomy 23:5
Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
Joshua 13:22
The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them.
Joshua 24:9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.
Nehemiah 13:2
because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.
Micah 6:5
O My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab counseled, And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, From Acacia Grove to Gilgal, That you may know the righteousness of the LORD.”
2 Peter 2:15
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
Jude 1:11
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
Just because God works through someone is no endorsement of that person, whatsoever.
Just because God works through someone is no endorsement of that person, whatsoever.
We finite humans have a strong tendency to think otherwise. If we can see the hand of God working through a particular person or human structure, we associate that person or structure with godliness. Why would God work through someone that He did not endorse? God is working through this man or this woman or this ministry or this institution: shouldn't I listen to what they have to say? If He works through a person, 'church', or ministry which you say is unbiblical, doesn't that contradict what you are saying?
No. You should listen to the Bible. Or put another way, we judge our experience through the Word; we don't judge the Word through our experience. Otherwise we have nothing to stand on when some cat shows up out of the Arabian desert claiming that an angel from God gave him great revelation or some special golden tablets to translate while peering in his hat. But when we judge experience by the Word, we know that, "...even if we ourselves or an angel from God comes to you proclaiming a different Gospel from the one we have already proclaimed, let him be accursed."
The reason this principle is important is because there have been 'churches' and 'ministers' through whom God has definitely worked in our own lives – which naturally inclines one to give credence to that 'minister' or 'church' – but which have clearly unbiblical lives or structures or teachings. God can and does use people to further His kingdom who have unbiblical teachings, or unbiblical 'church' organization, or even immorality in their lives. We know this, because we have seen it with our own eyes. So don't accept teachings or behavior just because you see God working through someone.
Just because God works through someone is no endorsement of that person, whatsoever.
There are probably a host of good examples of this principle in the Bible, but let me give just two.
• 1Kings 15:25-16:13 In 1Kings 14, God spoke through Abijah the prophet against Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that He would utterly destroy him and his house because of his sin, and that he led all of the Northern Kingdom of Israel into idolatry and false religion. Beginning in 15:25 God uses Baasha the son of Ahijah to fulfill this prophecy and utterly destroy the house of Jeroboam. Yet, as you read on, Baasha himself is condemned by God and it comes to pass that the entire house of Baasha is also destroyed due to the sins of Baasha. So you see that God actively used Baasha to perform his will, but this in no way indicates any endorsement of Baasha.
• Numbers 22-24 My favorite example of this principle is the story of Balaam. Many people are familiar with the story of Balaam and the Talking Donkey, but the whole story is much more powerful than this one fantastic part. Whatever the deal was with Balaam, it is clear from the text that the man was a pagan, occultic, diviner who was also familiar with YHWH and heard from YHWH directly. YHWH spoke directly to him, and through him. YHWH delivered powerful blessings and prophecy through Balaam. And after He through Balaam had blessed Israel abundantly, He then delivered through Balaam a beautiful, poignant, early Messianic Prophecy:
"Then Balak’s anger was aroused against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have bountifully blessed them these three times! Now therefore, flee to your place. I said I would greatly honor you, but in fact, the LORD has kept you back from honor.”
So Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying, ‘If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD, to do good or bad of my own will. What the LORD says, that I must speak’? And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
So he took up his oracle and said:
“The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor,
And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened;
The utterance of him who hears the words of God,
And has the knowledge of the Most High,
Who sees the vision of the Almighty,
Who falls down, with eyes wide open:
“I see Him, but not now;
I behold Him, but not near;
A Star shall come out of Jacob;
A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,
And batter the brow of Moab,
And destroy all the sons of tumult."
On the surface, Balaam might be a sincere, godly man giving sound counsel. He even prophecied the coming Messiah! But look at what the rest of the scriptures say about Balaam.
Numbers 31:8
They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
Numbers 31:16
Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 23:4
because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.
Deuteronomy 23:5
Nevertheless the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
Joshua 13:22
The children of Israel also killed with the sword Balaam the son of Beor, the soothsayer, among those who were killed by them.
Joshua 24:9
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose to make war against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he continued to bless you. So I delivered you out of his hand.
Nehemiah 13:2
because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing.
Micah 6:5
O My people, remember now What Balak king of Moab counseled, And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, From Acacia Grove to Gilgal, That you may know the righteousness of the LORD.”
2 Peter 2:15
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
Jude 1:11
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
Just because God works through someone is no endorsement of that person, whatsoever.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Plurality of Elders in the Ekklesia
Folks, there is a big difference between the 'church' that we are perpetuating all over the lands, and the Ekklesia of God. Our 'churches' fall short on many points, and bulge out with big ugly fat rolls on the others.
But the Good News is: Jesus died to make it possible for us to be His Ekklesia; He rose from the grave to seal and certify it, and when He left He sent us the Holy Spirit to empower us to be His Ekklesia. So we aren't doing it, but we know that we can because it is the will of God.
As our good friend the departed believer J.T. Spinks used to say, "HAL-LEEE-LU-YAH!"
Now if you were excited about the entry informing you that there is actually no such word as 'church' in the scriptures, you should be tickled to learn that there is no such thing as a 'Pastor' in the New Testament either.
OK, well, I will admit to a certain amount of sleight-of-tongue here: there's no such thing as a 'Pastor' such as you think about when you hear that word. Nowhere in the NT scriptures will you find a one-man-clerical-type-head-of-the-church-the-guy-you-think-about-on-pastor-appreciation-day-Pastor-of-the-church. It just isn't in there. In fact, the whole reason we have a Pastor Appreciation Day to begin with is that our 'churches' are placing a burden upon one man that was meant to be borne by several. Though we disobediently call him by many names: 'Pastor', 'Reverend', 'Preacher', 'Bishop', 'Father', etc., etc., this concept is such a central pillar of the 'church' that we all assume its natural presence in the NT. I couldn't tell you how many preachers I have heard preaching about 'Preachers' in the NT. But it just plain isn't there.
The word 'pastor' itself occurs only one time in the English translations, in Eph 4: 11 "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." The Greek word translated 'pastor' in "pastors and teachers" (and that's one office, not two) is used around 14 other times in the NT, but elsewhere it is always translated 'shepherd'. As is made clear by a thorough survey of the NT, this term 'shepherd', regarding the office of the shepherd in the ekklesia is synonymous with the NT terms 'overseer' and 'elder'.
Now 'overseer' is sometimes translated as 'bishop', but 'bishop' is actually a rather poor choice of translation for 'overseer' because it carries post-NT clerical implications that simply did not exist in the NT. In the NT ekklesia, the ekklesias were led by teams of elders, sometimes also referred to as 'shepherds' or as 'overseers'. (To see the interchangeability of these terms see 1Peter 5:1-5. To see the plurality of this office see Acts 14:23, Acts 20:17, 1Tim 5:17, and Titus 1:5)
The difference is simply this: think of your own 'pastor', or one that you have known, preferably a commendable example. Now, imagine your 'church' with three, four, or five of those. Only, nobody is now the 'Pastor', they are all elders, and nobody is called 'Pastor', or 'Dr.' or any other pretentious titles. They all share the responsibilities, and they all work to understand the scriptures, to encourage the members of your 'church' in scriptural teaching, and to resolve issues of conflict and discipline when necessary.
So if you haven't already struck through every usage of the word 'church' in your Bible and replaced it with 'ekklesia' now is the time to start: it really will make a difference in how you look at Christ's Body. And while you are doing that, strike through every usage of the word 'bishop' and replace it with 'overseer'.
Yes I know, this is so far outside the normative model of the past, say, five to fifteen-hundred years or so, that if you have never considered the concept it is hard to wrap your mind around no matter how compelling the idea may (or may not) be to you. But it is the Biblical norm, and it is the way that Jesus himself intended us to do it. A host of questions may come to mind if you are seriously considering what I am writing here, and I will do my best to answer these as long as they are at least half genuine.
Take a look at all our 'church' structure that differs from this: those are all "seeds that My Father hasn't planted." Which makes them weeds. Which makes them 'in the way' of the real crop he sowed, and wasting valuable nutrients and space.
But we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can walk away from it. Luther didn't, but we can. Calvin didn't, but we can. Knox didn't, but we can. Whitfield didn't, but we can. Spurgeon didn't, but we can. Moody didn't, but we can. Graham didn't, but we can. And Joel Osteen sure hasn't, but we can.
He's been waiting on us all along...
But the Good News is: Jesus died to make it possible for us to be His Ekklesia; He rose from the grave to seal and certify it, and when He left He sent us the Holy Spirit to empower us to be His Ekklesia. So we aren't doing it, but we know that we can because it is the will of God.
As our good friend the departed believer J.T. Spinks used to say, "HAL-LEEE-LU-YAH!"
Now if you were excited about the entry informing you that there is actually no such word as 'church' in the scriptures, you should be tickled to learn that there is no such thing as a 'Pastor' in the New Testament either.
OK, well, I will admit to a certain amount of sleight-of-tongue here: there's no such thing as a 'Pastor' such as you think about when you hear that word. Nowhere in the NT scriptures will you find a one-man-clerical-type-head-of-the-church-the-guy-you-think-about-on-pastor-appreciation-day-Pastor-of-the-church. It just isn't in there. In fact, the whole reason we have a Pastor Appreciation Day to begin with is that our 'churches' are placing a burden upon one man that was meant to be borne by several. Though we disobediently call him by many names: 'Pastor', 'Reverend', 'Preacher', 'Bishop', 'Father', etc., etc., this concept is such a central pillar of the 'church' that we all assume its natural presence in the NT. I couldn't tell you how many preachers I have heard preaching about 'Preachers' in the NT. But it just plain isn't there.
The word 'pastor' itself occurs only one time in the English translations, in Eph 4: 11 "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers." The Greek word translated 'pastor' in "pastors and teachers" (and that's one office, not two) is used around 14 other times in the NT, but elsewhere it is always translated 'shepherd'. As is made clear by a thorough survey of the NT, this term 'shepherd', regarding the office of the shepherd in the ekklesia is synonymous with the NT terms 'overseer' and 'elder'.
Now 'overseer' is sometimes translated as 'bishop', but 'bishop' is actually a rather poor choice of translation for 'overseer' because it carries post-NT clerical implications that simply did not exist in the NT. In the NT ekklesia, the ekklesias were led by teams of elders, sometimes also referred to as 'shepherds' or as 'overseers'. (To see the interchangeability of these terms see 1Peter 5:1-5. To see the plurality of this office see Acts 14:23, Acts 20:17, 1Tim 5:17, and Titus 1:5)
The difference is simply this: think of your own 'pastor', or one that you have known, preferably a commendable example. Now, imagine your 'church' with three, four, or five of those. Only, nobody is now the 'Pastor', they are all elders, and nobody is called 'Pastor', or 'Dr.' or any other pretentious titles. They all share the responsibilities, and they all work to understand the scriptures, to encourage the members of your 'church' in scriptural teaching, and to resolve issues of conflict and discipline when necessary.
So if you haven't already struck through every usage of the word 'church' in your Bible and replaced it with 'ekklesia' now is the time to start: it really will make a difference in how you look at Christ's Body. And while you are doing that, strike through every usage of the word 'bishop' and replace it with 'overseer'.
Yes I know, this is so far outside the normative model of the past, say, five to fifteen-hundred years or so, that if you have never considered the concept it is hard to wrap your mind around no matter how compelling the idea may (or may not) be to you. But it is the Biblical norm, and it is the way that Jesus himself intended us to do it. A host of questions may come to mind if you are seriously considering what I am writing here, and I will do my best to answer these as long as they are at least half genuine.
Take a look at all our 'church' structure that differs from this: those are all "seeds that My Father hasn't planted." Which makes them weeds. Which makes them 'in the way' of the real crop he sowed, and wasting valuable nutrients and space.
But we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can walk away from it. Luther didn't, but we can. Calvin didn't, but we can. Knox didn't, but we can. Whitfield didn't, but we can. Spurgeon didn't, but we can. Moody didn't, but we can. Graham didn't, but we can. And Joel Osteen sure hasn't, but we can.
He's been waiting on us all along...
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