C. S. Lewis Doodle on YouTube. This is the entire essay “Religion and Science” by C. S. Lewis from God in the Dock being drawn as it is being read. It is short (7:11) and made even more accessible through the doodle. Not that Lewis made it hard. It is a simple point with profound implications.
Andrew Purves commenting on Gregory of Nazianzus’ view of pastoral ministry. This quote is packed with wisdom. Note especially the last sentence.
Gregory of Nazianzus does not separate theological and pastoral work. He is aware of the distinction between them, of course, for one is the study of God, and especially the Trinity, while the other is the service of God through the pastor’s care for God’s people; nevertheless, the first implies or calls for the second and the second is possible only on the basis of the first. One cannot be a pastor without being a theologian, in the sense of being a faithful and disciplined student of the Word of God. Gregory’s view prevailed for a long time in the church, and probably only in recent times has pastoral work come to have such an ambiguous connection to the church’s theological heritage that psychology and counseling methods rather than the church’s doctrine have come to dominate.
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Any consideration of the Protestant Reformation in general–and Martin Luther specifically–would be incomplete without mention of Brother Martin’s views on the Christian family and his affection for children. Consider the following excerpt from Luther’s treatise (published in 1522) entitled The Estate of Marriage:
Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason (which the pagans followed in trying to be most clever), takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, “Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labour at my trade, take care of this and take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves? What, should I make such a prisoner of myself? O you poor, wretched fellow, have you taken a wife? Fie, fie upon such wretchedness and bitterness! It is better to remain free and lead a peaceful. carefree life; I will become a priest or a nun and compel my children to do likewise.
What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, “O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers. or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? O how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight.”
A wife too should regard her duties in the same light, as she suckles the child, rocks and bathes it, and cares for it in other ways; and as she busies herself with other duties and renders help and obedience to her husband. These are truly golden and noble works. This is also how to comfort and encourage a woman in the pangs of childbirth, not by repeating St Margaret legends and other silly old wives’ tales but by speaking thus, “Dear Grete, remember that you are a woman, and that this work of God in you is pleasing to him. Trust joyfully in his will, and let him have his way with you. Work with all your might to bring forth the child. Should it mean your death, then depart happily, for you will die in a noble deed and in subservience to God. If you were not a woman you should now wish to be one for the sake of this very work alone, that you might thus gloriously suffer and even die in the performance of God’s work and will. For here you have the word of God, who so created you and implanted within you this extremity.” Tell me, is not this indeed (as Solomon says [Prov. 18:22]) “to obtain favour from the Lord,” even in the midst of such extremity?
Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil’s fools.
Notice that Luther’s vision of the Christian family does not presuppose an absentee father who sees the care of infants as “women’s work” that is somehow beneath him. Rather, Luther’s assumption is that the man who is following hard after Christ will take pleasure and gain sanctification as he rocks his newborn, washes it’s diapers, loses sleep giving baby comfort, and cares for baby’s mother in all tenderness. Luther also assumes that the man who does these things will inevitably face some scorn from what he calls “devil’s fools.”
As we pray for God to grant further reformation to the church in our day, we should pray that one of the evidences of that reformation would be men that mimic Luther’s views on tender caring toward their wives, their newborn children, and overall servant leadership in their households.
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Derek Hale has lived all of his life in Wichita, Kansas and isn’t a bit ashamed about that fact. He and his wife Nicole have only six children–four daughters and two young sons of thunder. Derek is a ruling elder, chief musician, and performs pastoral duties at Trinity Covenant Church (CREC). Derek manages a firmware lab for NetApp and enjoys reading, computers, exercising, craft beer, and playing and listening to music. But not all at the same time. He blogs occasionally at youdidntblogthat.tumblr.com.<>
Almighty, Eternal God, Who, according to Thy righteous judgment, didst condemn the unbelieving world through the flood and, in Thy great mercy, didst preserve believing Noah and his family; and Who didst drown hardhearted Pharaoh with all his host in the Red Sea and didst lead Thy people Israel through the same on dry ground, thereby prefiguring this bath of Thy baptism; and Who, through the baptism of Thy dear Child, our Lord Jesus Christ, hast consecrated and set apart the Jordan and all water as a salutary flood and a rich and full washing away of sins: We pray through the same Thy groundless mercy, that Thou wilt graciously behold this [child] and bless him with true faith in spirit, that by means of this saving flood all that has been born in him from Adam and which he himself has added thereto may be drowned in him and engulfed, and that he may be sundered from the number of the unbelieving, preserved dry and secure in the Holy Ark of Christendom, serve Thy Name at all times fervent in spirit and joyful in hope, so that with all believers he may be made worthy to attain eternal life according to Thy promise; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.<>
Few subjects get as many Christians as quickly upset as worship music. Yet for all the anger and frustration we are often not very deliberate about what we do in worship. We argue and debate, but do the same things the same way and expect a different result. There are many reasons for this cycle. There are also some signs that we are coming out of that malaise. Paul S. Jones (no relation) mentions an important way we can grow our worship music up in his little book What is Worship Music? He packs a lot in this short quote:
“Music is not in competition with pastoral work, rather, it is pastoral work. It can provide many of the same kinds of spiritual care that pastoral ministry provides. Music can comfort, encourage, instruct, teach, proclaim the gospel, interpret Scripture, make application, and reach the soul. All of these are the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when and where there are parallels, the parameters that one applies to ministerial staff should be applied to church musical staff and those applied to sermons and prayers should be applied to church music.
Pastoral musicians, irrespective of title, should be qualified, trained, spiritual, mature, humble, accountable, and aware of their responsibilities. They should be afforded honor, respect, authority, and sufficient (even generous) remuneration. Likewise, assisting musicians should be skilled, devoted, prepared, service oriented, and conscious of the roles they fulfill in worship. The music presented should be excellent, the best the congregation can offer, spiritual, joyful, thoughtful, intelligible, fitting, God-honoring, theocentric, properly rehearsed, live, instructive, functional, and artistic.”
Jones’ point that music is a teaching ministry of the church on par with preaching has been lost for several generations and needs to be recovered. Wouldn’t it be great if over the next 25 years the church saw a rise in music pastors? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a growing list of pastors/elders who are qualified in both character and skill to write, select, teach,perform, and lead the congregation in songs. If we had less youth pastors and more music pastors the church might be more mature. I am grateful for all the strides I have seen in this area. There are more and more mature, godly men writing songs that are rooted in Scripture and dig deep into theology. May the Spirit see fit to continue that trend.<>
“Only in the Western nations, i.e., those influenced by Greek philosophy, is there some willingness to doubt the identification of the good with one’s own way. One should conclude from the study of non-Western cultures that not only to prefer one’s own way but to believe it best, superior to all others, is primary and even natural—exactly the opposite of what is intended by requiring students to study these cultures. What we are doing is applying a Western prejudice—which we covertly take to indicate the superiority of our culture—and deforming the evidence of those other cultures to attest to its validity. The scientific study of other cultures is almost exclusively a Western phenomenon, and in its origin was obviously a search for new and better ways, or at least for the validation of the hope that our own culture really is the better way, a validation for which there is no felt need in other cultures. If we are to learn from those cultures, we must wonder whether such scientific study is such a good idea. Consistency would seem to require professors of openness to respect the ethnocentrism or closedness they find everywhere else. However, in attacking ethnocentrism, what they actually do is assert unawares the superiority of their scientific understanding and the inferiority of the other cultures which do not recognize it at the same time they reject all such claims to superiority. They both affirm and deny the goodness of their science.”
–Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, p.36
Perhaps we could summarize it this way —
Anti-ethnocentric Ethnocentrism: The belief that our way of thinking, which states that no one’s way of thinking is better than anyone else’s, is better than anyone else’s way of thinking, which states that their way of thinking is better than ours.
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“It becomes increasingly apparent that the teacher in Dewey’s schools must somehow know that these teachings of Christianity cannot be true. They must protect their pupils from the evil influences of such disintegrating and miseducative doctrines. So they must be sure that these doctrines are not true. They must know that it is impossible that they can be true. They must be able to assure the pupils that there cannot be a judgment coming. They must be able to make universal negative assertions about all future experience. And they must make such assertions on the basis of present experience as it is intelligible without reference to anything beyond itself. In other words Dewey’s teachers must first assert that man knows nothing of a transcendent realm. But they must also assert, in effect, that they know all about it. They must assert that nobody knows anything about it. This means that they who claim to know about it must be mistaken. And then they themselves, nonetheless, presume to know all about it. They must be omniscient in order to know that no one can rightfully claim to know anything about God.”
–Cornelius Van Til, Essays on Christian Education, 1979<>
Calvin once wrote: “When a man has climbed up into the pulpit… it is [so] that God may speak to us by the mouth of a man.”Paul says in I Thessalonians 2:13: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” (1 Thes 2:13)
The Word of God preached is a necessary part of worship. It is the counsel of God to the people of God. The sermon is a time for teaching, exhorting, and bringing the Word of God to bear upon the life of the people. This is the pastoral duty as he stands before you. The pastor preaches as one following the apostolic train.
But how do you as a parishioner respond to the preached Word? Preparation is key. People need to be trained to take advantage of this profound means of grace. The Word is a two-edged sword. It is God’s divine surgery on the Lord’s Day. It is crucial to realize as God’s servant prepares to deliver God’s word to you that your expectation is not one of a judge or critic, though at times you may have your doubts about a particular interpretation, but that is not your duty when listening to the Word preached. Your duty is to trust the Word preached to mold your very being; to humble your very spirit, and to change your very life. If you are in doubt that this is happening in the preached Word, you may need to consider whether another Church is more faithful to this sacred duty or whether–and this is likely–you have hardened your heart to the ministry of the Gospel. In other words, if everyone around you affirms that God’s word is being delivered faithfully and you are the only one who sees differently, perhaps the problem is not with the ministry of the Word, but with your heart.
But though the preached Word plays a fundamental role in the life of the Church and worship, it’s important to avoid a particular kind of error that sometimes plagues certain Reformed churches. aOur intellectual heritage is largely a “Word-oriented” heritage. In light of this, sometimes we think of the sermon as the climax of the service, so that everything before and after do not carry the same weight. We have a tendency to view preaching as the only indispensable part of the service, but we should not think in this manner. The sermon is not meant to be primarily a time for great detailed word studies or to hear the latest controversy, or to hear an exhaustive treatment of a passage. If you want a classroom atmosphere, this is not it! Worship is not an extended classroom time; worship is the word of God from heaven to you! This is the gathering of the army of God. As an army, you will begin the service hearing God’s call, and you will sing God’s word in psalms and hymns, and you will eat at Christ’s table, and you will leave with a benediction from God’s word. All these areas are as important to worship as the sermon. Each has its own level of importance. I want you to look at the sermon as a time for an extended hearing of God’s word, but the Word of God is also present from beginning to middle and from middle to end. If you have been inattentive throughout the whole service waiting simply for the preaching, then you have failed to prepare yourself for the preaching. The whole service of God is the service to God’s people. If only a portion interests you, then you have failed the task of responding properly to the Word of God.
The over-emphasis on preaching has created a type of elite Christianity where the newly converted, divorced mother of three feels inferior because of her inability to keep up with detailed Greek exegesis or lengthy treatments on cerebral subjects. These topics do have a place, but worship is not that place. Fancy terminologies may fulfill the appetite of hungry theologians, but may leave the depressed parishioner–who desperately needs hope– empty.
So, qualifications aside, the sermon, or the preached Word, is a necessary part of worship. It ought not to be the center focus of worship, but the most extended aspect of worship due to its nature. And taking that time seriously is important for those who wish to mature into a fruitful faith. Here are then some ideas for how to make that time more beneficial for you as a Christian.
First, come humbly to hear. We are not trained well in this area. Most of us are more interested in what we have to say on a particular subject. Hearing a sermon will require humility to train your ears to listen.
Second, for all the work a pastor does throughout the week in researching and putting together a manuscript, through every attempt to be precise, still sometimes he will say something that does not connect in your mind. When this happens, write it down and ask the pastor after the service. If you think it is a subject that will require more time, wait until Monday or sometime during the week. After the service, pastors are eager to greet guests or to minister to certain members, or to counsel someone. Pastors always enjoy when people interact with his sermon. Trust me!
Third, prepare yourself for the text. Read it throughout the week. Know the passage before hearing the passage explained to you. In most churches, pastors will give the congregation some idea of what text he is preaching next. If this is not a habit, ask your pastor to let you know, so you can prepare yourself and your family for the sermon. He will be appreciative of that.
Finally, I exhort you to presuppose the authority of the Word. When science speaks with authority, the Word of God is more authoritative. When there is a claim that contradicts the Scriptures, the Scriptures will never fail. The Word shall never be broken. Trust it, embrace it, and live by it and you will be blessed all your days.<>
Guest Post by Alan Stout
Here is the scenario: You have cheated on your wife. You have been unfaithful and she has asked that you leave the home. Your desire is to repair the relationship, reconcile with your wife, and get back to leading your family in righteousness. What does repentance look like?
1. This is my sin. I have sinned against God and my wife and the consequences of my sin are a broken family, including my headship. I am NOT currently the head of my home, because I broke the covenant vows that I made. As a result…
2. I am not going to plan or lead my wife in sanctification. It will not be my place to lead her in accepting me back into her life. I have, through my own sin, abdicated that role for a time. I have hope though for I know that…
3. The Holy Spirit does not leave my wife without a covering nor has He left her without counselors. I need to trust God and the men that He has placed in our lives to do what I failed to do. So that…
4. I might, in this wilderness of my own making, learn humility, love, and sacrifice for my wife. To that end…
5. I am committed to resting under the hand of a holy God. I will submit myself, my wife and my children to the care of the Church, believing that this will work to the glory of God and benefit of my soul, my life, my family and as a testimony to the truth of the Gospel. All the while…
6. Knowing that this is going to take a long time I will commit myself to prayer and patience, believing that God will give me the strength to bear this weight. Even if my family is never restored I will trust God through it all.** Finally,
7. As God works in me to see and to do His good pleasure I will be made more like Him and I will be the husband I have been called and always wanted to be. Even though I will have difficulty seeing God because of my sin, I know that He still sees me and will not abandon me. Hear the word of God from Job 23:8-10:
8 “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9 on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
** Part of this confession of sin is realizing that it may be too late to repair what has been broken. Your sin may have gone on too long, the testimony of an unfaithful man has far reaching effects and while your wife should forgive you she does not HAVE to take you back simply because you have seen the error of your ways and repented. This is not your wife’s fault… Trust God to turn even this situation toward your good.
Pastor Stout blogs at http://importantparentingtips.
In his provocative book, The Problem of Poverty (previously published as Christianity and the Class Struggle), Abraham Kuyper devotes a section to sketching how the church was influential in society at the time of its founding. Kuyper highlights how the church addressed the class conflict, economic oppression, and injustice which festered in the civil and cultural milieu of the first-century Roman Empire.
According to Kuyper, Christ founded the church to “triply influence the life of society” and address social injustice as follows (emphasis in original):
First, through the ministry of the Word, insofar as the Word constantly fought against greed for money, comforted the poor and oppressed, and in exchange for the suffering of the present time pointed to an endless glory.
Then, second, through an organized ministry of charity, which in the name of the Lord, as being the single owner of all goods, demanded community of goods to this extent, that in the circle of believers no man or woman was to be permitted to suffer want or to be without the necessary apparel.
And, third, by instituting the equality of brotherhood over against difference in rank and station, through abolishing all artificial demarcations between men, and by joining rich and poor in one holy food at the Lord’s Supper, in symbol of the unity which bound them together not only as “children of men,” but, more importantly, as those who have collapsed under the same guilt and have been saved by the same sacrifice in Christ.
This revolutionary sociology enacted in the life of the church inevitably caused ripples in the broader culture. For Kuyper, this is entirely fitting, because the church “was instituted so as not only to seek the eternal welfare of its followers, but also very definitely to remove social injustices.” Kuyper says that “the Church forsakes its principle when it is only concerned with heaven and does not relieve earthly need.”
Note carefully that Kuyper is not speaking merely of an inner change in individual Christians which may affect their personal conduct in the world. Rather, answering injustice belongs to the very organization, institution, and mission of the church: its social structure, communal life, and public witness and work.
Given Kuyper’s status as a seminal reformed theologian, his views on the role of the church in the world are significant and relevant for contemporary discussion. Kuyper certainly does not restrict the scope of the church’s mission to preaching or even individual conversion, but understands it as encompassing societal reformation.<>
Kuyperian Commentary Podcast
