tagged: Chris Johnson, Overseer, pastor, preaching, Teaching

Families for Good Reason; Imitating a Sincere Faith

Posted by Chris Johnson in Baptist Life, Bible & Theology, Church & Missions, IMPACT Features

The church is an amazing group. As Southern Baptist’s have made a common attempt to follow Christ and to be true to God’s word, it is the lasting tradition of church family that gives fascinating testimony to its consistent legacy. The tradition of the “family” finds its reflection in the events outlined by a well know follower of Christ, the beloved Peter, expressed in the Acts of the Apostles.

Act 2:38-47 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (40) And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” (41) So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (42) They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (43) Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. (44) And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; (45) and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. (46) Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, (47) praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

God’s daily calling and his subsequent addition of those to the church may, at first glance, give the appearance of a large metropolitan church. Honestly, it is not often that three thousand souls are stirred to join any group in one day, yet in the culture of Christ’s day it was not necessarily a bizarre occurrence that such would take place. After all,…it was prophesied and the people were already organized for this happening. And as such, three thousand souls was not a daunting achievement of a metropolitan church,…it was an expectant reality and a clear outpouring of a common faith. A faith once for all delivered to the Saints. A faith that the Saints were grateful to receive; such faith expressed in evidence and action in the life of the people.

In the current traditions of a mega church design and other cultic like expressions in religion, the family struggles to find its identity. Yet even in the midst of so many burgeoning mega traditions, the mood of the family continually struggles to realize the tradition of earliest congregations; familial congregations that were hatched in similar fashion, one after another all along the way. As God launched this final chapter of his called out ones….the biblical fidelity and sacrificial nurturing of its members has always been through the humble and serving hands of many faithful preachers and teachers, and it is certainly not by mistake that the average South Baptist Church of say seventy members clearly reflects the image portrayed throughout expansion of the church in its earliest form.

The earliest of congregations were in large part governed by their faithfulness to continue in the traditions of the Apostles. Should it be any other way? Many would say yes we are called to change things, ….to invent a better plan,….a more marketable system. Yet the Apostle Paul’s encouragement to Timothy was to stay on at Ephesus, as just another one of the Elders, in order to instruct the congregation with words of sound doctrine.

Is that same encouragement a hallmark of today’s congregations? It certainly does not appear to be the popular thing. Do men that are spiritually given the responsibility to shepherd the flock, do so with a mindset of duplicating what they do? Following closely and faithfully the early tradition painstakingly outlined by the Apostle Paul, not limiting the Holy Spirit to only one man. Or today, somewhat like a human quota system, from a contemporary mindset….even though called to nurture the family, impose an artificial quota system. Some shepherds certainly do. But why!

To answer that,…let’s get a little closer to the tradition of those that followed Christ. So why did the Apostle Paul encourage Timothy to oppose such quota systems, and in clear contrast develop men to qualify in the midst of the congregation? It is really not at all a difficult question to answer. The words of scripture not only reveal the answer but they also disclose the Spiritual impact of God’s man following God’s call for the congregation.

1 Timothy 1:3-7 As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, (4) nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. (5) But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (6) For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, (7) wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

Real Pastor’s are told to instruct men “not to teach” strange doctrines….”rather than” furthering the administration of God which is by faith. A pulpiteer aspiring within a mega tradition has a difficult time intimately delivering any message to “certain” men. An antiseptic performance of a well thought out sermon from week to week does not fit the frame of reference that the Apostle has given Timothy, Titus, and others. Rather, it is the instruction of the Apostle to leverage the intimacy and value of those men who aspire to overseer…. it is the many men that oversee the congregation that actually become known as essential and valuable to the congregation. The Apostle knew the importance of teaching and conducting this pastoral tradition within the congregation of God. The pillar and support of the truth would emanate from a faithful adherence to this apostolic tradition.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; (15) but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

Again, the average SBC congregation is comprised of just over seventy folks. What an awesome opportunity to regain the footing of the Apostle Paul’s encouragement. For the most part the mega church social gathering has a more difficult road in a pursuit to adhere to the early traditions since most mega church groups are satisfied typically with a single figurehead and a staff. This is more like Hollywood than Holy Word. This is an obvious departure of the words left for us by the disciples of Jesus Christ and there are volumes of books defending the trade of mega pursuits these days. In stark contrast though,….the earliest of congregations followed a distinct method; a method that cannot be mimicked by a staff of administrators pragmatically meeting out programs for the mass of its socially accepted adherents. A good question to ponder is….Should God’s men yearn for the stage and the staff, or should these men desire that other men aspire, along with him, to oversee the called out ones of God? Not only does the Apostle Paul answer that question in deafening clarity, he also imitates his Lord that envisaged this method of ministry among his people.

Paul gave the same mission, embossed in the same tradition, to his true child in a common faith,…Titus . Titus was the overseer instructed to spawn the same faith and the same family tradition of appointing elders in every city. The importance of this method cannot be overstated

Titus 1:4-5 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (5) For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,

Order is maintained when Godly tradition is followed.

Titus 1:10-11 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, (11) who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.

So men,…. overseers, pastors, elders. If you care for the family of God, then follow sound tradition. If you care for your pocket book, fame, contemporary tradition, and the quenching of the Spirit….God will allow you that desire and it can be very exciting. But, that methodology will be at a real expense to God’s congregation…. and I pray that other men will rise up in God’s congregation to instruct you not to follow such false pursuits. Instead, be like Titus, be like Timothy, be like Paul, be like Peter, and be like Christ. Encourage the family of God, train and watch God raise up men to serve, preach, teach and lead among you in those congregations of seventy and experience the traditions set before you by Jesus Christ and his Apostles.

Blessings,
Chris