Monthly Archives: May 2012

Reforming the Deacons: (Part 3) Interpret the Qualifications Spiritually

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The qualifications for deacons, given only in I Timothy 3, have been used, abused, and misused by church people over the years to further their own vision on what the church should be.

I suggest we quit working by the letter of the law here and start paying closer attention to the spirit.

Uh oh.

The danger in leaving behind the letter of the law in favor of the spirit is that strict constructionists, who love their legalistic interpretations and are only too glad to exclude anyone who thinks otherwise, will accuse you of not taking the Word of God seriously.

I know this from experience. I’ll go online and see where some article from this website has been ripped to shreds by a preacher who accuses me either of not knowing the Word or caring little for it. I try to respond kindly–wondering, for example, why he did not care to communicate this to me before displaying it on his billboard–but almost never get a response. This kind of preacher loves his tirades more than his brethren, thus violating John 13:34-35.

Here is a guide we rarely hear mentioned today: “(He) has made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (II Corinthians 3:6)

The letter kills. That’s what legalism does when it comes to interpret the Word. Putting their strict interpretation ahead of the believers involved or the particular circumstances the church finds itself facing, legalists end up misrepresenting the Lord, abandoning the people who were looking to them for direction, and painting themselves into the kind of corner from which there is no escape.

The Spirit gives life. This refers both to the Holy Spirit as well as to a spiritual interpretation of His Word. Only through God’s Spirit can we find the (proper) spiritual interpretation of Scripture.

We can see Jesus spiritually interpreting the Word throughout the Gospels. To the woman caught in adultery (John 8), to the harsh Pharisees who strained at gnats and swallowed camels (Matthew 23:24), and to the critics who accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath law (Matthew 12:2), Jesus interpreted the Word spiritually and not legalistically.

Jesus spiritually interpreted the Old Testament (the only Bible they had then) when He told the resurrection-denying Pharisees that they had missed something in Scripture. “Regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ Well, He is not the God of dead people but of the living.” (Matthew 22:31-32) Pow! Take that.

He interpreted the Scripture spiritually when He said to those making Sabbath-observance the essence of obedience, “Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man.”

Examples abound.

It will not surprise you to know the so-called “defenders of God’s Word” were furious at Jesus. They had their pet interpretations of Scripture and He refused to play that game. God’s Word is not and was never meant to strait-jacket His people.

Regarding I Timothy 3:8-13, where Paul lists qualifications for deacons, the church has frequently painted itself into some dark corners by its insistence on harsh, narrow interpretations. Turning the text into shackles, it has bound itself hand and foot.

In no way do we intend what follows as the final word on anything. Longtime readers of these articles will know that I simply hope to get good people to discussing the subject and misguided people to giving a second look at what they have been doing.

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Reforming the Deacons: (Part II) “How to Help a Pastor Get Better”

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Here’s what happens.

A few deacons fellowshiping over coffee deal with various subjects about the church. Eventually, someone brings up the preacher and that ignites the interest of the rest of the group. One or two have some concerns and suggestions.

“The pastor is so effective, but he could be moreso if he would just do this.”

“I agree. And the thing my wife mentioned, he should be doing that.”

“Well, who’s going to tell him? And how would he take it?”

From there, the group decides on a plan. After all, how could the pastor not receive this well? Aren’t we all in his corner? Haven’t we shown him how much we appreciate him? And hasn’t he been preaching about how we are to grow and improve? Surely, he’ll want us to bring these suggestions to him.

What the deacons either do not know or do not care to know is that Pastor Tom carries scars from his dealings with a rogue deacon group in his previous church. And even though he loves his present flock and sees God blessing his ministry, something inside him expects another bomb to go off, for some little group to show up at his door demanding that their wishes be met if he wants to remain in that church.

This is a delicate moment in the relationship of Pastor Tom and this assemblage of deacons. The problems are twofold: the pastor does not see it coming and thus is not prepared, and the deacons have no idea what they are about to stir up.

It does not go well, and here’s why.

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Pastors and Discipline: The Plebe Life

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You will know the name Jimmy Doolittle.

He flew those bi-planes in World War I for the United States, and then barn-stormed throughout the 1920’s, giving thrills by taking risks you would not believe. He led the retaliatory bombing of Tokyo in early 1942, a few months after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. He played a major role in the Allied victory over the Axis, eventually becoming a General. His autobiography is titled “I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.”

Doolittle and his wife Joe (that’s how they spelled her name) had two sons, Jim and John, both of whom served in the Second World War.

The general wrote about the younger son:

John was in his plebe year at West Point and the upperclassmen were harassing him no end…. While the value of demeaning first-year cadets is debatable, I was sure “Peanut” could survive whatever they dreamed up. (p. 284)

Later, General Doolittle analyzes his own strengths and weaknesses and makes a fascinating observation:

(I) have finally come to realize what a good thing the plebe year at West Point is. The principle is that a man must learn to accept discipline before he can dish it out. I have never been properly disciplined. Would have gotten along better with my superiors if I had. (p. 339)

“I have never been properly disciplined.” What an admission. It take a mature person to say that.

From what I read, I’d say Doolittle was not exaggerating. He was a man with a thousand strengths, but his few weaknesses kept creeping up and blindsiding him. Numerous times, even after he became a national hero, the officers in charge of his current assignment would ground him because of crazy stunts like buzzing airfields upside down and flying under bridges and endangering his passengers.

Prior to the Allied invasion of Normandy (June 6, 1944), the actual place and time were the biggest secrets on the planet. Everyone was sworn to silence. Doolittle tells of a general who shot his mouth off in a bar, talking freely about the invasion, speculating on when and where, even though he personally had not been briefed.

Eisenhower had no patience with such foolishness.

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Let’s Reform the Deacon Body

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The most confused group of people in the average Southern Baptist church is the deacons.

They have no idea what they are to be and do. Depending on the whims of the deacon chairman for that year, they become servants or managers, program heads or administrators. Helpers or bosses. Activists or inactive.

The church’s constitution and bylaws are usually vague on who they are, what they are to do, how they should function.

And, let us admit up front, Scripture does not give us a lot of guidance on this matter either. At every deacon ordination I’ve ever attended–and in a half century of ministry, that’s quite a few–Acts 6:1-7 has been read. But there’s not a word in that passage about those seven men being called deacons.

In fact, let’s quit calling them deacons and start calling them what the name means: servants.

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What My Mother Did For Me No One Else Tried

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The list would be long. Mom gave birth to me, the fifth of seven children, on March 28, 1940. The boy born on March 25 of the previous year had not lived, so they referred to me as the fourth child. I owe her my life.

Did she take some teasing or even ridicule because of the rapid-fire way she was bringing children into the world? All 7 of us were born in a 9-year-span.

Lois Jane Kilgore was 17 when she agreed to marry Carl J. McKeever, a 21-year-old she had been seeing for three years. She was a farmer’s daughter with a 9th grade education; he came from a long line of coal miners and dropped out of school in the 7th grade to go to work. He was the oldest of 12, she was the middle child of 9.

They surprised the preacher and got him out of bed that Saturday night, March 3, 1934, and asked him to perform the ceremony. There was no premarital counsel, no fancy surroundings, and for a time, no honorarium for the preacher. The next Monday, the coal miners went out on strike. An inauspicious beginning for marriage.

Lois had no idea what she had gotten herself into. Nothing from her sheltered, happy upbringing in the church-going farm family had prepared her for married life with that Irishman with the temper, a love for the sauce, and an unruly mob of siblings of all ages.

In time, Carl got his life straightened out, their marriage stabilized, and life was good. But for a couple or three decades, Lois paid a severe price for her determination to save her marriage and raise her brood of young’uns well.

As he aged, Carl became a wonderful patriarch in this family, revered and loved. He filled a room when he entered. He loved to talk, to tell a story, to read and learn and tell you what he had learned, and to work on problem-solving for the miners union of which he in time became a 70+ year member.

I grew up thinking he was the dominant force in my upbringing.

It took my wife to make me see otherwise.

I’m 95 percent about Lois McKeever. I owe her far more than I can ever know or say or repay. Here’s what I mean.

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Why We No Longer Fear

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(A sequel to the previous article on Why Fear of Death is Not Allowed for Jesus’ Disciples)

And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. (Matthew 28:20)

The overriding, most awesome, absolutely most compelling reality of the life of a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is His continuing presence with us throughout this life and on into the life-beyond-this-life.

How can we say this stronger?

The greatest factor in the believer’s fearlessness is that “Jesus is with me.” The reality that tips the scales for all time in favor of bold living and confident dying is the eternal presence of Jesus. Nothing else is so determinative.

I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. (Hebrews 13:5)

As a result of this promise from our Lord, found in both the Old and New Testaments, we “may boldly say, the Lord is my Helper and I will not be afraid” (Hebrews 13:6).

Bold living, confident proclaiming, sweet testimony, and assured dying. That is the plan. That is what Jesus Christ feels He has a right to expect of every disciple.

Throughout Scripture, the Lord had the same answer–almost like a broken record if you remember what that was–to every excuse from those whom He called into His service: I will be with you. This was His panacea, His answer for everything.

It’s all through the Word….

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Fear of Dying? Not Allowed!

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I’m sorry, followers of Jesus Christ. The one thing you are not allowed in this life–and certainly not the next–is fear of death. It’s verboten, off limits, taboo.

Fearing death ranks first as the ultimate insult to the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is unbelief of the first order.

Death was the biggest gun in Satan’s arsenal when the enemy’s forces trotted it out on that Passover Eve on a hill outside Jerusalem’s walls. This Jesus Person would be dispensed with once and for all.

For a few awful hours, it appeared the diabolical plan had succeeded.

Jesus was dead. Really dead.

Then, on that never-to-be-forgotten Lord’s Day morning, the tomb was found to be empty and reports began popping up that Jesus was appearing to His followers. The disciples, who had been ready to give up and go home and deal with their dashed hopes and the Galilean’s embarrassing claims, suddenly were energized and “shot from cannons” as they blanketed the world with the news: Jesus is alive!

If He was alive, everything else had changed for all time.

That was the point.

Opponents and critics, eager to find holes and loopholes and potholes in the Christian message, rush to inform us that one man’s death and even His resurrection, if indeed there was one, changes little.

They miss the point.

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The Pastor Who Needs a Friend Most

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I’m on this “the preacher needs a buddy” kick in this week’s articles. Obviously, not everyone agrees. Some are offended by the thought, as though we’re suggesting that Jesus is not enough.

I’m not suggesting it. I’m saying it.

Well, to be precise, what I’m saying is: One of the primary ways the Lord works in your (and my) life is through other people. And He has chosen not to alter that system even for the most spiritual, most mature, and most godly.

How’s that? Clear enough.

The pastor (an all-encompassing term in my lexicon which refers to ministers, missionaries, shepherds, church staffers) who tries to go it alone in ministry is choosing to walk with a limp, to work with one hand behind him, to limit his effectiveness, and to let a large part of his personality atrophy.

On the other hand….

When a minister climbs out of his shell and reaches out to befriend two or three colleagues in the Lord’s work, when he makes friends of others called into this service, at least 12 things happen, all of them good.

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The Number One Failure of 90 Percent of Pastors

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The four-year-old who says, “I can do it by myself” has a lot in common with the typical pastor.

Pastors are notorious for their lone ranger approach to ministry. It’s what I call the number one failure of 90 percent of pastors. They prefer to go it alone.

Even Jesus needed a buddy. “He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘So, you men could not keep watch with me for one hour?'” (Matthew 26:40)

Sometimes it helps to have someone nearby, praying, loving, caring, even hurting with you.

The word paracletos from John 16:7 is translated “Comforter” and “Helper” in most Bible versions. The literal meaning is “one called alongside,” the usual idea being that the Holy Spirit is our Comforting Companion, a true Friend in need. And each time that word is found in the New Testament–John 14:16,20; 15:26; 16:7; and I John 2:1–it always refers to the Lord.

However, here’s something important.

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Seeking Approval

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Thursday of last week was the National Day of Prayer throughout America. The towns I drove through seemed to be making quite a deal of it.

Several pastors whose stuff I read, however, seemed worried that this might be the last such day. They fear President Obama might not authorize such an official observance in the future. They worry about that.

And that stuns me into silence. Well, almost. But not quite.

It ranks alongside the uppance of my dander when I read that Nashville’s Vanderbilt University is requiring campus religious organizations to allow anyone of any beliefs or no beliefs to hold leadership positions. (Note: all I know on this issue is what I read in www.bpnews.net. This is the Baptist Press’s website.)

What in the world is going on here, I wonder. Have we (they) lost our sanity?

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