by chrisaiken | Dec 19, 2016 | discipleship, Leadership, pastor, Pastor's Reflections, Teaching, Uncategorized
A former professor of mine once said, “If churches did a better job at teaching the Bible, I’d have much less to do here at Bible College.” Now before you discount the statement as some flippant remark or a veiled complaint about working conditions, hear how he defined it.
Many churches have professionally trained ministers and leaders who pour over the Scriptures to prepare well crafted lessons ready for application in a person’s life. This is not bad; rather, it is a key element of the homiletic process…in other words, we teach pastors to do this very thing in preaching.
But, as I am suggesting in the article, there is there a need for the “people” to wrestle with the difficulties and work toward their own convictions on theological truths.
What I Am Not Saying
- I am not advocating that every believer become an expert on Ancient Near East literature or the fine tenets of every facet of theological musing.
- I am not advocating that every believer become an expert on the top five non-Christian world religions.
- I am not advocating a dismissal of pastoral ministry and teaching. We have and need pastors who are well trained and able to guard the congregation from error while leading them to maturity in the faith, which necessarily includes teaching the church to think for itself on theological matters.
As an example, we are not all medically trained. When something is amiss in the body, we seek out a doctor (hopefully) who has given her life to medical studies. We SHOULD though…have a working knowledge of how the heart and lungs work and be able to recognize that a persistent cough or headache is not the body’s original design.
What I Am Advocating…and Why
To credit the man who first planted the thought in my mind, what Dr. Wilbanks was saying was that many churches failed to promote or expect the “people” to study and know the basics of core doctrine and a general framework of our faith.
Yesterday, I promoted a particular book on a specific theological truth in my message on the Incarnation. Bruce Ware’s book, The Man Christ Jesus, was a particularly helpful resource in the discussion on the Incarnation of Christ. The Incarnation itself is a “big deal” and a distinguishing doctrine in the cacophony of religious traditions. Even if the “people” are not experts in the doctrine, there is an implicit and practical need to become conversant with the main points. Why? So that you can speak of it to others, be encouraged in your faith, and recognize error when presented by others.
The example of the Bereans comes to mind from Acts 17:10-12 where we are told that the church (1) heard the teaching, (2) and examined the Scriptures daily, (3) to see if the teachings were true.
What Tools are ESSENTIAL for our Preparation?
This is the subject of another posting, but in general, for the person setting out on the journey for the first time here are six tools:
- Regular attendance in congregational and small-group teaching. (You cannot grow apart from exposure to truth). I cannot overemphasize this!
- A good Study Bible. These resources typically have introductory material that helps set the stage for understanding.
- Supplemental reading from a good Introduction to Doctrine resource like Grudem’s Introduction to Systematic Theology.
- A survey resource on the Old and New Testament. (more on that later).
- Some select charts and maps (a timeline of biblical history and a map of the biblical lands is very helpful for understanding.
- A general word study resource. These are readily available online. A good resource is the Word Study Bible.
Again, more on these in another post but a couple of thoughts for reflection:
- Are you a student of God’s Word and biblical doctrine?
- When is the last time you chased down a biblical truth for yourself, apart from a Sunday School lesson you were teaching?
- Do you know more about your favorite sport or sports team, political party, or “Brad and Jen’s life” than you do God’s instructions?
If you have thoughts on the subject or particular tools you use and recommend, share them in the comments and thanks for dropping by.
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by chrisaiken | Oct 27, 2016 | Devotions, pastor, Uncategorized
Rarely do we find anyone wrestling with an outside appearance. On the outside, most of us look pretty good. Pastors and preachers stand to preach and minister on any given Lord’s day. We shave and shower. We comb our hair. We dress the part. We carry a Bible (even the one on our iPad or iPhone). We have the language down. Based on all outside appearances, we are fully qualified and prepared to stand before the Lord and His people…
But what about the part you cannot see? What about that which is hidden just past the layers of the external?
In Exodus 28, God gave explicit instructions on how the garments of the priests were to be constructed, how they were to be worn, and that they were for GLORY and for BEAUTY (Ex 28:40). Most people “get” the robes and the stones, the breastplate and the ephod…even the crown. But notice what God describes that is not readily seen:
42 You shall make for them ylinen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43 and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they zbear guilt and die. aThis shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.
God designated that the priest was to wear pants…”breeches” in the NASB actually. Underwear in our modern vernacular. This was the part of the priest’s attire that was not visible to others but would be known to God.
God is just as concerned with our private lives as He is our public. He wants our hearts to be prepared as certainly as He wants our sermons. He demands holiness and glory even in the most discreet and hidden places in our lives if we are to approach Him.
This is weighty to consider. To know that God examines every aspect of our lives and holds us to account for the private as well as the visible…should give us pause.
This truth is not only for pastors, but for everyone who ministers before the Lord. A true understanding of the Scriptures means that this includes everyone in some respect.
Perhaps power is missing because we put on the external facade of holiness and service but we chose to ignore the need to cover our shamefulness but putting on “breeches.”
“God is not mocked,” the Apostle Paul reminds us; “whatever a man sows, so shall he reap.” (Galatians 6:7). We cannot hide our unholiness from God and to flaunt it, by refusing to cover our guilt and shame with the forgiveness of Christ (through repentance and faith), is to invite the harvest of condemnation and to reject the presence, power, and peace of God in our lives.
Today…don’t forget to put on pants. They are required to please God.
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by chrisaiken | Oct 3, 2016 | Leadership, pastor, Pastor's Reflections, Uncategorized
It was a great day at church. Good worship. A strong word from prospective (CP) church planting partners. Then an afternoon training and great time in D-Groups reviewing and growing in understanding the principle of God’s unrelenting pursuit of rebellious sinners (me).
After this glorious but long day…I was clearing out email…and there it was. An unsolicited epistle, a message from someone not connected to the fellowship…sharing how I had been an offense to them a couple of years ago. Sheep Bite.
No longer are my thoughts on the glorious day I had just experienced. I’m now labored over the complaints, the appropriate response, my own need to justify and respond line by ever-loving line. Sheep bite…and they’re not even my sheep.
Sometimes sheep bite because as a “shepherd,” you get close to a nerve. I once had a dog that had a leg that had been surgically repaired. It was tender. If I touched it too hard or got too close to the bad nerves, she’d turn to bite. It wasn’t that my dog was mean or aggressive. It was that the spot was tender. That’s totally different than if a dog (or in this case, a sheep) runs up to ambush you. The former demands understanding. The second “deserves” a defensive posture. People are sheep. Sometimes sheep bite…not always, but sometimes. It hurts. It is not good. We may want (and can even justify) a retaliatory response. We may start to devise a new recipe for “mutton.” Then it hits me…the reminder from the Lord…Those are His sheep that I am considering barbequeing! I’d never want to take out my Lord’s sheep, even those that bite me…because they are His.
The Lord corrected me. He reminded me that I am a shepherd and He owns the flock. I cannot destroy a sheep for biting me since I do not own the sheep. Well who will take care of this rogue, biting sheep assaulting the unsuspecting shepherd? Obviously not me, and here are three reasons why:
- One, I was a biting sheep and the Lord pursued me relentlessly and saved me while in active rebellion against Him. He pursued me!
- Two, God’s Word forbids it. “Do not let kindness (loyalty/loyal love) and truth (faithfulness) leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Prov 3:3). I am not responsible for driveby emails, but I am responsible for maintaining my “loyal love” for the SAVIOR that relentlessly pursued me. He can deal with His own sheep. My allegiance and response is to Him.
- Three, I need not be concerned with whether my rights have been violated or if my heart needs to be justified in the matter. I have no rights! I was relentlessly pursued by a great Savior that I bit all the time (and unfortunately still do…to my shame)! He is in the business of rescuing biting sheep! If He rescues another biter…and they bite me…it is up to Him to deal with that. The Lord will be my confidence and He alone can insure that I not be overtaken.” (Prov 3:25-26).
“Pastor (you might ask), aren’t you concerned that someone may read this and become more concerned with what was said or who said what?”
Actually, I was concerned about that. I’ve taken a number of steps to try to keep the details to a minimum so I could push the focus to what God is teaching me…so that, maybe, I can encourage/instruct others with the teaching (Psalm 51:13). What I KNOW to be true…”It’s Monday” and there are a number of shepherds being bitten today. Some, because they got too close to a nerve. Some, because they were ambushed. Before reacting with the emotion that was driving me, take your thoughts captive. Do so by focusing on the relentless pursuit of God’s love for you. Then tell the Great Shepherd. He has your back. He knows what it is to be bitten. He’s endured your bites and mine for years.
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by chrisaiken | Oct 1, 2016 | Leadership, pastor, Pastor's Reflections, Uncategorized
I have been mindful of the need to express myself with this particular article for quite some time. Back in the summer, I was assigned a text to read (as prep for a doctoral seminar) that greatly challenged my thinking. In it, the writer argued that the world and the Christian faith to be specific needs more (not less) thoughtful people. He then went on to chastise me and an errant (even arrogant) viewpoint I had held and even perpetuated for many years.
I remember my cocky state of mind as I was considering preparation for my newly understood calling to the preaching ministry. It was back in the late 90s and I was an almost 30 year old father, husband, businessman, and Jesus-follower. After discerning a specific call to ministry (which is the subject of another post to come) I sat down with my pastor who advised me to pursue my education as far as I could. He told me that education would help open doors for me to serve in “any position on the field” that God assigned. If I chose, however, to only pursue minimal education (in my field it would be an Associate Degree of Divinity) then there would be many assignments that I would never be considered for by search committees simply because I had not demonstrated a commitment to train. At that point, I made a conscious commitment to pursue school through the doctoral level.
Now, while I made a conscious decision to get an education, my heart was not fully convinced. I used to say “God called Moses without seminary” and if God can use “fishermen to start churches, He can use me regardless of what search committees might say.” While these statements are not wrong on their face, they do lack understanding and call for me to repent of the foolishness of my youthful arrogance.
Today, I read an article from Tim Challies in which he advocates for professional training for ministers. This article along with the book I alluded to have prompted me to make a few direct statements and an apology related to seminary education.
- Seminary cannot hurt you. If simply discussing theology of various stripes damages your faith, it wasn’t very strong to begin with and you’re overestimating your resolve grow and develop on your own.
- Seminary requires you to submit to authority, a great training ground for ministers. Everyone needs to be under authority. That is a biblical principle and a practical reality. Your self-paced, self-guided education may be an indicator of an unwillingness to “yoke up” with a discipler.
- You will learn more in higher education than you would discipline yourself to learn without it. This should be self-explanatory, but few people study cross discipline without a reason. (i.e. most bible students don’t love the idea of studying physical sciences, statistics, algebra, English, or Spanish, etc.
- You are not as smart as you think you are. The value of higher education is it teaches you to know what you don’t know. It is not about indoctrination but inspiration to think and consider truth.
- You are more missionally effective with an education than without. Just because you’re educated doesn’t mean you have to display your erudition in every conversation; however, no one goes to a surgeon who watched YouTube on surgery and opened a practice. They go to a surgeon who was educated, trained, supervised, and has experience. Why would we think it works differently in the pastorate?
- A high calling requires deep training. I thank God for Dr. Dunavant, a pastor and mentor to me for a season. He shared that truth with me when I was discouraged because I was “only” doing itinerant preaching and wondered why no church had called me to be their pastor.
- Thinking is DIVINE STEWARDSHIP for all and to some particularly. In our emotionally driven, self-absorbed culture, we desperately need men who have spent time thinking about life, God, people, theology, ideas, implications of ideas and actions, etc. Jesus gave us a brain…we must use it if we recognize stewardship as essential in our faith.
Finally, I am not arguing that there are no exceptions or that a man cannot go into pastoral ministry without a formal education. In fact, there are times when that might be exactly what God prescribed…but I would contend that this is the EXCEPTION, not the RULE.
As for me, I have repented of making light of thinkers and educated people. Sure…my quips about such people may gain a smile from the crowd and perhaps a few misdirected “amens,” but the heart behind those statements is wicked and boastful. Do I still think some educated people are foolish in their thinking? Sure. I’m foolish in my thinking now and again…and such thinking requires correction and adjustment. I will still refer to “Dr Fluffyhead” as the foolish professor who has determined there is no God as a fool and someone who needs to leave his office more. (Psalm 14:1) But, my objection is not his education nor is his education the cause of his wrongheaded thinking. He just needs to be educated further by an encounter with Jesus. (Hey, it worked for the Apostle Paul).
So, if you’re a pastor or if God is dealing with you about ministry…go and commit to learn your craft as a minister approved by God and a steward of what He has entrusted to you. Your preparation is not wasted but required. The responsibility is tremendous and the honor of shepherding God’s people is great!
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by chrisaiken | Sep 21, 2016 | Devotions, pastor, Pastor's Reflections, Uncategorized
In most children’s bibles, the story of Moses appears in its expectedly “sanitized rendition” of a clean riverside and a waterproof bassinet. On a leisurely stroll to the river to bathe, Pharoah’s daughter finds the baby, pays for his welfare and frolics away with her giggling entourage back to the palace.
As I grew a bit in my faith and also as a parent, I came to recognize and better appreciate the sacrifice of Moses’ mother in placing Moses in the basket…and the providence of God (particularly) in providing for Moses to be nursed by his own mother while on the payroll of Pharoah’s daughter. (Go God!!) Today, however, as I read this passage again, I came to recognize an additional expression of Moses’ mother’s love that I had previous failed to fully appreciate.
This precious woman not only released her son once to save his life (Ex 2:1-4), but she did so a second time as well…to give him a great opportunity.
Then Pharoah’s daughter said to [Moses’ mother], ‘Take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages.’ So the woman took the child and nursed him. The child grew, and she brought him to Pharoah’s daughter and he became her son.(Exodus 2:9-10a, emphasis added).
Think about this for a moment. What pain this must have been for Moses’ mother! She not only dealt with the heart-wrenching experience of having to hide her son by the river to save his life…now she has to release him to another woman to be HER son to give him the best life possible. Could she have done differently? Perhaps today she would have hired an attorney and called a press conference. Perhaps today she would have slipped away under the cover of darkness and become a refugee in a foreign land. Still…reverberating in the back of her mind is this thought…”what kind of life would that be for him?”
So she takes him as a young boy and delivers him to Pharoah’s daughter to raise as her own. Now, I am not a mother…but I am married to one and, on top of that, was raised by one. I can say from experiencing them up close and personally, this was perhaps the most excruciating decision a mother could make. Still…it is precisely the decision required of every parent and even of every child of God. We do immensely difficult things for the benefit of others and against our own self-interest. We do so because we recognize that it is far more noble to love others sacrificially than to guard our own self-interest.
Now the applications are endless. Seriously, there are endless ways to apply this. I have a couple of personal applications in my mind now…for me…but what about you?
- Is it time to risk a friendship to share the gospel and maybe see a friend made so for eternity?
- Is it time to give up the “mom (or dad) as best friend” status in order to be the best parent?
- Is it time to risk rejection or failure to do what is ultimately of greater value?
The story of Moses’ mother was not placed here just to give a historical record. It serves as an example of noble living and it calls to us to live and do likewise.
How will you live this out today and the days ahead?
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by chrisaiken | Jul 31, 2016 | Devotions, Leadership, pastor, Pastor's Reflections
“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” Prov 31:26.
This is but one of the incredible observations/affirmations of the “virtuous wife” in Proverbs 31. As I read this today I reflected back on a recent conversation with my precious wife Jodi, and was mindful of how this verse describes her. Now, this post may come across a bit sappy…and I get that…and it is not unintentional in that regard, but I want it to serve as an example to us all…if, in fact, we desire to follow biblical examples of virtue.
First, she “opens her mouth,” which speaks well of the absence of apathy or complacency. In a world of subjective truth and self-centered focus…many people refuse to open their mouths at all. Eventually when someone does…others whisper that they thought the same thing but just did not say anything. There is something to be said about those who will take the initiative to make their corner of the world better for all.
Second, she speaks with “wisdom.” Biblically speaking, this word is pregnant with meaning. It affirms true knowledge of God; not simply facts ABOUT Him, but wisdom acknowledge His character and sees the beauty in His person…His existence. Many know facts and doctrines about God but miss the beauty and majesty of His person. Further, wisdom relies on practical knowledge of life. It is one thing to know how a four cycle engine operates and to have gotten a perfect score on your written driving exam, but wisdom drives the car in an efficient and effective manner. This is the product of listening, learning, experiencing, and acting.
Finally and perhaps most admirably…”kindness” typifies her words. As a practitioner of communicating with words, I know that words can both edify and destroy. They can hit you in the head as with a blunt object, or they can pierce your soul as with a sharpened dagger. They have the ability to multiply confidence, or leave the hearer in a pool of tears and self-conscious paranoia cowering in a darkened corner of the room. But words spoken KINDLY edify even when they are difficult to hear. They communicate motives of love and encouragement.
I know a number of wise and kind people…but I know no one who typifies this verse better than Jodi. She recognizes the responsibility of her life…a responsibility to speak up, with wisdom and kindness/graciousness in every syllable.
How can we apply this?
- Take the initiative to speak up.
- Figure out how things work. Process that information and consider carefully the implication. Don’t simply blast out 140 character twitter rants! Discover why that thought is important to you, to others, and how it relates in the meta-narrative of life.
- Finally, with a purified heart that seeks the betterment of others over our own benefit…speak with the kindness of God.
This is beauty. This is the virtuous charge and commendation of Scripture. This is Jodi.
SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT: If you want to read or hear more about Jodi and her ministry, visit her on her site: jodiaiken.com.
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