A Couple Thoughts on Teaching

I was deliberating this morning about a particular theological topic. In the process I was reminded of a couple of critical points about which all of us must be aware and transparent when it comes to teaching.

First, every Christian is to be a teacher. It is clear that some have the spiritual gift of teaching, and for those there is a unique calling and responsibility. But if we are to be consistent in our interpretation of the Great Commission, every Christian has been commanded to teach.

We will often hear the same exact argument for evangelism: there are some who are gifted as evangelists, but all are called to evangelize, to preach (κηρύσσω) the gospel (εὐαγγέλιον) as Jesus commanded in Mark's record of the Commission (16:15). Luke, in Lk 27:46 uses a different form of this same term for preaching, usually translated here to "proclaim." In v.48, Jesus marries the activity of proclaiming or heralding the good news to our identity as witnesses (μάρτυς).

But why should we think Jesus is commanding all of his disciples to proclaim the gospel as witnesses? Isn't he speaking only to the Eleven? Plenty of reasons to see the Great Commission as a universal mandate are built into the collection of NT church letters that follow. But I think Matthew's account gives us one clear reason to understand that the Great Commission bears on all disciples.

In Mt 28:19-20, we get a vivid picture of the disciple maker as one who transfers disciple-making "DNA" in others. The command to "make disciples" has imbedded in it the modifier "teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you." This means that making disciples means teaching those disciples to make disciples. So, whether Jesus is speaking to only the Eleven here, or whether to more (Paul mentions 500 witnesses to the resurrection, and Luke records in Acts 1:15 that about 120 were present when Matthias was chosen to replace Judas), the Great Commission clearly extends to each one of us disciples of Jesus.

And that establishes that we are all to teach. We are to make disciples, and that means teaching them to observe everything Christ commanded. Doctrine drives practice. Teaching leads to obedient, godly living. So, every Christian is called not only to proclaim the gospel but to make disciples by teaching. Further, we learn from Paul that we all carry on this teaching activity when we gather for worship and mutual admonishment (Col 3:15).

Second, having established that we are called to teach, let me offer this charge: we must teach from a position of humility. This is true not only because that attitude glorifies Christ, but also because teachers must never cease to be learners. One's understanding of a doctrine will naturally develop over time, and we should proactively seek that development. This is why even when Paul instructs young Timothy to "command and teach" the "words of the faith and the good teaching that [he has] followed" (1 Tm 4:6,11) he also instructs him to "train [himself] in godliness" (v.7) and to make his "progress...be evident to all" (v.15). Since the training is set opposite "silly myths" it seems that Paul is not just talking about training in godly behavior but in godly teaching.

In many cases, we will grow deeper and more nuanced in our understanding, seeing a truth in greater detail or refinement. But sometimes, we will come to realize our understanding was imprecise, something like Apollos did in Acts 18:24-26, or perhaps even to the degree that our previous view was dead wrong. Sometimes, learning requires a shift to a stronger position, to a more solid ground. Other times it requires an outright rejection of a previously held position.

And this is true of the teacher in the classroom, the small group or even in the pulpit as much as it is for the layman who never thought of himself as a teacher.

And this development is healthy, so long as the learning is sound and the shift, to whatever degree, is toward biblical fidelity rather than from it. The community of the church and biblical scholarship - both everywhere and throughout the last 2000 years or so - is indispensable to helping us ensure the right direction in our theological growth. Embrace this wealth. This is why we teach in classes, over coffee and from the pulpit. It is why we read, and the more the better, most of all pouring over the Scriptures themselves.

It also helps to understand that for each of us our understanding of a doctrine is tensed in a couple of ways. First, I simply mean that it is temporal, moving from a past understanding through our current understanding and likely to a future, even more developed and mature one. Even on core and clear doctrines, like those related to salvation, we grow in understanding and appreciation of the truth, though hopefully we have been blessed early on with an essentially accurate understanding. But with other less essential and less clear doctrines - for example, those related to charismatic gifts or the end times - for those we may well come to new conclusions over time.

And those new conclusions, those shifts, come through another other sense in which our understanding is tensed. The term also refers to stretching. Our understanding of a doctrine is stretched by a differing view. If we are wise, we seek to be stretched by those we have good reason to believe are diligent and skilled in understanding the Scriptures. The tension seeks resolution. We wrestle with the new possibility to see if it merits a tweaking of our own position. Again, this is healthy.

But be cautious. This tension is much like that of the spring coils in a mechanical clock like sits on our mantle at home. The tensed coils tend to drive the pendulum the opposite side of center. It swings back and forth until the tension spends itself. Understand that you might be prone to overcorrect your view when it is challenged by a reasonable and coherent alternative. Take your time wrestling with the tension, and give it opportunity to moderate the swings and counter-swings. And don't be overly dogmatic (especially as a teacher) until you are convinced you are at least near the point of rest, where overcorrection has given way to the center of orthodoxy on the matter.

Ironically, we can and should learn to relax in relation to some doctrines that hold inherent tension, whether due to lack of information or incomprehensible mystery. My, how our springs can coil up or recoil over dispensationalism or egalitarianism or charismata or worship liturgies! About some things we should not yet be too sure of ourselves. And for some points of doctrine knowledge will be forever beyond the exhausting our discovery, or our God would not be worthy of worship! But in pursuit of all sound doctrine, let us be diligent and humble.

And from that diligence and humility, let us teach!

My Father Is Still Working - The True Sabbath

Remember what made the religious leaders of Jesus' day so angry with him? Of course, it was because they realized he was claiming essential deity in his perfect unity with God the Father. Millions have missed this over the centuries, but these Jews did not. And they were right about one thing - this claim was either blasphemy or it was true. They landed on the wrong conclusion there.

But there was a particular implication and expression of this claim. And it is another reason why Jesus infuriated them so much. He kept doing stuff on the Sabbath. Stuff they didn't think he should do. Like healing people (Mt 12:9; Lk 13:10-16; Jn 5:1-14; 9:1-13), letting his disciples eat (Mt 12:1-2) and commanding someone else to "work" (Jn 5:8-10).

In that last example, John records explicitly that the religious leaders were "persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath" (v.16). How did Jesus respond to that? "My Father is still working, and I am working also" (v.17). They realized that in this statement Jesus was claiming ontological unity with the Father (v.18). But they missed - or rejected - what he was communicating about the Sabbath.

In his creation week, God established the Sabbath (Gn 2:2-3). It was his idea. Then he instituted it as a weekly observation for his people, a sort of creation week rehearsal (Ex 16:23-30). He further communicated how big a deal this observance was, and he explained the function of this sign: "...so that you will know that I am the LORD who consecrates you" (Ex 31:12-17).

By the time Jesus had hit the scene, the Jewish rulers were all over the observance of the covenant ritual - in fact, they cranked up the standards for what constituted "work" - but they totally missed the sign. This is a key theme in John's Gospel.  The controversy in ch.5 over the healing of the lame man comes within what many call John's Book of Signs (chs. 2-12).

These who were supposed to be the religious leaders among God's people were plodding along with their eyes to the ground, fixated on the furrows of legalism, as though they could somehow cultivate in their own fallen humanity a crop that would yield their righteousness before God. Now God himself stood before them on the Sabbath, telling them he was "still working." They should have considered what that must mean if it were true.

The weekly Sabbath modeled in creation and mediated through Moses was a sign. A sign is not the reality. It is what points to the reality. If YHWH had made such a big deal about the Sabbath, and now Jesus was claiming to be YHWH working on the Sabbath, then to what reality was the sign pointing? What was Jesus doing?

He was restoring. He was bringing life. He was rehearsing the creation week. Over and over in John's Gospel Jesus is equated with ζωή (zoe) - eternal life, true life. The Fall had ruined God's original creation, so now he was working in a new creative week. The weekly Sabbath was pointing to an ultimate Sabbath that was not yet realized. God's re-creative work would come to completion in Jesus  through his own death, burial and resurrection. We symbolize the true Sabbath every time someone comes out of the baptismal waters. With Christ's death he declares about the work, "It is finished." With his resurrection comes the true Sabbath rest, eternal life.

Remember, the LORD said the Sabbath was "so that you will know that I am the Lord who consecrates you." We are consecrated - set apart as holy, set apart for life - by belief in Jesus, the Christ, the Eternal Son who is our zoe. That eternal life is the true Sabbath, our true rest through belief in Jesus (Heb 3:7-4:11).

Don't fixate on the sign, or worse yet, miss it altogether. How ridiculous that anyone would vilify the LORD for doing his restorative work in ways or at times we think he ought not - he is the Lord of the Sabbath! But we can be just like the blind Pharisees, only finding fault when God is working, denying his lordship and missing what is important. Let Christ lift your eyes to the reality to which the sign points, to him who is our life.

The Father is still working - and so should we be. He is still consecrating people through the witness of his Church. The true Sabbath comes through belief in the Son's work. He came so that we might have life in his name (Jn 20:31). That is our Sabbath. That is our rest.

The Kingdom of Heaven: In or Out, and the Will of the Father

Many of us are quite familiar with the Sermon on the Mount, Christ’s extended teaching on the kingdom of heaven that is recorded in Mt 5-7. We may recall that near the end of this discourse Jesus gives the terrifying revelation that there will be people on judgment day who think they are IN but are really OUT (7:21-23). I doubt if nearly enough of us have been sobered by the reality expressed in this text.

Here, to a crowd being taught by the Word of God Himself, Jesus says, “Not all of you who will cry out to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Some of you who think you are IN are really OUT. And when you realize this is the case, you are going to bring up your list of all the top-shelf Christian activities you were involved in – all the stuff you did in my name. How is that not enough? What is missing? Jesus will answer, “I never knew you.”

Carefully consider the phrase I left out. Jesus didn’t just say who is OUT but also who is IN – “only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Clearly, in the context, the will of the Father is not defined by prophesying, driving out demons or doing miracles – amazing activities that real disciples of Jesus really did. This tells us that Christian activities themselves (even miraculous ones!) are not the criteria to determine who has eternal life and who doesn’t. So, what does Jesus mean when he says, “the one who does the will of my Father in heaven”?

(The question gets even MORE urgent when we back up to see that Jesus already used “many” to describe the number of people going to destruction, and “few” to describe the number of people who find life through the “narrow gate” and “difficult road” (vv.13-14)!)

Back to the criteria. Jesus does define the IN crowd by something they DO, but not in the way the pretenders wanted to define doing. Whatever “do[ing] the will of my Father” means, it must be connected with Jesus KNOWING them (v.23). The ones who are OUT are NOT KNOWN by Jesus, and that is related to not doing the will of the Father. What can that mean?

I think the end of Jesus’ sermon (vv.24-27) helps us understand what he is saying. He moves on to define the wise and foolish based on – what? – the foundation upon which they build. The house is a metaphor for life, even eternal life. As with the choices about the roads and the gates, the result of wise or foolish building is secure life or destruction. Of course, the only possible rock is Christ himself, and sand represents any other foundation. But lasting life – security in the storm of God’s judgment – is built on more than belief ABOUT Jesus, but on being known BY Jesus. This idea is expanded in the NT to mean union with Christ by faith (Rm 6:5; Eph 5:29-32).

In the strictest sense, the only “one who does the will of [the] Father in heaven” is Jesus himself. We all fall short of that criteria. But there is a way we are seen by the Father as meeting this qualification. It is by being united with Jesus through faith. This is what building on the rock foundation amounts to. This positions us as known by God. This is what defines the IN crowd. We are united with Jesus by faith in him alone as our rock foundation. We are in this way associated with Christ’s own perfect obedience to the will of the Father in heaven. We are perfectly known by the Son just as the Son is perfectly known by the Father. We have life. We gain entrance to the kingdom of heaven.

The Christian things we do are the house God builds through us. But the house is no security apart from the rock foundation. The most amazing Christian deeds do not themselves bring eternal life. That comes only by being known by God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ as we trust in him alone as our rock of salvation.

The question is, are you united with Jesus through faith? Does the Father see you as obedient to his will through Christ’s obedience? Are all your Christian activities built on Christ himself or on your own sand?

If we base our security on our activities, we do so at our own peril. If we build our activities on a real security in Christ, we have found the difficult road and the narrow gate that leads to life. Only then are we IN.

Hangry?

I don't know how long ago it was invented, but most people now know and probably have used the term "hangry." We came up with this word mash to describe the real possibility that when we are hungry (the "h" part of the word) we can get cranky (the "angry" part). We probably sometimes overuse the term to rationalize and excuse our behaviors, but the science bears it out as a real phenomenon. Fair enough.

Have you ever thought this way about the connection between your spiritual meals and your behavior? We have good reason to do so.

Jesus used physical meals to teach a spiritual truth. He certainly acknowledged our need for physical food - man does live by "bread," or natural food. That's why he pushed back against the Pharisees for letting his hungry disciples eat grain on the Sabbath (Mt 12:1-8). It's why on more than one occasion he worked a miraculous food distribution to thousands sitting under his teaching out in the wilderness (Mt 14:13-21; 15:35-39).

But Jesus took his own personal moment, when physical hunger was the strongest, to both resist the devil and teach us about a more important food. Matthew records (as do the other Synoptic Gospels) a spiritual showdown, where the Holy Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness and then the devil tempts Jesus with food after a 40 day fast. As I understand it, the 40 day mark is about the time when the human body's urge to eat is strongest and most desperate it will ever be. If you say no to food at that point, you risk losing your hunger stimulus forever. The devil challenges Jesus, "...tell these stones to become bread" (4:3). In his answer, Jesus does affirm his physical need, but he also shows its inferiority to a spiritual need. "Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (v.4).

The challenge was not over, but in phase one this truth is clear: our spiritual food is even more essential to life than our physical food.

If you enjoy food like I do, this truth can really pack a punch if we let it sink in.

Think of Moses on the mountain to receive God's law. Scripture records that Moses did not eat or drink water for 40 days while on the mountain (Ex 34:28; Dt 9:9). In fact, he did this TWICE, apparently back-to-back (vv.15-18)! How did he survive? The word of the LORD. He was in the presence of God, living by his word. Sounds like Jesus knew what he was talking about.

Now, this post isn't about fasting, and I'm not going to delve into the spiritual truths that lead to a flat belly. (The pants hanging in my closet remind me I have yet to fully appropriate those truths myself.)

My purpose here was rather to do what Jesus did, to elevate our thinking to the greater reality and importance of spiritual food. And I thought one practical question might be worth asking the next time you think (or someone has told you) you might be grumpy. But ask the question with a different kind of food in mind. Think back not to the last time you sat at the dinner table but rather the last time you sat with an open Bible (or Bible app). Then ask yourself:

Am I hangry?

The Church...As Entertainment?

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WARNING: The following post includes content full of biting sarcasm. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
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Oy! I just opened some of our church mail, as it was addressed to the children’s ministry, an area over which I am charged with pastoral oversight. Inside were two glossy color pages replete with pictures of carnival inflatables, booths, and even rides. In large bold font at the top, the first page read thus:

“Benefits of Having [XYZ] as Your Church’s Entertainment Vendor.”

Really? The church needs an entertainment vendor? Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!

I read all 23 bulleted “benefits.” NOT ONE was spiritual, or even remotely church-y. They DID include, “highest insurance limits in the Midwest.” Well, NOW we’re getting somewhere!

👏

Just for kicks (personal entertainment) I did a word search in my Bible software: “entertain.” Hmm. Results:

Dt 15:9. Here entertain is a “wicked thought in your heart… [to be] stingy toward your brother and give him nothing.” Next.

Jgs 16:25-27. Oh yeah, the Philistines called for the self-destructive Samson, whom they had captured and blinded, to come entertain them. That’s just sad. And it turned out the Philistines were NOT happy with the product.

Jer 7:31; 19:5; and 32:35. God never entertained the thought of – what? – the people building high places to burn their children in worship of Molech or Baal! Yikes!

How about Dan 6:18. Nope, more negativity. King Darius is so worried about Daniel in the lion’s den he DOESN’T want his usual entertainments.

Well, how about the NT?

Mt 9:4.Entertaining is once again, “thinking evil things in [their] hearts.”

Acts 17:7. Here, entertaining is welcoming Christians who are “turning the world upside down” into your home. Jason is mobbed for it and has to pay a bond to get out of custody. Sounds a little like a carnival…but not in a good way.

1 Tm 5:19. Here we have the potential of accepting an accusation against an elder. Nope, no carnival here either.

Last one. Heb 13:2. The prohibition against failing to show hospitality to other Christians (who might even be ANGELS!). That’s a good one, but it still doesn’t sound like a carnival.

So, a quick survey reveals the Bible is silent on how to discern the best entertainment vendor for one’s local church. Huh. Clearly, the Lord intends to guide us through his Spirit and his gifts. I guess we’ll have to wing it.

I’m sure we’ll do fine.

Powerful and Brilliant Enough

Many teachers (myself included) have used the Egyptian pharaoh of the Exodus as an illustration of the interplay between God's will and ours. It is pointed out that the biblical record states that Pharaoh hardened his heart, and then also that God hardened his heart. That's a great illustration of two realities, both that of the LORD's absolute sovereignty and of our truly free choices.

But the same both/and reality is brilliantly made clear in one compact paragraph earlier in the Genesis narrative, one that involves a Hebrew governing for an earlier pharaoh. Joseph, the eleventh son of Israel (Jacob) was sold into slavery by his brothers, some of whom wanted rather to murder him for his favored status with dad, and for his annoying dreams. Sibling rivalry at its near worst! (They did stop short of actual murder.) And multiplied times ten! (Benjamin, the youngest, wasn't involved.)

Well, read it for yourself, but the short version is that God orchestrated things so that Joseph ended up second only to pharaoh in Egypt during a catastrophic famine that extended to every land. This famine brought Joseph's brothers (who did not recognize him) to Egypt at his mercy to buy food. Their injustice was the first of several that led to this point, and Joseph put it into a perspective befitting a brilliant leader, and one that is appropriate for every Christian.

In Genesis 45:4, first notice that Joseph recognized their actual wrong choice, "I am...the one you sold into Egypt." He didn't pretend they didn't make this choice, or that the action was forced against their will. They wanted it, and some wanted even worse. In the next statement he continues to acknowledge their choice, "...yourselves for selling me here." The brothers' choice was real, and it was freely their own - they OWNED it, and Joseph acknowledges that reality.

But he has a higher perspective, and seeks to draw their own view up to it. He presumes they have been beating themselves up for their horrific action - "don't be grieved or angry with yourselves" - but offers them relief. They can't undo what they've done. But Joseph shows them a greater reality at work. In their own work, they were unwitting agents of God's work: "God sent me ahead of you to preserve life." Joseph amplifies that statement in the following verse, and then in v.8 summarizes, "Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God."

Joseph is not contradicting his earlier statements that the brothers freely made a horrible choice. He is simply offering a perspective that this horrible free choice is swallowed up in a beautiful free choice by One who is more powerful than them. God is so powerful and so brilliant that he can both allow our free choices - even the most horrible ones - and still somehow work things out that they ultimately always accomplish exactly what he wants.

And the same is true for all OUR free choices too, from the best ones to the worst ones. We may beat ourselves up about the latter kind, but that is not the end of the matter. God will accomplish what he wants, even through our worst decisions. But that word "ultimately" above requires our trust. For many times we do not see our bad decisions - or those of others - reach those points where the beauty and brilliance of God's wisdom are evident to us. That often will not happen even in our lifetimes.

We may not be able to see HOW God will work all things for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Rm 8:28), but we can trust THAT this will hold true. If we will trust in this way and take this perspective, we can be set free of our past riddled with bad choices. They are real choices, and we are responsible for them. But Christ paid for them, and all our Lord requires of us is godly grief. This kind of grief brings a change of direction that leads to salvation without regret (2 Cor 7:10). Anything short of that keeps us stuck in regret and death.

Whenever we struggle with this, let us confess our bad choices and be propelled forward, free of regret, knowing that God is powerful enough and brilliant enough to bring beauty out of our worst moments.

Sound Bite

Too many pastors are not leading worship, and too many worship leaders are not pastoring.