Preaching at Crestwood Baptist Church in Des Moines, Iowa

This is really late notice, but if you'd pray for Crestwood Baptist Church in Des Moines, Iowa and myself this morning I'd appreciate it. I'm going to be preaching on Christ the King from Psalm 2 there this morning!

The Deception of a Church's Desire to be Big & Culturally Relevant

All the talk about multi-site churches and the seeker-sensitive philosophy of ministry seems to be founded on two main arguments "reach more" and "bigger". These are good intentions, but as the familiar phrase goes, "the path to hell is paved with good intentions." Here's a quote from the church growth literature that makes my stomach turn:

"Do you know where your sermon begins? If you have ever been to Disney World, you know the answer to our question. It begins in the parking lot with music, inviting pathways, interestingly named sections of the parking lot, hospitality people roaming around looking for ways to serve with a smile. It isn't long before you know you are a king and queen for the day. Why can't your parking lot say, 'Come on in. We're ready for you'?...The word edutainment is becoming a common word among clued-in educators. Sesame street began the trend in 1969 when it launched a truly revolutionary method of combining education and entertainment. The trend in children's education continues to become more entertaining with programs such as Barney and Blue's Clues."

Easum, Bill; Cornelius, Bil Go Big: Lead Your Church to Explosive Growth (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006), 98-100.

Barf! I was raised watching Sesame Street, but my folks were a blessing to my sister and me by taking us to the mountains for holidays and not Disney World. So the question is, "Would you rather have a church that's real, teaches substance and truth, and worships God in the manner that He has set up, or would you like a gimmicky plastic veneer on light substance and doctrine?" I don't know about you, but I prefer the mountains to Disney World. So, what's up with this obsession with big? Well, in 1962, years before the current debates, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones spoke relevant biblical truth with clarity to our situation:

“Nothing is so opposed to the biblical teaching as the modern idea that numbers and powerful organization alone count. It is the very opposite of the great biblical doctrine of ‘the remnant’, stated, for instance, so perfectly by Jonathan to his amour-bearer as they alone faced the hosts of the Philistines, in the words: ‘Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few’ (1 Sam. 14:6). Still more strikingly, perhaps, it is taught in the incident of Gideon and the Midianites, where we read of God reducing the army of Israel from thirty-two thousand to three hundred as a preliminary to victory (Judges 7).

“God has done His greatest work throughout the centuries through remnants, often even through individuals. Why is it that we forget Micaiah the son of Imlah, and Jeremiah, and Amos, John the Baptist, the mere twelve disciples; and Martin Luther, standing alone, defying some twelve centuries of tradition and all the power of a mighty church? This is not to advocate smallness or exclusiveness as if they had some inherent merit; but it is to suggest that the modern slavish attitude to bigness and organization cuts right across a central biblical emphasis. Indeed it suggests ignorance of, and lack of faith in, the power of the Holy Spirit."

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn The Basis of Christian Unity (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2003), 75-76.

I think it's excellent that many in the seeker-sensitive, church growth, and multi-site movements want to reach more with the gospel and see their churches experience numerical growth. That said, this desire can actually become a poison. This thinking can poison our trust in Christ's power to build His church through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our lot is faithfulness and obedience, not apparent success achieved through cultural accommodation.

How are the Qualities of Deacons Like the Qualities of Elders?

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3:8, saying, "Deacons likewise (Διακόνους ὡσαύτως)," and then he lists eight (not including verse 11) qualities of a deacon. I plan on only considering what Paul meant by writing “likewise” in 1 Timothy 3:8 in this post:

What Does “Likewise” Mean Here?
First, "likewise" is linking the lists of qualities of an officer of the church, not necessarily the aspiration to pursue the office in a local church from verse 1. This is not to say that the aspiration to serve in the diaconate is not a desire to do a noble task, but the "likewise" isn't carrying the emphasis of the "desire" for the office from verse 1 to the office of deacon, "The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task." All of that being said it's implied that this next list of qualities is what Timothy was to look for in a person to fill another office in the church, namely the office of deacon. So "likewise" (“ωσαντως” or “hosautos”) links the list that follows to the previous set of qualities that were laid out about elders.

Second, "Likewise" is functioning as an adverb describing how the following "states of being" are the substance of or characteristic qualities of deacons. So there is an implied “it is necessary...to be” (δεῖ εἶναι) in this phrase.(1) So the phrase would read, "It is necessary for Deacons, likewise, to be...". "Likewise" is describing how 1 Timothy 3:8-11 & 13 is related to verses 1-7 (as I mentioned above).(2) “Likewise” is not, however, transferring any of the qualities of an elder to the qualities of deacon;(3) rather, it setting up a comparison that the relation of characteristics to the deacon is similar to the relationship of the characteristics to the elder. In other words, there are two offices here and the lists that describe them are like each other insofar as they describe that office. The descriptions aren’t interchangeable. So, in the way that the former qualities describe elders, so these latter qualities that follow describe deacons. The same word also appears in verse 12 and sets off another list (of deacons' wives or deaconesses, which I hope to talk about more when I get there).

“Likewise” can also be translated as “also”, “similarly”, “the same way”, etc. By my count there are 14 qualities of elders in verses 1-7 (not including the desire to be one), so some think “likewise” may be setting a direct contrast between the qualities that are similar. I don't think that's the case though. Paul doesn't seem to be trying to make “one to one” connections and comparisons in these lists. Take a look at the following lists (if you click on the picture it will open on another webpage in a larger image):

A case may be made for a “one to one” correspondence between qualities #1 and #3 but other than that it seems that Paul is not following a direct one to one correspondence for the rest of the qualities in any particular order. The only quality that doesn't seem to be reiterated in any way in the lists of deacon and wives/deaconesses is the ability to teach. Wm. Mounce describes Paul's method here by writing, “He presents an official list in that it was intended to be followed, but it is not exhaustive, concentrating as it does on observable traits. It is, rather, an ad hoc list meant to combat the Ephesian heresy; yet in principle it is relevant today.”(4) I don't think it's helpful to think that quality #2, #4, etc. of each of the lists modify and clarify each other directly, but Paul does use some of the same descriptions more than once.

Are These Just Two Lists Describing the Same Office?
These lists are like each other, and not the same as each other. This leads to the question: “Are these lists just different ways of describing the same office?” This doesn’t seem to be the case.

Some folks want to conflate these lists to make the case that there is only one office that Paul had in mind here. That doesn’t seem to be a plain reading of the text though. If we put too much weight on the “likewise”, and make the diaconate into the same office as an “elder” with a different name we are making Scripture say what it doesn’t say. The similarity between the two words seems to be that “elders” and “deacons” are two distinctly recognized roles in a local church. Further, the similarity or “likewise-ness” seems to be that there are qualities and characteristics that a church is to look for in a person who would fulfill these offices, not that they are the same office. This thinking, in this context, puts more weight on the adverb “likewise” than it was meant to carry. It’s also important to notice that when Paul wrote to the Philippians he wrote, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons (Phil 1:1).” If these two offices were the same office why would Paul have made the distinction?

If these were two different ways to describe the same official role in the church, why did Paul use some of the same descriptions more than one time? As I mentioned above, the lists don’t have a one-to-one correspondence, but there are some characteristics that are identical. Paul would have been pretty redundant if these were the same office. Further, if verse 11 is talking about deaconesses then we would be including women into the teaching role of a church as well, and the previous chapter clearly outlines that women are not to be teaching or exercising authority over men (1 Tim 2:12). Mounce writes of the distinction between the offices:

“[Elders and deacons] represent two groups, as is also attested in Phil 1:1. In the [Pastoral Epistles], even though the lists of qualifications are similar, they are distinct, suggesting distinct functions. Never are the two titles interchanged in the [New Testament] in the same way as overseer and elder. In the postapostolic development of the offices, they are clearly distinct.”(5)

In a future post I hope to discuss how an elder is a type of deacon, namely of prayer and of the word. The office of a deacon is a deacon or servant of the physical needs of the church. But, again, I hope to think about that at a later time.

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(1) Knight, NIGTC, 168; Mounce, WBC, 197.

(2) Knight, NIGTC, 168; Mounce, WBC, 197.
(3) Marshall, ICC, 489.
(4) Mounce, WBC, 207.
(5) Mounce, WBC, 196.

Isn’t Communism Biblical?

This is a helpful quote from R. B. Kuiper:

The members of the church at Jerusalem had all material things in common. It hardly needs to be said that this communism was something quite different from the communism for which so may clamor today. It was communism among Christians only. It was local in its scope, there being no evidence in the New Testament that it was practiced in any church other than that at Jerusalem. Even in the Jerusalem church it was a temporary arrangement. There was nothing compulsory about it, for when a member of the church sold a possession and pretended to give the whole price to the church, although actually he gave but part, Peter said to him: “Whiles it remained was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?” (Acts 5:4). And the spirit behind this communism was radically different from that which often comes to expression in present-day communism. Someone has aptly said: “The Christians at Jerusalem said, ‘All mine is thine’; communists today say, ‘All thine is mine.’”

Kuiper, R. B. The Glorious Body of Christ (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2001), 150-151. Emphasis is mine.

Non-Believers & False Teachers at the Church in Ephesus

The negative and positive qualities that Paul lays out in 1 Timothy for elders and deacons are a direct contrast to the non-believers and the false teachers that Paul had been teaching about. This post is simply the list of all the qualities of the non-believers and of the false teachers that Paul (and John) taught about at the church in Ephesus (I also walk through the qualities of non-believers in John's Epistles since they were most likely written to the church in Ephesus). This sets a strong contrast (to say the least) to the qualities that he encourages Timothy to look for in elders and deacons:

1. Some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Waybefore the congregation (Acts 19:9)


2. Itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord over those who had evil spirits, the sons of Sceva, and they were attacked by the demons (Acts 19:13-16)


3. Many formerly practiced magic arts, and they burned their books (Acts 19:19)


4. Demetrius'(a Gentile) trade was threatened and he warned the Ephesians that theirs would too and that their goddess Artemis was being threatened by the Christians (Acts 19:21-41)


5. Fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; from among your own selves [the elders] will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them (Acts 20:29-31)


6. The Ephesian Christians once walked, following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:1-3)


7. They formerly were Gentiles in the flesh, separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise. They had no hope and were without God in the world (Ephesians 2:11-12)


8. Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, darkened by their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity (Ephesians 4:17-19)


9. Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness was not to be practiced. Paul exhorted that there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5:3-8)


10. It is shameful even to speak of the things that non-Christians do in secret(Ephesians 5:12)


11. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not getdrunk with wine, for that is debauchery (Ephesians 5:17)


12. Timothy was to charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations (1 Timothy 1:3)


13. Those who devote themselves to vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law,without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions (1 Timothy 1:6-7)


14. The law is for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for theunholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, formurderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality,enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted (1 Timothy 1:9-11)


15. Paul describes himself as a former blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponentof Christ (1 Timothy 1:13)


16. Those who blaspheme or reject the gospel (like Hymenaeus & Alexander) make shipwreck of their faith (rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith) (1 Timothy 1:19-20)


17. Women are not to teach or exercise authority over a man (when I get to the qualifications of elders and deacons I hope to discuss how this rules out that women can be elders, but not necessarily deacons) (1 Timothy 2:12)


18. Those who will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.(1 Timothy 4:1-3)


19. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths (1 Timothy 4:7)


20. Good or false teachers are not distinguishable by their age. Paul encouraged Timothy to "let no one despise you for your youth" (1 Timothy 4:12)


21. Paul describes those are falsely posing to be widows saying, "but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives" (this would particularly apply to deaconesses if we take the office of deaconess to be a biblical office, cf. Romans 16:1) (1 Timothy 5:6)


22. He also warns of the temptation of younger widows saying, "when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips andbusybodies, saying what they should not (1 Timothy 5:11-13)


23. Paul also describes how some of these sins are obvious or "conspicuous", but some of these are hidden sins or will "appear later" (1 Timothy 5:24)


24. Those who teach a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has anunhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, whichproduce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain (1 Timothy 6:3-5)


25. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some havewandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs (1 Timothy 6:9-10)


26. The rich are not to be haughty, and should not trust in the uncertainty of their riches (1 Timothy 6:17)


27. Timothy was to charge the Ephesian church not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers (2 Timothy 2:14)


28. They were to avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some (2 Timothy 2:16-17)


29. They were to flee youthful passions (2 Timothy 2:22)


30. Further, they were to have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome (2 Timothy 2:23)


31. Paul wrote further that, "people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, mencorrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men." (2 Timothy 3:2-9)


32. Paul further describes that evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (2 Timothy 3:13)


33. Paul warned that the time was coming when people would not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they would accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and would turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4)


34. Paul also described how false brethren deserted him. So another quality of someone unfit for the work of the ministry is someone who deserts true and faithful gospel preachers in their times of need (2 Timothy 4:10-17)


35. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (1 John 1:6)


36. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8)


37. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1 John 1:10)


38. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:4)


39. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness (1 John 2:9)


40. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes (1 John 2:11)


41. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world (1 John 2:15-16)


42. They went out from us [or abandoned them], but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us (1 John 2:19)


43. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son (1 John 2:22)


44. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you (1 John 2:26)


45. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4)


46. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother (1 John 3:9-10)


47. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous (1 John 3:12)


48. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:15)


49. Little children, let us not love in word or talk [only] but in deed and in truth (1 John 3:18)


50. Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already (1 John 4:3)


51. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them (1 John 4:5)


52. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love (1 John 4:8)


53. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love (1 John 4:18)


54. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20)


55. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son (1 John 5:10)


56. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:12)


57. The whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19)


58. Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21)


59. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works (2 John 1:7-11)


60. I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first,does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing,talking wicked nonesense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is true (3 John 1:9-12)

Eckhard Schnabel has summed up Paul's teaching in these passages well in the quote below (fyi: I added the bolded numbers and letters in brackets not the footnotes):

In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul discusses yet again the activities of certain Jewish Christian teachers. Paul asserts that they promote foolish controversies.[1]The comment that these teachers seduce Christians (2 Tim 3:13; cf. Tit 1:10) indicates that the “nonsense” they propagate is plausible to some degree and thus convinces some believers. Their teachings [1] focus on the Mosaic law, which the[A] interpret in an allegorical manner, [B] linked with Jewish myths and with circumcision,[2] [C] with ascetic practices related to marriage and food.[3] They [2]deny a future resurrection (2 Tim 2:18). [3] They emphasize the participation of married women in the teaching ministry of the churches with the result that they neglect their children (1 Tim 2:11-15). [4] And they possibly downplay the importance of missionary work among Gentiles.[4] [5] Their teaching implied that Jesus Christ does not occupy a central position as Savior and as Mediator between God and humankind. Paul attacks these teachers on account of their immoral behavior (Tit 1:16; 2 Tim 3:1-5), which was demonstrated, for example, in their desire to achieve financial gain through their teaching ministry (1 Tim 6:5-10; Tit 1:11). Paul warns the Christians in the churches in Asia Minor to recognize the danger that these teachers represent and to reject them, and not to become again the kind of people they had been before their conversion.[5] Paul encourages Timothy and Titus to be concerned about the quality of character of the leaders in the local churches (1 Tim 3:1-13; Tit 1:5-9). And he emphasizes the necessity of preserving the early Christian tradition in the churches.[6]

[1] Cf. 1 Tim 6:3-5; Tit 1:10; 3:9; 2 Tim 2:14-16; 2:23.
[2] 1 Tim 1:4, 7; 2 Tim 4:4; Tit 1:14; on circumcision cf. Tit 1:10.
[3] Cf. 1 Tim 4:3; cf. Tit 1:15; 1 Tim 2:15; 5:23.
[4] I. Howard Marshall, Pastoral Epistles, p. 45; cf. 1 Tim 2:4-6, 7; 4:10; Tit 2:11; cf. 1 Tim 3:16.
[5] Cf. 1 Tim 3:1-13; 5:6, 11; Tit 1:6-7; 2 Tim 2:22. Cf. Marshall, Pastoral Epistles, p. 43.
[6] Cf. 1 Tim 1:15-17; 2 Tim 1:13-14; 2:2, 8-13; 3:10, 14-17; Tit 2:1; 3:3-8.

Schnabel, Eckhard Paul the Missionary: Realities, Strategies and Methods(Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2008), 206-207.