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Changed By Glory

"And we all… beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another." II Cor. 3:18

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Resolved – Reflections of the Life & Writings of Edwards

Leadership: Aspiration & Preparation

As I read about the rigorous road of academia that was Edward’s path to the pulpit, I was struck with the amount of preparation that was expected of those that would take the noble office of pastor and teacher. There was no Sunday morning pep talk about how everyone is a leader that was followed by a sign-up sheet and a weekend long crash course on biblical leadership; there was only a long road of becoming grounded in the word and skilled in how to exposit scripture that eventually led to the right to stand at the lectern and magnify the glory of God to his elect.

In the 21st Century American church it seems that we have perhaps taken the ideology of empowering everyone to be a leader too far or not far enough.

By too far I mean that we have swung the door open wide, regardless of qualification, for people to exercise spiritual, ecclesiastical leadership in the context of small groups. In the effort to mass produce leaders, especially in the context of mega-churches that are trying to manage their exponential growth, leaders are commissioned in an assembly line fashion with little penetration into whether they meet biblical criterion (i.e. 1 Timothy 3,  Titus 1). Many fail to exhibit spiritual maturity or have situations that would historically disqualify them from leadership (i.e. divorce & remarriage is the most common in America). This loose and easy approach to leadership, especially in the absence of mature accountability, can have manifold damaging effects.

The other side of the coin is that perhaps we just don’t go far enough with our empowerment of leaders. It cannot be denied that there is a shortage of leaders and that problem must be addressed, but I don’t believe we should feel compelled to lower the threshold, but to make the biblical threshold for leadership more accessible through training and rigorous accountability. If I were the lead pastor of a church I would want to know that I was leaving my sheep in able hands and not just willing hands. The fact that currently many leaders are unqualified does not mean that they must always be unqualified. Knowledge and grounding in the scriptures can be obtained, sin can be repented of, and accountability can be reality. In this way we should seek to empower all believers to aspire to leadership and then set the bar for what that looks like. In 1 Timothy 3:1 Paul says that “Anyone who aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.” We seldom aspire to things that are easily obtained. I have long aspired to be an airline pilot, but the long and expensive road of training makes it just that… an aspiration. I would not like the medical board to decide one day that anyone can be a doctor, give a couple of weekend classes to those interested and then set them lose to prescribe medication, perform appendectomies, etc! Imagine the absurdity! It should be our longing that many would aspire to church/spiritual leadership and that many would become qualified but it doesn’t come easy.

It is a “noble” things to aspire to a position of leadership, but I think we can learn a lot about how that desire is fulfilled by examining the lives of past church leaders and what was expected of them. Even on a small group level we are not dealing with cold and flu patients, airplane passengers, or social club members; we are dealing with eternal souls. I think the realization of that magnifies that importance of being trained, grounded, and qualified. I was immensely challenged as I considered the path that Edwards took to the pulpit, despite the advantage he had coming from a rich, godly heritage. I hope that I may with sobriety and tireless equipping serve the office I have been entrusted with well.

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Teaching Notes: “Be not unequally yoked”

My Crude Notes on:

II Corinthians 6:11-7:1

We have spoken freely to you,  Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12 You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13 In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,                                                                                                   “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.” 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body  and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

As the Apostle Paul works his way into chapter six, he begins to defend or at least give credence to the legitimacy of his apostleship. He assures that in his affection, servant hood and apostleship he has never held back from the saints in Corinth, but he spoke freely (pointing back perhaps to places like II Cor. 4:2), we see this heart in Paul time and again through His ministry (Acts 20:19-21;24-27).

Paul showing in the first ten verses the depth of his care and affection goes on to basically say “Hey, I have done my part, how about a little love.” It doesn’t say, but perhaps the folks in Corinth were a little skeptical of Paul or perhaps a bit timid after the hard words that were dealt over the situation of immorality in I Corinthians. We don’t know, but it seems possible as later in chapter 7 he will go on to rejoice over their repentance. Whatever, the case Paul opens his arms and admonished them to not restrict their affections.

It is interesting that after saying this, in chapter seven Paul continues in sort of the same vein as the first part of chapter six, but before he continues he takes what appears to be a sudden detour. 6:13:7:2, appear to flow together, but perhaps remembering the carnality that the Corinthians struggled with urged Paul to insert a sincere caution to the church, lest they misunderstand the idea of throwing their arms and hearts wide open. Let take a look at that “detour” more closely and then we will open up for discussion.

Paul is very concerned about yoking or joining with unbelievers in the church and the defiling effect it would have on their hearts. He reminds them of the new covenant promises and the implication of them, that we are the temple of the living God. He instructs them, in light of these promises, in the pursuit of holiness so that they may endure.

Verse fourteen is an often quoted verse. The meaning of it and the following verses are something that there are various view points about. Within the community of people doing the work we are called to do in this part of the world there are often strong opinions about this verse, varying again in wide degrees of practical application. Whether these verses apply primarily to business or to marriage or to the local church and to what degree and combination of these and perhaps others. So we must seek to know from the word why Paul interjects into the flow of his letter, to speak these serious words.

For what it is worth; my application:

 

  • This is not speaking about being removed from the world, as in insulating ourselves from the lost. For we know the opposite is true. Jesus said “You are the light of the world; a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden”, “Let your let so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”, “Go, therefore….” “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one…”. Jesus’ example of being a friend of sinners & the book of Acts, etc.
  • I do not believe this is speaking directly to secular situations, such as being partnered with a Muslim to start a business in this part of the world. However, it could apply to this in essence if such a partnership would lead to sinful compromises, thus bringing shame to Christ and being counter-productive in our purpose to be light and to be messengers of the Gospel. We should “…not join them in the same flood of debauchery” as it says in 1 Peter 4:4.
  • In the context and considering the history of the Corinthian church I believe this is speaking specifically in the context of the “ecclesia”, the local church. In the end of this letter, Paul instructs them to “exam themselves to see if they be in the faith”. In 1 Corinthians Paul had laid out for them the harsh degree to which sin should be dealt with in the church, though such harshness was (as we see in chapter seven) for the express purpose that God may bring about repentance in the heart of the one caught up in sin. Also, supporting this is that the passage is ended, not with a call to seek out those unbelievers that they were yoked with, but he says “let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the body….”
  • Finally, I believe this was placed here because unless sin is dealt with in the church and we partner ourselves in ministry with unbelievers, unity and the ability to have unrestricted affection will be impossible. For such unity and affection can only be of the Spirit and will not be found when the temple of the Spirit is defiled.
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Jerusalem in Ruins: Corporate Repentance

“While Ezra prayed and made confessions, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children, gathered to him out of Israel, for the people wept bitterly.” Ezra 10:1

In our culture it is often a noble concept that one can make a difference for the masses. We see this concept idealized in the media, through books and movies. Sadly, often those seeking to motivate the masses due so for their own gain, perhaps a stirring speech by a politician for votes or a patriotic call to arms by a power-hungry dictator. It would seem that perhaps this idealism is a redemptive part of our culture, but we must remember that the root often ties back to one major hurdle that the western church has in rebuilding Jerusalem, individualism. This is that pesky hater of Zion that waits for the workers to begin their work then starts to throw spears from the darkness, disrupting the work and sowing distrust among the workers.

The first step in putting down this barrier is humility, which stems from genuine personal repentance. I will not go over the subject again as I talked about it already. It is easy to say that perhaps the message of “revival starts with me” is cliché and ages old, but that depends on how we approach the matter. Being a catalyst for rebuilding Jerusalem goes much further than just repenting on my part. That is a start indeed, but when we repent we must view the affect our sin has on the body. We should not be closet repenters, who then go to church every Sunday and continues to check the pulse of the fellow saints, waiting for our holiness and repentance to rub off on them. It is about being an active part of a body. We will find ourselves against one barrier after another unless we put aside the obsession with self and grasp the concept of Biblical community.

I Corinthians 12 refers to the church as a body with many different members. Continuing with that analogy I may point out that if I have a sore throat, my whole body is in a drag. When I fractured my toe a couple of months ago, it changed the way I walked and the pain caused me to clinch my teeth, which led to a toothache… and so on. As we function (or disfunction) in the Biblical concept of the church as a body when one part is sick it effects the others. This is key, my personal sin never, ever, ever just effects me.

The core example in scripture is when Adam sinned. When Adam sinned, sin fell on all mankind. Since Adam all men from birth are utterly depraved. David sinned with Bathsheba and as a result Uriah was murdered to cover it up and the child that was born as result of the sin fell ill and died. Solomon strayed and God told him what would become of Israel as a result of his sin. It seems we often don’t view these passages of scripture as we should. Many Christians agree with the concept of living in Biblical community without realization of the effect their sin has on the body.

I would like to note that the reason that many churches are sick, weak, and full of holes today is because of the decline in church discipline. God has ordained this function of the body (knowing the effects of individual sin on the church) not only to purify the body, but as an act of mercy toward those that are sinning if perchance they will be grieved to the point of true repentance. Again this is another subject that I don’t feel led to explore in depth.

Ezra and Nehemiah understood how sin effects Zion. They were leaders and as leaders they took responsibility despite the fact that they were righteous men with a jealousy for God’s glory and a passion for the restoration of the glory of the Zion. A good leader lives above reproach without becoming self-righteous, he takes responsibility for the people he has been called to lead. In Hebrews 13, it is clear that those that have authority will give an account for those they lead. In Philippians 4, Paul admonishes the people that “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you”. God is unchanging and thus His methods of leadership can be seen throughout the scope of the story of His people. Ezra understood this and when he found out about the unfaithfulness of the priest, he made confession before the people, weeping and throwing himself down before the Lord (Ezra 10). Nehemiah showed his understanding of leadership in this area before he even rose up as a leader. While still a mere wine-taster for the king he declared upon hearing of the state of Jerusalem, “….even I and my Father’s house have sinned.” (Nehemiah 1:6) If we desire to be a leader, a catalyst, in rebuilding Zion to be a vibrant display of God’s glory to the nations then we must seek to lead in repentance. There is no room for individualism in Zion. Nehemiah understood this, Ezra understood this, and the apostle Paul understood this.

As a final note to drive this point of corporate repentance home I look to the back of the Bible. When Jesus is addressing the churches in Revelations, He offers both commendation and warning in the context of the body has a whole, using a singular reference towards the body of Christ. To be sure these churches had variations amongst them in levels of faithfulness and sincerity, but He called out to the whole church in order that the church as a whole would repent. We are called to “bear one anothers burdens” not to maverick our way through our existence making sure that we alone survive. The survival of one only merely prolongs the inevitable, extinction.

Take courage in knowing that throughout scripture we see not only sin effecting many through one, but also righteousness being spread abroad by the leadership of God’s people. Noah, Abraham, Joseph and on and on. Ultimately, let us look to Christ, the blameless lamb of God who bore the sin of many, bringing life.

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Jerusalem In Ruins: Seeing the Need

As is the case with overcoming almost everything we must first see the need. Many of the saints may see the need in “Jerusalem”quite clearly, or even to clearly. What we perceive, however, may not be the need at all or it is at best symptoms of something more. It is important that we Biblically search for that something more. Let me give an example…. Say for instance you are in a body where there is no life or passion and you are surrounded in the church by people who living in sin and seem quite content to continue in it. Aha! Immediately the response is to connect the dots and decide that the church needs to preach more about holiness! The problem is the little silhouette our dots shaped out was merely that of a vicious little Piranha, cloaking the sea monster beneath it. As westerners it is in our nature to with little patience desire quick info for a quick fix. This is unwise and can lead to fleshly decisions that can lead the body down any number of rabbit trails to some new or more complicated form of bondage. Maybe on the other hand you find yourself in a situation where you see legalism as the culprit for the lifelessness and lack of gospel impact your church is having and you believe the answer is that grace be preached more and reliance on God’s sanctifying work be more emphasized. In either of these examples what the tired saint has observed may very well be the root problem, but often it is only the surface.
In order to Biblically see the true need this we must start at the roots. According to scriptures before can ever begin “rebuilding Jerusalem” we must start right here. Yes… right here. Before we can understand what is weakening Zion we must identify what part we play in it, especially before we can play a part in restoration. Matthew 7:3 is the cardinal verse here as we seek to see the need, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brothers eye, when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you may see clearly to take the speck out of your brothers eye.” Interestingly, this verse by no means denies that there is a speck in your brothers eye that must needs be removed, but a clear view of the problem must be there in order for us to give aid. So the process must start with individual saints. If we do not start by evaluating ourselves with God’s word we fall into danger of sinning, Galatians 6:3-5. I will write about this matter more at a later date. It is very important that when we see sin in the body that we begin seeking God with a spirit of repentance. Test yourself with God’s word.
Before I get to confusing and scattered let me just state a point. From what I see in scripture if we see a need in Jerusalem for restoration we must first see the need in our lives. If we, with humility and sincerity, seek for God to purify our personal lives He is faithful and eager to do it. My experience has been that when I begin to do that, I don’t like what I see and I quickly wish to look away. We must see the the need, while also looking through the need to a New Testament Zion, a bride holy and vibrant.
When Nehemiah first arrived in Jerusalem he didn’t even announce his purpose or make any effort to hail himself as a hero. Instead he went silently by night (Nehemiah 2:11-16) and inspected the damage. At one point the rubble was so high that he could not pass through one of the old gateways on his beast. In order to see how to rebuild Jerusalem we must first removal rubble from our section of wall. Pray and seek God’s word. Read through the sermon on the mount, the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians, ponder on 1 John. Next I will explore what realization and repentance, personally and corporately, looked like for this remnant, exemplified in Nehemiah, and their unlikely leader.

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Jerusalem In Ruins: Introduction

Recently I once again found myself in the book of Nehemiah. The first time I studied this book I saw the main theme as a guide to godly leadership. I was captivated by all that can be learned about Nehemiah as a leader and how clearly it applies for today. However, this time as I began to casually scan over the verses I was hit for some reason by the words “…Jerusalem is broken down…..the city….lies in ruins.” (Nehemiah 1:3, 2:3) My heart was tugged and convicted immediately by the first chapter. As the book continued, and as I pondered on the history leading up to these events, I was struck with an alarming sense of deja vu. I saw a picture of the western church as Jerusalem with its defenses torn down and smoke billowing from it gates. The few believers huddled within these ruins are hungry, discouraged and in constant danger of attack. They long badly for a leader to come and save the day, to rebuild. With a troubled heart I can with hindsight rewind my vision, back to the time when Solomon’s temple stood tall and the walls were a place of refuge and were a symbol to the world of might and splendor and glory of the God of Israel. A city that was a bold proclamation from on high that these were a chosen people, set apart for the glory of the one and only eternal Sovereign. I began to think over the elapsed time to see if I could learn what went wrong. After wading through the muck of the sin , unfaithfulness, and compromise of God’s chosen I was grieved as if looking in a mirror. Amidst countless warning the congregation of Zion continued in their rebellion. With my usual rashness I was quick to begin dictating a grim message against the sin of the western church. Then I stopped… my thoughts went back to where I started, to that small band of huddled believers. This group knows of the sin and compromise that led them there, to them it has been told. They scratch out a survival and wait for restoration, wait for someone to come and make it happen. Really what they need is to be shown how to be a catalyst, starting with Nehemiah as an example. Revival and restoration in the church take place when the individuals that the church is comprised of repent of their sins, personally and corporately and then seek to get on mission to glorify their God and to once again make themselves a monument to His glory and grace.
As I seek God for this in my life I would like to post a series of blogs on what it looks like to be a catalyst for revival and restoration in the church and get on mission for God’s glory. How we can be a part of restoring a Jerusalem in ruins.

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