August 11, 2010

In the comments of my post “Admonish One Another,” Rick brings up a good question:

Too often we pour Christian sauce over normal human behavior. We talk about “sweet fellowship” as if it were much different from everyday socializing. I once attended a church where there was much talk of how we would “dance before the Lord” at the annual Fall Festival, even though nothing distinguished it from the square dancing that happened all over town every Friday and Saturday night.

I have admonished and been admonished at work, in school, in grocery stores, during music lessons, at the DMV and public library, by our bookstore customers, at church and outside church. It is something that people do, Spirit-filled or not. Do you think this is the behavior that Paul describes in Romans 15:14?

His comment reminded me of a discussion that I’ve been having with several people over the last few weeks (maybe months now).

The discussion centers around this question: What is the difference (if anything) between a talent and a spiritual gift? Is there a difference between a talented teacher and a spiritually gifted teacher? Can a talented teacher not be a spiritually gifted teacher? Can a spiritually gifted teacher not be a talented teacher? (Feel free to use any spiritual gift to discuss these questions.)

What do you think?

August 11, 2010

Yeah, the title of this post sounds strange. But, there’s a reason to my madness.

There is alot of confusion today about apostles. In fact, this confusion has continued for thousands of years (well, about two thousand years). It’s not that I’ve figured out something that no one else has ever figured out. Many people understand the difference between apostles and apostles. But, there are many who are still confused.

You see, it all began with the apostles… the twelve… those twelve men that Jesus originally called so that he could send them out.You can see this in Matthew 9-10:

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these… These twelve Jesus sent out… (Matthew 9:35-10:5)

The word “apostle” simply indicates that the person is a representative of someone else sent out for some person. Often, it can be translated as “messenger.” An “apostle” is differentiated from other in that the apostle is “sent out.” In fact, the noun “apostle” comes from a verb that means “to send,” as in Matthew 10:5.

Thus, the Twelve (the Apostles) were apostles. They were “sent out” by Jesus both before and after his death and resurrection. They were specifically told to make disciples of all the nations (indicating being sent) (Matthew 28:19-20) and that they were to be witnesses of Jesus to the end of the earth (also indicating being sent) (Acts 1:8).

So, the apostles (the Twelve) were apostles (those who are sent out).

The difficulty comes in recognizing that others in Scripture are also called apostles even though they were not part of the Twelve. The designations are not the same. The Twelve (including Paul?) were a special type of apostle who had been personally commissioned by Jesus. However, there were other apostles in Scripture who were not part of the Twelve.

In Acts 14:14, Barnabas is called an apostle. In 1 Thessalonians 2:6, Paul indicates that Timothy and Silas are apostles (see 1 Thessalonians 1:1 for the identification of “we”). 1 Corinthians 4:9 indicates that Apollos was an apostle (see 1 Corinthians 4:6).

Finally, in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Paul makes a clear distinction between “the twelve” and “the apostles.”

Thus, the Twelve (and Paul) were apostles, but others were apostles as well. There is, then, no reason not to identify Andronicus and Junia as being “among the apostles” in Romans 16:7. The indication only means that Andronicus and Junia were “sent out” away from their home in order to proclaim the gospel and strengthen the churches as they went.

The apostles were apostles, but there were other apostles who were not counted among the Twelve. From the very early days after the death of the Twelve, Christians have argued about the continuing existence of apostles. The Twelve no longer exist. But, there is no reason to assume that there are no apostles today. In fact, Scripture seems to indicate that the church continues to need apostles just as we continue to need all gifted believers.

July 3, 2010

(I am interrupting my translation of Ruth for the next few weeks. I’ll return to the translation after I return from Ethiopia.)

A couple of days ago, I wrote a post called “Exclusivity of Spiritual Gifts.” In that post, I suggested that there is a difference between a certain function and the spiritual gift related to that function. Thus, someone who is NOT gifted in a certain way could still function in that same way. Although, those gifted in a certain way would probably function in that way more consistently or regularly.

In response, Mark said the following in a comment:

I believe the Lord is currently using me as a “sent one”, to do a specific task in my community, but I don’t believe that I am an apostle.

I asked if he would explain what he meant, and he left a longer comment. I thought Mark’s comment was too good to leave in the comments:

As an answer to your question let me preface by saying the following. I strongly believe that the Spirit is moving to build a true expression of the Body of Christ on the earth, something that hasn’t had consistent visibility for a long time. There just seems to be such a great “calling out”. Having said that, I believe that the work he has me doing “as an apostle” is along those lines.

My wife and I own two businesses in our town, she a coffee shop/scrapbook store/bridal registry/catering business, etc., and me a family medicine clinic. Her business has been open 3 years, mine 2 years. We strongly feel like these business are the work of the Lord in our community, as the opportunity to touch others’ lives is tremendous. In the last year He has begun knitting us together with some individuals who have begun walking outside of traditional Christianity. In the last year the group has gone from being just a “bible study” among friends, that would meet sometimes and sometimes not, into a fledgling community, where we understand more and more what we are and who we are, and can identify that there is more going on here than just a “bible study”. Now, to answer your question. I feel that I am here plowing ground, hard, crusted ground. I feel that we have been sent here for a specific task, to do the groundwork for the ultimate work that He wants to do. As such, I feel like we are “sent ones”, as I believe He had this specific task in mind for us, and uniquely prepared us for it. Beyond the manner in which we are currently functioning, I don’t see myself as an apostle, as I stated in my post. I believe I will be in this community for many years, and serve within this local body until much later in life, if not until He takes me.

I hope this is an adequate explanation.

And, I hope that you enjoyed Mark’s explanation as much as I did.

(To Mark: Thank you for allowing me to post this comment. I didn’t have a link to your blog or website, but if you send it to me, or leave it in the comments, I’ll be glad to  add it to this post.)

July 1, 2010

There are several lists of spiritual gifts in the New Testament:
From Romans 12:6-8, we find the following gifts (or gifted persons):

prophesying
serving
teaching
encouraging
leading
giving
showing mercy

From 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, we find the following gifts (or gifted persons):

speaking wisdom
speaking knowledge
showing faith
healing
working miracles
prophesying
distinguishing spirits
speaking in tongues
interpreting tongues

From 1 Corinthians 12:28-30, we find the following gifts (or gifted persons):

being sent (apostle)
prophesying
teaching
working miracles
healing
helping
administrating
speaking in tongues

From Ephesians 4:11, we find the following gifts (or gifted persons):

being sent (apostle)
prophesying
evangelizing
shepherding/teaching

Now, notice that some of the gifts are considered “special” gifts today, while others are considered more ordinary. However, in the lists, they are all mixed together with very little (if anything) to differentiate what we might consider special gifts from ordinary gifts.

Modern church wisdom indicates that those with certain spiritual gifts are responsible for that particular function. For example, those gifted as an apostle are supposed to function as an apostle.

This seems to work well with what we might consider “special” gifts. But, what about the “ordinary” gifts? Why do we not say that only those gifted with giving are responsible for giving? Why do we not think that only those gifted as servants are responsible for serving?

Is it possible that the concept of gifting and function are not exactly related the way that I’ve presented? Are there other possibilities?

May 14, 2010

About 1 1/2 years ago, I wrote a post called “More ready to submit than to impose.” The post was in response to a book by Lesslie Newbigin. It seems that in our current “church order,” leader impose on the freedoms of others. Meanwhile, Newbigin says it should be just the opposite. Anyway, I thought this would be a fitting end to our week-long discussion on spiritual gifts and serving others.

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More ready to submit than to impose

I recently read Lesslie Newbigin’s book The Household of God (Friendship Press, 1954). Kärkkäinen describes Newbigin’s ecclesiology as a “missionary ecclesiology” – “The new conciliar understanding of mission is based on the idea that the essential nature of the church is missionary, rather than mission being a task given to the church. (Velli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Introduction to Ecclesiology, Downers Grove: IVP, 2002, pg. 151).

However, Newbigin does not begin his book with mission. Instead, he begins with the essence or nature of the church:

We are to be speaking about the Church, and it is necessary at the outset to say that this means a society of human beings, which—so far as those still living in the flesh are concerned—is a visible community among the other human communities. The question, ‘What are its boundaries?,’ is part of the question we have to discuss, but just for that reason it is important to make clear that we are speaking of a society which has discernible boundaries. We are not speaking of an abstract noun, or of an invisible platonic idea… We are called to recognize and join ourselves to God’s visible congregation here on earth. This congregation is truly known only to faith, because it is constituted in and by the Holy Spirit. (19-20)

According to Newbigin, the Spirit plays an essential role in the constitution, nature, and task of the church. The Spirit primarily functions through his abiding presence:

The Holy Spirit is now [in contrast with what was described in the OT] no more an occasional visitant to a favored individual, but the abiding and indwelling principle of life in a fellowship. The supreme gift of the Spirit is not the spectacular power by which an individual may gain preeminence, but the humble and self-effacing love by which the body is built up and knit together. (115)

Finally, the Spirit also functions during the meeting of the church, not only through the gifts that he gives to those he indwells, but also – and primarily – through the manner of life of the believers who are meeting together:

In the building up of the common life of the body there will be need for the due operation of the principles both of order and of freedom. Where these clash with one another there will be room for honest difference of opinion, and there will need for a common seeking of the Spirit’s guidance. But the mark of the man in Christ will be that he is more eager to claim freedom for his brother than for himself, and more ready to submit himself to good order than to impose it on his brother. In any case the fundamental principle will always be the love which seeks not its own good, but the common good of the body. (116)

I believe this is one of the most best explanations of the work of the Spirit among the body of Christ while the church meets! When the church meets, if each individual – or any one particular individual – is seeking to exercise his or her own spiritual gifts without first considering and giving preference to other present, then this is a clear indication that there is a lack of “a common seeking of the Spirit’s guidance.”

It seems that the mark of the church today is that some people have freedom to exercise their gifts – and are even required to by the church – while others do not have that freedom. It also seems that very little “submission” is done when it comes to spiritual gifts. Certain people exercise their gifts and impose those gifts on others every time the church meets. Thus, some claim and even demand freedom for themselves, while imposing “order” on others at the same time. This is backwards!

In fact, I believe that the common, traditional way the church meets – one or a few people exercising their gifts week after week while the others watch or listen – is detrimental to the spiritual health of the church. In order for us to seek the “common good of the body” we (especially leaders – who are supposed to be mature) must submit to others and allow the Spirit to work through them – even if their “offering” is less than “excellent”.

Read and ponder this sentence from Newbigin one more time: “But the mark of the man in Christ will be that he is more eager to claim freedom for his brother than for himself, and more ready to submit himself to good order than to impose it on his brother.” May God change us – especially us leaders – so that we are more ready to submit to others than to impose ourselves on others!

May 13, 2010

This post is the final post in my series on “women in ministry,” or, as I like to say, “women serving others.” (see “Spiritual Gifts and Women,” “Spiritually Gifted Women,” and “Women Serving in Context“) However, this post is not about women specifically. Instead, it’s about all of us, including women.

Originally, this post was titled “Serving for the Rest of Us.” But, my friend Wes from “a mission-driven life” left a comment on facebook about some of the previous points in this series. His comment gets to the point of this post, so I took the title from his comment, and even changed a few things in the post to go along with his comment. This is what Wes said:

[W]hat I really liked about the post is that you distinguish between gifts and offices. I agree with you. And while your post is about women, its also about other people, like me, who isn’t serving in an office, like elder or deacon, but who believes that I can still serve the church with the gifts God has granted me, without feeling like I need “permission” to serve.

Women and men are gifted by God through the Holy Spirit in various ways for various types of service and various opportunities to serve. God gives these spiritual gifts according to his will so that we can serve one another. When we serve one another, we bring glory to God.

When we use terms like “ministry” instead of “service,” we often make service into something that only certain people can do. If this perception hinders us from serving others, then we’ve missed something very important – important to ourselves and to others. In fact, not only are we missing something important to ourselves and others, but we are hindering the growth of the church, because the church grows with EACH believer is serving one another.

Thus, someone who is a child of God has been gifted by the Holy Spirit of God. That person has been ordained by God as a minister of God to serve other people. Failure to serve others would be similar to any other act of disobedience.

Certainly, there are contexts for service. I’ve briefly mentioned some of the passages of Scripture that could (and I think do) limit the contexts of women serving. However, there are other passages that limit the context of anyone serving. Women are not lesser servants because of certain passages any more than others are lesser servants because of other passages. The church NEEDS the service of all believers.

So, as a child of God, we are ministers together, and each of us is a minster separately. We have permission to serve. We have license to serve.

Those of us who are leaders in the church must make sure that we encourage everyone to serve, not just other leaders. Similarly, we should give opportunity for others to serve. This would include both speaking and non-speaking acts of service.

We also must realize that we are not perfect. None of us individually is perfect and we are not perfect as a group – whatever group we’re talking about. We must give each other grace and offer each other mercy as we attempt to serve one another. We will get it wrong on occasion.

Eventually, as we attempt to serve one another, someone is going to serve someone else in a manner that is considered to be incorrect. While we can help one another learn through these times (and, remember, we both need help, not just the one that we think is wrong), let’s also recognize the intent and purpose. If they purpose is trying to serve in love for the purpose of building up the body of Christ, then let’s glorify God for it!

If we only allow perfect service… then we’re in big trouble. Thank God that he is merciful and works through broken vessels. (And, before someone says it, yes, we should never be satisfied with our current level of imperfection, but should instead continue to disciple one another.)

So, to end this post where Wes began it: We have permission to serve.

May 12, 2010

So, I’ve published two posts in the last two days about “women in ministry,” that is, about women serving others. (see “Spiritual Gifts and Women” and “Spiritually Gifted Women“) In those two posts, I suggested that 1) the NT authors did not limit the spiritual gifts that God gives women, and 2) it is proper to use titles such as apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher, shepherd, leader, etc. to refer to women.

Also, in both posts, I pointed out that God gives spiritual gifts so that the one gifted can serve others. So, it would appear that God does intend for such spiritually gifted women to serve others.

In general, these are not the hotly debated issues when it comes to “women in ministry.” Instead, the heated debates surround questions such as:

Should a woman be an elder (pastor/preacher)?

Should a woman be a Bible study teacher?

Should a woman teach men?

Should a woman be a deacon?

Since the modern church tends to view “pastor” and “preacher” as synonymous with “elder,” I’m combined those into one question. In Scripture, though, a “pastor” is one who shepherds, and I’ve already suggested that it is appropriate to refer to a woman who exercises the spiritual gift of shepherding with that title… if a title has to be used. Similarly, a “preacher” in Scripture is one who proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ to unbelievers. Since we are all called to proclaim the gospel (including women), I see no problem with calling a woman a “preacher.”

Once again, though, the problem is the way that the modern church uses those terms, not with the biblical usage of the terms. Thus, in today’s church, when someone says “preacher,” that person is probably referring to an elder who regularly teaches the church. That person is probably not using the term “preacher” to refer to someone who regularly proclaims the gospel to unbelievers. Thus, we have problems due to our use of words, not due to commands or prohibitions in Scripture.

Once we get past those differences in word usage (that is, the difference between the way we generally use words today and the way the words are used in Scripture), we still must deal with certain passages of Scripture that deal with the context of women serving others. Primarily, those passages are 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-12. Others would include 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9.

I am not going to exegete those passages at this time. That’s not the purpose of this post or this series. Instead, I would like to point out that differences of interpretation in these passages… and, in fact, those different interpretation are not new. Followers of Jesus Christ has disagreed about the meaning of those passages for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

So, I do not intend to present another interpretation – my interpretation is already out there among the myriad of other interpretation. One of them is correct… perhaps.

But, how do we deal with instances where people disagree over the interpretations of these passages and others like them? What do we do when someone limits the role of women more than we think is correct, or when someone gives more freedom to the service of women than we think is correct?

In my denomination, the rule has been to separate from churches who decide that women can serve in more contexts than the denomination allows. In other denominations, it has been the role to allow any interpretation.

So, what do we do? How do we handle these differences when we meet together with other believers?

May 11, 2010

For Paul what happens at church gatherings originates in the Spirit and flows through the whole membership for the benefit of all. Everyone is caught up in this divine operations (1 Cor. 12:7). The process itself is described through the use of active verbs to stress its dynamic character: contributions to the meetings are “energized,” “manifested” and “distributed” by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7, 11). He uses a variety of nouns to capture the diversity of what takes place. It is an exercise of “gifts” or “presents,” a variety of “services” or “ministries,” a range of “activities” or “operations” (1 Cor. 12:4-6). The concrete speech events and activities that result from this are listed, with differences, three times in Paul’s letters (Rom. 12:4-8; 1 Cor. 12:8-11; Eph. 4:11-13). These lists highlight the versatility and diversity of the Spirit’s working. Since, for Paul, everyone in church is under an obligation to discern the validity of contributions to the meeting, “liturgy” is fundamentally the people’s work. It is not in the hands of one person, a leadership team or a worship committee, even if certain people play a more prominent role in shaping what takes place, for example, those with greater prophetic or spiritual discernment (1 Cor. 12:10; 1 Cor. 14:30). (R. Banks, “Church Order and Government,” in Dictionary of Paul and his Letters (Edited by G. Hawthorne, R. Martin, and D. Reid; Downers Grove: IVP, 1993), p. 133)

May 11, 2010

In a previous post – “Spiritual Gifts and Women” – I started writing about “women in ministry,” or, perhaps a better way to phrase it, “women serving others.” I pointed out that the authors of Scripture do not make a gender distinction when listing spiritual gifts. Neither Peter nor Paul lists certain gifts for men and other gifts for women. Also, they do not specify that only men have certain gifts.

So, from this conclusion, it seems that women could be gifted by the Holy Spirit with any of the gifts listed, that is, apostleship, prophecy, evangelism, teaching, shepherding, leading, serving, helping, giving, etc. Based on these gifts, and the exercise of these gifts, it would be proper to call a woman an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a teacher, a shepherd, a leader, a servant, a helper, a giver, etc.

Again, according to Scripture, God gives gifts to his children through the Holy Spirit for the purpose of serving others. (see Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:7, 1 Peter 4:10) We see this specifically of gifts like prophecy, which is intended to be used to edify others, not just the one with the gift of prophecy:

On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:3-4 ESV)

Thus, the woman who is a prophet should speak to others for the purpose of building them up.

Unfortunately, spiritual gifts are often associated with “offices” or “positions” in the church. Thus, because Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2 speak of elders as “shepherding,” we often associate the spiritual gift of “shepherding” with being an elder. In fact, in many contexts, elders are called “pastors” because of this associations.

Similarly, since some elders “lead” (1 Timothy 5:17), we often associate “leading” with being an elder (or other “office” or “position”, whatever we call it). However, it seems from Scripture that others lead, even if they don’t haven’t been appointed as an elder or even if they don’t have a specific “position.” (see 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13, Romans 12:8, Hebrews 13:7, 17)

The same could be said for teaching. In 1 Timothy 3:2 and 1 Timothy 5:17, Paul says that elders should be able to teach, and that we should honor those who work hard at teaching. But, these passages do not indicate that only elders teach. In fact, there are several passages that place teaching in the context of the entire body of Christ. (see Matthew 28:18-20, Colossians 3:16)

Thus, the stigma against women having certain spiritual gifts (especially apostleship, prophecy, teaching, evangelism, shepherding, and leading) or being called by labels related to those spiritual gifts (apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist, shepherd, and leader) comes more from the association of those spiritual gifts (and titles) to certain “offices” or “positions” in the church, not from the spiritual gifts themselves.

Now, once again, this does not mean that women (or men, for that matter) should exercise their spiritual gifts in any context. So, for the next few posts about “women in ministry (service)”, I’ll look at some of those contexts.

May 10, 2010

A few weeks ago, a commenter named Marisa asked me if I would write about “women in ministry.” I understand that when people ask questions like this, they usually mean “ministry” in the sense of a professional vocation in the church, or perhaps a certain type of “office” or “position” in the church.

As I’ve studied Scripture, I haven’t seen this kind of designation. “Ministry” is simply service. When we serve people, we minister to them. The act of serving people is ministry. People who serve others are ministers.

So, of course, women are to be ministers… that is, they are to serve others.

One of the ways that we see God preparing us to serve others is through the spiritual gifts that he gives us. Consider this statements from passages of Scripture that include lists of spiritual gifts:

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… (Romans 12:6a ESV; list in Romans 12:6-8)

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7 ESV; list in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10)

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. (Ephesians 4:7 ESV; list in Ephesians 4:11)

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace… (1 Peter 4:10 ESV; list in 1 Peter 4:11)

In each of these passages, the author (Paul or Peter) tells his reader that God his given spiritual gifts as he chooses to his children so that they can serve others. Neither author makes a distinction based on gender.

The lists that follow these statements are not exhaustive, but are examples of the way that God chooses to work through his children to serve others through manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Peter simply divides the giftings into speaking and serving gifts. Paul, on the other hand, lists specific gifts, such as, apostleship, prophecy, teaching, evangelism, shepherding, serving, showing kindness, helping, giving, etc. Like I said earlier, there is no distinction based on gender for any of these listings.

Now, obviously, there are passages of Scripture that deal with the distinctions between men and women. But, when it comes to spiritual gifts, those distinctions are not discussed. Instead, we see more universal and inclusive language – that is, the authors speak of all believers. For example, in Romans 12, the same people who are to “present their bodies as living sacrifices” and not “be conformed to this world” (Romans 12:1-2) are given gifts such as prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, contributing, and leading (Romans 12:6-8). If we continue reading, these same children of God (again, without regard to gender) are to demonstrate unhypocritical love (Romans 12:9-21). It would be difficult to differentiate any of these instructions as applying to men, but not to women.

The same would be true if we read through the passages listing spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 or Ephesians 4. If we make distinctions when we read these passages, the distinctions do not come from the pen of the authors, but from our preconceived notions of what God would or would not gift a man or woman. Now, certainly, these preconceived notions could have been formed from other passages of Scripture, but that discussion is for another time.

For now, we should realize that when it comes to spiritual gifts, when Paul and Peter listed examples of ways that God manifests himself in the lives of his children so that they could serve (minister to) others, they did not make distinctions based on gender.