Teaching, Transparency, and Touchy Subjects

Almost everyone who is a member or attends Reformation Bible Church does so for one reason: the teaching of God’s Word. I hope the relationships, the corporate worship, and the opportunities for service are also enjoyable and edifying, but let’s be honest, the reason most of us are here is because we take God’s word seriously. Before I was called and since the day I arrived, I have done my best to be transparent and to communicate regularly about my teaching strategy and plans. The church grows through the teaching of the Word (Rom. 10:17; 16:25-27), and the minister’s task is to present the whole counsel of God for the edification of the Body (Acts 20:26-27, 32; Eph. 4:11-12). There is never a week where I ask, “What do I feel like preaching?” Every lesson, every series, is planned well in advance as part of a prayer-full strategy for growing a healthy, faithful church.

It would be much easier to do a series on How To Be A Good Neighbor right now. After spending almost two years in Romans and going through such tremendous upheaval during that time, you could argue what the church needs right now is something… easy, soft, fuzzy, cuddly. Instead, we are tackling the doctrine of baptism and beginning to work through the Westminster Confession of Faith. Not the most ecumenical themes on the Christian menu. It may seem like a poorly planned poke in the eye, but actually, it is part of the larger strategy we hung out front on day one.

We don’t agree on all of these topics. We have differences on baptism, the covenants, predestination, election, and the atonement. The way I see it we have three options, only one of which is biblical. The elders could simply take a position on each of these issues and require every member to agree with it or leave. There are a number of churches that handle doctrinal disagreement on secondary issues that way, but it is divisive and wrong. We could confine our teaching to general topics on which everyone agrees and just pretend the differences do not exist. A lot of churches do this, but it is unhealthy and unbiblical. Or we can acknowledge our differences, love and respect one another, and open our Bibles to seek better understanding of one another and of God’s Word. At the end of the day, some of us will continue to disagree, but we will be better informed, and we will love each other in spite of it. I think that is the only reasonable, biblical, and faithful option and is the only way to build and grow a faithful church. So that’s what we’re doing, at least, as best we can, and it is what we will continue doing. Thanks for being part of the journey. –JME

Thinking Biblically About Abortion

Preliminary Issues for Preaching on Baptism in 2015

Sunday I will begin a 3-4 week preaching series on the subject of baptism. We will be surveying the doctrine and practice of baptism in the Bible as well as examining the question of infant or household baptisms. Since our congregation began baptizing the children of believers this year, the elders and I feel it is important to spend time explaining and demonstrating from Scripture why we regard this to be biblical. Before we begin this study, however, there are three preliminary issues I wanted to address.

First, we need to be clear on definitions. Paedo refers to infants, and credo refers to belief. So paedobaptism is the baptism of infants, and credobaptism is the baptism of believers only. Covenant baptism refers to the baptism of a believer’s children based on the fact those children are set apart to God in the visible covenant (1Cor. 7:14). This latter definition is what separates infant baptisms at RBC from those administered by the Roman Catholic Church, for example, the latter practicing infant baptism based on their belief it remits original sin.

Second, we need to address the question of modes, i.e. how baptism is to be administered. Contrary to the insistence of many credobaptists, immersion is not the only mode of baptism taught in the New Testament or likely exemplified in it. This is an important but separate issue. I have previously written on this subject (here and here), and questions regarding the mode of baptism are welcome during Wednesday night’s Q&A.

Third, we need to emphasize the scope of Scripture. Credobaptists who insist on sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) sometimes neglect tota Scriptura (all of Scripture) on this topic. But the Bible is one book, with one God, one covenant people, and one covenant of grace running throughout. Unless something in Scripture is explicitly limited or set aside (e.g. civil and ceremonial regulations in the Mosaic Law), it still counts. We must form our understanding of baptism, and all other doctrines, based on the total teaching of Scripture, not just one part of it.

I am excited and thankful for the opportunity to deliver this teaching series, and I encourage you to be praying about it. Our aim is to glorify God and to faithfully follow His word. There is no agenda other than that. I never expected two years ago how my view of baptism would change, but I don’t regret it either. Soli Deo Gloria! –JME

Worshiping the God Who Is

More than once, and most recently just a couple of weeks ago, I have read or been told, “If the god you believe in exists, I would not worship him because he would be a moral monster.” Interestingly, while such statements are made by atheists decrying the “Christian” god, I have more often heard this from angry Arminians who are offended I believe God chose certain people to save before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), gave them to the Son (John 17:6), wrote their names in the Book of Life before creation (Rev. 17:8), irresistibly draws them (John 6:37), and both justifies and glorifies them despite their manifold faults and the Devil’s interference (Rom. 8:29-30). Moral monster, indeed.

There is a larger issue at stake here, one more basic than the topics commonly claiming attention. The question is whether believing in God—the true and living God, the only God that is, the One who is unchanging, all-powerful, and does whatever He pleases in heaven and on earth (Psa. 135:6)—the question is whether believing in that God is up for debate. Do you believe in the god you worship because you like what you know of him (or her, for all of you goddess worshippers who are not reading this)? If your approval of god’s personality and program is the basis of your faith in him, then let me urge you with great fervency to repent, because you are an idolater. It is not the true God that you serve but one re-made in your own image. You may call him by the same names (e.g. Yahweh, El Shaddai, Lord, Jesus Christ), but so do the cults. You worship the god you want, not the God that is.

We worship God because He is God: almighty, creator, sovereign, and holy (Psa. 96). We love God because He is good: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy (1John 4:8-10). Woe to us if we reverse the two. We do not choose to worship God because we approve of Him. He is GOD, and He does not need (or crave or even show interest in) our approval (Psa. 50). Thanks be to God that He is loving, He is kind, He is good, because He did not have to be. If He were a tyrant, we would still be obliged to bow before Him. But as it is, we have been brought near to a loving Father who forgives our sins.

If you reject certain doctrines because you do not like them, because they offend your sensibilities or violate what seems right and fair to you, then it is not God that you worship, but a god made in your own image. It is idolatry. God’s reality is objective, not subjective. His character is immutable, not provisional. His work is always right, whether it seems right to us or not. We are called to recognize and worship the God that is, not pretend He is other than what He has revealed. –JME

Staying Ahead of the Pain

Anyone who has ever had to take prescription pain medicine after surgery has probably heard the expression stay ahead of the pain. Usually this refers to taking pain medicine on a schedule, before you need it, in order to keep the pain at a manageable level. If you wait until you are hurting to take the medicine, the pain may become overwhelming, and the medicine may be unable to overcome it or take longer to do so.

During Elijah’s recent hospitalization, Kirstie and I have been reminded of God’s palliatives for the soul: Scripture, prayer, and the worship of the saints (including the preached word and sacraments). The word of God sustains us in times of trouble (Psa. 119:71, 92, 114), prayer reminds us our Father knows and cares (Php. 4:6-7; 1Pet. 5:6-7; 1Jn. 5:14-15), and the worship and fellowship of the Church reaffirms the Lord’s promises and that we are not alone in waiting and watching for His return (Psa. 122; 1Cor. 11:26; Heb. 10:19-25). Stress and trouble is always easier to bear when we avail ourselves of the means of grace. Trials are not easy, but God’s grace makes them bearable and sanctifying.

It is especially important in seasons of trial to be diligent in using God’s means of grace to sustain our souls and strengthen our faith. We can easily be distracted by the urgent concerns troubling our hearts at such times. Daily Bible reading is certainly less urgent than physical crisis. Prayer may not seem imminently practical. And so we focus more on what is pressing than on what is important. We neglect the word and prayer and the worship of the saints, and we find ourselves increasingly overwhelmed by the emotional pain of the moment.

We must learn to stay ahead of the pain, to apply God’s medicine for the soul before the distress has become urgent, before our sorrows are so great they obscure the brilliance of God’s glory shining above and around us. We must discipline ourselves before the trial comes, and even as we walk through the trial, meeting God in His word, seeking His blessing in prayer, worshiping His holy name and being reminded of what is true, what is real, what will last, and what will not. Do not wait until the pain is so great you can no longer focus on Scripture. Do not wait until you have no words left to pray. Be diligent each day to feed and nurture your soul using the means God has provided. Stay ahead of the pain, and watch God use your pain for His good purposes. –JME

Fretting Over Evildoers

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
(Psalm 37:1-2)

Elijah has been asking to lead prayers with the family, and lately every prayer has included three requests: (1) that our nation will repent, (2) that our government will make good decisions, and (3) that daddy will not lose his job. His concern about these issues is so great that he has reminded us when we “forgot” to pray for our nation. Elijah put together his three-point prayer almost entirely from observing adult conversations between his mom and dad and brethren in the church. We have talked to our kids about current events and the potential implications for Christians and churches—though we have not discussed it with the boys in the same detail as with their older sisters—but very little time has been spent conversing about it, and we have not had the kind of “serious conversation” that might make them fearful or worried about the future. Nevertheless, Elijah has picked up enough of the larger conversation to be concerned, and so he is praying earnestly about it every day.

This morning I opened my Bible and came upon Psalm 37 once again. The Hebrew word translated fret in the ESV might better be translated be angry (cf. Gen. 4:5; 30:2; 31:6; 34:7). There is a proper, even necessary, anger the righteous should feel toward evil and evildoers. Jesus was angry when he saw religious hypocrisy and the abuse of the Temple (Mark. 3:1-5; 11:15-17). John the Baptist was stirred up by Herod’s immorality (Luke 3:19) as Paul was by Athens’ idolatry (Acts 17:16). The Bible commands us to hate evil (Psa. 97:10; Prov. 8:13; Amos 5:15); we cannot be passive towards it. But, as Psalm 37 affirms, our indignation toward evil should not unsettle our souls. We know evil will not ultimately triumph because Christ already won the victory (Col. 2:15).

We must balance righteous anger against sin and human sinfulness with the joy and peace that comes in trusting the Savior, Jesus Christ. We grieve because of the ungodliness around us, but to adapt Paul’s language concerning the dead, we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. We know the victory is already won; we simply await the arrival of the conquering King. Each day we watch and pray, waiting and hoping with great anticipation for the coming of our Lord in glory.

At the same time, we must be faithful while we live in this fallen world. Our dreams of heaven and hope of the parousia must not take us from the responsibilities of discipleship and stewardship here and now. Paul addressed this kind of error in his letters to the Thessalonians, and he exhorted them “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one” (1Thess. 4:11-12). We must be faithful to Christ today, even as we live in anticipation of that day when we see Him coming again to claim His own. –JME

Keeping the Main Thing in Ministry, the Main Thing

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1^st Timothy 4:13-16)

It is hard to write about pastoral ministry, at least, it is hard to do so when you are a pastor. It is easy for teaching on the subject to seem (or be) self-serving. When that happens, a pastor’s credibility in speaking on other issues can suffer. It is understandable why pastors sometimes decide speaking about their own role in ministry is just not worth it.

A pastor is expected to be and do many things. Not all of the things asked of him are bad or even inappropriate. But quite often all of the “extra things” a pastor is asked to be and to do become so time-consuming and overwhelming that what he is called to be and to do by God begins to suffer. The pastor’s primary calling is not to be a friend (though he should be), a counselor (though he will have to be), a helper (though he is usually glad to be), or a CEO (he ought not to want to and ought never to have to be). The pastor’s calling is to be a minister of Christ, serving the Word and sacraments to the Body of Christ so as to build them up in faith, equip them for living faithfully and obediently, and proclaim the way of salvation in preparation for Judgment on the last day (cf. Acts 6:1-7; Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 1:24-29; 1-2 Timothy; Titus).

Take another look at the passage quoted above. What does Paul say ought to consume Timothy as a minister of the gospel? The public reading, exhortation, and teaching of Scripture. Attentiveness to the gift and calling of God confirmed by the elders. Immersive dedication to the work of studying and teaching God’s Word. Personal holiness. Introspection in life and pedagogy. And perseverance in the same with a view toward salvation, both personally and pastorally. These are the things pastors must devote themselves to daily, week after week, for the sake of their own soul and of the souls entrusted to them.

We live in an age of celebrity pastors. Pastors are often CEOs, motivational speakers, and social and political leaders as much or more than they are true ministers of Christ. Many exercise their ministry and influence independent of the church. Too often they lack meaningful accountability to the ecclesiastical structures the Lord gave us for the Church’s good. Churches expect their pastors to be hip, relevant, popular, and, to some extent, worldly in their focus and engagement. But this is not the plan God revealed in the Bible. The Lord gave His Church ordinary pastors to use ordinary means in faithful and largely unexceptional ways to proclaim an extraordinary message of grace. May the Lord raise up such men to lead and teach in churches today, and may churches demand such ministers who will so keep Christ before them.–JME