Further on Elders (The Authority of Preachers)

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Jay F Guin

The argument is being made more and more frequently that the preacher has authority to ordain elders because Timothy and Titus had the authority to ordain elders.

Maybe. But we really have to approach these questions with the greatest of humility — because it’s just not clear that the early church had a uniform practice for ordaining officials. Moreover, it’s far from clear that Timothy and Titus were ministers in the same sense as the modern pulpit minister.

For example, Paul instructed Timothy to ordain deacons as well as elders. But in Acts 6 — almost certainly about the first deacons — the deacons were selected by the membership, not the preacher. Continue reading →

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Further on Elders (On Moralistic Therapeutic Deism)

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Some time ago, I posted a series on Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD), a term coined by Christian Smith, who wrote Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, with Melinda Lundquist.

Smith and Lundquist found that most Christian American teenagers (and their parents) have a view of Christianity that reduces to — Continue reading →

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Further on Elders (Getting Rid of Bad Elders: Cure, Part 2)

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Jay F Guin

A church has a good eldership, except one elder really doesn’t belong. He should never have been ordained. Experience shows that he really doesn’t have the qualities of a shepherd/overseer/elder and the giftedness from the Spirit for the task.

Most elderships naturally prefer to act by consensus. This man’s worldliness constantly hinders the process. Time is wasted and energy consumed because he has a strong personality and is a master of argumentation.

The other elders will ultimately outvote him, but they feel that he’s entitled to be heard — and so his presence makes meetings miserable. Worse yet, he often acts unilaterally, announcing positions as though coming from the “elders” when he really only speaks for himself. This causes no end of embarrassment. Continue reading →

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Further on Elders (Getting Rid of Bad Elders: Cure, Part 1)

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Now, let’s suppose we have man called “elder” who is not qualified. What do we do? Well, the Bible says very little on the subject, but there is some significant guidance.

We begin with —

(1Ti 5:19-20 ESV)  19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.  20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.

Paul borrows the teaching of verse 19 from Deuteronomy — Continue reading →

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Further on Elders (Getting Rid of Bad Elders: Prevention)

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Jay F Guin

I’m not finished with the series on Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes, but it’s time for a break. We’ll return in short order.

One of the questions I’m most frequently asked is how to deal with bad elders. After all, even if we get our theology fixed and start doing a better job of appointing elders, there may still be a generation of elders brought up on a false gospel.

And even for very progressive Churches of Christ, bad elders can be appointed by mistake. Or good elders can become bad. It happens.

Obviously, prevention is better than trying to fix a problem. And many a bad ordination can be prevented with the following: Continue reading →

Posted in Bad Elders, Elders, Uncategorized | 30 Comments

Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Honor, Part 6 (Public vs. Private; Examples; Conclusion)

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible - By: E. Randolph Richards, Brandon J. O'Brien We’re considering Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible, by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien — an excellent book.

In summarizing the chapter, the authors explain,

In the meantime, pay attention to where stories take place in Scripture. If an event or conversation is taking place publicly, there’s a good chance that honor/shame is at stake, such as in the story of Ruth and Boaz. As we mentioned above, the key difference between the questions Nicodemus and Jesus’ disciples asked and those asked by Jerusalem’s Jewish leaders was context: Nicodemus and the disciples questioned Jesus privately (see, for example, Jn 3:2 and Mt 17:19). The Jewish leaders questioned him publicly. You might object that the primary difference was motive: Nicodemus and the disciples were asking sincere questions, while the religious leaders were trying to trap Jesus. That’s true. But context indicates motive. Private questions were not honor challenges. Public questions were. Continue reading →

Posted in Elders, Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Honor, Part 5 (Church Discipline)

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible - By: E. Randolph Richards, Brandon J. O'Brien We’re considering Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible, by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien — an excellent book.

There are a handful of references in the New Testament regarding church discipline. One form of discipline we refer to as “disfellowshipping.” “Shunning” is an older term.

For example, we read —

(2Th 3:6, 14-15 ESV)  6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. … Continue reading →

Posted in Elders, Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

New Wineskins

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Jay F Guin

I’ve been greatly saddened to read that New Wineskins will no longer be published.

Keith Brenton, who’s edited the magazine tirelessly for the last few years, announced in a Facebook post that the magazine would be discontinued, with the published articles to be archived (at least for a while) and so to remain available on the Internet.

Keith explains,

But the main ingredient was heart, and I have lost mine. [My wife] Angi was my partner in this ministry for the past ten years, starting with a simple jointly-written article and progressing to helping editor Greg Taylor move the publication from print to online, and eventually publishing it on our own. With her death on May 8, half my life and heart went with her, and it was simply too much to continue doing this.

I can imagine nothing sadder or more difficult that the loss of one’s wife, especially with a young daughter still at home. My heart and prayers continue to go out to Keith. Continue reading →

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Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Honor, Part 4 (The Sermon on the Mount)

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible - By: E. Randolph Richards, Brandon J. O'Brien We’re considering Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible, by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien — an excellent book.

Understanding that Jews of Jesus’ day had an honor culture, we can re-read the Sermon on the Mount from an interesting and, I think, enlightening perspective.

(Mat 5:11-12 ESV)  11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

When Westerners think of persecution, we think of imprisonment and death. But Jesus addresses loss of honor as persecution. After all, to an Easterner, loss of reputation could be worse than death. Continue reading →

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Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Honor, Part 3 (Fear Culture; Honor in the Gospels and Old Testament)

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Jay F Guin

Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible - By: E. Randolph Richards, Brandon J. O'Brien We’re considering Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible, by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien — an excellent book. For additional reading on the subject, here’s an excellent article by a native of China explaining shame culture and how it affects his reading of the Bible. (It’s just so very foreign to how we Americans think!) I also came across an excellent essay by Steve Tibbert on guilt, shame, and fear cultures and how the gospel should be presented in each type of culture. It’s well worth taking the time to read. We’ve not considered fear cultures up to this point. These are typically relatively primitive cultures in which behavior is governed by fear of gods and spirits who may not have your best interests at heart at all. Of course, those in guilt or shame based cultures have to deal with fear, but in those cultures, it’s mainly fear of punishment by the authorities or fear of feeling guilty or fear of ostracism. In a fear-based culture, doing the wrong thing would be perceived as leading to disease or other punishment brought on by an angry deity. Continue reading →

Posted in Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, Misreading Scriptures with Western Eyes, Uncategorized | 7 Comments