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
