Category Archives: The Church

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Things We Want to Be True

TWWTBT Podcast

From its outset we said there were a few essentials we were aiming for in our life together at Imago Dei Church. In place of core values, we preferred this language of “Things We Want to Be True.”

The semantic difference points to a few things. The first is that these are prayerful desires. They aren’t things that are necessarily or definitely true at any given moment, but we want them to be tangible nonetheless. Lord willing, this puts us in a posture of humility. Rather than saying, “We are a praying church,” we are saying, “We hope to be a praying church.” Furthermore, these things speak to something of the life we long to see flow through our fellowship. Should a guest walk into IDC we actually think it should seem “compellingly odd.” We are a counter-culture, even to the evangelical culture of our day. We want it to be strange how often we pray, how zealously we make disciples, how generous we welcome, and how joyfully we sing.

There are, of course, a lion’s list of other true things we want to be true, but we kept IDC’s list to four things: praying, disciple-making, welcoming, and singing. It is our belief that should these four things be true everything else we want to be true about the church would naturally flow in their wake. Here’s what I mean:

Four Pillars For Life in Christ

A Praying Church. The Christian life is one of war so we “pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication.” It is one of the first matters of church business for Paul in his initial letter to Timothy. “First of all then, I urge men everywhere to pray.” We thus make is our business at every gathering of IDC—formal and informal—to pursue a palpable posture of prayer. Implications of this being true include: dependence, power, faith, and persistence.

A Disciple-Making Church. Mankind was created in the image of God (imago Dei). He was commanded to be fruitful, multiply, and subdue the earth. The command still stands for His people today. We not only do this physically, we do it spiritually by going and making disciples of all nations. We want to see people from every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered before the throne worshiping the Slaughtered Lamb of salvation. Thus, we must be zealous in “baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (evangelism) and steadfast in “teaching them to obey all I have commanded you” (discipling). Gathered worship is the corporate engine for disciple-making that drives discipling efforts throughout the week in evangelism, bible studies, and small groups. Implications of this being true include: zeal, compassion, knowledge, courage, maturity, and diversity.

A Welcoming Church. We are to “welcome those as we have been welcomed in Christ Jesus.” In sovereign kindness weak and weary, stained and sinful people are adopted through faith in Christ into the family of God. We long to see this magnificent news spilling over into every area of our corporate life as we pursue the creation of a warm and inviting environment. Implications of this being true include: hospitality, humility, generosity, and love.

A Singing Church. God creates and commands His singing people. He sings over His children with great delight and calls us to sing to Him with the same fiery devotion. We are to “address one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody to the Lord with all our hearts.” Singing thus has a vertical and horizontal orientation. It is to exalt our Majestic King and exhort His people. Implications of this being true include: praise, delight, joy, care, and reverence.

What things do you want to be true about your church?

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Experiencing Life in Worship

OnExperiencingGatheredWorship

I long to lead a church alive to the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Thus, I must think biblically and carefully about the ways in which life comes to God’s people. If God’s word doesn’t guide the way I will be lost in the weeds of worldly wisdom. This is a ministry matter where pragmatism must be banished like the mosquitos currently haunting my front yard.

When pragmatism bites you just want to scratch it all the more.

What to Call Our Worship

We live in a time where many an evangelical church prefers to speak about their worship gathering as a worship “experience.” Now, I’m fine with the etymological import of “experience” in gathered worship. I do believe gathered worship should be “an event which has affected one” with the God who reigns over all. The great apostle himself speaks about longing to come to Corinth so the church would have a “second experience of grace” (2 Cor. 1:15). We must experience grace by being made alive to grace. If we pastors don’t pray with a Jacobian wrestling spirit for our congregations to have an experiential encounter with the Triune God each week . . . well, that sound you hear just may be Spirit calling you to repent, or calling for your pastoral credentials. Living churches are those consistently experiencing the power and pleasure of life in Christ.

Thus, I am all for experience! You hear what’s coming, right? The often-necessary conjunction must now make its appearance.

A Devilish Deception

But I must confess that something nags my soul about evangelicalism’s employment of “experience.” It’s not that many a church prefers the noun, but how many a church tries to bring it to fruition. In other words, the question for pastors is not, “Should I call my church’s gathered worship an experience, but, “How do I lead my church to experience the Risen Christ each week?” The more I read, watch, and participate in worship “experiences” the more I’m convinced that we are in danger of latching onto a fiendish lie, which says, “Experiencing the glory of God comes through performance and personality.”

I’m not saying most pastors or churches would say it with those words; that’s the fiendish nature of it all. Yet, actions reveal the heart. Walk into your average thriving church today and tell me you don’t see performance and personality saturating the service. Big bands, big sets, and big sounds provide the orchestral backdrop for the worship of God’s people. The preacher ascends to the sacred desk and what confronts the congregation is not first a man of reverential holiness, but one with the look of chic and the sound of cool. From his lips pours forth more language of this world than the Other World. Squeeze out the many churches’ philosophical pursuit of experience and what you get is performance and personality.

Now, I hear the accusation rising, “Stone, you are just making generalizations. You can do better.” Yes, I am and I could, but I still think it’s ok. As I’ve often heard Doug Wilson say, “Jesus was a generalizer.” He loved to lump all the Pharisees together in pronouncing woe upon their soul, yet not every Pharisee was a hypocrite. Some Pharisees repented and trusted in Christ. Generalizations then help further particular points.

And the point of great concern I have is that by pursuing (however consciously or unconsciously) performance and personality we’ve actually fallen into a pit. We’re trying to fuel Christian experience with little more than spiritual sriracha powder—we burn for a bit and then everything returns to normal. And what we don’t realize is that the burn leaves a callous and so we simply need more and more heat in order to ever feel the experience again.

Brothers, there must be a better way.

A Better—More Biblical?—Way

We thus come back to the initial concern, what does God’s word tell us should bring life to God’s people? Well, quite simply, “God’s word.” With undeniable clarity the Bible says the Bible gives life.

  • “My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!” (Ps. 119:25)
  • “Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” (Ps. 119:37)
  • “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.” (Ps. 119:50)
  • “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.” (Ps. 119:93)
  • “I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word!” (Ps. 119:107)
  • “Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to your promise!” (Ps. 119:154)
  • “Great is your mercy, O Lord; give me life according to your rules.” (Ps. 119:156)

So, life comes through God’s word. The written word is all about The Incarnate Word, who is—say it with me now, “The way, the truth, and the life.” This Lord of Life sent His Life-Giving Spirit to bring life through the written word, which communicates life. The same Word that created life from dead bones in Ezekiel 37 is still in the bone rattling business. May the bones of your congregation shake with life this weekend.

I trust I need not tarry longer here. And all God’s people said, “Amen.”

A Proposal

Here then is my proposal for a way out of the performance and personality pit: permeate your worship gathering with an experience of God through His word. Let your people be washed with the water of the word. Let visitors be amazed at how loudly and frequently God’s speaks in the service. Let the Spirit do His ordinary work of exalting the Extraordinary Christ through God’s word.

If you’re looking for an idea of what this might look like I offer up my church’s liturgy not as a perfect example, but an example nonetheless:

  • We begin with a “call to worship.” God gets the first word. He is the Alpha.
  • After the first song we have a confession of sin and prayer of praise. This prayer is usually little more than a stream of inspired verses or a psalm.
  • We sing two more songs, chosen in part for their very Scripturalness. Any time there is any sort of instrumental during a song God’s word will usually be on the screen. For example, this Saturday we hope to sing Boswell and Bleeker’s “In My Place.” During the intro, before we sing, “In my place He stood condemned / He who knew no sin,” 2 Corinthians 5:21 will be on the screen: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
  • After our third song a church member stands to read a passage of Scripture that complements the sermon text. This week we hope to read Hebrews 11:17-19 since we are studying Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac in Genesis 21.
  • I will lead in a 5-7 minute pastoral prayer. I spend time beforehand writing down any relevant Bible verses for each petition. We try to pray the word in addition to singing it and reading it.
  • We have another song while the offering (which we like to speak of as “supporting the word”) goes around.
  • Next comes the sermon and song of response after our study of God’s word.
  • We then take the Lord’s Supper, God’s visible word to us. I lead into the self-examination time by reading a particular passage of Scripture, usually one that stems from the text we just studied.
  • We end with a benediction from Scripture. God gets the last word. He is the Omega.

Quite literally, there are hundreds of different ways you can saturate your service with Scripture. However you do it, my plea is that of Nike, “Just do it.”

Related Reading: A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship by Michael Horton, Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Freedom, and Action to God’s People by Jonathan Leeman.

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Is Church Polity Relevant Today?

On April 22nd Westminster Theological Seminary and Banner of Truth hosted an “Evening Discussion on The Bride of Christ” in honor of Banner’s new edition of James Bannerman’s classic The Church of Christ. Watch the videos below and then go buy a copy of the book.

“Bannerman’s Church of Christ: A Tract for Our Times” by Rev. Dr. Carl Trueman

“Does the Bible Speak to Church Government?” by Dr. Jonathan Leeman

“Why Read Bannerman? Polity, Presbytery, and a Cautionary Tale” by Mr. Nathan Sasser

Panel Discussion on the Bride of Christ, with Garner, Trueman, Leeman, and Sasser

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Congregational Camaraderie

Worship God

One of the most common shepherding issues ordinary pastors face today is the matter of nominal attendance. What percentage of your congregation is absent on an average week?

Chances are it’s higher than it should be and greater than you want it to be.

PUT IT IN THE RIGHT LIGHT

The worst thing we can do in attempting to address the matter is minimize it. Some might say, “Faithful attendance is just a relic of days gone by.” “There are just too many competing activities and events today. I’m just happy if my flock is there half the time,” another might say. In the last decade or so I’ve heard an increasing number of people posit a “small groups are where church really happens” doctrine. This subtle shift sounds pious enough, but it only serves to perpetuate what is the common Christian view of our time: attendance at corporate worship as optional. “It’s great if you can make it, but it’s really not a big deal if you do something else.”

If we cater to this kind of a culture we are putting the souls of our people in danger. For congregational attendance is not a matter of personal convenience or preference, but one of obedience. God commands His people to “not [neglect] to meet together, as is the habit of some” (Heb. 10:25). It’s not possible to truly love God and not also love His people (1 John 4:20-21). Just like any relationship, gathering together is a clear evidence of love.

Faithfully gathering with the church is a way we show our love for the church. Loving Jesus means loving His body by gathering with His body.

What can we pastors do to shepherd our nominal attendees to greater faithfulness and obedience in this joining the body for the corporate worship of God? The following three things would be a good place to begin.

3 SHEPHERDING STRATEGIES

Teach. It all starts here. I should mention it doesn’t seem wise, once you’ve noticed there’s a problem in this area, to go preach a sermon on Hebrews 10:25. You could probably do worse, but you can also do better. You must teach your people to treasure the Lord Jesus Christ and show them in the matchless love He has for His church. Teach them how blessed it is when God’s people dwell together in unity and how faithful attendance is a boon to congregational unity. Help them see that God has deposited His ordinary means of grace in His church and that these means are regularly (some exclusively) offered in gathered worship. Let them gain a biblical understanding of the joys of communion with Christ and how the corporate meeting is communion with Christ. Teach them that a local church is a colony of heaven and that every time she gathers to hear the Word preached and sacraments administered, heaven comes down to earth.

Let the thrust of our teaching on this issue not be, “You must gather for worship!” but rather, “See the satisfying joy of corporate worship! What delight awaits the people of God in their meeting with God. Why would you want to miss this heavenly assembly?” Aim for raising their affections, not mere or rote obedience.

Track. You will never be able to effectively shepherd your people who are regularly absent if you don’t know they are regularly absent. For smaller churches this will be pretty easy, but for larger churches you will likely have to get more creative. I know a church that has all their members pick up name tags when they arrive, so they know who missed the gathering based on what name tags are left on the shelf. Another church simply has an elder in the sound booth who marks down attendance at the beginning of each service. Another church I know of leans heavily on their child check-in system to see which families were present (this doesn’t, of course, account for singles or families without kids).

Once you track the attendance then you must prayerfully decide as elders at what point non-attendance becomes a concern. We must banish rigidity from our minds on this matter. There is no hard line number the Bible gives us in defining what “not neglect” consists of; we simply want our people to continually grow in their devotion to gathered worship.

Train. Throughout my time at IDC I’ve had quite a few members come up to me and say, “Have you seen So-And-So? I haven’t seen them in quite some time?” A training moments awaits if we seize it. What I like to do is respond with something like, “I’m sure they’d appreciate it if you’d reach out to them. Give ’em a call or shoot ’em an email to let them know they’re missed. Maybe invite them over to dinner to hang out and see how they’re doing.” It will mean something altogether different when pastors and church members are concerned about a member’s pattern of absence.

Another thing you can do is train your small group leaders to always be on the lookout if a particular church member from their group is gone for several weeks in a row. Part of the training needs to include matters of wisdom and warmth. We don’t want our members to feel as though the rest of the congregation is breathing down their neck like a hawkish teacher taking the class roll. Rather, we want our small group leaders to be able to clearly and humbly exhort their group to greater faithfulness in this area.

HAVE PATIENCE

As we’ve put these things into practice at IDC I’ve noticed a couple things. First, God seems to bless patient labor. I rejoice even now thinking about certain members who have increased their devotion to gathered worship and how the Spirit has brought forth clear fruit from the ordinary means. Second, don’t be surprised if things ebb and flow. Just when we seem to gather momentum things unexpectedly slow down or taper off. Part of me, or maybe a lot of me, thinks this is God reminding us that He is sovereign over His sheep. Our shepherding system doesn’t guarantee anything.

Put your own wise creativity to work in how you shepherd your sheep. Be faithful in your exhortation and trust God will use it to edify His people.

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Book to Look For: On the Church

Jared Wilson is a gifted writer. His books are always full of winsome wit and gospel goodness.

In April of next year his latest volume is scheduled to land and it sure seems pastors everywhere will want to read it. Here’s what Crossway has to say about The Prodigal Church.

THE PRODIGAL SPEAKS9781433544613

Pastors want to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus. However, we’ve too often assumed this requires loud music, flashy lights, and skinny jeans. In this gentle manifesto, Jared Wilson—a pastor who knows what it’s like to serve in a large attractional church—challenges pastors to reconsider their priorities when it comes to how they “do church” and reach people in their communities. Writing with the grace and kindness of a trusted friend, Wilson encourages pastors to reexamine the Bible’s teaching, not simply return to a traditional model for tradition’s sake. He then sets forth an alternative to both the attractional and the traditional models: an explicitly biblical approach that is gospel focused, grace based, and fruit oriented.

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Be Serious

Serious Joy

In The Courage to Be Protestant David wells wrote, “The conventional wisdom is that seriousness is the death knell of successful churches. In an age of entertainment, such as our age is in the West, we have to be funny, likeable, and light to succeed. So, seriousness must be banished.”

He’s right; the contemporary culture turns up its nose at seriousness, finding its stench to be less than pleasant.

But the Bible tells us a different story.

THE SMELL OF SERIOUSNESS

One of my best friends growing up was a guy named Cary Wicker. For thirteen straight years we played on the same soccer team, so we were around each other a fair amount of each week. I spent many days and nights at the Wicker home, and theirs was a home that had a distinct aroma. Looking back on it now, I’m pretty sure it was mostly due to the cigars that Mr. Wicker was known to enjoy throughout the week. Whatever it was, wherever Cary went he always carried the Wicker aroma around with him.

The summons of Christian ministry is one that has a distinct flavor. Theologically, it has Trinitarian smell: God’s glory in Christ as revealed by the Spirit. Practically, according to the the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, it smells of the grace and knowledge of the Good Shepherd. Ministerially, it smells of serious joy in a Sovereign Savior.

Preach the Word. Shepherd the flock of God. Do the work of an evangelist. Train yourself for godliness. Set for the believers an example. Be ready in season and out of season. Fulfill your ministry.

These are commands, not considerations, for gospel ministry. Obedience in these matters requires a peculiar level of seriousness from a pastor who longs to be faithful. Our people need gravity, not levity to mark our ministry. A ministry of godly gravity anchored to Christ is one that even the storms of life cannot blow away. But lighthearted levity? The wind of the world will quench that flame with astounding ease.

THE SOUND OF SERIOUSNESS

The danger of talking about seriousness in a 21st century context is that the noun is viewed as a vice, not a virtue. To our culture, seriousness not only stinks, but it’s also scary. I’ve seen godly saints model sobriety in life and heard younger people turn it upside down by thinking “seriousness” is just a way older generations make “snobbery” more palatable. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just consider what the average person thinks about classical music.

I find that most people today view classical music as a relic of high culture that’s inaccessible to modern tastes. The orchestration is too complex and tone too somber. What we really want in our music is a jingle to lift the the spirit, not a soaring score so rich it will take you dozens of listen before you will fully appreciate it.

So it is with seriousness. “Reverence is outdated,” cries the culture, “Casual familiarity is in.” Simplicity in tone stirs the soul, while weighty complexity stifles the heart. But is that really the case?

A LONG LINE OF SERIOUS MEN

If we could go back to the first century, I’m pretty sure we’d find the descriptor of “seriousness” to be most apt of our Lord’s apostles. They were men zealous for the things of God, humbled before the majesty of God, and satisfied in the life of God. But we dare not accuse them of having no joy! Too many doxologies flowed out from their hearts. We could then take a trip through church history and discover all the great saints of old still revered today are those whose lives embodied “serious joy.” I mean, would anyone dare tell Luther his zeal for reforming the church left him void of joy? His students who received the original “Tabletalk” would think you silly if you questioned the German’s joy. Would someone question Spurgeon’s gravity before God because he seemed so prone to jokes and humor? Ask any member of the Metropolitan Tabernacle and they’d look at you askew, for week in and week out he preached a serious Christ with serious passion.

Read about the lives of Augustine, Calvin, Owen, Edwards, Whitefield, M’Cheyne, and Lloyd-Jones and you’ll get the sense that God has blessed serious joy in peculiar ways.

ANOTHER PARADOX?

Paradoxes about in Scripture: the weakest are the strongest (2 Cor. 12:10); the last shall be first (Mark 10:31); the humble are exalted (Luke 14:11), you must lost your life to find it (Matt. 10:39); we die to live (2 Cor. 4:10). Although I don’t think “serious joy” is a biblical paradox, it sure seems to be a cultural paradox.

We are very good at erecting false dichotomies and I wonder if many of our church members would see seriousness and joyfulness as standing against one another. Well, pastor, go shatter than notion in your life and ministry. Show them the attractive weight of seriousness and the beautiful coloring of joyfulness.

Be “serious joy” on display.

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Meeting for Unity

Church Unity

The joy of congregational unity just might be the most important lesson I’ve learned since planting Imago Dei Church in January of last year. The difficult joy of unity is probably a better way to put it.

I think we have it, but oh! how we must continually fight for it.

David’s exclamation in Psalm 133:1 captures the happiness of harmony when he says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Paul seems to know this delight well for he encourages the Ephesians, and churches everywhere, to be “eager to maintain the spirit of unity in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Unity in the church is glorious!

THE PURSUIT OF UNITY

We need only to look to the High Priestly Prayer in John 17 to see how much our Lord values unity among His people. Notice these petitions for unity Jesus’ prayer:

  • “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one” (17:11).
  • “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you” (17:20-21).
  • “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ” (17:22-23).

Jesus’ requests for His people be one not only underscore the necessity of unity, but also how hard it is to achieve. What fights against unity in the church? According to John 17:15-17 it is Satan and sin. That’s why the Savior prays for the Father to “keep [His people] from the evil one” (17:15) and to “sanctify them in truth” (17:17).

Unity is a difficult pursuit, but a vital one.

THE EXPERIENCE OF UNITY

If you have been in a local church for any length of time you likely know how effect Satan and sin are at overthrowing congregational unity. Satan’s tempting of church members to exalt personal preferences are nearly pandemic. The sin of pride, when left alive, will always entice Christians to make more of themselves than their brothers and sisters in Christ. The world pressing in as well in all manner of sundry ways.

So what is a pastor to do? A Spirit-wrought, Biblically-informed advance for congregational unity must necessarily begin with the ordinary means: word, sacrament, and prayer. It’s in the faithful preaching of the word that matters of first importance are heralded and cherished as immanently more valuable than side matters of individual taste. It’s through regular feasting at the Lord’s Table that the entire church announces its allegiance to Christ and through sharing the same bread and cup. It’s in the ordinary prayers of the church that saints are encouraged to lift their eyes off themselves and lift holy hands making prayers for all the saints.

If you’re a pastor, see how the ordinary means are non-negotiable realities for the experience of unity. If you are a church member, faithful attendance to your congregation’s gathered worship is essential to the promotion of unity your heart and the souls of your fellow members.

There are, of course, other opportunities of wisdom one might seize in order to increase his church’s harmony. One of them is what we at IDC call “The Family Meeting.”

THE CELEBRATION OF UNITY

Depending on which denominational background you come from this meeting might be known as “The Business Meeting” or “The Members’ Meeting,” we like the name “Family Meeting” because it seems to connote less formality and rigidity.

We have six Family Meetings a year at IDC; they happen on the second Saturday (we currently meet on Saturday nights) of the even months (February, April, June, etc.). I like to tell our church a couple things about the significance of our Family Meetings. First, “If you miss a Family Meeting you are bound to miss something important.” Because they only happen every other month something important is bound to be discussed. It may be the affirmation of new members, nomination of church officers, affirmation of the church budget, or – like last year – the excommunication of a member. The second thing I like to say is, “Outside of the ordinary gathered worship service, nothing is more integral for our pursuit of unity than the Family Meeting.” It’s here we deal with all the “family” business.

What does a Family Meeting look like? Ours happen for about an hour after our gathered worship service and a common agenda would look like this:

  • Corporate reading of the first half of our church covenant.
  • Give away some books. I always give away a couple free books. This is a great way to not only promote doctrinal literacy in the congregation, but also endorse sound authors.
  • Affirmation of new members.  Our polity calls for all new members to be formally and vocally affirmed by the congregation.
  • Quick update on church budget. It’s always good to let the church know where the budget stands. This usually means sharing year-to-date budget/expenses, year-to-date income, and then celebrating the sacrificial giving of our members.
  • Share helpful information about a specific church ministry. Here we might announce an upcoming mission trip, share about a new direction in kids’ ministry curriculum, or celebrate the volunteer involvement of our members.
  • Discussion about church officers. Our system of elder and deacon installation happens over the course of at least six months. It has thus so far been normal to discuss something about the candidacy, nomination, and installation of church officers.
  • Share stories of disciple-making. The elders at IDC select a few people in the congregation who are creatively and faithfully trying to make disciples in the workplace, neighborhood, or community. This is a wonderful opportunity for other members to hear about how much disciple-making is going on throughout the church and provides them more fodder for intercessory prayer.
  • Personal pastoral updates. I generally close the meeting with any pertinent updates about my family or specific ways the church can pray for me.
  • Corporate reading of the second half of our church covenant. It end with the doxology from 2 Corinthians 13:14 and is a perfect way to conclude the meeting.

Unity’s depth is dependent on awareness. How easy it is for members to sow seeds of doubt and division when they aren’t aware of the what and why behind the church’s mission. Our Family Meeting is a time where the body gets to find out what’s been going on and where we are headed. In other words, these meetings increase congregational knowledge and help squelch those divisive seeds. Our elders value these meetings so much they want have them every month! We aren’t there right now, but we do hope to eventually get to monthly meetings. They really are that vital for our church’s unity.

Do you have something like a Family Meeting? If so, great! If not, consider how you might patiently and wisely shepherd your church to have regular members’ meetings. You might be surprised how catalytic they can be for unity. And what a good and blessed thing unity is.

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Book to Look For: On the Church

9781433543548On of my favorite books on ecclesiology is The Deliberate Church by Paul Alexander and Mark Dever.

I’ve always thought of it as a “Best Of” volume on all things 9Marks, for it presents a sweeping ecclesiological vision on everything from polity, to worship, to running elders meetings. Yet, if The Deliberate Church lacks anything it is extended discussion on the nitty-gritty of a church life together.

Enter The Compelling Community.

A COMPANION FOR THE DELIBERATE CHURCH

Someone told me this forthcoming book by Dever and Jamie Dunlop (an Associate Pastor at Dever’s church) is something of a companion volume to The Deliberate Church. Where the first book constructed a foundation on which the church can stand, this new book seeks to build pillars and buttresses of truth for church life. Here’s what Crossway says:

The local church is meant to embody the vibrant diversity of the global church, transcending racial, cultural, and economic boundaries. Yet local churches too often simply reflect the same societal divisions prevalent in our world today—making them more akin to social clubs filled with like-minded people than the supernatural community the New Testament prescribes. Pastors Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop argue that authentic fellowship is made up of two crucial ingredients: commitment (depth) and diversity (breadth). Theologically rooted yet extremely practical, this book sets forth basic principles that will help pastors guide their churches toward the compelling community that we all long for.

The Compelling Community is due to land on April 30th.

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Polity is Awesome

Polity

In 1846 J.L. Reynolds declared, “Church polity has become the absorbing topic of the Christian world.”

If you ever need a quote to highlight the difference between mid-19th century and current 21st century evangelicalism Reynold’s proclamation of polity’s popularity is one to stash away. Yet, I feel as though we are on the precipice of renewed interest and focus on polity. Do you? Maybe it’s just the circles I move in, but whether or not the word is used, discussions of “polity” are increasingly on the rise. If we pay attention to patterns in church history we ought not be too surprised. Whenever there has been a recovery of the church’s “center” it’s never been long before matters of polity start to take a more prominent place on the stage.

And there’s a reason why this has been so.

A COMING RESURGENCE?

God’s glory in Christ as revealed in the gospel is indeed the church’s foundation, but gospel focus in and of itself is not enough to, as Carl Trueman rightly said, “ensure the continuation of the gospel.” Yes, Luther recovered the biblical gospel in the Reformation, but if you read his later material you find that the church’s health did not depend merely on letting loose the Word and watch everything be ok. Notice what happens next,

By 1525, of course, the picture starts to look bleaker: Protestantism is beginning to fracture; the protagonists in the Peasants’ War appropriate the democratizing language of Luther’s theological revolution and turn it into the battle cry of violent social upheaval; and the simple declaration of the gospel is becoming mired in the quicksands of human affairs.   From 1525 onwards, one must search hard for the language of universal priesthood in the writings of Luther (or many other reformers for that matter). The gospel on its own without careful attention to the kind of structural context advocated by Paul, could quickly be appropriated by the chaotic and sinful ambitions of fallen human beings. Thus, from 1525 onwards, Luther drops the ambiguously democratic rhetoric and start to talk more of church order and offices.

This insufficiency of he gospel is surely why Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel.1

Since the turn of the century we have seen an undisputed resurgence of concentration on getting the biblical gospel right. It now seems, and praise God for this, we are taking those historically subsequent steps of understanding the central role in which polity plays in protecting gospel-centrality. Maybe it’s the circles I move in, but I find matters of polity increasingly occupying our thoughts and discussion. Or maybe the one doesn’t feel the resurgence as strongly as I do because polity often walks quietly onto the scene of biblical faithfulness.

Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.OBGZX6Pt.dpuf
Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.M7hhtiMc.dpuf
Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.M7hhtiMc.dpuf
Paul, when writing to Timothy, does not simply tell him to preach the gospel.   Yes, he certainly does tell him  that; but as the aging apostle looks at the world around him and wonders how the gospel is to be preserved after the first generation of leaders directly commissioned by Christ dies out, he also tells Timothy to find ordinary men to appoint as elders.   In other words, Paul sees that a church structure, as well as a church message, is vital to the safeguarding and propagation of the gospel. – See more at: http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php#sthash.M7hhtiMc.dpuf

A QUIET COG

Take any major sport, analyze the ordinary champions in its league, and what you will find is a team made up of superstars and forgotten players. In the sport after my own heart – soccer – strikers, attacking midfielders, marauding outside backs, and immovable center backs generally get all the attention. But any soccer fan knows that the “No. 6”, the holding midfielder, is the anchor and cog on which the team moves. When he plays his part well, he will go relatively unnoticed. His work isn’t flashy or unusually creative, it steady and calming. But when the “No. 6” is off his game, just watch the entire structure of the team’s center fall apart.

Polity is like the “No. 6” of a healthy church’s theology and practice. Other areas – the gospel, God’s sovereignty, Scripture’s infallibity, missions – get more attention, but if a biblical polity isn’t the church’s quiet, steadfast, and strong cog things will eventually begin to fall apart. Just look at Paul Tripp’s recent statement on all the hullabaloo at Mars Hill Church to see how dangerous short-shrifting biblical polity can be. Further, while it wasn’t as broadly discussed, when the difficulties with Sovereign Grace and CJ Mahaney came to the fore several years ago, you know what one of the first major orders of business became? Restructuring the entire polity for the “family of churches”, complete with a Book of Church Order!

WHERE WE CAN BEGIN

Polity is a quiet force in the church, and is thus one that we pastors must give specific attention. We need to think hard and biblically about church structure and governance. We must consider things like:

  • Who are elders and what must they do?
  • Who are deacons and what must they do?
  • Who has the final authority in a local church: the presbytery, bishop, elders, or congregation?
  • Does the Bible give instruction for two kinds of elders: teaching elders and ruling elders? Or, as in the case of many multi-site churches, what does the Bible have to say about a central group of elders overseeing the individual campus elders?
  • What bearing ought biblical polity have to play on the prudence of multi-site models?
  • What role of leadership and service can women occupy in the church?
  • What is the local church’s relationship/obligation to other churches in the city?
  • What about church membership? Is it something the Bible commands as obedience or commends as wise?
  • What about church discipline? What role does the gathered church play in the discipline of wayward members and pastors?

These things aren’t merely tangential topics, but they cut to the core of the safe-guarding of the gospel. So let’s wrestle with them. Far from pushing the gospel to the periphery, polity is a vital cog for perpetuating the purity of the church’s gospel witness.

  1. Trueman, http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2012/04/the-gospel-is-insufficient.php ↩
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How to Use Your Church’s Confession

Confessions of Faith

Few church documents are more important that a church’s Confession of Faith (Statement of Faith is the more common contemporary moniker). Yet, at least in my experience, few documents are as little used as the congregation’s “pattern of sound words.”

In 2012 Carl Trueman did the entire church a great favor by publishing The Creedal Imperative. If you need any convincing of why a local church needs a confession, stop reading this post and go read his book. It’s that persuasive.

For me, as one already convinced of creedalism, the best part of the book was the final chapter where Trueman discusses why a confession of faith is useful. He gives eight reasons. Let me briefly mention them here, with any helpful elaboration, and then consider how a church can uses their confession.

8 REASONS WHY A CONFESSION OF FAITH IS USEFUL

  1. Delimits the power of the church.Church officers cannot just preach whatever they want. A confession “describes the message the church is to preach, and it limits the church’s power to what is contained in the document.”
  2. Offers succinct and thorough summaries of the faith.
  3. Allows for appropriate discrimination between members and office-bearers.“The bar for full communicant church membership is quite low: a simply but publicly coherent profession of faith in the line of Romans 10:9-10 is sufficient.” Yet, what biblical and theological competency is required of office-bearers? The simplest way to codify it would be to say they must fully subscribe (some denominations allow for exceptions) to the church’s confession of faith and be able to teach such truth.
  4. Reflects the ministerial authority of the church.
  5. Represents the maximum doctrinal competence that can be expected from a congregation. A confession “represents the church’s doctrinal and pedagogical aspirations.”
  6. Relativizes the present. Confessions are immune, in a good way, to the passing fads and tastes of the present. “Yes, the present is where we all live and breathe, eat and drink; but the creeds and confessions of the church connect us to the past and indicate that our identity is rooted in that past. This is in line with the thrust of biblical teaching.” Timothy was not to be innovative, rather he was to hold fast to the patter of sound words given to him by Paul.
  7. Helps to define one church in relation to another. A confession “serves transparency because it allows those outside to see what a particular church represents. . . . When someone visits the congregation, it is useful for congregants to be able to point them to a succinct summary of the church’s position on key doctrinal topics.
  8. Maintains corporate unity.A church is united insofar as it defines and agrees upon what is biblically true. A confession of faith is thus a document that fuels unity.

3 WAYS TO USE YOUR CHURCH’S CONFESSION

If a confession of faith is beneficial in all these ways, how then can a church use the confession in a way that brings doctrinal continuity and convictional harmony? Here are three ideas:

Use the confession in your church’s gathered worship.This is something I hope to continually do more of at IDC, but there is no reason why a church can’t regularly confess – through a corporate reading – some portion its confession of faith. It could be an article that has a direct link to the sermon, a clear expounding of a truth you are about to sing, or maybe it doesn’t have any clear link other than being a fantastic way to proclaim unity in Christ.

Use the confession in discipling relationships.A few of our elders have gone through the 1689 London Baptist Confession with different men in the church and been met with a great response. Many different churches I know of will use something like Grudem’s Christian Beliefs to train there members in systematic theology, but why not use the church’s confession of faith? A good and accurate confession is like a succinctly packed systematic. And all our members need resources succinctly packed with biblical truth.

Use the confession in elder and deacon meetings.We use the confession in all our office-bearer training, but we are growing in our consistent use of the documents in our actual meetings. It seems wise, for example, to consistently read a portion of the confession at your elders’ meeting and reflect together upon its truth. This further cements the doctrinal foundations in church leadership and helps fuel unified understanding of what the church confesses.

Confessions have a unique ability to promote clarity and unity in a local church. So why don’t you dust yours off and wield it to help build a vibrant witness to the world.